Ohio State vs. Indiana Preview: College Football's Two Best Teams Wage War for Big Ten Title, Heisman Trophy

#2 Indiana

Hoosiers

12-0 (9-0)

roster  |  schedule

DEC. 6, 2025 - 8 p.m. Et

Lucas Oil Stadium

Indianapolis, in

FOXOSU -4

After No. 1 Ohio State took home its first pair of Gold Pants in six years with a cathartic 27-9 win over then-No. 15 Michigan in a snow-coated Big House last Saturday, the Buckeyes are after their first Big Ten championship in five seasons this Saturday.

Ohio State's foe? The team directly behind them in the College Football Playoff rankings, No. 2 Indiana. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers are the last two remaining unbeaten teams in college football, and with good reason.

Indiana and Ohio State are arguably the only two teams in the country without a clear weakness to exploit on offense or defense. The statistics bear that out, at least. The Hoosiers have one of the best wins in the sport this season, an emphatic 30-20 victory at No. 6 Oregon, though they had one-score scrapes at Iowa and Penn State. The Buckeyes, for their part, haven't won a game by less than 18 points since the first week of the season against No. 13 Texas.

There are sections of the college football viewing public that think conference championship games should go away. But there's no denying how amped up both Ohio State and Indiana are to capture a Big Ten crown – and likely settle the sport's most prestigious individual award in the process.

"This is going to be a huge challenge for our team," Ryan Day said on Tuesday. "This is a really good team. And it's going to be a great atmosphere. I know our guys are looking forward to it, going to Indy. It's been a long time since we've been to Indy, too long. And so we're going to win the game and a great opponent. So, we've got to have a great week of preparation, great focus, and we've got to go put it on the field Saturday night."

The Headlines 

A True Matchup Game

There are no two teams in the nation more balanced offensively and defensively than Ohio State and Indiana. The margin isn't even that close.

The Buckeyes feature the No. 1 scoring, total and yards per play defense in the country. The Hoosiers are No. 2, 4 and 8 in those same categories. Indiana's offense is No. 2 in scoring, No. 5 in total and No. 6 in yards per play, while Ohio State is No. 13, 24 and 14.

Ohio State's methodical pace has led to lower (though still great) point and yardage production. The Buckeyes have played the long game to keep players healthy and lean on their generational defense, averaging just 64 plays per game to the Hoosiers' 67.5. And it's hard to argue with the results, given how lopsided each of OSU's wins has been this year. Its passing game is ruthlessly efficient, too, ranking No. 1 in the nation for completion percentage (78.4%) and No. 7 in yards per pass attempt (9.3).

Heavyweight matchups exist everywhere in this contest. Ohio State features the best linebacker tandem in the country with Big Ten Linebacker of the Year Arvell Reese and fellow first-team All-Big Ten performer Sonny Styles patrolling behind the Buckeyes' defensive line. But Indiana's rushing attack is potent, landing 11th nationally in yards per carry (5.6).

Roman Hemby leads the charge out of the Hoosier backfield with 163 carries for 866 yards (5.3 per carry) and six touchdowns. Kaelon Black is right behind him with 126 carries for 730 yards (5.8 per carry and seven scores). Hemby is off his biggest performance of the year, a 152-yard outing at Purdue.

Both battles between secondaries and receivers will be enticing. Ever-steady Ohio State cornerbacks Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Davison Igbinosun match up with perhaps the nation's best receiving tandem outside the Buckeyes' Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt. But Smith and Tate, both first-team All-Big Ten selections, have their own difficult matchups to deal with.

D'Angelo Ponds, a former high school teammate of Smith, earned first-team All-Big Ten recognition from both the coaches and media himself. He's been an outright blanket this year in coverage, allowing a mere 43.6% of passes thrown to his man to be completed, per Pro Football Focus. He has surrendered a measly 3.1 yards per target this season. For reference, the worst passing offense in the country, UMass, averages 4.8 yards per pass attempt. Ponds adds one interception to a team-high eight pass breakups this season.

The Indiana secondary generally is efficient and opportunistic, allowing just 5.7 yards per pass attempt (11th nationally) and intercepting 16 passes (ninth). Safeties Louis Moore and Amare Ferrell lead the way in the pick department with five and four.

Heisman on the Line

The Heisman Trophy hopes of Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin rest not only on his arm but on the shells of the Silver Bullets this Saturday.

Sayin and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza have been in a tightly-contested battle for the Heisman through the last month of the season, though Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is making a last-minute surge into the frame. DraftKings currently places Mendoza with the best odds to take home the award at +160, Pavia behind him at +180 and Sayin right behind at +200. The next-best odds behind those three are with Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who is given a 40-to-1 chance at +4000.

Though Pavia won't play in the SEC Championship game or very likely the CFP, a game with 268 passing yards and 168 rushing yards against Tennessee in a win to conclude his regular season put him back in the race. He concluded his regular season with a completion rate of 71.2%, throwing for 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He rushed for 826 yards and nine scores.

But the Heisman Trophy is often about moments, and Sayin and Mendoza get the last chance to tango for a few of them in Indianapolis. Sayin set the NCAA regular-season completion percentage record at 78.9% in the regular season, collecting 3,065 yards and 30 touchdowns passing against five interceptions. Mendoza's completion rate is 72% with 2,758 yards and 32 touchdowns, plus another six rushing touchdowns against five interceptions. 

The moments are what have made Mendoza the slight favorite so far, namely the game-winning drive he engineered at Penn State to keep Indiana undefeated. If Sayin outduels Mendoza and leads Ohio State to a memorable win, however, it will likely mean the Buckeyes’ first Heisman since Troy Smith in 2006. That could have as much to do with how the Ohio State defense handles Mendoza as Sayin himself.

That trophy won't be front of mind for either man, however.

"No, not really focused on outside noise," Sayin said when asked if he's thought about the Heisman implications of the Big Ten title game. "We have a job to do and we have a goal to go win the Big Ten. So we're going to focus on that as a team."

Line of Scrimmage Skirmish

Both sets of offensive and defensive lines in this game are dogged warriors. There's going to be brutality in the trenches.

Going back to the matchups theme of earlier, two first-team All-Big Ten brutes will wage war when Indiana left tackle Carter Smith faces Ohio State defensive end Caden Curry. Kayden McDonald is the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year after producing at a level not seen  by a Buckeye nose tackle since Johnathan Hankins, but the interior of the Hoosiers' offensive line has a combined 80 starts of experience between left guard Drew Evans, center Pat Coogan and right guard Bray Lynch.

Coogan, a multi-year starter at Notre Dame before transferring to Indiana this year, accounts for 38 of those starts. He faced Ohio State in the CFP national championship game in January. He collected third-team All-Big Ten honors.

"This is my fourth time playing Ohio State in five years," Coogan said on Monday. "Each time has been a different type of game. But they're all incredibly intense and they're all incredibly close. I think anytime you have familiarity with the situation, it's nice. You get to look back on that and that experience and kinda draw some things from it. So there's a few things here and there, but again, it's different 'cause it's a new defense, a new team."

All five of Ohio State's starting offensive linemen made second- or third-team All-Big Ten on Thursday. It's a group that's allowed the second-fewest sacks in the country (six), trailing only Army, a team that's also thrown the fewest passes in the country (9.8 per game). But they'll be facing a defensive line that's third in the country for tackles for loss (103) and 14th nationally in sacks (34).

Defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker is a first-team All-Big Ten performer for Indiana, as is linebacker Aiden Fisher. If you're a fan of physical football, this game is a must-watch.

Watch Out for These Guys

Indiana DE Stephen Daley

It's a travesty that Daley didn't make first-, second- or third-team All-Big Ten, honestly. Maybe it's because of his sack number, which is only a respectable 4.5. But the man has 18 tackles for loss this season. 18! That's the most in the country. He has 35 total tackles and two forced fumbles on the year.

Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr.

Cooper's incredible game-winning catch at Penn State endeared him to a national audience. He's Indiana's leading receiver this season, with 58 receptions for 804 yards and 11 touchdowns. Mathews and Igbinosun truly have their biggest challenge yet in this game.

OMAR COOPER UNREAL CATCH FOR THE TD

WHAT A GAME. WHAT A CATCH. @IndianaFootball pic.twitter.com/PhHzKjuVB9

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith

The best players play their best in the biggest games. Yes, Smith has a difficult matchup with Ponds, but he's acclaimed as the top receiver in college football for a reason. Any time he's singled up with anyone, it's time to toss the ball his way. The Big Ten Receiver of the Year has 72 receptions for 942 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games this season.

Game Week Talk

“The quarterback's playing at an elite level. He's also got some legs, too, that he runs and makes plays, and his arm is live and he does a lot of good things in the air. And then he can see the field well, which puts him in positions to make plays and make the right reads and their receivers are doing good. They make plays.”– Ohio State S Caleb Downs on the Indiana passing game

There's a mutual respect between Downs and Mendoza. Earlier this week, Mendoza said he thinks of Downs the same way Tom Brady used to talk about Ed Reed, considering him one of the very best players in college football. Downs added that he feels the Indiana offense is generally “firing on all cylinders.”

“They have phenomenal players at every level, receivers, O-line, tight end, running back, quarterback, they're good everywhere. But when you look at the film, it's how well they play together. Their scheme, they do a lot of different run frames. Pass game, obviously has a lot of unique concepts, especially when you have two guys that are gonna play on Sundays.”– Indiana LB Aiden Fisher on the Ohio State offense

Not a lot of bulletin board talk in general this week. Both teams know the task at hand. There's a clear mutual respect, given that Indiana has shown this year it’s now among college football's elite. Fisher gave praise to the Ohio State offense, and it's always good to take a step back and appreciate the intricacies of Ryan Day's still-fantastic offense, even if someone else has been calling the plays.

"“We're nobodies. We haven't done nothing yet. Forget the awards, forget the individual awards, whatever. We haven't done nothing yet. The job's still not finished.”– Ohio State DE Kenyatta Jackson Jr. on why the defense is a “bunch of nobodies”

Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caleb Downs, Curry, several leaders of Ohio State's defense continue to refer to it as a "bunch of nobodies" or something in that vein. It's partly to stay humble. It's more because they feel there's much, much more still to accomplish, regardless of how many of them are first-team All-Big Ten or are up for national awards or the numbers they've produced as a unit to this point. The job's not finished. A Big Ten title is part of the job.

Get Smart

• Ohio State is making its seventh Big Ten Championship Game appearance, the most of any school. The Buckeyes are 5-1 in their previous six Big Ten Championship Games with five straight wins.
• Indiana is making its first Big Ten Championship Game appearance.
• Ohio State is seeking its first Big Ten championship since 2020. Indiana is seeking its first Big Ten title since 1967.
• Ohio State and Indiana are the last two undefeated teams standing in the FBS this season.
• It’s the first-ever Big Ten Championship Game between teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country.
• It’s the eighth No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Ohio State history. The Buckeyes are 5-2 in 1 vs. 2 games.
• Ohio State is 80-12-5 all-time vs. Indiana with 30 straight wins.
• Ohio State has five players on its roster from Indiana: starting defensive end Caden Curry, starting tight end Max Klare, backup offensive tackle Ian Moore, backup wide receiver Mylan Graham and backup defensive end Joshua Mickens.
• Indiana has six players on its roster from Ohio, including starting left tackle Carter Smith (Powell) and rotational linebacker Isaiah Jones (London).
• Former Ohio State offensive tackle Zen Michalski is now the top backup tackle for the Hoosiers.
• Indiana quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer was a member of Ryan Day’s first Ohio State coaching staff in 2019 as an offensive assistant.

How It Plays Out

Line: Ohio State -4, O/U 47.5

The line from Las Vegas has steadily dropped throughout the week. I, personally, am projecting a one-score bout in this one. Ohio State hasn’t been in a close game in more than three months, but this is the best offense and the best defense it's faced all year. But the small margins of talent the Buckeyes have at certain positions, especially their freaks defensively, should make the difference in this one.

Every Eleven Warriors staffer is predicting an Ohio State win and cover in this one. Some are more confident than your dear preview writer, with margins of victory as large as 17 and nine of 12 staffers picking at least a two-score win. Expect an entertaining clash.

Eleven Warriors Staff Prediction
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