Gameday Skull Session: Get Dumped Then, Indiana

Welcome to the Skull Session.

How about a message from Ryan Day to set the tone for Saturday?

Have a good GAMEDAY.

HOOSIER DADDY. What can I write about the Buckeyes that I haven't already written this week? On Monday, it was 63 days for the Rest of Their Lives. Now, it's 58 Days, and the message remains the same: Survive and advance.

“We know we have to be playing our best football in November,” Day said after Ohio State beat Northwestern.

So do it.

“We want to be consistent in everything we do. Either we are, or we aren’t," Day said.

You are.

"Everything you do is hard in the Big Ten. You’re not just going to walk in and think from the first snap you’ll roll your helmets out there and run the team out of the stadium," Day said.

But what if you did?

This year's Hoosiers deserve respect and Ohio State's undivided attention. But they're still the Indiana bleepin' Hoosiers. The Buckeyes should treat them like a team they've beaten 80 times in 97 tries, including 29 consecutive games dating back to 1988. In other words, you've sonned them for three straight decades, and you've sonned them for a century.

Make that continue on Saturday.

Leave no doubt.

THE MENU. Welcome to another weekend of minimal ranked-on-ranked matchups. There's No. 5 Indiana at No. 2 Ohio State (Noon, FOX), No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State (3:30 p.m., ESPN), No. 19 Army vs. No. 6 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium (7:30 p.m., NBC) – and that's it!

Because the schedule seems uneventful, I can guarantee there will be at least one upset this weekend. Maybe two! Maybe three! Maybe four! Who knows?

Here's the complete television schedule for this weekend:

Matchup Time (ET) TV North Carolina at Boston College 12:00pm The CW Sam Houston at Jacksonville State 12:00pm CBSSN Wake Forest at 8 Miami (FL) 12:00pm ESPN 13 SMU at Virginia 12:00pm ESPN2 25 Illinois at Rutgers 12:00pm Peacock 5 Indiana at 2 Ohio State 12:00pm FOX Iowa at Maryland 12:00pm BTN 9 Ole Miss at Florida 12:00pm ABC/ESPN+ UConn at Syracuse 12:00pm ACCN UMass at 10 Georgia 12:45pm SECN WKU at Liberty 1:00pm ESPN+ UTEP at 11 Tennessee 1:00pm SECN+/ESPN+ Charleston So. at Florida State 1:30pm ACCNX Rice at UAB 2:00pm ESPN+ Bowling Green at Ball State 2:00pm ESPN+ New Mexico State at Middle Tennessee 2:30pm ESPN+ James Madison at Appalachian State 2:30pm ESPN+ FIU at Kennesaw State 3:00pm ESPN+ ULM at Arkansas State 3:00pm ESPN+ Arizona at TCU 3:00pm ESPN+ Charlotte at Florida Atlantic 3:00pm ESPN+ South Alabama at Southern Miss 3:00pm ESPN+ Texas Tech at Oklahoma State 3:30pm ESPN+ UCF at West Virginia 3:30pm ESPNU Tulsa at USF 3:30pm ESPN+ East Carolina at North Texas 3:30pm ESPN+ San Diego State at Utah State 3:30pm CBSSN 14 BYU at 21 Arizona State 3:30pm ESPN Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina 3:30pm ESPN+ 16 Colorado at Kansas 3:30pm FOX Wisconsin at Nebraska 3:30pm BTN Stanford at California 3:30pm ACCN 4 Penn State at Minnesota 3:30pm CBS/Paramount+ Northwestern at Michigan 3:30pm FS1 The Citadel at 17 Clemson 3:30pm The CW Kentucky at 3 Texas 3:30pm ABC/ESPN+ Wofford at 18 South Carolina 4:00pm SECN+/ESPN+ Pitt at Louisville 4:00pm ESPN2 Louisiana Tech at Arkansas 4:00pm SECN+/ESPN+ 23 Missouri at Mississippi State 4:15pm SECN Troy at Louisiana 5:00pm ESPN+ Washington State at Oregon State 7:00pm The CW Baylor at Houston 7:00pm FS1 12 Boise State at Wyoming 7:00pm CBSSN Georgia State at Texas State 7:00pm ESPN+ 7 Alabama at Oklahoma 7:30pm ABC/ESPN+ 15 Texas A&M at Auburn 7:30pm ESPN 22 Iowa State at Utah 7:30pm FOX 19 Army vs 6 Notre Dame (in Bronx, NY) 7:30pm NBC/Peacock Marshall at Old Dominion 7:30pm ESPNU Vanderbilt at LSU 7:45pm SECN Virginia Tech at Duke 8:00pm ACCN Cincinnati at Kansas State 8:00pm ESPN2 USC at UCLA 10:30pm NBC/Peacock Air Force at Nevada 10:30pm FS1 Colorado State at Fresno State 10:30pm CBSSN

MY PICKS. With another two-win, one-loss week in the books, I improved to 16-14 overall in the 2024 season. I hope to make that record even better this week as I ride behind Northwestern – yes, the nerds from Chicago! – and two Big 12 teams, Colorado and Arizona State.

Northwestern (+10.5) at Michigan: I'll say more than "Yes" this time. Northwestern's defense impressed me last week. Yes, it allowed Ohio State to collect 420 yards of total offense and 31 points, but thanks to its stout defensive line and linebackers, it also held the Buckeyes to 4-of-10 on third down. Considering Michigan cannot pass the ball to save its life, I think Northwestern will be well prepared to stop the Wolverines in have-to-have-it situations like third and fourth downs. I don't think that means the Wildcats win, but 10 points? I think the Wildcats can cover that with ease.

I'll say more than "Yes" this time. Northwestern's defense impressed me last week. Yes, it allowed Ohio State to collect 420 yards of total offense and 31 points, but thanks to its stout defensive line and linebackers, it also held the Buckeyes to 4-of-10 on third down. Considering Michigan cannot pass the ball to save its life, I think Northwestern will be well prepared to stop the Wolverines in have-to-have-it situations like third and fourth downs. I don't think that means the Wildcats win, but 10 points? I think the Wildcats can cover that with ease. Colorado (-3) at Kansas: I don't have to pick this game! I don't have to pick this game! I have to pick this game! Kansas has knocked off Big 12 championship contenders Iowa State and BYU in recent weeks, so a win over Colorado would come as no surprise. Still, the Buffaloes are in the driver's seat for a conference title for a reason: Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders and, of course, Heisman frontrunner Travis Hunter. That said, I think the Prime Time Revival continues for the Buffs this weekend.

I don't have to pick this game! I don't have to pick this game! I have to pick this game! Kansas has knocked off Big 12 championship contenders Iowa State and BYU in recent weeks, so a win over Colorado would come as no surprise. Still, the Buffaloes are in the driver's seat for a conference title for a reason: Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders and, of course, Heisman frontrunner Travis Hunter. That said, I think the Prime Time Revival continues for the Buffs this weekend. No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State (-3): I've stood behind BYU several times this season because the Cougars felt like the Team of Destiny with one-score wins over SMU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Utah en route to a 9-0 start. That luck ran out last week in a 17-13 loss to Kansas last weekend. It won't return this weekend, either — not against a team nicknamed the Sun Devils, who also seem to have the luck of the devil amid an 8-2 start to the year.

BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. Indiana deserves Ohio State's respect. It deserves mine, too. That's the reason I made the introduction section all Hoosier-focused.

Still, I cannot contain the desire to zoom out from this top-five matchup and look at how the Buckeyes' performance – particularly defending the pass – could be a barometer for how the team will perform in The Game, the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.

Kurtis Rourke, also known as The Maple Missile, has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in college football this season, completing 71.8 percent of his passes for 2,410 yards, 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 88.1 QBR ranks second in the FBS behind Miami's Cam Ward (89.4) and ahead of Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart (86.2), Ohio State's Will Howard (85.5) and Alabama's Jalen Milroe (85.3).

"The numbers speak for themselves," Day said this week. "He knows what he's doing. He's played a lot of football."

The same could be said of Indiana's pass catchers. This season, Rourke has a quintet of favorite receivers, including Elijah Sarratt (38 catches/685 yards/six touchdowns), Omar Cooper Jr. (24/527/5), Myles Price (30/377/2), Ke’Shawn Williams (27/341/2) and Miles Cross (25/289/3). Those receivers will test Ohio State's defensive backs all over the field — Sarratt and Cooper with deep routes, and Price, Williams and Cross with short to immediate. But don't be fooled. Each of them has a diverse skill set that allows them to hurt defenses at all three levels.

"They're going to challenge us on the perimeter," Day said.

The last team to do that was Oregon. The results didn't favor Ohio State.

In the Buckeyes' one-point loss to the Ducks, quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Almost 180 of those yards, as well as both scores, came on Denzel Burke as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein and Gabriel picked on the veteran cornerback eight times.

Ohio State's pass defense has improved in the past four weeks, holding Nebraska to 152 passing yards, Penn State to 150, Purdue to 108, and Northwestern to 201. However, I don't need to explain how those teams' receivers compare to those at Oregon. Indiana, on the other hand...

"(They're) on par with those guys," Day said of the Hoosiers' pass catchers.

Time to see if those improvements are for real. If they are, I'll feel much better about Ohio State's (potential) rematch with Oregon in two weeks.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes.

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