Staff Picks: Buckeyes kickoff 2023 season at Indiana

Ohio State will kick off its 2023 football season in Bloomington on Saturday afternoon against the Indiana Hoosiers and all eyes will be on new starting quarterback Kyle McCord. With backup Devin Brown also figuring to get snaps, will the Buckeyes be able to find a rhythm offensively and take care of business as a 30-point favorite, or will the Hoosiers put a scare into Buckeye Nation?

It’s time for our season debut of Staff Picks!

Ross Fulton

First games—especially Big Ten road games—can tend to be sloppy. I expect OSU to look to get Kyle McCord comfortable with a few quick game throws before settling into the run and play action game. It could take some time for the offense to get into a rhythm but the defense should show its improvement throughout.

Ohio State 37 Indiana 11

Tony Gerdeman

I am expecting a dominating Ohio State defense, and not just because I’m expecting a terrible Indiana offense. It’s time to see the speed on defense that Jim Knowles and Ryan Day have been talking about. I’ll be watching Sonny Styles on every snap because I want to see all of the different areas where he lines up. And, of course, let’s see how things go with the situation at free safety.

Offensively, I think the Buckeyes will be able to run the ball pretty well. If they are held under 200 yards, that wouldn’t be great, but let’s see how the yards actually shake out. TreVeyon Henderson is itching to run the ball, so let’s see him scratch. I don’t know if Kyle McCord throws for 200 yards, but that also depends on how much Devin Brown plays. I think the offense will be good, but I don’t expect them to be overly crisp just yet. The running game will keep them on schedule, however. 

Ohio State 42 Indiana 10

Marc Givler

I’m actually not very concerned about a poor performance here. I’ve been concerned about the O-Line this off-season and obviously any time you breaking in a new quarterback (or two new quarterbacks), the season opener can be a bit of a wild card.

But I sense that this is a group that feels it has a ton of unfinished business from last season and for a team coming off a CFP appearance, it has faced quite a bit of scrutiny this off-season. Every team is excited to kickoff it season, but it just feels like there is a bit more hunger here and more pent up energy than usual.

I think the Ohio State defense dominates and the offense settles in by the second quarter in a blowout win for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State 48 Indiana 6

Alex Gleitman

I expect the Hoosiers to be pretty bad this year, maybe 2-10 or 3-9 overall with a chance to be 1-8 or even 0-9 in the Big Ten. When the strength of this program has traditionally been defense, and that side of the ball is somewhat of a mess with a lot of new pieces, it’s not a good sign for the Crimson and Cream.

The Buckeyes have their own things to figure out, and I think they’ll have a chance to get some good work in against a real opponent. I think the offense may start a bit slow, but will get going to give OSU a comfortable lead at half. I think the defense will be dominant for nearly the whole game, with the Hoosiers only scoring a touchdown later against the back-ups.

Buckeyes win 45-10

Kevin Noon

Is Ohio State’s offense going to be solid enough to start the season in a “name the score” type of capacity, or will that take a couple of weeks?

Starting in league play, on the road is never an easy thing. It doesn’t hurt that Ohio State has owned the series against Indiana through the years and while what happened in 2013 or 2003 don’t have a direct impact on what will happen in 2023, the Buckeyes are on something like a 35-year win streak against the Hoosiers.

Sure, we don’t know who Ohio State’s quarterback is (we do now, it is Kyle McCord, but that was named after I submitted this), but we don’t know who Indiana’s placekicker is.

Check and Mate.

The Buckeyes have opened the season three times in the 2000s against Big Ten foes (including the Big Ten only year of 2020) and have won by an average margin of 49-23.

I just have a hard time finding a way that Indiana gets to 23.

Ohio State’s unnamed quarterback starter (yes, I know it is Kyle McCord) will easily outduel Indiana’s unnamed quarterback starter and we will see a clean effort from the Ohio State defense, keeping the Indiana running game well in-check and a confident secondary locking down the Indiana passing game.

That doesn’t mean it is going to be a totally clean game but who comes out and plays their best game in week one?

There will be frustration from Ohio State fans who took CJ Stroud for granted that the Buckeyes don’t score on every drive, but Ohio State will score on enough of them to pull away easily. 

Ohio State 42 Indiana 13

Tom Orr

Earlier this week, Indiana head coach Tom Allen identified an
inexperienced secondary as his biggest concern entering the season.
That’s not great when you’re about to face Ohio State’s talented wide
receiver corps.

Nonetheless, things will undoubtedly look a little rough for the
Buckeye offense at some point during the game. Please try to remember
that this is just week one, and try to avoid calling for a switch at
quarterback after the first incomplete pass.

Ohio State 45 Indiana 10