Indiana @ Ohio State preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2013 ) Indiana 14, Ohio State 42

Ohio State is the Big Ten’s only promising team left for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and the Buckeyes still have a lot of work to do. Ohio State will try to close the gap on the top four when it hosts Indiana on Saturday. The Buckeyes took over prime position in the Big Ten by knocking off Michigan State but have advanced only as far as No. 6 in the CFP rankings, with the Big 12 champion the likeliest to leapfrog into the top 4.

Ohio State needs to win out and have some chaos happen to the teams in front of it in the rankings, but it can’t afford to overlook a desperate Hoosiers team. Indiana has dropped five straight by an average of 21.4 points but will try to play to its strength by using the running game to keep the ball away from Ohio State’s explosive offense. The Buckeyes can clinch the Big Ten East and their second straight trip to the Big Ten championship game with a win on Saturday.

TV: Noon ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Ohio State -34.5

ABOUT INDIANA (3-7, 0-6 Big Ten): Tevin Coleman ran for the second-most yards in school history with 307 in a 45-23 loss at Rutgers last week and has gone over 100 in nine of the first 10 games. "It's a good thing to have, but I really couldn't do it without my team, without my o-line, without my defense getting the ball back and I give it up all to them," Coleman told reporters of the record performance. "It's a team game." Coleman’s efforts take some of the pressure off freshman quarterback Zander Diamont, who is completing just 46.9 percent of his passes in four starts.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (9-1, 6-0): The contrast to Diamont is Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett, whose rapid progression is keeping the team in the race. Barrett is beginning to gain more confidence in his rushing and broke loose for 189 yards and a touchdown while throwing for three scores in the 31-24 win at Minnesota last week. “The thing that J.T. does so well, and that's why we stay on course a lot of time, is if it's not there, he puts his foot in the ground and gets six yards and that puts us in second-and-4 instead of hanging around,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told reporters. “That's a great quality of his right now and we don't want that to change.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Coleman is tied for first in Indiana history with four 200-yard games.

2. Ohio State is riding a Big Ten-record 22-game winning streak.

3. Barrett needs two TD passes to pass Troy Smith (30) for the Buckeyes single-season record.

PREDICTION: Ohio State 56, Indiana 24