I have at least 15 other things I should be doing instead of writing this article. You probably have at least 10 things you should be doing rather than reading this article. So let’s make this short and sweet and get to the point so I can do at least 1 of those things and you can do…whatever you want to do. Eh? Sound fair? Good.

The Indiana Hoosiers get beat by Ohio State this weekend in a game with a line that started out at Ohio State -38.5. If Ohio had sports betting, I’d have put my mortgage on the over. It won’t be close. It will also end the Indiana bowl hope officially by giving Indiana 7 losses and securing Tom Allen’s 4^th losing season in 6 years at Indiana.

Let’s get this over with.

History

Winsipedia

• Indiana has not beaten Ohio State in my lifetime.
• The 2010 Ohio State victory over Indiana was vacated, so we’ve got that going for us.
• The last Hoosier win in the series was back to back wins in 1987 and 1988. Since then, crickets.

Fun Facts

Once again I’ve been able to avoid doing my own research. Instead of googling, I’ve outsourced the fun factoids to our Ohio State friend and writer MaximumSam. Whatcha got for us MS?

Maximum Sam: Fun Fact #1. While OSU is now know as a professional football factory, it’s most famous athletic alums aren’t football players. Or even basketball. The second most famous OSU athlete is Jack Nicklaus, who went on to win 18 major golf championships. The most famous OSU athlete is track God Jesse Owens. Owens won four individual gold medals in track twice in the NCAA championships, a record which still stands. Despite that, he wasn’t allowed to live, stay, or eat with the white members of his team due to his race. He also didn’t receive a scholarship. He went on to dominate the Olympics in Berlin and be credited with “single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy.” Which is pretty good, at least for a walk-on.

Buffkomodo: Interesting. Please continue with fun factoids.

MaximumSam: Fun Fact #2: Woody Hayes usually gets the Most Famous OSU Coach Award, but I’d like to point out that one of the most important people in the history of football also coached at OSU. Ohio State hired Paul Brown from Massillon High School because they wanted his best players to come to the school. He only coached at Ohio State for three years, but won them their first national championship in 1942. Unfortunately, he got drafted a year later, coached a naval boot camp for two years, and then was hired to coach the Cleveland professional sports team, which was eventually just named the Browns after him.

Buffkomodo: Intriguing. Go on.

MaximumSam: Final Fun Fact: This fact is really the most important one for OTE readers, and it is Paul Brown related. Brown is credited with many things: the draw play, the passing pocket, the use of assistant coaches, and the use of scouts. But his most weirdly enduring creation was the way he judged players at OSU. He stressed speed and quickness, and he tested players based on how fast they could run and cover a punt. He decided the average distance a player would have to run is 40 yards, and that’s why now, eighty years later, the 40 yard dash is the pre-eminent test of a football player’s speed. So, the next time someone mentions their forty time, politely honor history by telling them they would be great on the punt team.

Buffkomodo: Awesome! Thank you for giving us some fun facts Max! Appreciate it!

What to Watch For

1) Will you win money?

The only reason to watch this game if you’re not a Buckeye fan is to see if the Bucks can cover. That of course assumes you put money on the game though. Any other viewing is shear sadist like behavior.

2) How stupid can the Hoosier look?

The QB carousel. Inept receivers. How many runs can get stuffed within a second of handing the ball off. These stupid plays make the Hoosiers look stupid. If you Purdue fans enjoy seeing Indiana getting throttled in the backfield, this game will be fun for you.

3) Don’t watch. Seriously.

This series is one sided. This game is entirely one sided. Spare me the “if we can just hang close” narrative. This team has not proven it can hang with the big boys. This coaching staff has not proven they can gameplan effectively enough to give the squad a chance. It’s literally over before it starts. Don’t watch this shitty performance.

It’s All Over But The Crying

And with this loss, we unofficially wrap the Indiana Hoosier football season. I’ve not made a determination on whether or not to write the post season autopsy now and give myself some free time in December, or to wait and see if Indiana can pull off a win against Sparty or Purdue. At this point, neither are likely so it feels like I could just go ahead and wrap the season up before Indiana plays Xavier in basketball.

Perhaps this level of apathy hitting the Indiana football fanbase should tell you something. Perhaps my apathy should tell you something. I’ve watched and enjoyed watching Indiana football since Terry Hoeppner. I’ve gone through it all with Hoeppner, then Lynch, Wilson and his rise and fall, and then now Allen. In my personal fandom, this is perhaps the worst shape the program is in. This program is officially back to being a Lynch-esk program. Actually, they could be worse. Like I’ve said multiple times, I will refrain from calling for jobs until next season starts. We do owe this regime that. It doesn’t feel like things will get better though and I’m left wondering what, if anything at all, can be done.

Game Time 11/12 –12:00 PM EST – FOX