Ohio State football has a plethora of talent across the field for any given matchup. The Buckeyes are already led by former four-star quarterback Will Howard behind center.
Howard ignites an offense ranked 17th in the nation by averaging 451.4 yards per game. Ohio State additionally sits 12th overall in scoring with the dual-threat quarterback leading the charge. Now coming up for Howard and the nation’s second-ranked team? No. 5 Indiana in Columbus — in a game bound to alter the Big 10 Conference title game landscape and impact the College Football Playoff picture.
The Hoosiers are entering Ohio Stadium undefeated and visualizing an upset. The No. 2 Buckeyes will surely need to ride Howard’s arm and trust his legs to will them to victory. Howard already needs just one more touchdown to pass to shatter his previous best mark of 24 from 2023. Sounds like the former Kansas State QB commit is the x-factor ahead of this much-anticipated Saturday showdown, right? Except Howard is not.
In scrutinizing the 10-0 Hoosiers, they’ve become most deadly on the offensive side of the ball. Indiana leads all Big 10 teams with averaging 43.9 points per game. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is completing 71.8% of his throws, joining Howard as QBs who have hit more than 70% of their targets. Rourke has dangerous James Madison transfer Elijah Sarratt shredding defenses with 18 yards per catch — making him Indiana’s x-factor for Saturday.
So if not Howard, who qualifies as Ohio State’s proverbial x-factor for the marquee contest? We’re turning to the defensive trenches for this one.
Tyleik Williams is biggest x-factor for Ohio State vs. Indiana
Look for the massive and powerful 6-foot-3, 327-pound interior defensive lineman to get called to set the tone for the Buckeyes.
Williams has surprisingly flown under the radar for the 9-1 Buckeyes. He obviously lines up at a spot that doesn’t get much publicity compared to Howard’s position. Williams, though, still plays an integral role for Saturday.
Indiana may have knocked off defending national champion Michigan 20-15 on Nov. 9. But its pass protection looked awfully suspect against the Wolverines. The visiting Wolverines still sacked Rourke four times.
In a perfect world, Ohio State wouldn’t lean on Michigan for anything. That’s common for historic rivals with bad blood towards each other. However, the Buckeyes and Williams can turn to the Wolverines’ blueprint on slowing down this high-powered offense.
Indiana is already banged up inside on the offensive line. That bodes greatly for Williams to test the interior right away. Williams blowing up the inside of IU’s offensive trenches will swing the outcome of this game. The 21-year-old is capable of forcing IU to become one-dimensional if he eliminates the run portion of the Hoosiers’ RPO (run pass option) attack. But he can also command enough trench attention to free up teammates JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer to wreck havoc on the passing game.
Williams has dealt with injuries himself, including a recent ankle ailment from the Penn State game. But he’s a freakish force of nature when healthy — and fully capable of disrupting Indiana’s dream season as the Buckeyes’ x-factor here.
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