Buckeyes at full strength for season opener at Indiana
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is opening its season as healthy as it can be.
The Buckeyes won’t be missing any of their projected first- or second-team players on both sides of the ball for the season-opening road game at Indiana. The program released its availability report, clearing the Buckeyes to kick off the season with a relatively clean bill of health.
Ohio State will, however, be without a few intriguing scholarship players from across the roster. Sophomore wide receiver Kyion Grayes will begin his second season with the program on the shelf.
And the beginning of the careers for freshman safety Jayden Bonsu and defensive end Will Smith Jr., who are both members of the 2023 recruiting class for Ohio State, will have to wait. Both are unavailable for the first game of the season.
The full availability report from the program is now confirmed, making note that Ohio State doesn’t detail injury or disciplinary matters.
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Ohio State players out
21 Jayden Bonsu
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87 Reis Stocksdale
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Ohio State-Indiana game time, details
- Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- TV Channel: CBS
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 2
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
- Weather: 86º, 0-1% chance of rain, winds 7-8 mph at kickoff
- The line: Ohio State is a 29.5-point favorite, per Fanduel Sportsbook.
- Over/under: 59.5 points
Ohio State leads the all-time series 78-12-5. Since Ryan Day became full-time head coach, the Buckeyes have averaged 50.8 points per game against the Hoosiers. That includes explosions of 54 and 56 points in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Indiana did give Ohio State a scare in Day’s tenure, though. That was during 2020, the highlight of Tom Allen’s now-seven-year run at the Hoosiers’ helm. Led by quarterback Michael Penix Jr., now a Heisman Trophy candidate at Washington, Indiana rallied back from a 42-21 deficit to make it a one-score game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Even though Penix finished with 491 passing yards and five touchdowns — but also a costly pick-six — Ohio State prevented him and the Hoosiers from knotting things up in the final frame.
Last year, the Buckeyes got back to their traditional scoring ways with a 56-14 victory over Indiana, a week removed from a windy and rainy slugfest at Northwestern. Josh Fryar made his first career start at right tackle, replacing an injured Dawand Jones, and shined against his home state team as the play-side tackle for a fair share of Miyan Williams explosive runs. Williams piled up 147 rushing yards and a score in the first half before being sidelined. Ohio State had more than enough firepower to go around. Quarterback C.J. Stroud resumed his Heisman campaign with five touchdown throws, one of which went to battle-tested wide receiver Kamryn Babb, making for an iconic moment in Ohio Stadium.
