Ohio State football: Buckeyes fine in CFP, CJ competitive for Heisman, but each could use a few style points

Another week of CFP rankings and another week where Ohio State is sitting pretty. Predictably, Georgia, by knocking off previously No. 1 Tennessee, jumped the Buckeyes into the No. 1 spot. But Ohio State is sitting pretty at 2nd and Michigan is 3rd, with Tennessee falling to 5th.

For Ohio State, what does it all mean? As before, win out and all is well. But Michigan and Ohio State sitting at spots 2 and 3 and all but sure to stay there until they meet in a couple weeks is not bad news. The concern throughout this whole process is that a 1-loss Buckeyes team could get left out.

Tennessee now is probably blocked out of the SEC title game and won’t get a chance to add any meaningful victories. Additionally, their marquee win over Alabama was devalued by the Tide’s loss to LSU. Should Alabama lose to Ole Miss, it could take even another hit — and that looks far from impossible.

Obviously, whoever wins between Michigan and Ohio State is in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes will probably find themselves in the unlikely position of rooting for Michigan to not get bumped off by Illinois next week heading into the rivalry matchup. TCU is almost guaranteed a loss that will knock them out of the CFP. Oregon’s awful loss to Georgia probably would preclude them jumping a 1-loss Buckeyes squad.

While a million eventualities are still possible, Ohio State is certainly not in worse position than they were a week ago. In fact, it’s probably better.

But here’s another thing. Style points matter. Whether they matter in statistical formulas or strength of schedule rankings is one thing. They matter as eye candy. A Buckeyes team that had basically crushed through most of its schedule certainly won a snoozer at Northwestern.

The Buckeyes could use a better performance Saturday against Indiana. In fact, they really need to have one. While Northwestern was a 38-point underdog to the Buckeyes, 3-6 Indiana is a 40-point underdog. Indiana has lost 6 straight games, and only losses to Maryland and Rutgers were competitive. In that 6-game losing streak, Indiana has allowed 45, 45, 38, 35, 31, and 24 points. After scoring just 21 against Northwestern, Ohio State has to be looking for more offensive punch this weekend.

And it’s much, much, much less significant, but IU offers an opportunity for CJ Stroud to make up some lost ground in the Heisman race. Hendon Hooker not only losing but looking positively human against Georgia should hurt his own candidacy on 2 fronts. But meanwhile, Stroud comes off the worst passing game of his career, and could use some beefed up numbers against the Hoosiers.

Indiana is last in the Big Ten in scoring defense, last in passing defense, and 12th in defensive yardage allowed. They’ve allowed a conference-high 21 touchdown passes. IU is next to last in 10+ yard passes allowed, and tied for the same spot in 20+ yard passes allowed. The game is a dual opportunity for the Buckeyes offense and for CJ Stroud to post some significant numbers.

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All of this is to say that Ohio State isn’t going to make the CFP off the Indiana game. CJ Stroud isn’t going to win the Heisman Trophy off the IU game. But in both cases, Ohio State has the chance to deliver a couple of statements. A 40-point win and a 400-yard passing day won’t draw a ton of national attention … but each would be another brick in the wall of a pair of solid candidacies that the Buckeyes would like to see completed.