Here are some more from each school and the Big Ten:
OHIO STATE
- Saturday’s game will be the first time that Ohio State and Indiana have played when both teams are ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll.
- Only two other times – in 1944 and 1993 – have both Ohio State and Indiana been ranked in the AP poll when they played.
- Ohio State has won 17 consecutive games over Big Ten opponents ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 (including conference championship games), the longest streak in poll history.
- Ohio State currently ranks 13th nationally in total offense and is averaging 511.3 yards per game. The Buckeyes’ passing offense has been especially efficient, as it ranks 20th in yards per game (302.7) and No. 1 in completion percentage (.867).
- The Buckeyes last played on Nov. 7, a 49-27 win over Rutgers, after last week’s contest at Maryland was canceled due to a COVID outbreak within the Terrapin program. It was the first regular season cancellation since 1918 during the Spanish flu.
- Chris Olave ranks first in the Big Ten among active players with 19 career touchdown receptions.
- The Buckeyes have won 22 consecutive home games, which is the third-longest streak nationally. The program record for consecutive home wins is 25, set from 1972 through 1976.
- Ohio State has the nation’s longest active regular season winning streak at 19 consecutive games. During that streak, the Buckeyes’ average margin of victory has been 30.8 points per game.
- The last time Ohio State failed to reach 30 points against Indiana was in a 23-17 win in 1993.
- The Buckeyes have five Indiana natives on the roster: LB Craig Young (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Pete Werner (Indianapolis), Josh Fryar (Beech Grove, Ind.), Dawand Jones (Indianapolis) and Drue Chrisman (Lawrenceburg, Ind.).
- Through three games, Justin Fields has thrown as many incompletions as he has touchdown passes. Coupled with his two rushing TDs, Fields has accounted for more touchdowns (13) than he has incompletions (11). Fields’ 86.7 percent completion percentage is the best three-game start to a season (min. 50 attempts) by anyone in college football since at least 2000. Last year season, Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow had an 83.3 percent completion percentage in his first three games. The only other player to complete 85 percent or more of their passes was 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin of Baylor (85.2).
- Fields has 52 career touchdown passes, tying him with Braxton Miller for sixth in Ohio State history. Two more TD passes will put him into a tie with Dwayne Haskins and Troy Smith for No. 4 on the list.
- Fields has accounted for 64 career touchdowns at Ohio State (52 passing, 12 rushing), which ranks fifth all-time. Smith is No. 4 with 68.
- Ohio State has scored touchdowns in 13 of 18 red zone trips this season (72.2 percent), good for 15th among Power 5 teams that have played at least three games. Last season, the Buckeyes were tied for fourth nationally, converting 78.6 percent of their red zone trips into touchdowns.
INDIANA
- The Hoosiers earned their first top 10 ranking in the AP Poll since Sept. 22, 1969 (No. 10), and their current ranking is their best in the AP Poll since Nov. 27, 1967 (No. 4).
- Indiana was last ranked in the Top 10 in back-to-back weeks in 1967 (Nov. 6, Nov. 13) and this is its 17th Top-10 rating.
- Saturday marks IU’s first regular-season Top-10 showdown in program history and just the second overall (1968 Rose Bowl, No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 1 Southern Cal).
- The Hoosiers are 4-0 for the first time since 2015 (4-0) and the seventh time in school history (1990, 4-0; 1986, 4-0; 1985, 4-0; 1967, 8-0; 1910, 5-0). They are 4-0 to start Big Ten play for the third time overall (1987, 4-0; 1967, 5-0).
- IU is 12-5 overall and 9-4 in league play since the start of the 2019 campaign. The Hoosiers have won five of their last six B1G road contests, their best run since 1967-68 (6-of-7).
- Indiana has won a program-record-tying five-straight B1G games (1967) and nine of its last 11, its most successful stretch in conference games since a 9-2 mark from Oct. 3, 1987-Oct. 21, 1988.
- The Hoosiers have won three-straight Big Ten road games for the first time since 1982 and have earned victories in their first two league games away from home for the first time since 1993.
- The Hoosiers are in possession of both of their rivalry trophies, the Old Brass Spittoon (Michigan State) and the Old Oaken Bucket (Purdue).
- Indiana’s 36-35, overtime win against No. 8 Penn State in the season opener was the sixth against a Top-10 opponent in school history, with the last coming at No. 9 Ohio State (31-10) on Oct. 10, 1987. It marked the Hoosiers first Top-10 victory at Memorial Stadium since Nov. 25, 1967 (No. 3 Purdue, 19-14).
- IU has defeated PSU, U-M and MSU in the same season for the first time in program history and beaten the Wolverines and Spartans in the same year for the first time since 1967.
- Indiana has defeated two ranked teams for the sixth time in school history and for the first time since 2004. The 1945 team holds the program record with three ranked wins in one year.
- IU is first in the Big Ten (T-3rd nationally) in takeaway margin (+8) and takeaways gained (12, T-20th) and shares third in takeaways lost (4, T-28th).
- Four Hoosiers hail from the state of Ohio: AJ Barner (Aurora), Sam Daugstrup (Cleveland), Luke Lane (Lebanon) and Sean Wracher (Akron).
- Ohio State holds a 76-12-5 advantage in the all-time series. IU last downed OSU on Oct. 8, 1988, (41-7 in Bloomington), a year after a 31-10 victory over the ninth- ranked Buckeyes in Columbus on Oct. 10.
- Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the conference in passing yards (1,070) and is second – behind Justin Fields – in touchdown passes with nine.
- Penix’s top receiving target is Ty Fryfogle, who leads the league with 424 receiving yards and has four touchdown catches.
- The Hoosiers defense is fourth in the Big Ten in both total defense and scoring defense. The unit has a league-best 10 interceptions and is +8 in turnover margin, which is third-best nationally.
- Cornerback Jaylin Williams is tied for fourth nationally with three interceptions. He has more INTs than six Big Ten teams have so far this season.
BIG TEN
- Indiana’s Ty Fryfogle recorded personal bests in receptions (11), receiving yards (200) and touchdowns (two) to lead the Hoosiers to a 24-0 victory at Michigan State on Saturday. His 178 first half receiving yards marked the most by a Big Ten player since Michigan’s Roy Roundtree in 2010 and he became the seventh receiver in program history to snag 200-plus yards receiving in a single game and the first since Ricky Jones in 2106.
- Wisconsin’s 38-point win over Michigan last week was its largest-ever margin of victory over the Wolverines, surpassing the previous mark of 22 points in 1962.
- With a 27-20 victory against Purdue last Saturday, Northwestern improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2015 and 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1996. Under Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats have won 48 one-possession games, tied for the most nationally in the last 15 seasons. Northwestern wide receiver Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman finished the game with eight catches for 86 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs for the senior.
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