No. 1 Ohio St. and No. 2 Indiana put different recruiting styles to the test in Big Ten title game

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher studies Ohio State's game tape, he sees the same things everyone else does.

The Buckeyes have two NFL caliber receivers, a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, an elite offensive line and a group of powerful, dangerous running backs. Then there's the Ohio State defense, rife with two possible top 15 draft picks and perhaps six selected in the first three rounds.

Yet here is Fisher, a zero-star prep recruit who had only one Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offer, preparing to face the defending national champs for a Big Ten title Saturday in Indianapolis. It's the first time the No. 2 Hoosiers have reached the title game, their first shot at a conference crown since 1967 and they see this is a classic Stars vs. Misfits underdog game.

“It's been a special two years for me and the misfits coming (to Indiana),” Fisher said after Saturday's 56-3 rout at Purdue. “Everybody just wants to win. It doesn't matter how you do it, it doesn't matter what your role is. You kind of get your role and you kind of expand it, embrace it and I think that's what makes us special.”

Indiana's players proudly wear their self-dubbed “misfits” label now that they've broken the single-season school victory record for the second straight year, won at Penn State for the first time and produced the first perfect regular season in program history.

The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0) also are unfazed by the notion college football fans are unfamiliar with the names of those who turned the Football Bowl Subdivision's losingest program into a national championship contender in just two years.

But they're also aware of the star power the Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0) present.

Ohio State enters its first title game since 2020 with 2024's top overall recruit, receiver Jeremiah Smith, paired with that year's No. 1 quarterback, Julian Sayin. The results have been as spectacular as advertised.

Sayin leads the nation in passing efficiency and completion percentage and is at the center of the Heisman debate in his first season as a college starter. Smith's supporters are waging their own Heisman campaign thanks to his gaudy numbers and incredible highlights.

And if they're not making plays, it's likely receiver Carnell Tate or the other Bo Jackson are.

“Bo is the one of the most talented running backs I’ve actually ever seen play at that age,” said guard Luke Montgomery, Ohio's top recruit in the 2022 recruiting class. “He’s a very gifted athlete and I don’t think he knows that yet, all of what he can do.”

Ohio State also has some big names on the nation’s stingiest defense, starting with All-American safety Caleb Downs, the brother of Indianapolis Colts receiver Josh Downs, and defensive end Arvell Reese, who could be the first defensive player taken in April's draft, not to mention a former NFL head coach as defensive coordinator.

Indiana, in contrast, has a coaching staff that's stuck together for years through multiple stops and a team that refuses to back down from any challenge.

Fisher is the leader of the nation's second stingiest scoring defense, which is preparing for Saturday's overlooked matchup between Smith and his high school teammate, Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds.

That's how it's been for Indiana and second-year coach Curt Cignetti, who has created a team of overachievers.

All-American defensive end Mikail Kamara, like Fisher, had virtually no interest from major colleges because he, too, was a zero-star recruit. Both played for Cignetti at James Madison and followed him to Indiana to challenge themselves against the nation's best.

The Hoosiers roster is full of such stories.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza's first scholarship offer came from Yale. He eventually landed at California before joining the Hoosiers this season so he could learn how to become a more complete quarterback by playing for Cignetti. Mendoza now leads the nation with 32 TD passes, is second in passing efficiency and is a Heisman frontrunner.

It didn't take him long to determine he fit right in. Starting center Pat Coogan joined the Hoosiers in part because he was about to lose his starting job at Notre Dame after helping pave the way to a national runner-up finish and it led to Saturday's pregame speech.

“Pat gave us a really motivating speech,” Mendoza said. “He's like, ‘Look at us a bunch of misfits, guys from the FCS, the Group of Five, a bunch of transfers, a bunch of rejects that got replaced at their old schools and now we have a chance to be 12-0.’"

That might be how the Hoosiers see themselves, but that's not how the Buckeyes view the Hoosiers.

“He's been able to turn over his roster and bring in a lot of talent in a short period of time, which was really well done," Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said, referring to Cignetti. “You can tell they're good evaluators of talent and then when you watch them play, they're well-coached.”

And it's certainly not how Cignetti sees it.

“I think that was Pat's angle to kind of get everyone fired up. I don't view our team as a bunch of misfits at all,” Cignetti said. “We've got a lot of good football players who have proven themselves. They have high character, high intelligence and work hard, and there's lot of people in the country who would love to have our guys.”

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