Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith says timing with freshman QB Luke Fahey will take time

Ohio State won at Indiana, but it lost its quarterback doing it. Now the Buckeyes have a bye week to get true freshman Luke Fahey ready to throw to the best receiver in the country. Jeremiah Smith was blunt about how hard that will be. Asked about building chemistry with the new starter, he told reporters that "It's gonna take time to build that. Not one day; it's not that easy," according to EssentiallySports.

Julian Sayin hurt his throwing shoulder in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 19-15 win at No. 5 Indiana, and Ryan Day said he expects the junior to miss several weeks, ESPN reported. Sayin's 38-yard touchdown to Smith on fourth-and-1 had put Ohio State up 19-7 before he left. The Buckeyes held on when Indiana's Nick Marsh stepped out of bounds on what would have been the go-ahead score with 1:02 left, according to the Associated Press account carried by CBS Sports. The AP also noted that Fahey looked rushed at times once he took over, and Day said the offense may have to look somewhat different with the freshman running it.

That is the adjustment Smith was describing. He and Sayin have played together for three seasons, and this fall that connection has produced 52 catches, 984 yards and 12 touchdowns for Smith. Fahey enrolled only about eight months ago. EssentiallySports reports the staff plans to give him roughly 80 percent of the first-team snaps during the open week and to shape the plan around his ability to move and throw on the run. His only real work so far came in second-half snaps against Ball State and Kent State, where he went 9 of 11 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He did not complete either of his two throws at Indiana. Heavy pointed out that the job is not guaranteed to be his, though he was the one Day sent in on Saturday.

What it means for USC

Ohio State is 6-1 and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Its only loss was 24-23 at Texas in September. The Buckeyes have averaged about 39 points a game and allowed about 13. The 19 points at Indiana were their fewest of the season, though, and that came with Sayin on the field for most of the game. The next trip is Oct. 31 at No. 16 USC, which is a homecoming for Fahey, a Southern California native. Ohio State has already won tough road games at No. 14 Iowa (31-14) and at Indiana, and the defense is the reason to think it can survive a first start. Still, an offense that leaned on Sayin-to-Smith now has two weeks to work out a new version of itself.

Indiana (6-1) goes to Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 24, on Fox, coming off its first home loss under Curt Cignetti. On this site's board, which tracks 12 venues, Indiana is favored at -270 on Novig. Michigan is +257 there, and the best price anywhere is +262 at Polymarket. Novig lists Indiana at -7.5 on the spread at +111, while the best Indiana price elsewhere is -6.5 at -120 at Hard Rock Bet. The total sits at 41.5, and sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 3.6 to 5.6 percent. Full prices are at /odds/indiana-at-michigan-2026-10-24. Season numbers for both programs are on the Ohio State and Indiana team pages.