No. 5 Indiana (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten, No. 5 CFP) at No. 2 Ohio State (9-1, 6-1, No. 2 CFP), Saturday, 12 p.m. EST (FOX)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Ohio State by 11 1/2.
Series record: Ohio State leads 79-5-12.
One of the most important Indiana-Ohio State games will have playoff ranking implications. Ohio State already has one loss and with another could be pushed way down — if not outside of — the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers are facing a ranked team for the first time this season. Beating the Buckeyes at home would show they deserve a place among college football's top teams. Ohio State buried Northwestern at Wrigley Field last week.
Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke vs. Ohio State defense. The 24-year-old Rourke is as poised and unflappable as any FBS quarterback in the country. And even though he knows what to expect Saturday — he spent five seasons playing less than two hours away from Columbus at Ohio University — this will be his biggest test yet. Ohio State's defense has a way of making any quarterback uncomfortable and that's not likely to change this weekend.
Indiana: Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison. The two running backs who transferred to Indiana this season came here to play in these kinds of games. With Rourke running the offense, this two-headed running back duo has given the Hoosiers a balanced and fresh ground game.
Ohio State: WR Jeremiah Smith's poise and crisp route-running bely the fact that he's only a true freshman. He had four catches for 100 yards against Northwestern and has 865 and a team-leading nine touchdowns this season.
Ohio State quarterback has continued to be efficient and make good decisions. He's completing 72.9% of his throws and has multiple touchdown passes in all but one game this season. ... The Hoosiers have not won at The Horseshoe since 1987 and have not beaten the Buckeyes since 1988. ... Quinshon Judkins rushed for two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 31-7 win over Northwestern. ... Both of Howard's TD passes went to Carnell Tate, who grew up in Chicago. ... Indiana is tied with Miami for the most TDs scored this season (57). ... Indiana has set school records for wins and conference wins in a single season and its 10-game winning streak is the longest in program history. The Hoosiers also are one of three remaining unbeaten teams.
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Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith catches a touchdown pass as Northwestern's Josh Fussell defends during the first half of an NCAA college football game at Wrigley Field on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Chicago. The catch was over turned after video review. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police.
The state's highest court ruled that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped charges against Smollett in exchange for forfeiting his $10,000 bond and conducting community service. The ruling and the appeal did not address Smollett's continued claim of innocence.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives and kicking up an international uproar. Smollett was on the television drama “Empire,” which filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio’s response to hate mail he received.
“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the 5-0 decision. “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”
Smollett’s attorneys have argued that the case was over when the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped an initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct. A grand jury restored charges after a special prosecutor took the case. A jury convicted Smollett of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.
Emailed messages seeking comment were sent Thursday to Foxx's office and to Smollett’s attorney, who have argued that Smollett has been victimized by a racist and politicized justice system.
Testimony at his trial indicated Smollett paid $3,500 to two men whom he knew from “Empire” to carry out the attack. Prosecutors said he told them what slurs to shout, and to yell that Smollett was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.
Smollett testified that “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail — six of which he served before he was freed pending appeal — 30 months of probation and ordered to pay about $130,000 in restitution.
A state appellate court ruling upheld Smollett’s the conviction, declaring that no one promised Smollett he wouldn’t face a fresh prosecution after accepting the original deal.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and Justice Joy Cunningham took no part in Thursday’s decision.
Associated Press reporter Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
FILE - Jussie Smollett arrives at the BET Awards, June 26, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
