Nine Indiana players from the state of Ohio will run out on the field Saturday when the Hoosiers take on Ohio State in a national top-5 matchup.
The group of Ohioans includes an IU All-American starter from Columbus, and an All-Big Ten linebacker whose father played for the Buckeyes.
Another from Nashville, Tennessee is also an OSU legacy.
Linebacker Isaiah Jones‘ is from London, Ohio. His father played tight end for the Buckeyes.
D.J. Jones was a starter for OSU in 1994 and 1996. The year in between? He had open heart surgery.
D.J. caught 32 passes for 441 yards and two touchdowns during his time in Columbus. He helped lead OSU to the 1996 Rose Bowl. You might recall the Buckeyes clinched that Rose Bowl berth at Indiana — and that their fans stormed the field in Bloomington and tore down a goalpost.
You can see D.J. in that moment here, via Eleven Warriors on YouTube:
Despite all that, Isaiah says his father is all-in on the Hoosiers.
“My dad is like my biggest supporter,” Jones said. “So, he’s all IU. He’s all in my success and he had his time there and obviously growing up in Ohio, but no, he’s all in. He’s all in on me. He’s interested in our game plan. Like, he wants nothing but the best for the Hoosiers.”
Left tackle Carter Smith is from Powell, Ohio, about 20 minutes from Ohio Stadium, the home of the Buckeyes.
Smith’s older brother Landon was a walk-on player for Ohio State. Landon was on the field in 2022 when Carter got his first college start — in Columbus against Ohio State. After three straight losses to OSU, Smith and his teammates finally beat the Buckeyes in 2025.
“It always means a little something to me when I get to play the hometown team,” Smith said this week. “This is my fifth year in a row getting to play against them, too. So right now I have a losing record, and I’m really looking to add another positive into that.”
Wide receiver Charlie Becker isn’t from Ohio.
But Gus Johnson’s favorite Nashville resident is also an Ohio State legacy.
His father Dave Becker was an Ohio State linebacker in 1995. Charlie grew up an Ohio State fan in an Ohio State family.
“We had Ohio State posters up. You name it, we had it,” Becker told ESPN this week. “Every Saturday, we’d be sitting down, watching Ohio State play ball, kicking everybody’s butts. That was a dream: to play for them or play against them.”
Playing against Ohio State was the option for Becker.
Like Jones and Smith, Becker didn’t get an OSU offer. He picked Indiana just hours after his official visit to Bloomington.
“That’s it. I’m done. This is it. This (Indiana) is where I want to play,” Charlie told his father in 2023.
And since then those favorable sentiments toward the Buckeyes have changed dramatically.
After Indiana’s 2025 win over OSU in the Big Ten title game, Becker went viral when he signaled O-S-U with his arms — and added an obscene gesture before the U.
The last time Indiana and Ohio State faced off Charlie Becker had this to say… https://t.co/gkMl5l5s7Q
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2026
Needless to say, new allegiances have been formed.
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