Indiana DL suffers freak injury after Ohio State win that will cost him the CFP

Despite having not lost a game all year long, the Indiana Hoosiers are now facing a bit of adversity. While celebrating their Big Ten Championship victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, defensive lineman Stephen Daley hurt himself and is expected to be out for the season. He suffered "a potential leg injury on a freak incident as he walked around the stadium giving high fives to fans."

Daley was in his first year with the team after having transferred over from Kent State. On the year, Daley had 38 tackles and 19 were for a loss of yardage. He had 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 13 games of action. Football is a game of injury, but any freak accident during a celebration is particularly brutal. It will be up to Curt Cignetti and Bryant Haines to counterbalance losing him here.

Indiana may have the easiest path to the national title bout of anyone in the playoff, but this stinks!

One of the reasons Indiana is the lone undefeated team left in major college football is in part because of Haines' defense. He is a finalist for the Broyles Award, going to the best assistant in the country. After last Saturday, Haines might be the favorite to beat out Mike Bobo of Georgia, Corey Hetherman of Miami, Matt Patricia of Ohio State, and Shiel Wood of Texas Tech for the major honor.

For now, he is going to have to overcome losing such a relentless presence along his defensive line.

Stephen Daley likely out for the season after suffering freak leg injury

The good news for Indiana is the Hoosiers will not have to play again for the better part of a month now. They earned the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, meaning they will get a bye to the national quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 first-round game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Both teams have offensive issues...

As long as Haines' defensive staff can bring some pressure in the Rose Bowl, Indiana should be on easy street to the Peach Bowl as part of the national semifinals. Meeting them there will be either the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders, the No. 5 Oregon Ducks, or even the No. 12 James Madison Dukes. JMU is a massive long shot to win a game. Texas Tech is the most likely. Indiana already beat Oregon.

So what news of Daley's injury means for Indiana is coaching will really have to come into play again here. The Hoosiers are incredibly well-coached. They are a national championship contender without having a ton of four or five-stars on their roster. This may catch up to them at some point, but for now, time is on their side to navigate their side of the bracket, presumably without Daley moving forward.

It is hard to tell Indiana to act like it has been in the end zone before when the Hoosiers never have...