4 short-attention spans
Hello, Big Ten play … Time to get Ohio State’s field goal kicker more in-game practice … Can’t wait for Bret Bielema postgame comments … Julian Sayin still needs to run more.
Pregame buzz
The Illini put a tiny scare into the Buckeyes last season (see below), but I don’t anticipate OSU being put on upset alert this week. It’s the Big Ten opener. Ball State and Kent State aren’t walking through that door, and while Illinois isn’t Texas, Saturday should be a measuring stick for where Ohio State stands in the national pecking order.
One-liner
Ohio State victory bell ringer James Laurinaitis rang a lot of bells when he played linebacker for the Buckeyes.
Make or breakers
Last season, OSU built a 20-3 cushion before the Illini made it interesting for a minute in the third quarter, cutting
the deficit to 20-10. But once the Buckeyes checked their rearview, they sped up again to win 34-16. Still, Illinois coach Bret Bielema thought he found a chink in Ohio State’s defensive armor.
“When we went to some pace [after halftime], we had success with it,” he said after the loss. “I wanted to go tempo the whole freakin’ game, because they couldn’t do s--- with it. We were doing a lot of really good things. In retrospect, we could have done that sooner.”
Will the Illini try to go tempo in the Horseshoe? If so, will it work? This OSU defense so far has not proved as dynamic as the 2025 edition. It should be interesting to see what Bielema has up his sleeve.
Robo’s rankings
- Notre Dame (1 last week) … Poor Purdue. The Fighting Irish are about to hand a condemned sign on their in-state neighbor.
- Texas (2) … The Longhorns have a quarterback who can scramble. A luxury or something that should be standard in the college game? Ohio State fans want to know.
- Ole Miss (unranked) … Two words: Trinidad Chambliss. The Runnin’ Rebels quarterback is hard to stop.
- Indiana (2) … The Hoosiers host Northwestern in a Friday game. Don’t sleep on this one.
- Georgia (4) … The Bulldogs finally face a legitimate opponent in Oklahoma, although I wonder if the Sooners coach is totally legit.
Robo’s rantings
If college football wants to separate itself from the NFL – and I’m not sure it does – then one way to accomplish the goal is to demand that halftime belongs to the bands, not media talking heads. Frankly, I’m tired of listening to the network “talent” pontificate on what went right and wrong during the first half. Yada, yada, yada. What I could use more of is some nostalgic rah-rah, sis-boom-bah, i.e., marching bands.
Numbers for dummies
2007 – the last time Ohio State lost to Illinois; the unranked Illini stunned the No. 1 Buckeyes 28-21 in Columbus.
24 – OSU’s average margin of victory since losing to Illinois in 2007.
1 – number of times Ryan Day has faced Illinois in seven previous seasons on the job.
5.9 – Bo Jackson’s average yards per carry, which ranks 27th nationally (minimum 25 attempts).
Across the Field
I remember when Illinois was the cream of the Big Ten crop. Yes, I’m that old. The run of fun didn’t last long for the Illini, who won the Big Ten in 1983 and again in 2001, but that's still better than anything Minnesota, Rutgers or Maryland has done of late. The Orange and Navy Blue are coming off a 9-4 season (5-4 in conference), so it’s not like they are on the rise, and they are 2-1 this season, with wins over Alabama-Birmingham and Southern Illinois. The loss was to Duke. Ohio State should take care of business pretty easily, but the Illini average 5.3 yards rushing, so Saturday could be a test for OSU’s defensive line. Famous Illinois alum: Nick Offerman.
We SEC you (a weekly look at that other conference)
The Ole Miss-LSU game was a popcorn passer, in part because Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is so fun to watch, and because LSU coach Lane Kiffin is so fun to listen to before, after and during games. Kiffin enjoys wearing the black hat as the conference’s resident bad guy, and for one night, he received his comeuppance for leaving Oxford, Mississippi for Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dad joke
Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Blue.
Blue who?
Don’t cry. Orange you glad I didn’t call it Illi-noise?
Just wondering
I’m planning a deeper dive on Julian Sayin’s passing stats in a few weeks, but checking the OSU quarterback’s grades on PFF raised an eyebrow. Sayin grades higher on the majority of deep throws than he does short tosses over the middle, which was his third lowest grade overall (70%), ahead of only throws to deep left (60.9%) and short right (49.6%). His completion percentage on short throws over the middle (81.3%) was lower than short left (83.3%), intermediate right (83.3%) and deep center (100%). Maybe it means nothing. Or maybe it means that, at 6-foot-1, he struggles to see over taller offensive and defensive linemen, which limits his ability to find receivers on short throws over the middle. Something to keep an eye on.
Day delivery
What the coach said: "We need some dudes who are going to run angry this week."
What we heard: There were big holes to run through against Kent State. There should have been explosive runs, and there weren't.
Inside the biz
Sports writer lingo differs from fan terminology in many ways. Here is one: When I confirm with a colleague that a player is “good,” it doesn’t necessarily mean the player is talented on the field, though he or she may be. It means the athlete is a good talker. We partly make our living riffing on what athletes say, so the more quotable the comment, the “better” they are. Example: Player A gets asked what he saw developing on the play where he made an interception. If his response is “I play hard and drink a lot of water,” which is an actual quote from a former Ohio State athlete, he is not “good.” If he answers, “I didn’t need to see anything; I was born with special instincts,” which is not an actual quote, then the player is “good.” Maybe someday I’ll post a list of good and not-so-good talkers, but for now just know that Illinois coach Bret Bielema is a world-class yapper.
Horseshoe haiku
Time to put away
Mid-American team toys
Big Ten play begins
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at @rollerCD.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State and James Laurinaitis will ring some bells against Illinois
