Ohio State safety Jaylen McClain saw a tell in Illinois quarterback Katin Houser.
As McClain dropped into coverage on a fourth down in the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes’ 42-19 win over the Illini, he noticed Houser’s eyes. He was glancing toward wide receiver Brayden Trimble, who was angling his route toward the left sideline.
“So I just broke on the ball,” McClain said, “and made the play.”
McClain had arrived at the 5-yard line by the time the pass arrived from Houser and jarred the ball loose.
The pass breakup resulted in a turnover on downs and kept Illinois from moving within striking distance as the Buckeyes protected a two-touchdown lead.
It stood out as a clutch stop two weeks after the Buckeyes had struggled to come up with one in the fourth
quarter of their collapse at Texas.
But Ohio State was not without issues on defense as it opened Big Ten play against Illinois on Sept. 26, surrendering 462 yards of offense, the most since Matt Patricia debuted as defensive coordinator last season. The Buckeyes had never allowed more than 340 yards in Patricia's tenure. They last gave up as many yards in a loss at Oregon in 2024.
“We've got to get on the film and make corrections,” coach Ryan Day said.
The Buckeyes had their most trouble trying to contain explosive plays by Illinois, which reeled off eight plays from scrimmage of at least 20 yards. None of their nonconference opponents, including top-ranked Texas, had broken loose for more than one against them.
Day pointed to man coverage and pressure packages as leading causes for the leaks. The Buckeyes rarely hesitated to send extra rushers, blitzing on 23 of Houser’s 44 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. It was the second straight week they dialed up pressure on more than half of the opposing quarterback’s dropbacks.
“Some of those balls squirted out,” Day said, “and created the explosive plays.”
While the Buckeyes sacked Houser three times, the experienced East Carolina transfer rarely looked rattled.
Houser completed five passes of at least 20 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown to wide receiver Ty Robinson, and scrambled for 25 yards on a third down in the fourth quarter.
“Explosives are going to happen,” McClain said, “but at the end of the day, it's not acceptable. We've got to fix it.”
The Illini also stressed Ohio State’s run fits. Before Jordan Anderson ran for a 22-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, Illinois had been in a two-back set. Houser handed the ball off to Anderson, but the Buckeyes appeared to anticipate him giving it to Ca'Lil Valentine and drifted too far from the edge.
Safety Earl Little Jr. collided with linebacker Riley Pettijohn as Anderson broke through the line of scrimmage, leaving no defender between him and the end zone.
“They had some good run-game stuff that messed with our scheme,” linebacker Payton Pierce said. “I can make some more checks to help us in those situations. We’ll learn from it.”
The growing pains were likely inevitable for a defense that ranked atop the Football Bowl Subdivision last year, lost eight starters, including linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs who were taken among the top 11 picks in the NFL draft in April.
To compensate for the losses, the Buckeyes have used more personnel groupings and frequent rotations. They had 24 players take snaps on defense against the Illini after only 17 appeared in last season’s Big Ten opener at Washington.
But they came up with enough stops late to make a difference, including two on fourth down in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously, the yardage thing needs to be fixed,” McClain said, “but I feel like in the moments where we needed to buckle down and make the play, I feel like that is what we did.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football defense shows cracks despite clutch stops in win over Illinois
