Before every Ohio State football game, Matt Tamanini will get you ready with all of the information that you need for that day’s game on the “Land-Grant Tailgate” podcast.
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No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (-14.5) vs. Illinois | over/under 50.5
Game Date/Time: Saturday, Oct. 1 at 12 noon ET
Location:
TV: Fox
Radio: 97.1 FM/1460 AM
I started the season predicting Illinois to be one of the 12 teams to make the College Football Playoff, and while they could
still do it, the Illini’s embarrassing 63-10 loss to Indiana certainly calls into question any good feelings that I have had about the team.
A two-point win against USC is nice, but not especially impressive, and even a 15-point win over Purdue casts some doubt over just how good of a team the Illini actually are.
The average scoring defense rank of Illinois’ FBS opponents is 61st, but if you take Indiana’s third-ranked unit out of that, it is 76th. So while Illinois has put up some points this year, they have only faced one competent defense, and the Hoosiers shut them down, holding them scoreless in the second half.
Even if that is an outlier game, as Ryan Day has claimed all week, it still bodes well for a Buckeye defense that has given up only two touchdowns all season.
Since the start of fall camp, Day has said his team’s success is more about them than it is about their opponent. With a team coming off a national championship and having to replace over a dozen proven leaders and contributors, that makes sense.
Ohio State is chasing perfection. The defense has something to prove, the offense is growing each week, and the whole squad seems to have a chip on its shoulder for one seemingly manufactured reason or another.
So, I expect another impressively efficient offensive performance this week, in which Julian Sayin continues to quietly work his way into the Heisman conversation. I think he will continue to complete over 75% of his passing attempts and will throw for over 300 yards against the Big Ten’s worst pass defense.
Then, on the other side of the ball, the Silver Bullets continue to be the most dominant unit in the sport, keeping their sixth straight opponent to start the season in the single digits.
Matt’s Predictions: Ohio State 41, Illinois 6
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