Ohio State will be back on the road this weekend, making the trek to Champaign to battle the Illinois Fighting Illini, who enter this week ranked 17th in the country.
In their lone home game in October, the Buckeyes pushed their record to 5-0 on the season with a 42-3 blowout of Minnesota on Saturday night. With the victory over the Golden Gophers, Ohio State has now won nine straight games dating back to last season.
After Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, Ohio State asserted
their dominance the rest of the way, putting up 42 unanswered points to stay undefeated this season. Julian Sayin found receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith early and often, while the Buckeye defense didn’t allow a touchdown for the third time in the first five games of the season.
With the victory, head coach Ryan Day passed Knute Rockne as the winningest head coach in college football history when it comes to win percentage.
History with Illinois
Amazingly, this will be the first meeting between Ohio State and Illinois since 2017, which the Buckeyes won 52-14 in Columbus. The teams were supposed to meet in 2020, but COVID led to the game being cancelled.
Ohio State holds a 69-30-4 lead in the series, having won the last nine meetings between the schools. The last time Illinois defeated the Buckeyes came in 2007 when they rushed for 260 yards in the 28-21 win in Columbus.
Full steam ahead for the Buckeye offense
Julian Sayin earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor of the season for his performance against Minnesota. The redshirt freshman completed 23 of 27 pass attempts, finishing with 326 yards passing, three touchdown passes, and no interceptions.
By missing on just four pass attempts, Sayin bumped his completion percentage this season up to 80.2%, which is currently the best mark in the country. Sayin also ranks in the top-10 in the country in passing efficiency, as well as touchdown passes.
The primary recipients of Sayin’s passes on Saturday night were Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith. Tate had the best game of his Ohio State career, catching nine passes for 183 yards, finding the end zone once on a 44-yard pass in the second quarter. The reception and yardage total were both career-highs.
In the victory, Tate had three receptions for at least 40 yards, giving him six catches of at least 40 yards this season, which is tied for first in the country.
With two more receiving touchdowns, Jeremiah Smith now has six on the season. With 21 career receiving touchdowns, the sophomore is now averaging one per game for his career. Smith is now tied for fourth among all active players when it comes to finding the end zone, and he is the only sophomore ranked in the top-25. Tate and Smith have now combined to amass nearly 900 yards receiving this season.
Besides Tate and Smith, the only other Ohio State player to catch more than one pass against Minnesota was tight end Max Klare. The Purdue transfer had his best game as a Buckeye, hauling in five catches for 63 yards. In his first four games with Ohio State, Klare had caught just six passes for 74 yards.
With his role in the passing game expanding, it has become obvious that Klare is now the top receiving threat among the tight ends.
With Julian Sayin dissecting the Minnesota defense, not much was needed from the Buckeye rushing attack. Bo Jackson received the first start of his young career, finishing with 63 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. C.J. Donaldson found the end zone again in a short-yardage situation, giving him four rushing touchdowns on the season.
Towards the end of the game, James Peoples found some holes in the defense of the Golden Gophers, rushing for a career-high 59 yards. Ohio State is averaging just over 170 yards rushing per game.
A major reason why Julian Sayin was able to have so much success against Minnesota was the work done by his offensive line to keep him on his feet. For the third time in the first five games of the season, Ohio State didn’t allow their opponent to record a quarterback sack, and have only given up 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
The low TFL total ranks first nationally, while the two sacks ceded ranks fourth in college football.
A truly special Ohio State defense
Speaking of tackles for loss, Ohio State defensive end Caden Curry nearly has as many TFLs by himself as the Buckeye offensive line have given up this season. Following his outstanding performance against Washington, Curry was a little quieter last week, recording half a TFL, pushing his total to 8.5 TFLs this season.
Ohio State is now 14-0 in games when Curry is credited with at least half a tackle for loss. Fellow defensive lineman Kayden McDonald was credited with a whole TFL against the Golden Gophers, giving him six in 2025.
The leading tacklers in the victory over Minnesota were the linebackers. Sonny Styles posted a team-high eight stops, with Payton Pierce adding seven tackles. Arvell Reese finished with four tackles and the only Ohio State sack against the Golden Gophers. Reese now has three sacks and is tied with Caden Curry for the team lead with 29 tackles. Sonny Styles sits just behind Curry and Reese with 28 tackles.
Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey was coming off the best performance of his young career heading into last week’s game. The Buckeye secondary shut down Lindsey and the Minnesota passing attack, holding Lindsey to less than 100 yards passing. The Ohio State pass defense has been one of the best in the country so far this year, with the 124.4 passing yards allowed per game ranking fourth in the country.
The scary thing about the Buckeye secondary is it doesn’t even feel like they have reached their full potential yet. Texas was able to put up some yards on Ohio State in the season opener, but a lot of those came in the fourth quarter with the Longhorns trying to play catchup. Then against Washington, the pass rush from Curry and McDonald was so fierce it made the job easier for those covering the receivers of the Huskies.
As the season goes on and the stakes are raised, expect there to be times when safety Caleb Downs takes over a game. In a way it has been like Downs has been coasting so far this season since his supporting cast has been so good.
Downs has one of the two interceptions the Buckeyes have grabbed this season. Jermaine Mathews Jr. had the other pick. Lorenzo Styles Jr. has done a great job stepping into the nickelback spot, and Davison Igbinosun has been solid at cornerback.
The Fighting Illini against top-ranked teams
Illinois will be taking on a number one ranked team for the 17th time in school history, posting a 3-13 record in the previous 16 contests. Saturday will mark the first time a ranked Illinois team hosted a top-ranked team since 1950, when they beat the Buckeyes in Champaign.
The last win for the Fighting Illini over a team ranked number one came in 2007 when they defeated Ohio State in Columbus.
How Illinois has fared so far this season
Following an embarrassing blowout to Indiana a few weeks ago, Illinois has rebounded with wins over USC and Purdue. The latest of those victories was a 43-27 triumph in West Lafayette last Saturday.
Much like Julian Sayin was in his last game, Luke Altmyer was nearly flawless against the Boilermakers. With the victory, Bret Bielema improved his record to 33-23 as head coach of the Fighting Illini, becoming the first Illinois head coach to win at least five games in each of his first five seasons with the school.
What has the Fighting Illini contending for a College Football Playoff spot this season is the amount of returners they have. Not only do they have 18 starters returning from last year’s squad which won 10 games for only the fifth time in school history, Barry Lunney Jr. is now in his fourth year as offensive coordinator, making him the longest tenured offensive coordinator in the Big Ten.
Illinois is the only Power 4 program to return the same offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and starting quarterback for the third straight season.
Led by Luke
Leading the Illinois offense is Luke Altmyer, who last week completed 19 of 22 pass attempts for 390 yards and a touchdown. As good as Altmyer was last week, he was even better against USC, becoming the first Big Ten quarterback in 30 years to throw for at least 300 yards, throw for a touchdown, rush for a score, and record a receiving touchdown in the same game.
With all of his experience, Altmyer does a great job at not putting his team in harm’s way. So far this season, Altmyer has thrown for 12 touchdowns, while not yet throwing an interception, making him one of two quarterbacks in the country to toss at least 12 touchdowns and not be picked off.
Altmyer has also been great in the clutch in his career, engineering six fourth quarter comebacks over the last two seasons.
Altmyer’s prime target this season has been Hank Beatty. The wide receiver is having a monster season so far, catching 32 passes for 569 yards and two scores. Beatty isn’t just a threat in the passing game, he has also thrown for a touchdown, ran for one, and had a punt return touchdown, making him the only player in the country to score a touchdown four different ways this season. Last week, Beatty racked up a career-high 186 yards receiving on just five catches.
When Ohio State has to punt, they’ll have to be careful when kicking to Beatty. In the season opener against Western Illinois, Beatty broke Red Grange’s single-game punt return yardage school record, which was set 102 years ago, finishing with 133 punt return yards.
Along with Beatty, Collin Dixon, Hudson Clement, and Justin Bowick all have caught at least 10 passes this season. Bowick has had a knack for finding the end zone, already scoring four times.
Along with throwing the football with incredible efficiency, Illinois also possesses a strong rushing attack. Illinois and Indiana are the only teams in the Big Ten who have at least two 300-yard rushers this year.
After rushing for a career-high 95 yards last week against Purdue, Ca’Lil Valentine is the team’s leading rusher with 323 yards this season. Kaden Feagin isn’t far behind Valentine, rolling up 316 yards rushing through the first six games. At 255 pounds, Feagin brings the size, while Valentine brings the speed for the Fighting Illini on the ground.
Ohio State’s defensive line will have a tough task in trying to break through the Illinois offensive line, which is one of the most experienced groups in the country, combining to start 146 games entering this week. If you include backups, members of the Illinois offensive line have started 169 games in college, making them the second-most experienced group in the country behind Virginia.
Left tackle J.C. Davis is the elder statesman of the group with 43 career starts, while right tackle Melvin Priestly has started 34 games. Center Josh Kreutz is the son of six-time NFL Pro Bowler Olin Kreutz. Last week Kreutz missed the Purdue game, leaving T.J. McMillan to start at center.
Kreutz could be back on the field this week as he is trending towards playing. Left guard Josh Gesky is on the Campbell Trophy watchlist, and right guard Brandon Henderson is a mountain of a man, measuring 6-foot-5 and 335 pounds.
How the Illinois defense will look
Turnovers tell a big story of how the game is going to go for the Illinois defense. The Fighting Illini are 12-1 over the last two years when forcing at least one turnover, with the only loss during that span coming to Oregon last season.
Currently Illinois leads the Big Ten and is tied for fifth in the country with a +5 turnover margin. With their ability to not only force their opponents into turnovers, as well as their offense not giving up the football, the Fighting Illini are a team that doesn’t beat themselves.
Creating the most pressure for the Illinois defense is Gabe Jacas, who has 4.5 sacks off the edge for the Fighting Illini this season. Jacas enters this week’s game ranked fourth in school history with 20.5 career sacks. Along with his ability to get to the quarterback, Jacas has a knack for jarring the football loose from his opponents. Last season Jacas forced three fumbles, and this season he has already forced two fumbles.
Joining Jacas at linebacker is Leon Lowery Jr., who has made stops at Syracuse and Wisconsin before landing in Champaign. Lowery has two sacks this season. With Jacas and Lowery creating pressure, Dylan Rosiek is the top tackler among the linebackers, recording 25 stops this season. Joe Barna, Alec Bryant, Malachi Hood, and Kenenna Odeluga have also seen time at linebacker for the Fighting Illini this season.
Sitting ahead of Rosiek when it comes to tackles are safeties Miles Scott and Matthew Bailey, who each have been credited with 31 tackles through the first six games of the season. After starting his career at wide receiver, Scott switched to safety prior to the 2023 season and is now a two-time team captain. Bailey finished last season ranked 14th in the Big Ten with 6.8 tackles per game.
Cornerback Torrie Cox Jr. started his career in Athens at Ohio before transferring to Illinois after the 2023 season. In his first season with the Fighting Illini, Cox picked off three passes, pushing his career total to seven interceptions. At the other cornerback spot, sophomore Tanner Heckel looks to be an emerging star. Heckel has had to step up after Xavier Scott was lost for the season due to injury. Scott was named First Team All-Big Ten last season.
Defensive lineman Angelo McCullom is coming off the best performance of his young career, finishing last week’s game with 1.5 sacks. There’s no doubt McCullom will be amped up for this week’s game since he went to high school at Pickerington North. Along with McCullom, the defensive line of the Fighting Illini will feature Wisconsin transfers Curt Neal and James Thompson Jr.
Prediction
Ohio State’s defense will face their toughest test of the season so far when they go on the road to take on Luke Altmyer and Illinois. Texas and Arch Manning aren’t nearly as feared as they were before the season, while Washington and Demond Williams Jr. weren’t quite ready for the spotlight that comes with taking on the Buckeyes.
Illinois is experienced and already has played in a couple big contests this year, splitting games with Indiana and USC.
Even though Altmyer is a dynamic quarterback who is smart with the football, the Buckeye defense isn’t like anything they have seen this year. Entering the sixth game of the season, Ohio State has only allowed two touchdowns and still hasn’t given up more than nine points to an opponent.
It’s hard to imagine the Buckeyes being able to keep Illinois from scoring double digits in Champaign on Saturday, it’s even harder to imagine the Fighting Illini scoring 30 points, which is likely what they’ll have to put on the scoreboard to beat Ohio State.
Illinois has an opportunistic defense, but it isn’t a shutdown unit. USC put up 32 points a couple weeks ago, and that was after a slow start. The Fighting Illini will have to figure out how to slow down Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, which is something nobody has been able to do so far this season. All while trying to create pressure against a Buckeye offensive line that has only allowed two sacks this season.
If Illinois can’t get to Julian Sayin, then the redshirt freshman will be able to pick apart the secondary.
The last two games Ohio State has started games a little sluggish. As long as they come out of the gates hot, there should be no reason they lose this game. Usually trips to Champaign are trickier in November when the weather is more questionable.
That won’t be the case on Saturday. While Ohio State won’t lay the woodshed on Illinois quite like Indiana, they won’t leave much doubt in the result.
