GAME 10 OHIO STATE v ILLINOIS
November 14,
2015 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL
Illinois Fighting Illini
Location: Champaign, IL
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (60,670)
Coach: Bill Cubit (1st
year-interim): 5-4 at Illinois/90-69-1 overall, 2-13 v B1G, 0-0 v OSU
Series: OSU 66, Illinois 30, 4 ties
Last
Meeting: 11/1/2015:
OSU 55, Illinois 14
Last
Illinois win:
11/15/2007: Illinois 28, OSU 21* (11/15/2001: Illinois 34, OSU 22) * bad
officiating (B1G officiating crew was later disciplined)
Coach Meyer (4th year): 47-3 at OSU/151-26 overall, 33-2 v
B1G, 3-0 v Illinois
2014 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-1)(9-0) 2014 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-7)(3-5)
34 at Navy 17 28 Youngstown State 17
21 Virginia Tech 35 42 western Kentucky 34
66 Kent State 0 19 at Washington 44
50 Cincinnati 28 42 Texas State 35
52 at Maryland 24 14 at Nebraska 45
56 Rutgers 17 27 Purdue 38
31 at Penn State 24 (2OT) 28 at Wisconsin 38
55 Illinois 14 28 Minnesota 24
49 at Michigan State 37 14 at Ohio State 55
31 at Minnesota 24 14 Iowa 30
42 Indiana 27 16 Penn State 14
42 Michigan 28 47 at Northwestern 33
59 Wisconsin 0 18 Louisiana Tech 35
(B1G Championship) (Heart
of Dallas Bowl)
42 Alabama 35
(Sugar Bowl)
42 Oregon 20
(National Championship)
2015 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)(4-0) 2015
Illinois Fighting Illini (5-4)(2-3)
42 at Virginia Tech 24 52 Kent State 3
38 Hawaii 0 44 Western Illinois 0
20 Northern Illinois 13 14 at North Carolina 48
42 Western Michigan 13 27 Middle Tennessee 25
34 at Indiana 27 14 Nebraska 13
49 Maryland 28 20 at Iowa 29
38 Penn State 10
49 at Rutgers 7 13 Wisconsin 24
O31 0 at
Penn State 39
28 Minnesota 14 48 at Purdue 14
N14 at Illinois Ohio
State
N21 Michigan State at
Minnesota
N28 at Michigan at
Northwestern
Ohio State hits the road to take on
5-4 Illinois in the wind tunnel known as Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The Illini are under the direction of interim
head coach Bill Cubit, who took over just prior to the start of the season
replacing former coach Tim Beckman.
OHIO STATE OFFENSE v ILLINOIS DEFENSE: The Illini defense has improved as
the season has progressed and right now, they stand second in the conference
with 11 interceptions. They also have
improved significantly compared to a year ago, giving up 342 yards and 21
points per game as opposed to 456 yards and 34 points per game. The defensive line is led by senior DE Jihad
Ward, who returned quickly from an injury during preseason practice to start
the season opener and has improved in each game since, with 41 tackles and 3.5
tackles for loss. Ward has also had the
Hendricks Award Watch list. The other DE
spot is anchored by junior Carroll Phillips who had his best game against
Wisconsin with two sacks. Coming off of
an injury that caused him to miss the latter half of the 2014 season, Phillips
has responded with 12 tackles, four TFLs and the aforementioned two sacks in
2015. The NT and DT spots are manned by juniors
Charles Clements and Rob Bain who have turned their play up a notch as the
season has progressed. Clements is
second on the team with 9.5 TFLs, while Bain has blocked three kicks this year,
putting him in the national lead in that category. Linebacker is usually a strong position with
Illinois and this year is no different.
Four-year starter Mason Monheim anchors this unit. Monheim has made 44 consecutive starts and is
a candidate for the Butkus and Lombardi Awards.
His 360 career tackles puts him third among active FBS players and he
has seven career forced fumbles. T.J. Neal
and James Crawford join Monheim as linebackers with Neal already managing 75
tackles from his MLB spot, including 9.5 tackles for loss and he is also an
Academic All-B1G honoree. Crawford is
relatively new as a starter, making only his fourth start, however, he already
has 27 tackles, three TFLs and two pass breakups. The secondary is very experienced, led by
senior CB V’Angelo Bentley, who is on the Hornung Award Watch List given to the
nation’s most versatile player. He already has 36 tackles, three TFLs, a sack,
and six pass breakups. Senior FS Clayton
Fejedelem has also shown his versatility as he can cover the entire field as
shown by his team-leading 100 tackles.
This also puts him second in the B1G in that category after his
19-tackle performance against Wisconsin and he also ranks seventh in the
country in tackles per game. Junior SS
Taylor Barton is 16th in the country with four interceptions this
year and, like Fejedelem, can come up to provide strong run support. Senior Eaton Spence mans the other CB position
and has 35 career starts and four interceptions in his last ten games.
The Buckeyes
should be able to counter with J.T. Barrett and his ability to make plays off
the zone reads and throwing Braxton Miller and Jalin Marshall in the mix. The athleticism, plus the raw running ability
of Ezekiel Elliott should pave the way for some deep, downfield throws and a
better offensive performance than last week.
OHIO STATE DEFENSE v ILLINOIS OFFENSE: The Illini offense is led by junior
quarterback Wes Lunt, who has greatly improved over 2014. Lunt comes into the game the B1G leader in
completions per game (21) and is fourth in the conference in passing yards per
game (222) and has 26 touchdown throws against only seven interceptions. Lunt will look downfield to his leading
receiver senior Geronimo Allison who has hauled in 56 receptions for 756 yards
and three scores this year. Allison is
also second in the conference in receptions per game (6) and receiving yards
per game (84). Sophomore Malik Turner
and freshman Desmond Cain will also figure in to the mix, with Turner hauling
in an acrobatic catch against Nebraska leading to the game-winning score and
Cain picking up his game as of late, with six receptions against Purdue. Josh Ferguson and Ke’Shawn Vaughn figure to
carry the load at RB. Ferguson possesses
excellent vision, elusiveness, and ability to catch the ball out of the
backfield. The Illini will move him and
Vaughn out of the I-formation, both flanking Lunt in the Shotgun, in the
Pistol, and even as an H-back. Vaughn
will probably be utilized more than Ferguson, as he is still not quite
recovered from a shoulder sprain that has caused him to miss three games this
season. Vaughn leads the team in rushing
with 665 yards and six touchdowns and will be instrumental in keeping the Ohio
State defensive pressure off of Lunt. Up
front, the Illini offensive line is led by graduate senior RG Ted Karras, the
most experienced with 40 career starts.
Right alongside Karras, junior center Joe Spencer has made 23 career
starts and started at a guard position last year. Fifth-year senior Chris Boles started his
first game in their home opener this year, while junior Austin Schmidt has
started since last year. Sophomore RT
Christian DiLauro has the Illini offensive coaches raving as he has made 16
starts and made the B1G All-Freshman team in 2014. The TE is JUCO transfer Andrew Davis, who is
an excellent blocker on the perimeter.
The Buckeyes will need to keep track of Ferguson and Vaughn wherever
they line up and be able to contain them.
Providing they can, they will force the Illinois offense and Lunt to
beat them on the medium and deep routes and this is where the pass rush and
secondary can take advantage and force turnovers.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Illinois has had good special teams
play this year. Senior kicker Taylor Zalewski
has made 12 of 18 field goals with a long of 51 this year and is 31/48 in his
career. Junior punter Ryan Frain has
averaged 39.8 yards per punt and had his career long (63 yards) against Purdue
this year. V’Angelo Bentley is one of
the most dangerous return men in the country as he already holds the Illinois
record for kick return yardage and has scored every way possible on defense and
special teams, with scoring returns on kickoff returns, punt returns,
interceptions, and fumble recoveries.
SUMMARY: J.T. Barrett is back for the
Buckeyes and we have seen what a nightmare he has been for opposing
defenses. He seems to add an extra
dimension that, when combined with Ezekiel Elliott’s running, and all the
playmakers on the perimeter, the Illini defense will simply not be able to
stop. As long as the Ohio State defense
can contain Ferguson and Vaughn, they will force Lunt to throw downfield and
this is where the Ohio State secondary will hold the advantage.
OHIO STATE 38, ILLINOIS 17
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