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 Illinois might have wished for the opposite after the No. 13
Buckeyes rolled over the Fighting Illini 55-14 on Saturday night in
frosty Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett threw for 167 yards and two
touchdowns to wide receiver Devin Smith while playing the first two
quarters, and running back Curtis Samuel added scoring runs of 23
yards and 1 yard to give the Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) a 31-0
halftime lead against the mistake-prone Illini (4-5, 1-4), who had
three turnovers and two costly penalties in the first 19 minutes.
"We didn't start well and I think, as you watched that football
game, you realized right away that field position, turnovers, not
being able to create turnovers and all those types of things make a
difference when you're playing a football team like Ohio State,"
Illinois coach Tim Beckman said. "They're probably one of the best
teams in this conference and you better be playing up to par when
you play against them, and we definitely didn't start this football
game playing that way."
Barrett, a redshirt freshman, has 23 touchdown passes but was not
given the opportunity to add to his total in the second half. He
completed 15 of 24 passes and ran for 40 yards on seven carries.
"It was very poor, just missing open guys," Barrett said of his
performance.
He hurt his left knee during a 31-24 double-overtime win at Penn
State in the previous game on Oct. 25 and was being saved for the
showdown on Nov. 8 at eighth-ranked Michigan State. The Spartans
beat the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game last season to
end OSU's hopes for a national title as well as a 24-game winning
streak.
"I feel like they stole something from us," OSU linebacker Darron
Lee said. "That's how I felt just watching it."
A win over the Spartans would give the Buckeyes a conference-record
21 straight regular-season wins, breaking the mark set by Ohio State
from 2005 to 2007.
But first things first. The Illini got the Buckeyes' attention with
a 28-24 win vs. Minnesota on Oct. 25 and OSU responded by jumping to
a 17-0 lead after the first quarter against the Illini.
"We had to do what we had to do," OSU safety Vonn Bell said. "We had
to execute, and it showed."
Ohio State capitalized on Lee's interception return to the Illinois
38-yard line to set up its first touchdown.
Three plays and 38 seconds later, Samuel raced 23 yards down the
right sideline for the touchdown 3:35 into the game.
After an Illinois punt, Ohio State drove to the Illini 27, where it
faced a fourth-and-3. After calling a timeout before the play clock
expired, the Buckeyes opted for a 44-yard field goal by Sean
Nuernberger for a 10-0 lead.
Illinois missed a field goal attempt from 47 yards and the Buckeyes
marched 71 yards in nine plays, capped by a Barrett's arcing pass
from the 32 to Smith and a 17-0 advantage with 90 seconds left in
the first quarter.
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Samuel added a 1-yard score to make it 24-0 early in the second
quarter, and Barrett hit Smith in the right corner of the end zone
with 20 seconds left before halftime.
The freshman Samuel got his first career start in place of OSU
leading rusher Ezekiel Elliott. Samuel had 63 yards on nine carries,
and Elliott had 70 yards on nine rushes.
"I was very excited to get the start," Samuel said. "I just knew I
had to go out there and prove to my team I can start for this team."
A positive for the Illini was they limited the Buckeyes to a
touchdown and a field goal in four trips to the red zone in the
first half. The Illini stopped Ohio State on fourth down the other
two tries, but it was not enough to deter the Buckeyes.
"I was a little disappointed in the red zone," OSU coach Urban Meyer
said.
That was one of the lone bright spots for the Illini.
"We didn't really get anywhere close to our potential," defensive
tackle Austin Teitsma said. "We're just looking forward to these
next few games.
"I think we have the right guys to move forward and we have a bye
week coming up so we have time to regroup. I think we'll be all
right. We still have a chance to get to a bowl game so you have to
stay positive."
Illinois starting quarterback Reilly O'Toole was 4-of-11 passing for
58 yards and two interceptions before Aaron Bailey entered in the
second quarter. He went 9 of 16 for 79 yards and a late touchdown
pass of seven yards to tight end Matt LaCosse.
NOTES: Illinois coach Tim Beckman was the defensive coordinator at
Bowling Green in 2001-02 when Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was the
Falcons' coach. Beckman was also the cornerbacks coach for Ohio
State under coach Jim Tressel in 2005-06. ... The kickoff
temperature was 38 degrees. ... Illinois has 17 players on its
roster from Ohio, including seven starters. ... The Buckeyes have
seven players who hail from Illinois.
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