 |
Ohio State vs. Illinois by Tony Gerdeman |
 |
On Saturday, Illinois and Ohio State will meet for the 94th time. The Buckeyes hold the series edge 60-29-4, including a 26-17-4 mark at home.
Illinois is 1-8 all-time when facing a #1 ranked Ohio State team. Their lone win came in 1950. In their history, the Illini are 3-14 against the #1 ranked team in the nation, and haven’t beaten a top-ranked opponent since 1956.
Advertisement  |
Ohio State comes into this game the proud owners of a Big Ten record 20 consecutive conference wins, and have won 28-straight regular season games, which is also a school record.
This will be the 81st battle for the coveted Illibuck trophy. The Buckeyes hold the series edge here as well, with a 56-22-2 record. The battle for the Illibuck began in 1925 and is the second-oldest rivalry trophy in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes have won three straight in this series, though the Illini have won two of three in Columbus.
Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel is 3-1 against the Illini.
Illinois head coach Ron Zook was 0-3 against the Illini as an Ohio State assistant coach from 1988-1990.
In Zook’s six years as a head coach, his teams are 8-19 against ranked opponents, and 0-2 against the #1 ranked team in the nation.
Ohio State is 67-9-1 all-time when ranked #1.
When Illinois Has The Ball
Illinois is mainly a running team, but they are extremely versatile with their running game. Their 261.3 rushing yards per game leads the Big Ten and is sixth in the nation, and they get those yards in a variety of ways.
The Illini will run a lot of read-option, they will run some traditional option, they will run out of the I-formation, and they will go with a single back.
The workhorse in all of these formations will be running back Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall is eighth in the nation in rushing, averaging 131.4 yards per game. He is fast, quick, powerful, smooth and has great vision. Basically, he is the perfect running back for this offense.
Buckeye linebackers James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman will probably both finish the game with double-digit tackles. Last week, Laurinaitis totaled 19 tackles--don’t be surprised with similar numbers this week. He will have to know where the ball is at all times, because quarterback Juice Williams is very good with the football and will carry the ball 10-15 times per game himself.
The running game isn’t just Mendenhall and Williams. Frequently while in the shotgun, the Illini will have a receiver motion into the backfield, giving the Illini a two-back set and the read-option then basically becomes the triple option because Williams can choose to hand the ball off, or run the option wide with the other back.
Teams have tried to run wide on the Buckeyes this year, with very little success. The inside running game, however, is an area of concern right now. Obviously, the occasional pitch-out wide will gather some yards, but the Illini will have to establish the inside running game if they want to win.
The Illinois receivers are fairly good blockers, as they get a lot of practice. It will be extremely important for the Ohio State cornerbacks to not get knocked down when the option comes their way. Illinois moved tight end Jeff Cumberland (6’5” 244) to receiver earlier in the season, so when he is out wide, he will prove to be a tough obstacle to clear.
Quarterback Juice Williams is the nation’s 95th best passer,based on efficiency. He is completing 56.1% of his passes, but has thrown nine interceptions in only 105 attempts. He is only averaging 113.8 yards passing per game and frequently has bouts with acute erraticism. He is, however, capable of getting on a hot streak and completing passes that he normally wouldn’t.
Frequently the Illini offense will get to the line, and then look to the sideline for the play call. The Buckeyes will probably show plenty of pre-snap movement in an effort to delay the Illinois game plan.
Last week, the Ohio State defensive line had eight sacks, and while they won’t get to Williams with those same numbers, they will need to be just as disruptive as they were last week. If they can get pressure, they will be able to dictate what will happen with the Illinois running game, rather than the other way around.
And when they do pressure Williams he has the speed and agility to break out of the pocket and either run the ball, or look downfield. Last year as a freshman, he set the career mark at Illinois with three touchdown passes of over 60 yards. He doesn’t have any such passes this season, but if the defensive backfield breaks down, the possibility exists for his first of the season.
The secondary will need to keep an eye on the receivers and the backs and fight the urge to help out too soon on any scrambles. You can’t give this passing offense any cheap yards. If you make them earn the yards down after down, chances are there will be a third down incompletion at some point. It’s okay to allow a 13-yard scramble as opposed to a 60-yard touchdown pass on a broken play.
Illinois has solid special teams. Place-kicker Jason Reda is one of only three kickers in the nation to have three field goals of 50 yards or more. He is 13-14 on field goal attempts, with his only miss being a 47-yarder. Reda has also made 33-34 extra point attempts.
The punting game is fairly average. Punter Anthony Santella is averaging 36.4 yards per kick, though he has put 14 of his 49 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Illinois does have two very good kickoff returners in Arrelious Benn and cornerback Vontae Davis. However, between them they only have ten returns on the season. Receiver Jacob Willis leads the team with nine returns, averaging only 17.2 yards per return.
When Ohio State Has The Ball
Generally, the Ohio State Buckeyes have come out throwing the ball to loosen up the opponents, and it has worked as they have scored on six-straight opening drives.
The Illini will no doubt be geared to stop the run, as they have been all season. They are allowing 112.5 yards rushing per game, which is third best in the conference. The Buckeyes will probably once again start the game with the pass in an effort to open up the running game.
And if the Buckeyes do want to establish the passing game, the Illini are likely to oblige. Illinois is giving up 242.5 yards passing per game, which is 9th in the Big Ten and 81st nationally.
The Illinois secondary is made up of hard-hitting safeties who can sometimes have coverage issues and cornerbacks who have to make up for their lack of help by playing as tight in coverage as they can.
Sophomore Vontae Davis is one of the best cornerbacks in the nation and is a Thorpe Award semi-finalist. He hasinterceptions, averages nearly six tackles per game and has had ten pass break-ups. He will likely match-up with receiver Brian Robiskie, giving Robiskie two-straight weeks of difficult face-offs, including last week’s battle with Wisconsin’s Jack Ikegwuonu. Davis did have trouble with Michigan’s Mario Manningham, so he is not infallible.
While Robiskie did finish with two touchdown receptions last week, he only had three catches for the game. With Robiskie trying to get open, his counterpart at receiver Brian Hartline was given favorable match-ups throughout the game, and he used them to set career-highs in yards (95) and receptions (7). Illinois’ other cornerback, Dere Hicks, is also very good, but the Buckeyes should have more success going to his side.
The middle of the field is frequently available, and if the Buckeyes pick up the Illini’s frequent blitzes, there will be plays to be made galore.
Illinois loves to blitz on third and long, so expect to see it on Saturday. Quarterback Todd Boeckman has done a tremendous job of making the right reads and standing in the pocket to deliver the ball. If he can maintain that same composure and make the right decisions, there should be at least one big play coming off of an Illinois blitz.
Also, to counter the aggression, look for some swing passes and screen passes to the running backs.
With the recent increase of tight end involvement for the Ohio State offense, it’s probably safe to assume that this will continue. If so, the safeties and linebackers will continue to be busy in coverage, thereby allowing more plays to be had all over the field.
And then, after all of that, the Buckeyes will run the ball.
In Ohio State’s last three games against Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin, running back Chris Wells is averaging 174.3 yards rushing per game. His emergence has given Jim Tressel the ability to seal games and sap momentum with a dominating running game.
Other teams with stout run defenses have had the greatest of intentions of stopping this running game lately, but they have been unable to find the answers to questions they thought they knew.
The chief answerer for the Illini will be middle linebacker J Leman. Leman leads the team in tackles, averaging 10.2 per game. Everybody knows him and he’s seemingly been in on every opponent’s running play since 2004.
Strong-side linebacker Antonio Steele is also extremely active. He is second on the team in tackles with 72. He is in the backfield plenty and is capable of making some big plays.
The Illini don’t just rely on a blitz-heavy attack. They get plenty of pressure from their front four and they have a rotation that allows the trenches to remain fresh.
Defensive end Will Davis is the team’s speed-rusher and he leads the team with 7.5 sacks. Defensive tackle Chris Norwell is a four-year starter and gives a young team a veteran leader.
Ohio State special teams have been fairly disappointing. The kickoff return game is 118th in the nation so to expect anything of substance this late in the season would be an exercise in wasted hopefulness. But don’t let that dissuade you.
Place-kicker Ryan Pretorious had another field goal blocked last week, giving him three blocked kicks on the season. Once the kick actually gets past the line however, he is 17-18 on the season.
Punter A.J. Trapasso continues to be solid, putting nearly half of his 35 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
How It’ll End Up
Illinois will have some success running the ball, and Rashard Mendenhall will rush for over 100 yards on the Buckeyes. At least a third of that total, however, will come on one 40-yard run.
The Illini passing game will have its moments, but will stall on third and long.
The Ohio State passing game will pick up enough yards on first down so as not to put themselves in third and long positions.
And Beanie Wells will do the rest.
Illinois will put as many men on the line as the state will allow, but it won’t matter. This offensive line is dominating opponents on the ground and it doesn’t seem to matter how many men they have to block.
Beanie Wells will once again rush for over 100 yards and close this game out like the football version of Mariano Rivera.
Ohio State 31 – Illinois 13
Return to the-OZone Front Page
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.