Ohio State passed its second road test of the season yesterday in Champaign as the Buckeyes built a 20-0 lead late in the second quarter and eventually secured a 34-16 victory over no. 17 Illinois.
The win improved OSU to 6-0 at the midway point of the regular season slate and gave head coach Ryan Day and his staff plenty of things to tighten up as the squad moves forward.
Quarterback Julian Sayin tossed two touchdowns and tailback CJ Donaldson added a pair of short yardage scores as the Buckeyes managed only 272 total yards thanks in part to an incredible average starting field position of their own 45 yard line combined with a run game that went for 106 yards on just 2.9 yards per attempt. That mark surely wasn't helped by starting tailback Bo Jackson carrying the ball only once in the second half due to an ankle tweak.
All in all, it wasn't a dominant performance but it was more than enough to get the job done ahead of another roadie, this time in Madison, set for 3:30 p.m. next Saturday. But before we shift focus to Luke Fickell's truly pitiful Badgers, here are Five Things from yesterday's win.
SILVER BULLETS IN COMMAND WHEN IT MATTERED
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema lamented Illinois' offense not going with tempo the whole game in his postgame presser offering, "I actually wanted to go tempo the whole freaking game, because they couldn't do shit with it" but the bottom line is Ohio State's defense was largely in control when the game was even remotely up for grabs.
As the Buckeyes built a commanding 20-3 lead at halftime, Illinois' offense managed 106 total yards including 17 rushing yards on 1.3 per attempt and quarterback Luke Altmyer was a pedestrian 12-of-21 for 89 yards with a pick. The interception was one of two turnovers forced by the OSU defense - both of which the Ohio State offense turned into touchdowns.
LUKE ALTMYER IS PICKED OFF
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025
The @OhioStateFB defense forces Luke Altmyer's first INT of the season @ATTBusiness pic.twitter.com/q3hCaa4Pt0
Credit the Illini, they did take the second half kickoff and march 75 yards in 12 plays to briefly make it a ballgame at 20-10 with 10:06 left in the third quarter but after that, the Silver Bullets again asserted themselves.
Following a touchdown by the OSU offense pushing the score to 27-10, defensive back Jermaine Mathews Jr. blew up an Illini possession forcing a fumble on the drive's second snap which defensive end Caden Curry recovered giving the OSU offense prime field position. After the offense tallied another touchdown to make it 34-10, the Bullets gave up 14 yards before forcing another punt with just 10 minutes left in regulation to effectively end the game.
From there - with OSU nursing a 24-point lead - Illinois again went up tempo on the final two possessions, racking up 116 yards on 17 plays with an inconsequential touchdown against a mix of starters and backups.
We hear you, Bret. You guys have a solid quarterback and there were indeed solid moments running up tempo but maybe game situation was also just a bit of a factor. Best I can tell, the Illinois offense racked up 41% of its yards (120 of 295) during the last 25% of the game when it was already down 24 points and managed only a meaningless touchdown with four minutes left. Salute, I guess.
Overall, the OSU defense forced three turnovers leading to 21 points and allowed 16 points in what was its worst performance so far this season.
MAD MAX
Like most fans, when it became known tight end Max Klare was transferring to Ohio State, I immediately expected big production even as the Buckeyes already had a deep tight end room.
Turns out, it took him some time to adjust to the high expectations from Ohio State's staff that likely weren't in the same stratosphere as the expectations Purdue's staff had for him.
Klare had only six catches for 74 yards across his first four games as a Buckeye but things started to click last weekend versus Minnesota as he posted season-highs of five catches for 63 yards. He followed that up with another strong showing yesterday, recording four receptions for 38 yards and he threw a key block, blasting Illini linebacker Malachi Hood, on a Bo Jackson 17-yard touchdown reception.
Bo knows TDs
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025
Bo Jackson dives for the @OhioStateFB touchdown pic.twitter.com/3qglSsYzSc
The block was one example of improved physical play from a guy known more for his pass catching prowess. Another was his yards after the catch on a short toss he turned into a 10-yard gain by running over safety Tanner Heckel up the left sideline.
Don't worry, I'll mention he and Austin Siereveld damn near got Jeremiah Smith mangled when neither of them blocked anyone - as lead blockers - but I don't think that was from being unwilling. That was poor execution from both guys.
Immediately after Illinois cut the OSU lead to 20-10 with a touchdown drive to start the second half, Klare hauled in a 22-yard toss from Sayin on 2nd and 11 to move the Buckeyes into Illini territory. The drive would end with a Donaldson 2-yard touchdown giving OSU a commanding 27-10 lead with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
Bottom line, Ohio State's pass offense is at its most lethal when Klare effectively complements Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, so seeing his production boost the last few weeks is a great sign as the Buckeyes move into the back half of the regular season.
RED ZONE OFFENSE BOUNCES BACK FROM UNEVEN START
Ohio State built a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter but the cushion could've been as much as 21-0 if the red zone offense hadn't struggled. The Buckeyes settled for field goals on two of their first three trips inside the Illini 20 with one of the visits looking particularly disjointed.
The first trip of the game - 1st and 10 at the Illini 16 - saw a few short Jackson runs, one coming on a counter, before an interesting third down shovel pass to Klare went for just two yards to set up a Jayden Fielding 26-yard field goal on 4th-and-2.
The next trip - 1st and 10 at the Illini 20 - resulted in a touchdown after a 13-yard Smith catch set up 1st and Goal at the 7. Donaldson broke the plane three plays later for a 10-0 lead.
The third trip - 1st and 10 at the Illinois 17 - was easily the worst of the bunch. After a 4-yard run on first down, Sayin rolled right looking for either Klare or Tate but those two collided forcing Sayin to run for no gain. On third down, Tate and Sayin appeared to be on different pages as Sayin's throw toward the front left pylon sailed out of bounds, nowhere near Tate's route. The back-to-back empty plays forced a 31-yard field goal from Fielding to make it 13-0.
Things would get much better from there however as the Buckeyes recorded touchdowns on the next three trips. The first came as Day implored Sayin from the sideline to quickly hit Jackson on a screen of sorts near the line of scrimmage and Jackson bolted upfield for a 17-yard score. The second was a little less efficient but still found the end zone as Ohio State had 1st and 10 at the Illini 15 and needed eight plays to score capped by a Donaldson 2-yard plunge. The final touchdown came via a Sayin to Smith 2-yard hookup four plays after OSU had 1st and 10 at the Illini 12. I mean this is just too easy.
It was only a matter of time until Jeremiah Smith scored @OhioStateFB is running away with it in Champaign pic.twitter.com/XIq9RHB6A5
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025
Overall, the uneven start in the red zone was washed away as the Buckeyes scored three straight red zone touchdowns although it should be noted Illinois came in ranked 112th in red zone touchdown rate, allowing opponents to reach the end zone on 72% of their trips (13/18).
GREAT AFTER THE MIDDLE EIGHT
Day loves to talk about winning the "middle eight" - basically the action right before and right after the first half - and while the Buckeyes have typically been lights out in that portion of the game, they weren't very good yesterday.
Ohio State got outscored 10-0 by Illinois during the general middle eight which trimmed its lead to 20-10 early in the third quarter but man, after that it flipped a switch and put the game away.
Taking possession with 10:06 left in the third quarter after Illinois' 75-yard march to start the second half made it 20-10, Brandon Inniss returned the kickoff 37 yards to give OSU solid field position. From there the Buckeyes went 63 yards in 14 plays, capped by a Donaldson 2-yard touchdown to make it 27-10 with 2:08 left in the quarter. Ohio State converted 3-of-4 third down conversions and a fourth down conversion via some vintage bully ball.
The Silver Bullets then took the field and on the second play of the Illini drive, Mathews Jr. came on a blitz to force a fumble from Altmyer and Curry pounced on it for the turnover.
ANOTHER FUMBLE AND OHIO STATE HAS IT AGAIN@OhioStateFB continues to be unstoppable on defense pic.twitter.com/Fi1hUANGcx
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025
Now set up at the Illinois 23, the Ohio State offense converted a pair of third down tries before Sayin found Smith for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 34-10 with 13:25 left in the fourth quarter. Game, set, match.
So yeah, the middle eight was rough but the response, on the road, ensured victory.
THE WEAKEST LINK
How can Ohio State's offense and defense be so good but the special teams be a felony? Every single week something, or I guess really many things, perform well below standard.
Yesterday the kickoff team committed an offsides. You don't see that very often.
What we do see often is pretty meh punt and punt return team play and that trend continued versus the Illini.
The punt team took TWO delay of game penalties and neither were to buy punter Joe McGuire more room to boom one which I guess is a good thing because I'm not sure I've seen him boom but maybe one punt this year.
Yesterday, plain and simple, he wasn't very good. His first punt was by far his most effective as it traveled 39 yards to the Illinois 16. Not bad. A great punter does a little better from there but I'll take it. His second punt, preceded by the unit's first delay of game flag, went just 34 yards to the Illinois 40. Bad. His third punt, also preceded by a delay of game, went only 37 yards to the Illinois 39. Terrible. His final punt, from the Illinois 41, bounded into the end zone for a touchback. Awful.
Through six games, McGuire has placed 4-of-13 punts inside the 20. His 42.3 average coming into yesterday's game would've been outside the top-50 if he had enough punts to qualify. After yesterday's 4-for-151 (37.8) outing, his season average is down to 40.9 which would rank about 66th in the country if he had enough attempts to qualify. Overall, Ohio State ranks No. 100 in average yards per punt (41.2). Backup Nick McLarty must boot half his practice punts backwards or sideways to not get a look at this point.
Back in the day, I'd feel bad being so direct about a player's performance but this current era of college football is damn near professional. OSU needs better special teams play all-around, not just from the punter. I'm guessing McGuire would say the same thing.
On the bright side, Inniss peeled off a 37-yard kickoff return (and a -2 yard punt return) while Fielding buried two chip shot field goals (26, 31) in two attempts.
