Ohio State Defense Takes Over With Takeaways At Illinois

Twelve.

That was the number of touchdown passes Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer had thrown in the 2025 season without tossing a single interception. But Ohio State cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. knew that would change on Saturday.

“I knew he was going to come in and throw one. I knew he was going to throw one on us,” Mathews said with a smile after telling reporters of his “Defense crazy ain’t it. Defense crazy.”

Ohio State’s defense is indeed crazy, Mr. Mathews. But it was crazy in a whole new way vs. the No. 17 Fighting Illini. The Buckeyes allowed 16 points to Illinois – six coming after the game was well in hand – which is still a good number. But the first time that an offense has managed double-digit points while fighting the Scarlet and Gray.

But the Silver Bullets more than made up for those few drives with their lethality in creating turnovers. A season-high three takeaways confounded the Illinois offense and set the Ohio State offense up with short fields, fueling the 34-16 road win over the Illini with 21 points off turnovers.

“We emphasize getting the ball back for the offense every week,” Mathews said. “We really haven’t been doing that well the last couple of weeks. Today, we went and got that ball. So I think mission accomplished.”

Mathews was central to the Buckeyes’ efforts in generating takeaways. All the more impressive considering he played his secondary position in the secondary most of the game, filling in for an injured Lorenzo Styles Jr. at nickel as freshman Devin Sanchez took Mathews’ usual outside cornerback spot.

“For Jermaine to move inside the way he did says a lot about his preparation, because it's one thing to go do it when you're in a walkthrough, it's another thing to go through practice,” Ryan Day said after the game. “But when you're now at nickel, and you have to now fit the run, you have to hit the blitzes, the coverage, everything happens a little bit faster when you get closer to the ball. And so for him to be able to do that and play the way he did says a lot about his preparation, but also give credit to Tim Walton and the work that they did during the week.”

It took six plays from the Illinois offense for Mathews’ pregame pick prophecy to be fulfilled. His preparation created the takeaway.

Ohio State came out in a 3-3-5 look defensively on 3rd-and-5, with Mathews lined up in man coverage over star Illinois slot receiver Hank Beatty. The Illini elected to attack with their best pass-catcher on a slant route to try and move the chains. But Mathews expected that. He played with inside leverage, stuck his arm in front of Beatty to bat the ball in the air, and linebacker Payton Pierce hauled in the interception. He returned it 15 yards to set up a Buckeye touchdown drive at the 35-yard line.

“I knew they liked a lot of in-breaking routes, I was trying to take that away early,” Mathews said. “He threw it, I just made a play. Payton made a great play going to get that ball.”

LUKE ALTMYER IS PICKED OFF

The @OhioStateFB defense forces Luke Altmyer's first INT of the season @ATTBusiness pic.twitter.com/q3hCaa4Pt0
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025

With Ohio State up 27-10 in the third quarter, a call came down from defensive coordinator Matt Patricia that got Mathews’ juices flowing. It’s rare that a cornerback gets to blitz and more rare that a nickel does. And on 2nd-and-10, with Illinois at its own 30-yard line, he got his chance.

“It’s fun,” Mathews said. “It’s fun because I do a lot of covering. A lot of covering. So when I have to go blitz and go make another, different type of play, it’s fun.”

Mathews came looping around the right side of the Illini’s offensive line and swatted the football from Altmyer’s grasp. Defensive end Caden Curry pounced on the loose football, leaving just 24 yards for the Buckeye offense to cover for a touchdown, which it did.

“I knew when I got in that slot today, I knew it was gonna be something. I knew it,” Mathews said.

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

Nose guard Kayden McDonald, who continues playing like the nation’s best, generated the day’s most impressive takeaway, however. On the first play of Illinois’ second drive of the game, Ohio State safety Jaylen McClain met Illini running back Ca’Lil Valentine at the line of scrimmage. Valentine initially escaped from McClain but fell right into the waiting arms of McDonald. The hungry arms of McDonald.

The massive defensive tackle snatched the ball in Valentine’s grasp and ripped it from his possession as the duo fell to the ground. A fumble forced and recovered for McDonald. As with the other two turnovers the Buckeye defense recorded, the offense capitalized on the prime field position (the Illinois 26-yard line) with a touchdown.

“The running back’s there, little guy, I’m a big guy. I can easily take it away,” McDonald said. “Once I got the opportunity, I just took it.”

The ball is out and the Buckeyes have it! @OhioStateFB makes another big play on defense pic.twitter.com/laCWFA6hfC
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025

Ohio State made yet another of its red zone stops in the first half as well, making it nine red zone defensive stands without a single opposing touchdown this season, but Illinois at last broke that streak with a third-quarter touchdown on 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line. It required a nifty play call, a handoff that was then pitched to running back Aidan Laughery for a walk-in score.

The Silver Bullets weren’t satisfied with the takeaways and stand, however. Sixteen points is too much in their eyes, even if, entering Saturday, there were only 19 defenses in the country that allowed fewer than 16 points per game. That's now Ohio State’s season-high, and its average is still a nation-leading 6.8 points allowed per game.

“Definitely bothers me,” McDonald said. “We want to be the best defense in the country. We can't let people score, so we've got to get back to work tomorrow. We've got to just keep going.”