Three Stars of the Game: Jermaine Mathews Jr., Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese Earn Top Honors For Their Performances Against Illinois

This week, the Eleven Warriors staff selected cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr., safety Caleb Downs and linebacker Arvell Reese as Ohio State's top performers in the Buckeyes' 34-16 win over Illinois.

First Star: Jermaine Mathews Jr.

Jermaine, Jermaine, remember the name.

Mathews was a man on a mission this weekend — a mission to make Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer throw his first interception of the 2025 season.

"I know he was gonna come in and throw one. I know he was gonna throw one on us," Mathews told reporters with a smile. "Defense crazy, ain't it? Defense crazy."

Indeed, it is. Our staff debated whether to hand out the First Star to the entire unit, considering Ohio State's defense allowed 16 points and forced three turnovers that led to 21 of the Buckeyes' 34 points scored at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. However, it was Mathews (and Downs and Reese) who stood out the most for the Silver Bullets.

Mathews was central to Ohio State's effort in generating its trio of forced turnovers. He did that from his secondary position, as Mathews moved to nickel cornerback in place of an injured Lorenzo Styles Jr. while Devin Sanchez made his first career start at 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. “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.”

Second Star: Caleb Downs

I think Caleb Downs killed a guy...

How good is @OhioStateFB's Caleb Downs?

: FOX pic.twitter.com/ECFB5ff4sj

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 11, 2025

Even when he doesn't fill the box score with ridiculous statistics, Caleb Downs makes an impact for Ohio State's defense. So, when he does fill the box score with ridiculous statistics, Downs' impact becomes that much greater. On Saturday, Downs tied Reese for the second-most tackles on the team with nine, trailing only Block O recipient Sonny Styles (10). Seven of Downs' nine takedowns were solo stops.

This season, Downs has recorded 28 tackles, two tackles for loss and one interception.

Third Star: Arvell Reese

Arvell Reese is an alien.

Reese's rapid rise continued on Saturday, as the junior linebacker collected nine tackles (eight solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Look no further than this collection of clips from The Athletic's Dane Brugler to see the impact Reese made for Ohio State's defense against Illinois:

Arvell Reese vs. Illinois

Future high draft pick. Future NFL playmaker. pic.twitter.com/UM7zNxzL4R

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) October 12, 2025

This season, Reese leads the Buckeyes with 38 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and two pass breakups.

As the season continues, we’ll track the stars (or points) each Ohio State player receives in 2025. Here’s how we’ll do it: Each time a Buckeye earns the First Star of the Game, that Buckeye adds three points to their season total. Then, the Second Star and Third Star each add two points and one point to their totals.