Ohio State vs. No. 14 Illinois: Week 7 Game Outlook, History Lesson, and Prediction

I have been super-busy this week at home and in the Pharmacy, but fear-not my loyal BlockONation posse', for here is this weeks feature (well, part of it anyway).

The rest should be finished sometime Friday evening/night.

I at least wanted to post the History and Trends ASAP as I know many of my blog and Twitter followers look forward to that section immensely!

Chew on this for now gang -- the rest will be updated with links posted on Twitter and Facebook tonight when it's 100% done -- thanks!



OSU/Ill—A Few Opening Thoughts...

Gameplan: You play, to win, the game...


Brief Game Outlook / Players of Note

Three yards and a cloud of dust.

O-line, Boom Herron, Jordan Hall


Ohio State—Illinois History Lesson And Trends

• Ohio State last lost to Illinois in Champaign in 1991.

• Ohio State is 114-64-8 all-time in October road games.

• Ohio State is 34-17 vs. opponents ranked in the top 25 since 2001.

• Ohio State is 0-2 in the Big Ten for just the second time since 1993.

• Ohio State is 62-30-4 overall vs. Illinois and 33-12 all-time in Champaign.

• Ohio State defense has held opponent to fewer than 10 points 30 times since 2006.

• Ohio State defense has allowed just seven 100-yard rushers in their last 40 games.

• Ohio State has held 65 of 79 opponents to 21 points or less since the start of the 2005 season.

• Ohio State has won 5 of the last 6 overall meetings, and has won 8 games in a row on the road vs. Illinois.

• Since 1990, the visiting team is 14-5 in the OSU-ILL series.

• Illinois is just 1-5 against Ohio State under coach Ron Zook.

•.Illinois is 18-32 vs. Big Ten opponents since 2005 under Zook.

• Illinois has 1,357 rushing yards through 6 games while holding opponents to just 478 yards rushing.

• Illinois, is 9-4-1 vs. Ohio State and have won the last 5 meetings against OSU when ranked in the AP top 25.

• Illinois is 6-0 for the first time since 1951, when it finished 9-0-1 to earn a share of the national championship.

• Illinois has won 7 games in row dating back to 2010, their longest winning streak since the 2001 season -- The last time an Illinois team won 8 games in a row was 1983.


Final Thoughts and Score Prediction

Low scoring, defensive battle was expected, and that's exactly what happened.

Pre-game prediction would have been:

Ohio State 23
Illinois 16

For the record, BlockONation guaranteed an Ohio State win over Illinois via Twitter at 11:13AM Saturday morning -- more than 4 hours before the game...


"To be a champion, you have to believe in yourself when no one else will" - Sugar Ray Robinson

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Ohio State—Illinois: Week 5 Preview, History Lesson, and Prediction

Big Ten conference play begins this week as the No. 2 Buckeyes travel to Champaign to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini.

The Illini are 2-1 (2-0 at home) so far this season—their only loss to unbeaten, 4-0 Missouri—but their two wins have been against in-state directional schools, Northern and Southern Illinois.

Ron Zook's sitting on a white-hot hot seat and with four of Illinois' next six games against top 25 teams, the Zooker might find himself unemployed come early November.

Ohio State (4-0) is coming off a 73-20 domination of Eastern Michigan and are 19-point favorites this weekend.

Ohio State has proven they are loaded with talent on both sides of the football.

Illinois is not on the same level as the Buckeyes on paper, but they too have some talented key players to watch.


Illinois—By the Numbers

Quarterback Nathan Sheelhaase has passed for 380 yards with three touchdowns, three interceptions, and his current QB rating is 117.2. He has also rushed for 204 yards and a score.

Mikel Leshoure has rushed for 100-plus yards in his last four games. He is the leading rusher for the Illini with 398 yards on 58 carries for an average of 6.9 yards per carry and three rushing touchdowns. Stopping Leshoure and forcing Sheelhaase to throw should be the primary focus for the Buckeye defense.

Statistically, A.J. Jenkins is the only wide receiver worth mentioning. He has 12 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Every other Illini wideout has less than 50 yards receiving.

Overall, Illinois ranks 112th in passing yards per game (130.0), 18th in rushing yards per game (229.00), 70th in points scored per game (25.3), and 27th in points allowed per game (16.0).


Ohio State—By the Numbers

QB Terrelle Pryor has positioned himself at the top of most everyone's Heisman favorites list. Pryor has 939 passing yards, 10 touchdown passes to just two interceptions, 269 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He also has a 20-yard touchdown reception. His QB rating is 167.2.

Pryor's current projected stats for the entire season are 2,817 passing yards, 807 rushing yards, 42 total touchdowns versus only six interceptions.

Although Pryor is the leading rusher for the Bucks, Dan Herron, Jaamal Berry, and Brandon Saine aren't too far behind.

Herron has gained 192 yards rushing with four touchdowns. He is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also has seven receptions for 109 yards.

Jaamal Berry has made the most of his limited opportunities. In addition to his kick return duties, he has carried the ball 15 times for 177 yards and has one touchdown. His impressive average of 11.8 yards per carry is definitely the main reason Buckeye fans are at a loss as to why he is not getting more touches out of the backfield.

Saine has 169 yards and two touchdowns. He is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and he also has eight catches for 67 yards with two touchdown receptions.

After his career day last week against the EMU Eagles, Dane Sanzenbacher is now the Buckeyes leading receiver with 20 catches for 316 yards and five touchdowns.

Devier Posey has 15 catches for 242 yards and two touchdowns.

Tight end Jake Stoneburner, who missed last weeks game with an ankle injury, has nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Word is he may not play this week either.

As a team, Ohio State is 29th in passing yards per game (266.5), 14th in rushing yards per game (240.3), 3rd in points per game (49.3), and 19th in points allowed per game (14.5).


Ohio State—Illinois: History Lesson and Other Tidbits

• Ohio State leads the all-time head-to-head series 61-30-4.

• Ohio State has won the last seven meetings in Champaign, dating back to 1993.

• Ohio State is 22-2 against unranked conference opponents dating back to 2005.

• Ohio State is 28-8 since 2001 in conference road games under Jim Tressel.

• Ohio State is 5-2 overall and 3-0 on the road vs. Illinois under Jim Tressel.

• Ohio State coach Jim Tressel (98-21) is just two wins shy of his 100th at Ohio State.

• Ohio State's defense has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in their last 27 games.

• Ohio State boasts an all-time record of 151-22-5 in September games.

• Terrelle Pryor is now 23-3 as Ohio State's starting quarterback.

• The home team is just 2-8 in the last 10 meetings of the series.

• Illinois has scored 10 or less points in seven of the last 13 meetings.

• Illinois' last win over Ohio State was in 2007, a 28-21 win over the then-No. 1 ranked Buckeyes.

• Illinois coach and Ohio native Ron Zook is 23-40 overall at Illinois (2005-2010) and just 1-4 against Ohio State over that span.

• Zook has a 5-4 record vs. top 5 teams, however, he is only 9-28 overall against ranked opponents in his career.


Summary and Prediction

Ohio State should have little or no trouble in this game. Last year, the Buckeyes shutout Illinois 30-0. Ohio State is even better than they were last year.

Illinois, not so much.

Running back Mikel Leshoure is the best player the Illini have.

Contrarily, their passing game poses very little threat, although QB Sheelhasse has had some success running the ball, but, he hasn't faced a defense like OSU's either.

All that being said, let's keep this short and get to the key points.

Stop the run—force Illinois to pass—create turnovers—win the game.

The end.


(Modest) Final Score Prediction
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Ohio State 45
Illinois 20


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Week Four Preview: Ohio State—Illinois to Face Off in Big Ten Opener

By HD Handshoe
Founder—BlockONation


Last week, Ohio State traveled to Cleveland to take on the Toledo Rockets and there were concerns the Buckeyes may suffer from a hangover, due to their close heartbreaking loss in week two vs. USC.

No such luck for Toledo, as the Buckeyes came out firing en route to a 38-0 thrashing.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor had a career day, passing for 262 yards and three touchdowns, as well as rushing for 110 yards and a score.

Wideout Dane Sanzenbacher also had a career day, catching five balls for 125 yards and two scores.

Toledo, and QB Aaron Opelt, who had individually led the nation in total yardage, could never get in rhythm against an overbearing Buckeye defense that continues to gel and improve week to week.


That was then—This is now.

VS.


The Buckeyes (2-1) are set to open Big Ten Conference play this week as they play host to the Fighting Illini (1-1) from Illinois. The game is on ABC at 3:30 EST.

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Starting at 3:00PM, there will be a LIVE, in-game chat right here on BlockONation, so come join us, just before and during the game!

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Illinois began the season losing in an unexpected blowout to rebuilding Missouri, before bouncing back vs. FCS foe Illinois State.

Star QB Juice Williams has zero touchdown passes, an interception, and only 179 yards thus far and star receiver Arrelious Benn has been injured and only has one catch for nine yards. To say the least, Illinois has been a major dissapointment so far.

That being said, the Buckeye know they cannot take any conference opponent for granted (see USC vs. Washington last week), especially Illinois in Columbus. Under Tressel, the Buckeyes have averaged 25.5 points per game and given up 18.3 points per game in the series.

Since Tressel took over in 2001, Ohio State is 4-2 vs. the Illini, but only 1-2 in games played in Ohio Stadium. In 2007, Illinois defeated the Buckeyes 28-21 in Columbus, nearly derailing then No. 1 Ohio State's BCS title game hopes.

Ultimately, a series of late-season upsets allowed the Buckeyes to move back up to No. 1 in the final BCS standings, only to lose in New Orleans (a "neutral" site) to LSU anyway.

Overall, Ohio State leads the all-time head-to-head series 61-30-4, and since 1967, OSU is 13-7 vs. Illinois at home.

I expect the Buckeyes to play much like they did last week against Toledo on both sides of the ball vs. Ron Zook and his Illini team. I am not expecting a shutout, but I am going to call for a Buckeye victory.

My final score prediction:

Ohio State 38
Illinois 13

On a side note, I just have to ask—Is it just me or does anyone else think Ron Zook is really Ricky Bobby's Dad, Reece, from Talladega Nights?




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Terrelle Pryor / Illinois photo Copyright Dan Harker - www.TheOzone.net