After the stumble in Austin, Ohio State got the reset it needed.
No. 7 Ohio State turned last week’s visit from Kent State into a 59-3 rout, and the Buckeyes looked like a team eager to wipe away the taste of what happened against Texas.
They came out fast, scored on four straight possessions and kept the Golden Flashes stuck behind a string of three-and-outs. For a program that needed to feel right again, it was exactly the kind of response that matters.
Now comes the real shift. Starting this weekend, Ohio State begins a stretch of nine straight Big Ten games, a run that raises the weekly difficulty level in a big way.
Five ranked teams are waiting on the schedule, and three of those games are on the road. That makes Saturday’s opener against Illinois more than just another home date.
It is the first test in conference play, and it arrives with the Fighting Illini sitting at 2-1, the same record as the Buckeyes.
Illinois has handled the games it was supposed to handle, beating UAB and Southern Illinois, but it also took a home loss in Week 2 to Duke, the only Power Four opponent on its slate so far. Ohio State enters as the clear favorite, but the jump from a MAC opponent to Big Ten competition is still a meaningful one.
Before that opener in Ohio Stadium, we asked our Bucknuts staff to weigh in on where Ohio State stands, what has stood out through the non-conference portion of the schedule and what still needs attention.
Dave Biddle pointed first to the freshman class, which has already gone beyond expectations. At the same time, he said the offensive problems that haunted Ohio State a year ago are still showing up, especially on third down, in the red zone and in short-yardage situations.
In Other News...
Ohio State Gets A Clear Warning About This Illinois Tune-Up
Bret Bielema spent part of the buildup to Illinois Week 4 trip to Columbus putting into plain language what Ohio State already knows well: the financial gap between the programs is enormous, and it shapes everything from roster depth to the margin for error. Illinois is walking into one of the sports toughest road environments with a coach who understands the challenge, especially after having to absorb key player losses before facing a Buckeyes team that enters as a heavy favorite.
For Ohio State, that makes this more than just another tune-up before the schedule gets tougher. The Buckeyes are expected to handle business, but games like this still carry value because they reveal how well a roster built to compete for bigger goals responds when the matchup tilts heavily in its favor. Illinois will be trying to make it inconvenient anyway, and that is the part worth watching as the Buckeyes move through the early stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois' Best Hope Vs Ohio State May Come Down To One Battle
The next Illinois-Ohio State matchup figures to turn on more than talent alone, with the conversation centering on how Barry Lunney Jr. handles the offense and how Matt Patricia answers on the other side. A year ago, the game offered a useful snapshot of how coaching choices can shape the flow of this series, and both staffs enter this one with different personnel and different expectations than they had then.
For Illinois, the best chance to stress Ohio State may come from Lunneys ability to create answers before Patricias defense settles in. For the Buckeyes, the challenge is just as clear: adjust quickly, keep the Illini from finding rhythm, and make sure the game is decided by the side with the stronger game plan rather than the cleaner script. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smith Is Forcing A Massive Ohio State Debate Already
Jeremiah Smith has already done something at Ohio State that usually takes a full career to chase down. Early in his junior season, the wideout moved past the Buckeyes all-time receiving mark, a list that includes plenty of celebrated names, and the pace of his production has the program talking about him in a way that most players never get talked about.
Urban Meyer recently raised the temperature even more by calling Smith the best receiver in college football history, and it is exactly the kind of claim that invites a bigger argument. The numbers behind Smiths start are elite, but when you stack him against some of the sports other great college receivers, the debate gets more complicated, especially with his NFL future still unwritten. [Read more 🡒]