Ohio State enters its Big Ten opener with Illinois carrying a few clear concerns, and Ryan Day is not pretending otherwise.
The seventh-ranked Buckeyes host the Illini on Sept. 26 with a 2-1 record, but Day wants cleaner execution on offense before the schedule tightens up in October. The biggest issues on his list are balance, red-zone finishing and third-down production.
“I think it’s been inconsistent,” Day about the offense. “There’s been times where it’s been very good and then other times where it’s struggled. I think that the situations in particular, we’ve got stalled because we haven’t been able to finish drives in the red zone.”
Ohio State has turned 12 of its 17 red-zone trips into touchdowns, but that number took a hit in the 24-23 loss at No. 1 Texas on Sept. 12, when the Buckeyes managed touchdowns on just 2 of 5 chances.
Day sounded even more alarmed by what his team has done on third down. Ohio State converted only 12 of 33 attempts through three games after ranking second nationally last season at 53.2 percent.
The current 36.4 percent mark is tied for 102nd out of 138 FBS teams.
“Those things have got to get better fast, and I think it’s a combination of executing plays better but also looking at other things,” Day said.
The Buckeyes are about to find out quickly. After Illinois, they go to No.
17 Iowa on Oct. 3, return home to face Maryland the next week, then finish the month at fifth-ranked Indiana on Oct. 17 and No. 12 Southern California on Oct.
Illinois arrives at 2-1 as well, and Bret Bielema knows his group is stepping into a familiar fight. The Illini were one of the few teams to score two touchdowns against Ohio State during the regular season last year, though they still fell 34-16. Half of the players from that team are gone, but the matchup still carries some familiarity for both sides.
“Ohio State has familiarity. It’s a rematch game from a year ago.
Obviously our special teams coordinator (Robby Discher) that was here last year is over there. So to think about the opportunities that presents, I think it’s fun to watch and be around,” said coach Bret Bielema, who is 1-6 against Ohio State from his time at Wisconsin and Illinois.
The passing-game spotlight will be bright on both sidelines. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Illinois’ Collin Dixon have put themselves among the nation’s top receivers through three games. Smith ranks fourth in FBS with 400 receiving yards, while Dixon leads the country with seven touchdown catches and is tied for fourth with 25 receptions.
Dixon, a senior from Tallmadge near Akron, has become a major target for the Illini. Smith has at least five catches in each game, though he was held to just the first half in blowouts against Ball State and Kent State.
Ohio State also wants more from its ground game. Day has seen flashes, but not the week-to-week consistency he wants. Senior Ja’Kobi Jackson has scored four times and is averaging 7.1 yards per carry, while sophomore Bo Jackson is at 5.9 yards per rush with two touchdowns.
“We need some dudes who are running angry this week,” Day said.
Illinois quarterback Katin Houser has been one of the early bright spots for the Illini. The former East Carolina starter has thrown for 758 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 74 percent of his passes. Houser began his career at Michigan State and already has experience against Ohio State, going 12 of 24 for 92 yards in the Spartans’ 38-3 loss in 2023.
Bielema has also tried to prepare his team for the challenge of playing away from home. Illinois is 12-13 in road games during his six seasons, including 2-5 against ranked opponents. To sharpen that edge, he turned one preseason scrimmage into a simulated road trip, with the team spending a night in a hotel, using the visitors locker room at Memorial Stadium and lining up on the visiting sideline.
“I really do believe in life, you learn more from being in the moment than you can ever study for it. You just got to throw it in. Anytime you can make people uncomfortable, I think you grow and that was a big part of it,” Bielema said.
Ohio State, meanwhile, has had the upper hand in this series for a long time. The Buckeyes have won 10 straight against Illinois and have held the Illibuck Trophy since 2008.
The Illibuck is a carved wooden turtle that traces back to 1924, when the rivalry trophy began with a live turtle before it died two years later. It remains the second oldest traveling trophy in the Big Ten, behind the Little Brown Jug between Minnesota and Michigan.
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