Big Ten play arrives in Columbus with Ohio State set to host Illinois in a game that brings back the Illibuck and opens conference action for both teams. Ohio Stadium will stage its second straight Big Noon Kickoff, and the Buckeyes enter as 27.5-point favorites over the 2-1 Fighting Illini.
Illinois comes in with a new quarterback and a few new faces on the coaching staff, but the headline matchup still starts with Katin Houser. The transfer is no stranger to Ohio State.
He’s already faced the Buckeyes once before, back in 2023, when he was at Michigan State. That day, Ohio State rolled 38-3, and Houser finished 12-for-24 for 92 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
This time, he’s leading Illinois after a winding college journey that began at St. John Bosco, where he was an Elite 11 finalist and originally committed to Michigan State.
He started seven games for the Spartans, completing 112 of 191 passes for 1,130 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions, before transferring to East Carolina after Mel Tucker was dismissed. At ECU over the last two seasons, Houser threw for 5,306 yards, 37 touchdowns and 17 interceptions on 418 completions in 653 attempts.
Through three games at Illinois, he has hit 60 of 81 passes for 758 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
Illinois also had to replace Robby Discher, who joined Ohio State’s staff in February as the Buckeyes’ first full-time special teams coordinator since Parker Fleming was fired after the 2023 season. Discher had handled an Illinois specialist group last year that featured kicker David Olano, who made 20 of 23 field goals, and Hank Beatty, who led the Big Ten in punt return average at 14.1 yards.
The Illini answered by promoting Chris Hurd, who had been senior special teams assistant since 2024 after arriving as a special teams analyst in 2023. Before Illinois, Hurd worked with Bret Bielema at Arkansas and also had stops at Akron, Chattanooga, FAU, Arkansas again, Tennessee, Cisco College and North Texas.
On defense, Illinois is adjusting to another major change. Aaron Henry left after a 2025 season in which eight of his 11 starters earned All-Big Ten honors, taking a job at Notre Dame as defensive backs coach after Mike Mickens moved on to the Baltimore Ravens.
Illinois brought in Bobby Hauck to run a 3-3-5 defense rooted in the system he learned from Rocky Long. Hauck spent 20 seasons as a head coach at Montana and UNLV, going 166-92, and his Montana defenses were consistently among the best in the Big Sky and the FCS.
They finished in the top five in the Big Sky in scoring defense, total defense and sacks every year, and ranked in the top 10 nationally in turnovers forced in three of his final five seasons there, including 27 last season, good for third in the FCS.
The results so far have been uneven. Illinois allowed 23 points to UAB, 31 to Duke and then held Southern Illinois to 10. Through three games, the defense is giving up 386 yards per game, which ranks 107th nationally, and 27 points per game, which ranks 100th.
One Illinois defender worth tracking is safety Xavier Scott. The Illini have been productive in developing defensive backs for the NFL in recent years, including Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown, Nate Hobbs and Kerby Joseph, and Scott looks like the next name in that pipeline.
He’s in his fifth and final year with the program and will be off to the NFL next season. Before this year, he played in 39 games across four seasons and had 127 tackles, 27 pass breakups, six interceptions and three forced fumbles.
His 2025 season was cut short by injury, and he earned another year of eligibility after filing for a medical redshirt following three appearances. This season, he already has nine tackles and a pass breakup.
And then there’s the Illibuck, the old rivalry trophy with a long and unusual history. The tradition began in 1925 with a live turtle named Illibuck, symbolizing longevity for the winner.
After the original turtle died, the trophy was replaced the next year by a wooden version. Illinois and Ohio State first met in 1902, later becoming regular Big Ten opponents, and they have played 103 times overall.
Ohio State leads the series 69-30, with four ties.
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Ohio State Has A New Ranking Frustration Fans Wont Ignore
Ohio States Week 3 win over Kent State was supposed to keep the Buckeyes steady, but the AP Top 25 told a different story. After the latest poll, Ohio State slipped to No. 7, a reminder that even a clean victory does not always protect a teams place in the national conversation. Ole Miss, coming off its win over LSU, jumped to No. 4 and moved ahead of the Buckeyes along with a few other teams.
Now the focus shifts to Week 4 and a home date with Illinois, where Ohio State has another chance to make a statement. The Buckeyes do not control the poll, only the results that shape it, and the gap between winning and gaining ground can be thin this early in the season. If Ohio State wants to climb back into the top tier, the path starts with handling business and letting the ranking debate sort itself out later. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smith Just Rewrote A Piece Of Ohio State History
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The record had belonged to Michael Jenkins, one of the more important receivers in Ohio State history and a key figure in the 2002 national championship season. Jenkins had stood atop that list for more than two decades, which gives Smiths rise some real perspective and makes the new benchmark feel bigger than a single afternoon against an overmatched opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Fans Have A New Fox Frustration After Another Blowout
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The complaints centered on several of the bigger moments in the game, from a touchdown catch by Chris Henry Jr. to other Buckeye scores that barely seemed to register with Johnsons call. The reaction felt familiar to anyone who has followed Ohio State on Fox in recent seasons, because this was not the first time fans have come away from a blowout wondering why the soundtrack never matched the action. [Read more 🡒]