Ohio State beat Illinois 42-19 on Saturday, and if you didn't watch the game, you'd think it was a blowout. While I wouldn't say the Buckeyes' win was ever in doubt, it was a little closer than the score would indicate, but that's okay. This is what this season is going to be for Ohio State.
The Buckeye offense was firing on all cylinders on Saturday afternoon. They scored touchdowns on six of their eight drives before they kneeled the ball to end the game. Jeremiah Smith had career highs in catches, yards, and touchdowns, while Julian Sayin turned in his best performance of the season.
The defense, however, struggled to put the game away. Outside of the final drive of the first half, Illinois' final five drives all lasted at least seven plays and picked up multiple first downs. Give the Buckeyes some credit, as they only allowed one of those drives to end in a touchdown, but their below-standard performance left some nerves in the crowd.
Ohio State got out to a big lead before most of their issues started to pop up, as they took a 28-10 lead into halftime. The performance coming out of the half was much more concerning for the defense, as Illinois held the ball for 12:24 of the third quarter on just two possessions.
It brought back some bad memories from the Texas collapse, as the Buckeyes gave up a field goal, then went three and out on offense before giving up another long drive that seemed certain to end in points for the Fighting Illini.
While there are plenty of negatives to take from Saturday, one big positive is that Ohio State showed the ability to finish that it did not show in Austin. They bowed up and stopped the Illini on 4th & 4 at the OSU 20, and followed it up with an eight-play touchdown drive that took over four minutes off the clock to put the Buckeyes up 35-13 and effectively end the game.
There were over 101,000 fans in Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and I'm sure very few of them thought there was a real chance that Illinois was going to take back the Illibuck for the first time in 19 years. However, the stresses that it provided are going to be an indicator of what is to come.
Ohio State breezed through its Big Ten schedule last season. That will not be the case in 2026. Ohio State still has three ranked opponents on its schedule, which does not include a road game against undefeated Nebraska and a home game against a Northwestern team that destroyed Colorado and took the defending national champions, Indiana, deep into the fourth quarter. It also doesn't include the rivalry game against Michigan.
The schedule is tougher, and the Buckeyes appear to not be as dominant as they were a year ago. The negatives of that are obvious. There are more opportunities to lose, which could cost the Buckeyes the chance to accomplish their goals. It also drives the fans crazy, myself included.
There are also positives. Last year's Ohio State team struggled to handle adversity when it went against top competition in the postseason. This year's Buckeye team will have gone through the gauntlet and experienced all different types of games before it goes on a potential playoff run in December and January. If this team can fix some of its issues, it will be battle-tested by the end of the season. The quicker the players, coaches, and fans understand this, the better.
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