Buckeye Nation won’t like Illinois HC Bret Bielema’s admission after Ohio State beat the Illini
The Buckeyes moved to 6-0 on the season despite giving up double-digit points for just the second time this year.
The Ohio State Buckeyes had a tale of two halves in Week 7 against Illinois. Ohio State jumped out to a 20-3 lead over Illinois and ended up winning 34-16, but they clearly took their foot off the gas in the second half. Pair that with some Illinois offensive success after one change, and the Illini made this a game when it didn’t look like it would be.
Illinois was able to get QB Luke Altmyer going in the second half, and he was just about all of their offense with 44 passing attempts. Following the game, Illinois HC Bret Bielema had one regret.
Bret Bielema regrets going against what Ohio State couldn’t stop
“I actually wanted to go tempo the whole freaking game, because they couldn’t do [expletive] with it,” Bielema said in his postgame availability. “It seemed like when we went tempo, things really began to work our way. We just needed to go to it sooner.”
Not a lot of credit for the Buckeyes’ defense that may just be the best in America. Illinois scored two touchdowns in the second half, and it was the first touchdown the Buckeyes gave up since Week 3 against Ohio. The Illini had 295 total yards of offense while the Buckeyes were held to 272 yards after a hot start. Illinois had just 47 yards on the ground, and the rest came from the arm of Altmyer.
The two forced turnovers in the first half were the difference, and one was the first interception of Altmyer’s season; the second was a strip sack by CB Jermaine Mathews Jr. Ohio State entered the game giving up just five points per game, and that was first in the country. Holding onto that stat is a tough task, and teams will score on Ohio State at times this season. Still, the Buckeyes look legit on that side of the ball in Matt Patricia’s first year as the defensive coordinator.
Next up for Ohio State is a road game against the Wisconsin Badgers, a place that is never easy to play. The Buckeyes will have a week off after that before opening November with a home game against Penn State.
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