Illinois HC Bret Bielema pointed out an absolutely embarrassing moment his team had against Ohio State
Ohio State did a lot of damage to Illinois’ defense in Week 4, and Illini head coach Bret Bielema pointed out quite the mistake they made.
Ohio State football’s offense fired on all cylinders in its Big Ten opener against Illinois on Saturday, and the Fighting Illini’s defensive struggles were laid bare in a postgame admission from head coach Brett Bielema. The Buckeyes put together a balanced attack with 151 rushing yards and 367 passing yards from quarterback Julian Sayin in a dominant performance at home.
The offense outplayed the defense by a wide margin. Ohio State converted 8-of-12 third downs, went 2-of-2 on fourth down, and Sayin was not sacked a single time. Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith exploded for 217 receiving yards, while Sayin accounted for five total touchdowns with four through the air and one on the ground.
Brett Bielema admits Illinois had only 9 defenders on the field at one point
Following the game, Bielema revealed a moment that had to sting for Illinois. The Fighting Illini had just nine players on the field defensively at one point during the game, two fewer than the required 11.
“Anytime you have a defense on the field with only nine players, I can’t understand it,” Bielema said. “So we’ll make sure that we get that moment corrected, and that’s got to be 100 percent on me to move forward. So, really got to look at what we’re doing defensively to make sure we’re not doing too much, and figure out what we can do to be good.”
Those are strong comments from Bielema, who told it like it is. He fell to 0-2 against Ohio State while at Illinois and 1-7 against the Buckeyes in his overall coaching career. Bielema is a high-energy coach who doesn’t shy away from being direct in postgame press conferences and even letting officials hear it during games.
Ohio State’s offense had its way with Illinois on Saturday, and the performance was a great sign of what this Buckeyes offense can be moving forward. The ground game could have been a touch more productive, but 56 yards from Ja’Kobi Jackson, 53 yards from Bo Jackson, and 29 rushing yards from Sayin was good enough to open Big Ten play with a statement.
Illinois, on the other hand, looks like it has bigger issues to deal with defensively going forward in conference play. Time will tell if Bielema can get those problems corrected before they get deeper into conference play.
