Ryan Day admits there is one thing about Ohio State’s Big Ten win over Illinois that doesn’t have him happy
The Buckeyes still have some improving to do.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are a 6-0 football team following a road win over Illinois in Big Ten play on Saturday afternoon. Ohio State forced two turnovers in the first half, which was the biggest difference in the 34-16 game. Illinois put together 295 yards of offense and outgained the Buckeyes, who were held to 272 yards.
Ohio State played bend-don’t-break defense, and it pushed another great game in Week 8 of the college football season. Luke Altmyer was sacked four times, and Arvell Reese led the way with 1.5 sacks. The defense was good once again, though Illinois now has the most points scored against Ohio State’s defense this season. It wasn’t perfect by any means for the Buckeyes, but they still found a way to win by three scores on the road against a ranked opponent.
Ryan Day isn’t happy about one thing coming out of the win over Illinois
Ohio State held a 20-3 lead at halftime thanks to two forced turnovers. The Buckeyes were held to two first-half field goals, but also found the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run by CJ Donaldson and a 17-yard catch and run by freshman Bo Jackson. Despite the 17-point lead at half, the Buckeyes only ended up winning by 18 points. Ohio State had a couple more opportunities to add more points in the second half and let them get away.
“We played really well early on. I just wish we had finished the game a little bit stronger,” Day said in the postgame interview with Fox while leaving the field. “We took our foot off the pedal, so I gotta take a deep breath right now. There were a lot of really good moments. A lot of good stands down there by our defense. A lot to grow upon, a lot to build on.”
Julian Sayin was 19-of-27 for just 166 yards, though he did have two touchdown passes. One of those touchdown passes went to wideout Jeremiah Smith, who finished with five catches for 42 yards to lead the Buckeyes. Carnell Tate added 41 yards on four catches, and tight end Max Klare had four catches for 38 yards. Ohio State had 106 rushing yards compared to 47 for Illinois, but it didn’t have a 50-yard rusher.
Jackson was limited a bit in the second half and led the way with 47 yards on 10 runs. Donaldson had 44 yards and saw more work in the second half. Ohio State is clearly rolling with James Peoples as the No. 3 running back at this point. Ohio State’s ability to take its foot off the gas late is due to a very good defense on the other side of the football. Still, it’s something that can’t happen, especially later in the season when the stage gets bigger.
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