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2026 Season

Bulletpoints: Illinois

Thoughts on the Buckeyes' 42-19 win over Illinois.

Bulletpoints: Illinois
  • Today was about Jeremiah Smith. Ohio State has the luxury of pressing a button no one else in the country can in No. 4. If opponents are dumb enough to leave him in single coverage –particularly in the redzone– there's no reason to not feed him repeatedly when he's going to give you results like this:
  • It's hard to keep coming up with new things to say about Smith. 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns. Are you kidding? Last week I said that he's arguably the best player in program history. The more he accomplishes, the more it becomes clear that he's one of the greatest receivers in college football history. This is an instant College Football Hall of Famer whose career in scarlet and gray will be something even people outside Ohio State's fanbase talk about for decades:
  • The other main talking point coming out of this has to be the defense. They're easily the team's biggest concern heading into October. The couple of 10+ yard runs by Kent State last week were 20+ yard rips from Illinois. What are those going to look like later in the season against offenses whose actual strength is running the ball? It wasn't just the run defense, either. Illini receivers were wide open in the middle of the field all game, and QB Katin Houser missed a couple from clean pockets that would've upped his yardage closer to 300.
  • The best way to describe the defense right now, is "less than the sum of their parts." Do I think they have the pieces to be dominant? No. They aren't close to last year's defense, even at their best. There's enough here that they shouldn't be this leaky, though. It sure looks like Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese, and Co. covered up a lot for Matt Patricia last year.

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