It's no secret Ohio State's defense looks to be much improved from where it was a year ago. A big part of that has been its ability to force turnovers.
Against a overmatched Illinois team Saturday night, the 16th-ranked Buckeyes forced four more — two interceptions and a pair of fumbles — which led to 17 points in a 55-14 rout of the Fighting Illini.
“It feels great to get the turnovers and the energy it brings our team," said linebacker Darron Lee, who had one of those interceptions against Illinois. "We’ve been working so hard and it’s a lot of fun.”
On the season, Ohio State leads the Big Ten with 14 interceptions. The Buckeyes also rank second in the conference in turnover margin at plus-8. Michigan State is the only team in the Big Ten which ranks ahead of Ohio State in that category. The Spartans are plus-12 on the season.
“We try to force turnovers literally every play call we get. Even if it’s a simple run play that they’re running, we’re trying to knock the ball out. That’s our mindset now," Lee said. "Now that everybody’s starting to get really comfortable with what they’re doing, now it’s time to go make plays.”
J.T. Barrett's Status
There were questions surrounding the status of J.T. Barrett's left knee coming into Saturday's game against Illinois. Nobody was really sure how much he would play and how effective he would be playing with a sprained MCL.
He only played a half — the Buckeyes led 31-0 at halftime — against a less-than-stellar Illinois defense, but Barrett looked OK for playing on an injured knee.
He completed 15 of his 24 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 38 yards on seven carries. He did, however, miss a couple of wide open throws early in the game.
"J.T. missed a couple of wideopen guys early in that game," head coach Urban Meyer said. "But I was really impressed by the way he came back and he made some very good plays in the second quarter."
It was probably a wise decision for Meyer to take Barrett out of the game at halftime with the final result already decided. He will need all of the rest he can get with Ohio State set to travel to East Lansing next weekend.
Curtis Samuel Gets the Start
Meyer said it was because of his strong week of practice, but it certainly came as a surprise to most that Curtis Samuel was Ohio State's starting running back for the first two series against Illinois.
Samuel replaced Ezekiel Elliott, who had emerged as the clear-cut No. 1 back in the Buckeyes' offense. Both got an equal amount of carries against the Fighting Illini as Samuel finished with 63 yards and two scores on nine carries and Elliott totaled 69 yards on his nine attempts.
After the game, Meyer downplayed the situation as any sort of big deal and lauded the play of both backs.
"There's nothing quite like competition. And those two guys, I don't micromanage that position," Meyer said. "I certainly listen and give my opinions, but Stan Drayton came to me in the middle of the week and said 'I'd like to start Curtis Samuel this week, he's doing everything right, and practices at an extremely high level.' We still have great confidence in Zeke but we have two guys that can play."
