Ohio State sent it's seniors out on a winning note in a drenched Ohio Stadium as the Buckeyes whitewashed Illinois, 52-14, clenching the B1G East a trip to the conference title game in the process.
The complete talent mismatch saw the Buckeyes outgain the Illini 543-105 while emptying the bench for the bulk of a second half played in monsoon conditions.
J.T. Barrett made the most of his final performance in the Shoe tallying 174 total yards and three touchdowns despite watching most of the second half from the sidelines while the rest of the seniors also turned in solid days highlighted by Jamarco Jones, Billy Price and Chris Worley.
The win improved Ohio State to 9-2 on the season and moved it to 21-2 in the month of November under Urban Meyer.
Speaking of November, the Buckeyes will once again round out the month taking on Michigan, this time in Ann Arbor. Currently owning fourth place in the B1G East, the Wolverines saw their freshman quarterback Brandon Peters leave yesterday's loss at Wisconsin with a head injury, casting uncertainty as to exactly who will be under center next Saturday when Ohio State invades Michigan Stadium.
Hey look, I get it. I want to talk Michigan too. But for now, humor me and take a glance at Five Things from yesterday's heel-stomping of Illinois.
WIDE (IS) RIGHT
Entering the season without a legit middle linebacker, Chris Worley slid over from and outside linebacker spot he so admirably filled last year and gave it a go in the middle for the the majority of Ohio State's first nine games.
With redshirt freshman Tuf Borland starting to find his way at the mike spot, and in the midst of having to take on Michigan State last weekend without the services of Dante Booker and Jerome Baker, Worley moved back outside to the will linebacker spot against the Spartans, turning in a strong performance.
Yesterday, Worley again found himself on the outside, this time at the sam linebacker spot, and again he thrived posting five stops including a TFL and a QB pressure.
He went to work early coming off the edge and bringing down Kendrick Foster from the back side for a 1-yard gain on 3rd-and-2 to force a punt on the Illini's opening possession.
On the next possession Worley snuffed out a first down tunnel screen with an athletic play for no gain leading to a punt, and on the ensuing possession it was more of the same as he stayed home on a throwback screen, blowing up what was almost a big gainer for a 3-yard loss.
Finally, shortly before the half, Worley knifed through the Illini front forcing a first down incompletion and eventually another punt.
Props to Worley for stepping up to man the mike spot while the staff prepped a young guy but the reality is Chris is an outside linebacker, whether it be will or sam, and needs to stay there.
SPEAKING OF MIKE..
How about Mike Weber?
A week after blitzing Michigan State with nine carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns, both of the home run variety including a 47-yarder and an 82-yarder, Weber went right back to work against Illinois posting 11 carries for 108 yards and two scores, one of which went for 43 yards.
Finally looking healthy, and frankly faster than ever, Weber has 20 rushes for 270 yards and four touchdowns over the last two games, good for 13.5 yards per carry.
Last year the knock on a healthy Weber was the lack of big play ability and/or breakaway speed but the last two weeks the kid has outran the defense for long touchdowns on three separate occasions.
Maybe he just never had a chance to find that third-gear last year since it seemed he was too often brought down by shoestring tackles as he entered the second level. Now, however, he is showing burst to and through the hole and if he gets an angle on the safeties, it's curtains.
I just wanted to give Weber some love since I pegged him for 1,400 yards entering the season.
Naw, while that is true, I really wanted to single Weber out because it's great to see him having fun now that he's fully healthy and more so because even while everyone was drooling over J.K. Dobbins (and rightfully so), Weber never pissed and moaned. Quite the opposite, he was a great teammate who kept doing his job even if he was being asked to do less than last year when he ran for more than 1,000 yards as a redshirt freshman.
SCALPED
Yes, calling Illinois' offense a dumpster fire is an insult to a perfectly raging dumpster fire but man did Ohio State's defense suffocate the Illini attack.
On the way to a 38-0 lead at the half, the Buckeye defense allowed just one first down on 23 plays spanning seven possessions.
The Illini managed just 43 yards in the opening half including only nine passing yards on 11 attempts and averaged a mere 1.9 yards per play.
As you probably guessed, Lovie Smith's crew also failed to convert a third down in the first half going 0-for-7.
Worley's play stood out, as noted, but it was largely a collective effort as guys like Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes did work up front and Damon Webb deserves a call out for his work on the back end of the defense.
Even with Greg Schiano emptying the bench in the second half, Illinois still tallied a weak 105 total yards (16 passing, 89 rushing) and five first downs while going 1-for-12 on third down.
HOLDING IT DOWN
Coming off a junior season in which he had a team-best 97.6% pass blocking rate and allowed just two quarterback pressures over the final five games, good enough to earn second-team All-B1G honors, I thought left tackle Jamarco Jones might finally get the notoriety he deserves in 2017.
Instead, his relative anonymity continues as fellow linemate, center Billy Price, has enjoyed most of the spotlight spent on the often-ignored offensive line.
I would never suggest Price hasn't earned any spotlight or award talk sent his way – he's had a hell of a season and is a no-doubt NFL center – but I would argue Jones is having a standout season himself, and doing it a position that is tougher, physically, to play.
Jones turned in another solid performance yesterday and entering week 11, his pass blocking efficiency stood at 99.1% as he yielded only one sack, hit and pressure in 321 snaps.
Just wanted to throw some props at what I see as Ohio State's most important offensive player not named J.T. Barrett.
ALL CLASS
The older I get, the more I appreciate the collective success of an Ohio State senior class.
While the full story can't yet be written on the 2017 edition, getting that final sendoff from the Buckeye faithful in the Shoe always triggers reflection.
It was great to see names like Jamarco Jones, Chris Worley, Tyquan Lewis, Billy Price, J.T. Barrett and others take that singular jog from the tunnel to the awaiting arms of family and Urban Meyer.
With a minimum of three games left in their collegiate careers, this senior class sits on a 46-6 record featuring one B1G title, one Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame, two College Football Playoff appearances and one national title.
Oh, and this group is also 3-0 against Michigan and it's ringleader, Barrett, already has 766 total yards and eight touchdowns against the maize and blue, good for an average of 255 total yards and 2.7 touchdowns per Game.
What's the best thing about being 3-0?
A chance to go 4-0.
