Five Things to Know About Illinois, Ohio State’s Fifth Opponent of the 2020 Season

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

2-3 ROSTER / SCHEDULE

NOON – SATURDAY, NOV. 28 MEMORIAL STADIUM CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS

FS1 FOX SPORTS GO

Because the final week of this year’s regular season is still two weeks away, the Thanksgiving weekend slot on the schedule typically reserved for The Game is instead filled this week by a road trip to Illinois, as the Buckeyes will play away from home for just the second time this season as they travel to Champaign for the first time since 2015.

With the Illibuck up for grabs for the first time since 2017, we take a look at the biggest things you should know about the Fighting Illini, who bring a 2-3 record into this week’s game.

Three Straight Losses, Two Straight Wins

Illinois isn’t one of the Big Ten’s top teams, but if you go off of head-to-head results, the Illini at least appear to be better than two of the four teams Ohio State has played this season. Over the past two weeks, Illinois has earned a 23-20 win over Rutgers and a 41-23 win over Nebraska.

Before that, the Illini started out the season by losing their first three games of the year. They were routed 45-7 in their season opener against Wisconsin, fell 31-24 to Purdue and then suffered another blowout loss to Minnesota, 41-14. It should be noted, though, that the Illini were without more than a dozen players – including starting quarterback Brandon Peters, center Doug Kramer and kicker James McCourt, among others – for the Purdue and Minnesota games due to COVID-19 positive tests and contract tracing.

The Illini have yet to win a game at home this season, as their back-to-back wins both came on the road while their losses to the Boilermakers and Golden Gophers are the only games they’ve played on their home field Memorial Stadium so far this year.

Quarterback Carousel

In its first four games of the 2020 season, Illinois started four different quarterbacks. With Peters sidelined for three games due to his positive COVID-19 test, the Illini started Matt Robinson against Purdue, Coran Taylor against Minnesota and Isaiah Williams (no relation to Isiah “Juice” Williams, the quarterback who led Illinois to an upset win over Ohio State in 2007) against Rutgers.

Williams performed the best of those backup quarterbacks, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after running for 192 yards and a touchdown – though he only completed seven of 18 passing attempts for 104 yards – against Rutgers. That said, Peters regained his starting job upon his return for this past weekend’s game against Nebraska, and Illinois scored a season-high 41 points as he completed 18 of 25 passing attempts for 205 yards and a touchdown while also running for 36 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Peters, who played for Michigan before transferring to Illinois last year, is fully expected to be the starting quarterback for the Illini on Saturday, but the Buckeyes will have to also prepare for the running threat of Williams, who has played off the bench in each of Peters’ starts and had 14 yards on three carries against the Cornhuskers.

Brandon Peters returned to action against Nebraska after missing three games due to COVID-19. (Photo: Bruce Thorson – USA TODAY Sports)

One of the Big Ten’s Top Rushing Offenses

While Illinois’ passing offense has been one of the worst in the Big Ten – with the quarterback carousel being a big reason for that, of course – its rushing offense has been one of the best, ranking second only to Ohio State in rushing yards per game (222.4) and third in the conference behind Maryland and Ohio State in yards per carry (5.15).

The Illini have a strong one-two punch at running back in Mike Epstein and Chase Brown, who each rushed for over 110 yards and combined for three touchdowns against Nebraska. For the season as a whole, Brown has rushed for 357 yards and two touchdowns on 61 carries while Epstein has rushed for 338 yards and four touchdowns.

An experienced offensive line leads the way for Illinois’ rushing attack, as Kramer, left tackle Vederian Lowe and right tackle Alex Palczewski are all fourth-year starters and left guard Kendrick Green is a third-year starter. Right guard Verdis Brown is the unit’s only first-year starter, though Palczewski did suffer a leg injury against Nebraska, after which sophomore Julian Pearl took his place in the lineup.

One of the Big Ten’s Top Defensive Playmakers

As a whole, Illinois’ defense has been among the Big Ten’s worst this season, allowing 6.28 yards per play, the second-most of all conference teams after Minnesota. The Illini have had their two best games in terms of points and yards allowed per game in the last two weeks, though, and they are led by one of the conference’s most productive individual players.

Senior linebacker Jake Hansen was a Butkus Award semifinalist in 2019, when he led the entire Football Bowl Subdivision with seven forced fumbles, and he’s continued to be a major playmaker for Illinois this year. He leads the Illini with 44 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss and has continued to show a knack for making plays on the ball, recording two forced fumbles and two interceptions in Illinois’ first five games.

Other Illinois defensive players of note include defensive end Owen Carney Jr., who leads the Big Ten with 4.5 sacks this season, and cornerback Nate Hobbs, a fourth-year starter in Illinois’ secondary and one of two defensive team captains, along with Hansen.

Lopsided Recent Results

As aforementioned, there is semi-recent history of Illinois upsetting an Ohio State team that was expected to be a national championship contender. The Buckeyes were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, and Illinois was unranked, when the Illini went into Columbus in 2007 and pulled off a 28-21 upset over Ohio State.

The Buckeyes brought the Illibuck back to Columbus the following year, though, and they’ve held it ever since. While Ohio State and Illinois no longer play on an annual basis, the scarlet and gray have won the last nine matchups between the two teams. In each of the last five matchups, the Buckeyes have outscored the Illini by at least 25 points.

Going back to 1993, Ohio State has won 19 of its last 22 games against Illinois, including each of the last 11 meetings between the two teams in Champaign.