Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will crush Illinois

4. Illinois’ limited offense will have a hard time scoring at the Shoe.

The Fighting Illini have many struggles across the board but the one that stands out the most is their offense. Their offense ranks second to last in the Big Ten and has the least total touchdowns in the conference. The struggle is real for the Illini when it comes to scoring points.

The Illini currently have problems with their quarterback situation. They played freshman Cameron Thomas and red shirt sophomore Jeff George Jr. against Wisconsin with both struggling badly. They combined for just 9/31 passing for 152 yards and two interceptions.

Senior running back Kendrick Foster leads the way for the Illini. He has just one touchdown on the season and is only averaging 3.8 yards per carry. This is especially unfortunate considering the Illini had a better option with freshman Mike Epstein who was averaging 6.1 yards per carry. However, he was lost for the season a few weeks back and will not be available.

The Bucks have been relatively stingy at home this season. Aside from upper level offenses such as Oklahoma and Penn State, the Bucks haven’t allowed over 14 points to be scored from an opposing offense at home. The Illini have the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten at just 16.2 points per game.

It may not seem like it but this game is very important for the Bucks’ defense. The reason is that the Bucks need to prove that they can be consistent on the defensive side of the ball. The Bucks have had games where they just look out of it on defense which absolutely cannot happen. A great example of this was at Iowa. Expect the Bucks to keep the Illini in check with ease on Saturday.