3 reasons Ohio State would’ve crushed Illinois before COVID cancellation
By Alec Hartman
2. Defense was set to impress
The Buckeyes have bent but not broken which is in large part due to their defense. However, being bent is something the Buckeyes’ defense has endured on a weekly basis. Another tumultuous effort by the defense afforded another victory but eventually it could spell disaster.
The fact that the Buckeyes’ defense hasn’t broken has been the most impressive aspect so far. Besides letting up an excess of 25 points in each of the last three weeks, it has been the important moments where the defense has come through. The defense did not allow a score on any of the three interceptions that Fields threw.
This statistic is important considering Indiana’s bread and butter has been scoring after turnovers. The Buckeyes were surely not planning to play into the strength of Indiana by making risky passes but at least the defense remained vigilant by not letting them capitalize on it. Another major story on the day was the criticism of Shaun Wade and the secondary but that unit ended up making plays that mitigated their weakness as well.
Wade picked off Michael Penix Jr. late in the third quarter which would ultimately be the Buckeyes’ final score of the game. With that in mind, the close margin of victory cannot be solely to the fault of the defense as the offense stalled at several key junctions throughout the contest. It was to be expected that the Indiana offense would put up some points as Michael Penix Jr. and receiver Ty Fryfogle lead the Big Ten by a large margin in yards.
The Illini aren’t the most intimidating passing team as they have the third least total passing touchdowns in the Big Ten. However, their lack of passing touchdowns is mitigated by minimal turnovers as they have the least interceptions in the Big Ten. Fortunately, the Illini don’t have any playmakers near the level of Penix and Fryfogle.