First Posted: 11/1/2014
COLUMBUS — The starting quarterback left the game after two quarters and more than half of the fans left the stadium by the time the third quarter was over.
Ohio State’s 55-14 win over Illinois on Saturday night at Ohio Stadium was every bit as one-sided as almost everyone predicted it would be.
The No. 13 Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) took a 31-0 halftime lead over Illinois (4-5, 1-4 Big Ten), then continued to add to their lead in the second half even with many of the front-line players spending much of the final two quarters on the sideline.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett didn’t appear to have any problems with the sprained knee he suffered late in the first half against Penn State last Saturday night. The redshirt freshman QB completed 15 of 24 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns and rushed the ball 7 times for 38 yards.
But with a showdown against Michigan State coming up this Saturday night in East Lansing, OSU coach Urban Meyer held Barrett out of action the entire second half against the outmanned Illini.
Meyer said he was going to let Barrett play the first series of the second half but then had second thoughts.
“I just got a feeling and I said get him out of the game. He’s fine and ready to go but it was just the smart thing to do, I think,” Meyer said.
Barrett said, “The knee really didn’t give me any problems.”
Illinois, the winner of only two Big Ten games in the last three seasons, never had a chance.
OSU rolled up more than 500 yards of offense for the fifth time in its last six games when it totaled 545 yards. Joey Bosa led the Buckeyes’ defensive domination with three tackles for losses and two sacks, giving him 14.5 tackles for losses and 10 sacks this seasons.
Steve Miller added three tackles for losses and a forced fumble and Curtis Grant had his first career interception and a fumble recovery.
Illinois didn’t score until 1:48 was left in the third quarter and OSU had built a 48-0 lead.
Ohio State constructed its 31-0 lead at halftime with the help of three Illinois turnovers in the first 15 minutes, 36 seconds of the game.
OSU scored on its first possession of the game for the sixth game in a row when Curtis Samuel sprinted 23 yards for a touchdown on the Buckeyes’ third offensive play. That score was set up when linebacker Darron Lee intercepted a pass and returned it to Illinois’ 38-yard line two minutes into the game.
The lead grew to 10-0 on a 44-yard field goal by Sean Nuernberger on OSU’s next possession.
After a missed field goal by Illinois, OSU drove 71 yards in nine plays to go up 17-0 on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Devin Smith, who had two touchdown catches in the game.
Another interception by a linebacker, this one from Grant, started the drive that made it 24-0 early in the second quarter. Grant’s pick, the first of his career, came on a ball that bounced off the hands of Illinois receiver Mike Dudek at the Illini’s 24-yard line.
Five plays later, Samuel scored on a 1-yard run to make it 24-0. OSU got its fourth first-half touchdown when Jalin Marshall’s 28-yard punt return set the offense up at Illinois’ 25-yard line with 34 seconds left in the first half.
Smith’s second touchdown catch of the first half, on a 6-yard reception, pushed the lead to 31-0. OSU’s second-half TDs came on a 27-yard pass from Cardale Jones to Dontre Wilson, a 30-yard run by Jalin Marshall and a 19-yard pass from Jones to Michael Thomas.
Jones was 5 of 9 passing for 82 yards and two touchdowns in his first extended time at quarterback this season. He also rushed 7 times for 47 yards.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 69 yards on 9 carries to lead OSU’s ground game but freshman Curtis Samuel (9 carries for 63 yards, 2 TDs) got the start over Elliott.
Next up for Ohio State is a rematch of the 2013 Big Ten title game against Michigan State, which ended the Buckeyes’ hopes of a national championship with a 34-24 win in that game in Indianapolis.
OSU’s attention turned to that game as soon as it got to the locker room, Lee said.
“It was right when we got in the locker room. We usually bring up our coaches to talk about who did well on offense and defense and special teams. We skipped that. We know what this week is about. It’s on, honestly,” he said.
