Report Card: Is there a grade better than A+?
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The No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0) took down the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1) 42-19 in a game that shot Jeremiah Smith to the top of the Heisman odds. Here is who graded out well and poorly in the Buckeyes’ first conference win of the season.
A+: Jeremiah Smith
At this point, I was going to try to put other guys on here because this is low-hanging fruit, but I don’t know what I am supposed to do. Smith had 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns, and it never once looked hard. He should win the Heisman, or the Heisman is a fraudulent award.
A+: Julian Sayin
Julian Sayin ran for 29 yards and a touchdown. Sure, he also threw for 367 yards and four scores, but those 29 yards on the ground may be more important moving forward. This was the cleanest he has looked all season and, of course, having No. 4 to throw it to never hurts. A+ for the 29 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
A: Ability to beat Illinois
Ohio State has now won 11 straight games against Illinois and has not lost since 2006, a.k.a. “The Juice Williams Game”. I know Ohio State will always be favored against Illinois, but it is hard to beat a team 11 straight times, especially since Illinois is no longer an awful program. Solid job to keep the Illibuck in Columbus.
B+: Young defenders
Every week it is a new freshman or sophomore on defense making their name known. Between Riley Pettijohn, Devin Sanchez, Khary Wilder, Jay Timmons, etc., the defense has some insane talent in the younger players, and watching them develop and continue to get better is going to be awesome.
B: Pass rush
The Ohio State pass rush has gotten some criticism this season so far, and rightfully so. They have not been as efficient or caused enough havoc as they have in recent seasons. However, they recorded three sacks in this game and had Katin Houser — a pretty talented and very experienced quarterback — in trouble a lot throughout. Coming into this game, Houser had not been sacked all season and was one of the best QBs in the country under pressure, so this was a good move in the right direction.
D: Run Defense
Grading this a D might actually be optimistic. It was bad, and with the teams that the Buckeyes have coming up, they will need to improve fast. The one thing I will say is the run defense was not terrible against Texas, but when you watch Illinois run for 199 yards on 33 carries, you have to wonder if the Horns just aren’t very good at running the football. Aidan Laughery recorded 113 yards on 11 carries for the Illini.
Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and USC all have better rushing attacks than Illinois does. It has to get better, and it has to get better fast.
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