Land-Grant’s experts make Ohio State-Illinois predictions

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Being the Buckeye beat’s black sheep blog, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to pat ourselves on the back. So, throughout the season, members of our staff will be making predictions about that day’s game. They will go on the record with what they think the final score will be, who the game’s MVP will be, and what the major storyline will be coming out of the day.

This afternoon, the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes will play their first Big Ten game of the season as they welcome the Illinois Fighting Illini to Ohio Stadium. The two teams will kick off sometime in the general vicinity of 12 noon ET in a game airing on Fox.

Ohio State enters its first conference game of the season as a 27-point favorite, according to FanDuel. The book projects the total points line at 53.5. If you think you are better at prognosticating than our experts, maybe go and put your money where your mouth is.

Check out what our staff members think and then let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments below. As we move forward with the season, you will be able to keep up with just how well our prognosticators do on a weekly basis HERE.

Michael Citro

Score Prediction: Ohio State 34, Illinois 20
Game MVP: Jeremiah Smith will do his usual voodoo, and it’s simply going to be more impressive because he’s just that good. I think he’ll eclipse 100 yards and score twice despite Illinois having a good secondary.
Major Storyline: Ohio State may be starting to figure things out on the offensive line after helping Bo Jackson go over 100 yards rushing, including breaking a couple of explosive runs in the second half. Meanwhile, the defense lags behind last year’s group, despite getting some critical stops and holding the Illini to field goals twice.

Alex Frank

Score Prediction: Ohio State 35, Illinois 20
Game MVP: Bo Jackson needs to get the ball at least 20-25 times in this game. Running the ball will minimize Illinois’ chances of impacting the game with big plays. Jackson will rush for over 125 yards and carry the Buckeyes to a dynamic day offensively.
Major Storyline: The Buckeyes have to get their running game going at some point, and this is the game to do it. After this contest, we’ll be talking about how the Buckeyes finally hit home runs in the running game. In addition, Jeremiah Smith will move close to breaking the receptions and receiving touchdowns records at Ohio State, setting him up for a historic trip to Kinnick.

Joey Gertz

Score Prediction: Ohio State 35, Illinois 10
Game MVP: Julian Sayin will be the game MVP. There has been far too much chatter about Sayin and whether or not he is good enough to win at Ohio State. Sayin starts Big Ten play with a 300+ yard and multi-touchdown performance.
Major Storyline: The major storyline will be the emergence of a second option in the passing game. We have seen players like Devin McCain, Brandon Innis, Chris Henry, and even Brock Boyd make some plays against inferior opponents. Against Texas, no one other than Jeremiah Smith made an impact in the passing game. Against Illinois, wideouts not named Jeremiah Smith will reel in 150 yards and a touchdown.

Justin Golba

Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Illinois 10
Game MVP: This will be The Julian Sayin Game. There have been a lot of comments and some concerns about him (not from me), and this will be the game in which he reminds everyone that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He throws for four touchdowns, including two to Jeremiah Smith.
Major Storyline: This will piggyback off of the MVP of the game, but Sayin will play well enough in the first conference game of the season to get people to slow down the negative conversation around him.

Dan Hessler

Score Prediction: Ohio State 41, Illinois 14
Game MVP: Like games prior, Jeremiah Smith will be the best player on the field Saturday and will be the game’s MVP. He’ll record 150+ yards for the third time this year and add three touchdowns.
Major Storyline: Ohio State gets another dominant victory this season, but questions about whether it will continue against the best opponents on schedule will also exist. Big Ten football has kicked off, and the Buckeyes play ranked teams in four of their next five games

Brett Ludwiczak

Score Prediction: Ohio State 45, Illinois 14
Game MVP: Senior defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. gets to the quarterback early and often this game, recording two sacks. The pressure from Jackson and his linemates helps the group put together what is by far their best game of the young season.
Major Storyline: The Buckeyes look a lot sharper this week as they easily take care of a gritty Illinois team. The performance helps the squad gain a little momentum ahead of a tough trip to Iowa next week, as well as tough October games against Indiana and USC.

Gene Ross

Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Illinois 10
Game MVP: After a modest performance (by his standards) against Kent State (five catches for 85 yards), Jeremiah Smith adds to his Heisman resume with 10 catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns against Illinois.
Major Storyline: Ohio State begins to lean on its young guys on defense, with Riley Pettijohn, T.J. Alford, and Khary Wilder all playing increased snap counts as some of the defense’s clear and obvious best players

Matt Tamanini

Score Prediction: Ohio State 42, Illinois 10
Game MVP: This week, Ryan Day praised seventh-year senior Ja’Kobi Jackson’s ability to run angry. While I still imagine Bo Jackson will get the bulk of the carries, I think we will see the former Florida Gator snipe a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 75 yards.
Major Storyline: Ryan Day spent the majority of his media availabilities this week challenging his team to fix the ongoing problems that have soured some on the season thus far. While it will be far from a perfect game, the coach’s tough talk will have an impact on his team’s performance, as the Buckeyes look crisper from start to finish and show improvement in short yardage and in decision-making from the quarterback position.

Cole VanWiechen

Score Prediction: Ohio State 35, Illinois 6
Game MVP: Kenyatta Jackson Jr. will have his coming-out game. With two+ sacks and multiple big plays.
Major Storyline: The Texas game was just a blip for this defense, as Matt Patricia has this defense back to being a top-three unit in the country.

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