Illinois Fighting Illini vs Ohio State Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Nov 01, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 1, 2014

No. 13 Ohio State 55, Illinois 14: J.T. Barrett threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns to Devin Smith as the host Buckeyes tied their Big Ten record with their 20th consecutive regular-season conference victory.

Barrett, who played despite suffering a sprained left MCL last week against Penn State, completed 15-of-24 passes and also rushed for 38 yards before sitting out the second half of the one-sided game. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a team-high 69 yards and Curtis Samuel added 63 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Ohio State (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten), which has won nine of its last 10 against the Fighting Illini.

Illinois quarterback Reilly O’Toole, starting in place of the injured Wes Lunt, was intercepted twice in the first half and was replaced by Aaron Bailey, who finished 9-of-16 for 79 yards and a touchdown. Bailey was also the leading rusher for Illinois, finishing with 39 of the 106 rushing yards compiled by the Fighting Illini (4-5, 1-4).

Darron Lee intercepted O’Toole on the opening drive and the Buckeyes needed three plays to capitalize as Samuel scored on a 23-yard run. David Reisner was unable to match Sean Nuernberger’s 44-yard field goal as he missed from 47 yards and Barrett followed with his first touchdown pass to Smith - a 32-yarder - and the lead was 17-0 with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

O’Toole’s second interception led to a 1-yard TD run by Samuel and Barrett and Smith completed the first half scoring with a 8-yard hookup with 20 seconds left, stretching the lead to 31-0. Cardale Jones took over for Barrett to start the second half and didn’t let up, throwing a 27-yard TD pass to Dontre Wilson on his first series.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Buckeyes have outscored their opponents by a combined 189-38 in the first half of the last six games. … Ohio State has scored a TD on its opening drive in the last six contests. … Illinois WR Mike Dudek had three catches for 68 yards to break the school’s freshman single-season record for yards set by Arrelious Benn in 2007.