COLUMBUS — Ohio State had a perfect season spoiled a year ago — and almost had the same thing happen a year earlier — by quarterback Juice Williams and Illinois.
Now, with so much to play for and so few games left, the Buckeyes are taking steps to see that Williams and Co. don’t ruin yet another season when the teams meet in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday.
“You never really forget things like that,” cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said of top-ranked Ohio State’s 28-21 home loss to the Illini a year ago. “But it’s not the main focus of what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get better.”
So is Illinois. Coach Ron Zook’s team (5-5, 3-3 Big Ten) has struggled this season. The Illini need another win to clinch a bowl trip.
Ohio State (8-2, 5-1), meanwhile, still has high hopes of grabbing at least a piece of the conference title and of earning a Bowl Championship Series berth. They need to win out to accomplish both of those goals.
The Buckeyes barely escaped with a win the last time they played at Memorial Stadium in 2006. The nation’s No. 1 team struggled all day before pulling out a 17-10 win — one of the closest calls it had while rising to No. 1 during an unbeaten regular season.
Zook knows that the Buckeyes have taken a long look at the past couple of games with the Illini and are gearing up.
“They’re obviously coming in here with a chip on their shoulder,” the Miami (Ohio) grad and former Ohio State assistant coach said. “We don’t have to worry about them looking past us to Michigan. They’re going to be zeroed right in on us.”
In particular, the Buckeyes are focusing on Williams, a fleet runner who has developed into the Big Ten’s best passer. A year ago, Williams quieted the crowd at Ohio Stadium by throwing for four touchdowns. Ohio State’s defense was giving up just 65 rushing yards a game, but with Williams performing sleight of hand the Illini shredded it for 260 yards on the ground.
This year, for the most part, he’s improved.
“He can do it all. He can run, he’s throwing the ball better — which is hard to imagine since last year he threw the ball pretty well,” Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “He’s grown so much. His decision-making has gotten better.”
Williams continually bedeviled the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter. The Illini, protecting that 28-21 lead, ran more than six minutes off the clock at the start of the fourth quarter. After getting the ball back when Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman threw his third interception of the day, the Illini took over at their own 24 with 8:09 to play — and never gave the ball back.
They ran 16 plays, picking up first downs on four third-down plays and another on fourth down.
It was a classic game of keep away, with Williams all but taunting the Buckeyes by making just enough yardage to keep the seconds ticking away.
“It was just frustrating,” Laurinaitis said. “You have to make those plays to get off on third down. To me, just looking back on that drive, (I remember) being frustrated, that we had to come up with a big stop and we couldn’t do it.”
Many say that Ohio State doesn’t match up well with Williams because the Buckeyes defense has trouble with dual-threat quarterbacks. The one-sided losses in the last two BCS title games, the defeat to Illinois, losses earlier this season to Southern California and Penn State — in each case the opposing quarterback was mobile and could throw the ball.
Then again, others say, who doesn’t have problems with those types of quarterbacks? Maybe that’s why the Buckeyes have switched from the pocket-style Boeckman, to sleek, athletic freshman Terrelle Pryor, who is at his best when the play breaks down and he’s left to freelance.
Coach Jim Tressel said having a quarterback who can run freezes defenses and prevents them from being overly aggressive.
“The quarterback that adds the problems is the one that can pull it down and run with it, which why Juice, he’s another dimension,” he said. “We haven’t faced anyone like him.”
Except maybe in practice.
Ohio State’s defenders were stunned last season at how often they zoomed in for a tackle and grasped air instead of Willliams. It’s something that will have to change this time around.
Jenkins said there are several ways to counteract Williams’ ability to evade tacklers.
“Just being physical and winning up front and then getting them down when we can,” he said. “If we can do that, and eliminate big plays, we should be all right.”

BUCKEYE PERISCOPE

ILLINI TRIVIA: QB Juice Williams averages 334.6 yards a game — 57.7 rushing and 276.9 passing — which ranks seventh in the nation.
• At 448 yards per game, Illinois’ offense ranks first in the Big Ten and 15th in the country.
• Illinois’ defense leads the Big Ten in both tackles for loss and sacks with 7.7 and 3.2 per game, respectively.
• 17 of Illinois’ 38 touchdown drives have taken less than 2 minutes.
• Coach Ron Zook was the DBs coach at Ohio State under John Cooper from 1988-90 — with the Illini going 3-0 over the Buckeyes while Zook was on the staff.

ALL FORGOTTEN? After Illinois upset No. 1-ranked Ohio State 28-21 a year ago, the teams scuffled at midfield. It was your typical postgame stuff — Buckeyes players thought they were being disrespected, the Illini said they were just celebrating. There was some pushing, some yelling, and then cooler heads prevailed.
What made it stand out is that the Big Ten stepped in and fined each institution $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
In addition, coaches Zook and Jim Tressel were reprimanded for not making sure their players “conducted themselves in an acceptable fashion.”
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said the players’ conduct violated the conference’s sportsmanlike conduct policy.
Ohio State LB James Laurinaitis said there’s nothing to be gained by fretting over such incidents.
“That’s behind us. We just have to focus on going into their stadium and having a tough environment and a tough team,” he said. “If we focus too much on the stuff outside of football, it’ll take away from our focus on the game.”
WALTER CAMP-ING OUT: Laurinaitis is among 15 “players to watch” for the Walter Camp player of the year award. The list includes Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida, along with Missouri QB Chase Daniel, Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell, Texas QB Colt McCoy and Michigan State RB Javon Ringer. Five finalists will be announced on Dec. 2.

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