CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ohio State got a boost last week from a team not even on its schedule.
Iowa’s upset of Penn State renewed Ohio State’s hopes for winning the Big Ten and reaching the Rose Bowl.
“We were riding the bus home from the airport when the Iowa kicker kicked it through and you could see that peaked interest,” OSU coach Jim Tressel said.
No. 10 Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) can earn a share of the Big Ten title and maybe even a Rose Bowl bid if it wins its last two games, starting today against Illinois, a team that nearly knocked the Buckeyes out of national championship contention last season.
“Now everything is back in our hands,” cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “If we want to share the Big Ten championship or even win it outright, depending on what happens, it’s up to us.”
A year after the Illini upset then-No. 1 Ohio State to earn a trip to the Rose Bowl, they don’t have nearly as much to play for.
At 5-5 and 3-3 in the Big Ten, they’re just hoping to get the sixth win that’ll open the door to a bowl bid — any bowl bid.
“The best thing we can do is get ready to play a great football team that has a chip on their shoulder and they’re going to come in here and we’re going to get their best shot,” Illinois coach Ron Zook said. “There’s no use feeling sorry for ourselves because no one cares. That’s the nature of the game.”
The Illini started the season in the Top 25, but capped off a string of disappointments with last week’s loss to the Mid-American Conference’s Western Michigan.
Through those bad times, including losses to underdogs Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Illini have struggled to run the ball. They’ve rushed for more than 100 yards just twice in the past five games, going 2-3.
That’s left Illinois’ fate on the arm of junior quarterback Juice Williams, the Big Ten’s top passer with 276.9 yards a game, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
But Williams has been inconsistent. He’s turned the ball over at the worst times and been inclined to force the ball into the hands of his top receiver, Aurrelious Benn.
“You go back and look at every interception and you say, ‘Why wasn’t he accurate?’ Sometimes he’s not as accurate as you need to be,” Zook said. “But we have to do a better job protecting. It’s hard to be accurate when you’re getting the crap knocked out of you.”
Williams has been sacked 11 times in the past five games.
That kind of pressure, Buckeye linebacker James Laurinaitis said, is the key to containing Williams.
“If there’s a guy like that, you’ve got to be relentless and you’ve got to be in hard pursuit and hopefully you can put some pressure on him,” said Laurinaitis, Ohio State’s leading tackler. “If he has all day to throw, then it’s going to be a long day for us.”
If the Ohio State defense can’t stop Illinois’ passing game, the weather might.
Champaign’s forecast for today calls for wind, 35 degrees and a chance of snow flurries.
Illinois has run the ball by committee this season, using four different backs, none of whom has more than Williams’ 577 yards (57.7 a game).
While Williams carries the running load for Illinois, his counterpart, Ohio State freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor supplements the work of running back Beanie Wells.
“They’re not asking him to win the game,” Zook said of Pryor. “They’re just letting him play. He’s got obviously enough of a supporting cast that he’s able to do that.”
Wells has 814 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
The Illini will count heavily on senior linebacker Brit Miller, the Big Ten’s leading tackler with 110, to slow both Wells and Pryor.
A year ago, Williams and the Illini drained the last 8:09 off the clock with one drive that preserved Illinois’ 28-21 lead and ended Ohio State’s perfect season.
Associated Press sportswriter Rusty Miller contributed to this report from Columbus.

BUCKEYE PERISCOPE

BUCKEYES BUZZ: It seems everybody is talking about where the Buckeyes will play in a bowl game.
Speculation online, on TV and on radio talk shows runs the gamut from the Fiesta Bowl vs. Texas Tech, to the Capital One Bowl vs. Alabama, and almost every place imaginable in between.
Scout.com/FoxSports.com looks into the crystal ball and sees the Buckeyes playing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. In other words, another trip back to New Orleans.
CBSsportsline.com foresees the Buckeyes meeting Texas Tech in the Fiesta Bowl. That would mean five trips to the Arizona desert in the last seven years for the Buckeyes.
Fact is that it’s way too early to tell who’ll even be among the 10 teams playing in BCS games: the national championship game and the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose bowls. Be patient. It’ll get clearer every weekend.
WEATHER OR NOT: Here’s the forecast for this afternoon in Champaign, Ill.: A high of 36, low of 33 with gusting winds around 25 mph from the northwest. Rain early, possibly shifting to snow.
STAT OF THE DAY: From the first meeting in 1902 (a 0-0 tie) through Ohio State’s 10-6 win in 1987, the Buckeyes had a 51-21-4 record against Illinois. Since 1988, they are 9-9-0 against the Illini.
GOT THEIR NUMBER? Illinois coach Ron Zook, on why his team seems to match up so well with Ohio State: “If I had the answer to your question, I would have fixed a whole bunch of things this year.
I think if you go back in any high school or college or in the NFL, you’re going to find certain teams that play certain teams better for some reason or another. I don’t know why that is. It was like that when I was in the NFL, it’s been like that in college.”
HE’S HONORED: Rob Harley, a former Ohio State special-teams player and the great-great nephew of Ohio State icon Charles “Chic” Harley, is the honorary captain for today’s game at Illinois. The success that the Buckeyes had while Chic Harley was playing
(1916-17-19) was among the factors that led the school to build Ohio Stadium.
“You talk about the people it’s meant so much to be a part of this football family, and I can’t think of anyone that it has meant more to than Rob Harley,” said coach Jim Tressel. “He’s a native of the state of Illinois (Elmhurst), and you think back to his roots that it was his great-great uncle that kind of spurred the interest so the Horseshoe was built. That’s pretty deep history and I know it’ll mean a lot to Rob and we’re excited for him to be with us.”
Harley is now an Ohio State football analyst for a Columbus television station.
Part of his job as honorary captain will be speaking to the team.
Tressel said he was expecting, “a rousing, rousing pregame talk.”
“I want those guys to knock the door off the locker room on the way out because of what he says.”
ILLINOIS-BOUND: The Buckeyes left their practice facility at
2:15 p.m. Friday for the bus ride to Rickenbacker International Airport south of Columbus. They flew to Champaign, Ill., and were planning on a return flight immediately after today’s game.
BIG BENN: Ohio State CB Malcolm Jenkins is considered one of the best at his position in college football. So is Illinois WR Arrelious Benn. The former is looking forward to playing against the latter today.
“You always like a challenge. Whenever you’re going to go against somebody who’s making plays all over the field and he’s their premier guy, you always get up for that and you always want to be at your best when you play him,” Jenkins said. “He plays more in the slot than outside, so I probably won’t see him too, too much. Just us as a secondary, we’re getting ready for their receiving corps because they have great athletes.”

TODAY

No. 10 Ohio State at Illinois

TIME: Noon
WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Ill.
TV/RADIO: ESPN; WEOL-930 AM; WKNR-850 AM
RECORDS: Ohio State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) beat Northwestern 45-10 on the road. Illinois (5-5, 3-3) lost to Western Michigan 23-17 at home.
COACHES: Jim Tressel is 81-18 in his eighth season at Ohio State and 216-75-2 in his 23rd year as a head coach. Ron Zook is 18-28 in his fourth season at Illinois and is 41-42 in his career.
SERIES: Buckeyes lead 60-30-4.
THE SKINNY: Needing a win to stay alive in the race for the Big Ten title, the Buckeyes also want revenge for last year when, ranked No. 1, they lost at home to the Illini and never had the ball in the final eight minutes of the game.
Illinois fell hard last week, losing at home to Western Michigan as the offense was a dismal 1-for-13 on third-down conversions. QB Juice Williams threw for 328 yards and a TD but also had two crucial interceptions.

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