OHIO STATE SCORE SERIES
Williams hit a wide-open Brian Gamble for his third touchdown pass of the game and a 21-14 lead going into intermission.īoeckman led the Buckeyes to a first-and-goal at the Illinois 9 on the first series of the second half. Rashard Mendenhall picked up 25 yards over the right tackle and four plays later the Illini were in the end zone. Neither team got anything going offensively in the second quarter until Illinois went for it on 4th-and-1 from its own 43. In the first 11 minutes of the game, Illinois had scored as many touchdowns against the Ohio State defense as six previous opponents in Ohio Stadium had combined to score. Seven plays later, Williams hit Jacob Willis over the middle for 33-yards and a 14-all tie with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Dere Hicks intercepted Boeckman, giving Illinois the ball near midfield. Two Ohio State series later, Illinois capitalized via the turnover. On this one rushing play, Illinois would gain more yards rushing than five teams Akron (3), Northwestern (0), Purdue (4), Michigan State (59) and Wisconsin (12) would combine to rush for all game against the Ohio State defense.Īll seemed fine, though, after Boeckman engineered a 9-play, 76-yard drive on the Buckeyes’ second series that ended with Maurice Wells blowing through a hole on the right side, compliments of a Ben Person block, and bursting untouched for a 19-yard touchdown. On its second play, Danie Dufrene burst up the middle and gained 80 yards, setting up a Williams-to-Michael Hoomanawanui touchdown pass of 3 yards that tied the score at 7-all. Illinois served notice on its first series that this game was going to be anything but typical, though. Boeckman hit Brian Hartline for 65 yards down the right sideline on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Beanie Wells hammered over the left side and into the end zone from 11 yards for a 7-0 Ohio State lead. The day started in typical 2007 Ohio State fashion.
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They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do this year. They did the things they needed to do to win a tough battle.
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“This was a hard-fought football game like we knew it would be,” Jim Tressel, Ohio State coach, said. Todd Boeckman threw for 156 yards and three interceptions and the rushing attack scored three times, but was limited to 180 yards by an Illinois defense that was led by James Laurinaitis-like J Leman’s 17 tackles. Quarterback Isiah “Juice” Williams led a 400-yard effort by the Illini with four touchdown passes each one to a different receiver and the Illini ground game struck for a season-high 260 yards against a defense that was allowing just 65 rushing yards per game. Postgame Transcript | AP Recap | Photo GalleryĬOLUMBUS, Ohio Illinois came into Ohio Stadium and did what no other team has been able to do all season: run its offense to perfection, limit Ohio State’s chances and capitalize on turnovers which all led to a 28-21 upset win over No.