1. Last week, Ezekiel Elliott passed Chris "Beanie" Wells for 4th place on Ohio State's career rushing leaders. Zeke now has 3,384 yards rushing, and he needs 170 yards to surpass Tim Spencer (3,553 yards) for 3rd place and 385 yards to pass Eddie George (3,768 yards) for 2nd place. Unless Zeke returns to Ohio State for his senior season, he has no chance to pass Buckeye career rushing leader Archie Griffin (5,589 yards).
2. Zeke has 1,244 rushing yards so far this season, which is already the 18th best single season in Ohio State history. If Zeke hits his season average (138 yards) against Illinois, then he will move into 12th place on the Buckeyes' list of single-season rushing leaders.
3. Zeke has 14 rushing touchdowns so far this season. Pete Johnson holds the Buckeye single-season record with 25 touchdowns rushing touchdowns in 1975.
4. Elliott now has 34 career rushing touchdowns (tied with Jim Otis). Zeke needs just two touchdowns to tie Tim Spencer and Harold "Champ" Henson for fifth place on Ohio State's list of career rushing touchdown leaders, and three touchdowns to tie Carlos Hyde for fourth place. Pete Johnson tops the list with 56 career rushing touchdowns (1973 to 1976).
5. Michael Thomas has 1,406 receiving yards for his Buckeye career, good for 21st place at Ohio State. Thomas needs 14 yards receiving to pass Bobby Olive (1,419 yards) for 20th place, 24 yards to pass Brian Hartline (1,429 yards) for 19th place, and 76 yards to pass John Frank (1,481 yards) for 18th place.
6. Michael Thomas has 96 receptions for his Buckeye career, tied with Brian Stablein for 18th place at Ohio State. Thomas needs 4 receptions to pass Jeff Graham (99 receptions) for 17th place, and 11 receptions to pass Doug Donley and Ken-Yon Rambo (106 receptions) for 15th place.
7. Joey Bosa has 45.5 TFLs for his Buckeye career, which ties him with Will Smith for 5th place. Bosa needs 4.5 TFL to tie Andy Katzenmoyer (50.0 TFLs) for 4th place. Mike Vrabel leads all Buckeyes with 66.0 career TFLs.
8. Joey Bosa has 24.5 career sacks, which puts him just 0.5 sacks behind Matt Finkes (25.0 sacks) for 3rd place, and 3.0 sacks behind Jason Simmons (27.5 sacks) for 2nd place. Again, Mike Vrabel leads all Buckeyes with 36.0 career sacks.
9. This game features a good offense (Ohio State) against a good defense (Illinois), and a great defense (Ohio State) against a mediocre offense (Illinois).
The strength of Illinois's offense (relatively speaking) is their passing attack, while stopping the pass is the strength of Ohio State's defense.
10. Which Illinois team will show up tomorrow, the one that was blown out by Penn State 39-0 (167 yards gained, 400 yards allowed) two weeks ago, or the one that pummeled Purdue 48-14 (595 yards gained, 263 yards allowed) last week?
11. Ohio State has scored at least 52 points against Illinois in each of the last three contests: 52-22 in 2012; 60-35 in 2013; and 55-14 in 2014.
12. Ohio State holds a 67-30-4 edge over Illinois in the 101-game series, for a .683 winning percentage. For a more in depth history of the Ohio State-Illinois rivalry, click this LINK.
2. Zeke has 1,244 rushing yards so far this season, which is already the 18th best single season in Ohio State history. If Zeke hits his season average (138 yards) against Illinois, then he will move into 12th place on the Buckeyes' list of single-season rushing leaders.
3. Zeke has 14 rushing touchdowns so far this season. Pete Johnson holds the Buckeye single-season record with 25 touchdowns rushing touchdowns in 1975.
4. Elliott now has 34 career rushing touchdowns (tied with Jim Otis). Zeke needs just two touchdowns to tie Tim Spencer and Harold "Champ" Henson for fifth place on Ohio State's list of career rushing touchdown leaders, and three touchdowns to tie Carlos Hyde for fourth place. Pete Johnson tops the list with 56 career rushing touchdowns (1973 to 1976).
5. Michael Thomas has 1,406 receiving yards for his Buckeye career, good for 21st place at Ohio State. Thomas needs 14 yards receiving to pass Bobby Olive (1,419 yards) for 20th place, 24 yards to pass Brian Hartline (1,429 yards) for 19th place, and 76 yards to pass John Frank (1,481 yards) for 18th place.
6. Michael Thomas has 96 receptions for his Buckeye career, tied with Brian Stablein for 18th place at Ohio State. Thomas needs 4 receptions to pass Jeff Graham (99 receptions) for 17th place, and 11 receptions to pass Doug Donley and Ken-Yon Rambo (106 receptions) for 15th place.
7. Joey Bosa has 45.5 TFLs for his Buckeye career, which ties him with Will Smith for 5th place. Bosa needs 4.5 TFL to tie Andy Katzenmoyer (50.0 TFLs) for 4th place. Mike Vrabel leads all Buckeyes with 66.0 career TFLs.
8. Joey Bosa has 24.5 career sacks, which puts him just 0.5 sacks behind Matt Finkes (25.0 sacks) for 3rd place, and 3.0 sacks behind Jason Simmons (27.5 sacks) for 2nd place. Again, Mike Vrabel leads all Buckeyes with 36.0 career sacks.
9. This game features a good offense (Ohio State) against a good defense (Illinois), and a great defense (Ohio State) against a mediocre offense (Illinois).
| Team | Total Offense | NCAA Rank | Score Offense | NCAA Rank | Total Defense | NCAA Rank | Score Defense | NCAA Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 454.8 ypg | 32nd | 37.3 ppg | 19th | 302.6 ypg | 13th | 15.0 ppg | 6th |
| Illinois | 384.3 ypg | 79th | 25.8 ppg | 91st | 341.9 ypg | 32nd | 21.7 ppg | 33rd |
| Team | Rush Offense | NCAA Rank | Pass Offense | NCAA Rank | Rush Defense | NCAA Rank | Pass Defense | NCAA Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 240.6 ypg | 12th | 214.2 ypg | 78th | 138.7 ypg | 32nd | 163.9pg | 5th |
| Illinois | 144.3 ypg | 97th | 240.0 ypg | 50th | 139.4 ypg | 34th | 202.4 ypg | 44th |
11. Ohio State has scored at least 52 points against Illinois in each of the last three contests: 52-22 in 2012; 60-35 in 2013; and 55-14 in 2014.
12. Ohio State holds a 67-30-4 edge over Illinois in the 101-game series, for a .683 winning percentage. For a more in depth history of the Ohio State-Illinois rivalry, click this LINK.
