Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Columbus, OH — Illinois snapped the Buckeyes’ two-game winning streak, in the process knocking OSU out of Big Ten title contention.

The visiting Illini jumped off to a 7-0 start on a blocked punt, but Ohio State came back to take a 10-7 lead at the end of the first period. Illinois scored a pair of touchdowns just before half to take a 21-0 lead, but the Buckeyes, behind the running of senior tailback Jonathan Wells, battled back to build a 22-21 lead with one second left in the third quarter. Illinois, however, scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to put the game away.

Wells turned in his best overall performance as a Buckeye, running for a personal-best 192 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Quarterbacks Scott McMullen (who made his first career start) and Craig Krenzel (who made his first appearance of the year) combined to throw for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns as replacements for regular starter Steve Bellisari.

Split end Michael Jenkins was on the receiving end of 10 of those tosses, good for 155 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown.

Linebacker Joe Cooper had a game-high seven solos and 10 tackles.