Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Champaign, IL — The Buckeyes recorded their second straight and third overall shutout of the year. The back-to-back blankings marked the first time since 1979 that the OSU defense had registered shutouts on consecutive Saturdays.

The Illini offense was clearly no match for the Buckeye defense, which limited the Orange and Blue to 130 total yards, including just 20 on the ground.

With ends Matt Finkes and Mike Vrabel leading the way, the OSU defense recorded 11 tackles for loss and had five sacks. Finkes finished with a season-best nine tackles, while Vrabel recorded three tackles for loss to extend his school record to 61.

After OSU failed to move the ball in its first three possessions, quarterback Joe Germaine came off the bench to give the Buckeyes a jump-start by completing eight of 10 passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns, all before halftime. With Germaine at the controls, OSU scored TDs on seven straight possessions. Germaine was a nifty 11-of-14 for a career-high 180 yards on the day.

Pepe Pearson etched his name into the OSU records book by becoming the 12th Buckeye running back to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season. Pearson carried the ball 21 times for 165 yards and a pair of TDs, giving him 1,126 yards on the year.

Back-up tailbacks Jermon Jackson and Michael Wiley, the latter seeing his first action of the year at running back, contributed 63 and 88 yards, respectively, as OSU rolled up 348 yards on the ground.

The Buckeyes finished with 549 yards in total offense, their fourth 500-yard performance of they year.