Illini loses to Elliott, No. 2 Ohio State 28-3

Although Stanford remains a big, impressive win for the Wildcats, the Week 1 victory in Evanston no longer has the shine of a triumph over a national championship contender. They have won 23 straight overall, the longest streak in the country.

Ohio State (10-0, 6-0) started watching the film of the 2014 game Sunday in preparation for the rematch with the Spartans (9-1, 5-1).

Ohio State posted its 61st consecutive nonconference win against an unranked opponent, destroying Grambling State 82-55 Tuesday night at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Meanwhile, for the Spartans (9-1 SU, 3-7 ATS) to have any shot at the Big Ten title – and perhaps a shot at the playoff – they’ll have to continue their bounce-back from a Week 10 loss at Nebraska.

“To beat a team like Ohio State, we had to hit on all cylinders today and we didn’t”, said safety Clayton Fejedelem, who had 15 more tackles to hike his season total to 115. We’re still waiting for this group to play a complete game.

“I thought we were better tonight than we were on Sunday, especially in the second half, just more of a pace to us in terms of what we were doing”. If the Buckeyes reach the Big Ten championship game, they could face sixth-ranked and fellow unbeaten Iowa.

“It’s do or die time, make it or break it these last few games if we want to get what we trained for”, right guard Pat Elflein said. “It’s part of being a Buckeye”.

Shilique Calhoun: You prepare for each and every game going through the summer conditioning and spring ball and even through camp, you know, those are the times you prepare for the – even if it’s little bits and pieces you try to better prepare yourself for the year to come.

In last year’s game, J.T. Barrett threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for two more. We ran against not a good defense, but a great defense.

Mark Dantonio and Urban Meyer agree, line play has decided MI State-Ohio State games in the past and it again figures to be key. “This is not a ideal team”.

“You will see an increase presence of uniform personnel and K-9 units and there will be other assets you may not readily see”, OSU Acting Chief Stone said. “All three of us are playing for something so it’s going to be a big-time atmosphere”, he said. The Hoosiers might have had a disappointing run with way too many close losses to Ohio State, Rutgers, Iowa, and now MI, but if they can’t close out with wins over the two worst teams in the conference – even on the road – there’s no excuse considering how well the offense has been playing.

“I think we showed a lot of improvement on the defensive and offensive end”, said sophomore Keita Bates-Diop, who finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

And so it goes for MI fans Saturday, when dreaded rival Ohio State hosts what they claim is a lesser rival, MI State.

Cook, however, insists his shoulder won’t be a problem, and the Spartans will surely need a strong performance from him to pull off an upset at Ohio Stadium – although they won their last visit there, 10-7 on October 2, 2011. Jake Rudock ravaged the IU defense for 440 yards and six touchdowns. Cook said he wasn’t affected by the shoulder injury at all and that it was precautionary. “I’m going to be ready to go so there is no issue with that”. After beating OR in Week 2, perception has changed around MI State. The Spartans are tied for second place with MI at 5-1. Nebraska stopped the State pass rush and Tommy Armstrong exploited the Spartans secondary. It was one of the most entertaining games of the year, and one that didn’t have the result Northwestern wanted. “But I do think we’re very capable”.