The AP and Coaches polls have each been meltdown disasters over the first few weeks of the season, so everything has to be taken with a few dozen grains of salt.
Ohio State (2-1) was the No. 1 team in the nation, went to Texas, and lost by one point – and it fell to No. 6 in both polls behind teams like Georgia, Indiana, and Miami that have played absolutely no one.
Last week, the Buckeyes beat Kent State 59-3 … and dropped in both polls.
Meanwhile, Illinois (2-1) wasn’t great against UAB, lost in a home game heartbreaker to Duke, and stretched its legs in an easy win over Southern Illinois. It’s good enough to make this tough on the Buckeyes.
- Ohio State has a nasty stretch of three road games – Iowa, Indiana, USC around a home date with Maryland – in the next four, and then hosts Oregon.
- Illinois has a slew of tough remaining games, but it doesn’t face Indiana, USC, or Michigan, and it gets Oregon and Iowa at home. Purdue is up next.
Ohio State won 34-16 last year in Champaign to make it ten in a row since losing in 2007.
Ohio State has a nasty stretch of three road games – Iowa, Indiana, USC around a home date with Maryland – in the next four, and then hosts Oregon.
Illinois has a slew of tough remaining games, but it doesn’t face Indiana, USC, or Michigan, and it gets Oregon and Iowa at home. Purdue is up next.
Ohio State won 34-16 last year in Champaign to make it ten in a row since losing in 2007.
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Game Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV: FOX
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
– Week 4 Schedule & Predictions
– CFN Expert Picks Week 4
Ohio State still can’t run the ball. That’s not always needed with an ultra-accurate, Heisman-caliber passer in Julian Sayin and, perhaps, the greatest college football wide receiver of all-time in Jeremiah Smith, but …
The Buckeyes didn’t need to go hard against Kent State, but it still only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. When they needed to grind out the clock late against Texas, they couldn’t. At the moment, they’re tenth in the Big Ten in rushing and 11th in yards per carry.
Illinois isn’t doing too much to hold down the run. It’s not getting destroyed, and it shut down Southern Illinois cold, but UAB ran 48 times and was able to control parts of the game, and Duke averaged close to five yards per carry.
The bigger problem on defense is the lack of a decent pass rush. Not only is the Illini defense just okay so far, but it’s not great at forcing mistakes or getting off the field.
Give Sayin time to work, and bad things happen to opposing defenses. Once again, the Buckeyes will underwhelm with the ground game, but the passing attack will pick the Illini clean.
Illinois isn’t showing enough of an offensive punch to pull this off, but it’ll have its moments. It won’t be close to enough, as Ohio State wins easily (and watch, it’ll probably drop even further in the rankings).
Ohio State 41, Illinois 13
Latest Consensus Line: Ohio State -27.5, o/u: 54.5
ATS Confidence (out of 5): 2
Must See Rating (out of 5): 3
Consensus line based on BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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