Postgame Notes From No. 13 Ohio State vs. Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
No. 13/11 Ohio State (3-1) 30, Illinois (1-2) 0
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 26, 2009
Attendance: 105,219
OHIO STATE POSTGAME NOTES
• Ohio State is 811-308-53 in its 120th season of play. The win total ranks fifth all-time among FBS schools.
• Ohio State is 451-189-28 in Big Ten play all-time.
• Since 1950, the Buckeyes boast the second-best winning percentage among FBS schools at .755 (489-153-15). Oklahoma is first with a .757 winning percentage.
• Saturday was Jim Tressel’s 300th career game as a head coach. He has coached 106 games at Ohio State and 194 at Youngstown State.
• The win was the 500th collegiate victory for the Tressel family. Jim Tressel has 221 in his career at Youngstown State and Ohio State. Dick Tressel had 124 victories at Hamline and father Lee Tressel recorded 155 career wins at Baldwin Wallace.
• Jim Tressel’s record with the Buckeyes is 86-20 and his career record is 221-77-2. Tressel’s 221 victories rank fourth among active FBS coaches.
• The Buckeyes have won their last five Big Ten openers by a combined score of 181-40.
• Jim Tressel is 8-1 in Big Ten openers at Ohio State.
• Since joining the Big Ten in 1913, Ohio State is 70-23-4 in Big Ten openers.
• The Buckeyes are 425-130-14 all-time as a Top 25 team.
• The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 149-23-5 in September games and a record of 122-11-4 in September home games.
• Crowds of more than 100,000 have seen the last 51 games at Ohio Stadium.
• The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 387-107-20 all-time at Ohio Stadium.
• Ohio State is 48-5 (.905) at Ohio Stadium since the start of the 2002 national championship season.
SERIES NOTES
• Saturday was the 96th meeting between Ohio State and Illinois.
• Ohio State leads the series, 62-30-4, and has a 27-18-4 advantage in Columbus.
• Ohio State has won five of the last six meetings with Illinois.
• Ohio State wins the Illibuck trophy, the second oldest trophy exchanged in the Big Ten behind the Little Brown Jug between Michigan and Minnesota.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Quarterback Terrelle Pryor is 11-2 as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. Pryor finished the day 8-for-13 with a touchdown.
• With 82 yards passing against Illinois, Terrelle Pryor now has 2,006 for his career.
• After netting 141 yards of total offense against the Illini, Terrelle Pryor now has 2,872 and needs just 73 yards of total offense to pass Antonio Pittman for 22nd on Ohio State’s all-time list (2,945).
• Terrelle Pryor has accounted for 25 of Ohio State’s 44 offensive touchdowns (56.8 percent) since becoming the starter in the fourth game of the 2008 season (17 passing, 7 rushing, 1 receiving).
• Running back Brandon Saine finished the game with 81 rushing yards, two shy of his career high.
• Running back Dan “Boom” Herron has rushed for at least one touchdown in eight-consecutive games. He finished the game with 75 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.
• Saturday marked the first time the Buckeyes did not allow a sack since Nov. 15, 2008 at Illinois.
• Sophomore Mike Adams made his first career start at tackle for the Buckeyes.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Ohio State has held opponents to fewer than 21 points 43 times since 2006, the best among FBS teams. Ohio State is 40-3 in those games.
• The last time Ohio State recorded back-to-back shutouts was Nov. 2 and 9, 1996 against Minnesota and at Illinois. The last time Ohio State had two shutouts in a season was 1998.
• Ohio State’s defense has allowed fewer than 10 points 22 times since the start of the 2006 season.
• Ohio State’s defense has allowed zero points over its last eight quarters of play and only one touchdown over the past 11.
• Junior linebacker Brian Rolle recorded his second career interception when he picked off a Juice Williams pass in the first quarter. He returned it 39 yards to help set up Ohio State’s first field goal.
• Senior Todd Denlinger had a sack and a career-high 2.0 tackles for loss.
• Junior Thaddeus Gibson tied a career high with 2.0 tackles for loss. He finished with a career-high seven tackles.
• Senior Lawrence Wilson picked off his second career pass in the third quarter. He also had two pass break-ups.
• The last time the Buckeyes had three interceptions in a game was Sept. 6, 2008 against Ohio.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Senior kicker Aaron Pettrey connected on a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, his sixth field goal of 50 yards or more in his career and his second of the season.
• Aaron Pettrey connected on multiple field goals for the third time this season and the sixth time in his career. He tied his career high with three field goals against Illinois.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• Today was the third-consecutive game Ohio State’s opposing head coach was a former Ohio State assistant coach: Pete Carroll (USC), Tim Beckman (Toledo) and Ron Zook (Illinois).
• The honorary captain was former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce. Bruce, the successor to legendary coach Woody Hayes, was 81-26-1 (.755) from 1979-87, won four Big Ten championships and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002. Bruce also coached at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State (1973-78), Northern Iowa (1988) and Colorado State (1989-92).
• Ohio State’s offensive captain was junior wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher.
• At halftime, the members of the 2009 class of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame were introduced to the crowd. The men’s inductees were Robert Gary (cross country/track and field), Bob Hopper (swimming), Andy Katzenmoyer (football), Dick LeBeau (football), Michael Redd (basketball) and Pandel Savic (football) and the late Neal Colzie (football). The group of women’s inductees were Karla Fiserova (rowing), Allison Hanna (golf), Vanessa Immordino (field hockey), Emma Laaksonen (ice hockey) and Jim Montrella (swimming coach). The class was officially inducted Friday night in ceremonies in Columbus.
Illinois Postgame Notes
Illinois at #13 Ohio State
Sept. 26, 2009 // Columbus, Ohio
1. Juice Williams rushed for 18 yards, jumping up to 10th on Illinois’ all-time rushing list with 2,144 yards, moving past Johnny Karras’ 2,135 yards. He remains fourth on the Big Ten quarterback rushing list, inching closer to Rickey Foggie’s total of 2,150 yards.
2. Williams moved up to sixth on the Illinois all-time rushing attempts list with his 15 carries. He now has 523 career rushes, moving past Rich Johnson’s total of 521 carries.
3. Williams’ 95 total yards inched him closer to the Illinois career total yardage mark. He now has 8,805 yards and is 75 behind Kurt Kittner’s school record of 8,880, a mark that ranks 10th in Big Ten history.
4. Arrelious Benn had 89 yards in kickoff returns, which moves him to eighth on the school’s career list with 790. He entered the day at No. 10 and passed Rocky Harvey’s 738 yards and Keith Jones’ 739.
5. Walter Aikens became the fifth Illini true freshman to play this season, joining Michael Buchanan, Justin Green, Terry Hawthorne and Joelil Thrash.
6. Illinois held Ohio State to 82 passing yards, marking the first time since last years’ game against the Buckeyes (49 yards) that an opposing team has been held under 100 yards passing. OSU had 0 passing yards in first half.
7. Donsay Hardeman led the Illini in tackles with eight, tying his career-high.
8. Clay Nurse posted a career-high 2.0 tackles for loss against the Buckeyes.
9. Evan Frierson’s forced fumble in fourth quarter was the first of his career.
