OSU vs. Illinois Preview Part 2

OSU vs. Illinois, November 4, 3:36 PM

ESPN2 with Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Chris Spielman (expert) and Rob Stone on the sidelines

Scouting the Fighting Illini
Illinois is 2-7 this season, 1-4 in the conference. They have victories against Eastern Illinois and at Michigan State. They have loses at Rutgers, to Syracuse, to Iowa, to Indiana, to Ohio, at Penn State and at Wisconsin. Illinois has played and lost to two ranked teams, Iowa (#14 at the time), Wisconsin (#17 at the time.) In the game last week Illinois was up 21-3 in the second half at Madison, Wisconsin, but they fell behind in the second half and lost 30-24.

Quarterbacks
Senior Tim Brasic returned as the starter this season, but he has not played in the last five games. True freshman Juice Williams has taken over as the starter. He is 42.6% for 1252 yards, 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He runs the ball and has 364 yards on the ground.

Running Backs
Illinois uses a few backs. Leading the way is senior Pierre Thomas with 545 yards and four touchdowns. Backing him up is sophomore Rashard Mendenhall 470 yards and two touchdowns. Throw in some other runners including QB Williams and the team averages an impressive 181 rushing yards/game.

Receivers
Sophomore Kyle Hudson leads this group with 357 yards and three touchdowns. Other receivers include junior Jacob Willis, sophomore Derrick McPhearson and sophomore Jody Ellis. At tight end is Jeff Cumberland with 139 yards and one touchdown.

O-Line
Lining up at center is sophomore Ryan McDonald, guards are junior Martin O'Donnel and senior Matt Maddox, tackles are junior Akim Millington and senior Charles Myles. Maddox is the veteran of the group with 43 straight starts. Look for the running game to work around him.

Kickers
Junior Jason Reda returns as the kicker this year. He is 11 of 14 this season with a long of 41 yards. He is 67% in his career with a long of 52 yards, and he has only missed one PAT, and that was back in 2004. Freshman punter Kyle Yelton is averaging 37.2 yards with a long of 57 yards.

Linebackers
Junior J. Lehman leads the team and Big Ten in tackles with an incredible 98 tackles so far this season. Joining him at linebacker are junior Antonio Steele and sophomore Britt Miller.

Defensive Backs
At the corners are senior Alan Ball and freshman Vontae Davis. At strong safety is junior Justin Harrison and at free safety is junior Justin Sanders.

D-Line
At tackles are junior Chris Norwell and senior Josh Norris. At ends are sophomore Derek Walker and redshirt freshman Doug Pilcher. Walker leads the team with 5.5 sacks.