Illinois hasn't set foot in Ohio Stadium since 2017, and it's walking into a buzzsaw defending its national title with a new quarterback under center.
Bush’s Picks
ILLOSU
ILLOSU
OverUnder
Best BetOhio State
Ohio State returns its starting quarterback, its defensive identity, and a roster that just played for a national title, while Illinois is trusting a brand-new quarterback in a retooled scheme on the road. That's about as clean an edge as a moneyline handicap gets this early in the season. Back the Buckeyes here and don't overthink the trophy-game sentiment.
Illinois
+Back-to-back 9-plus-win seasons under Bielema, program trending up
+Transfer QB Houser threw for 3,300 yards, 19 TDs in 2025
+Only 6 interceptions last season shows ball security
−First road trip to Columbus since 2017
−New starting QB adjusting to a retooled scheme
−Major coaching and roster turnover this offseason
Ohio State
+Defending national champion, elite returning defense
+Sayin back after 3,600-yard, 32-TD season
+Held every regular-season opponent to 16 points or fewer in 2025
−Lost Big Ten title game to Indiana, 13-10
−Bounced from CFP quarterfinals by Miami
−Dropped two of final three games in 2025
This one's got history sitting on the sideline. The Illibuck trophy has been fought over since 1925, and Ohio State owns the series 69-30-4 and the trophy count 65-23-2. Illinois hasn't made the trip to Columbus in nearly a decade, which alone makes this a circle-the-calendar spot for a program trying to prove its recent run wasn't a fluke.
Bret Bielema has Illinois pointed in the right direction after back-to-back 9-plus-win seasons, the program's first such stretch in 134 years of football. But the engine under the hood looks different this fall. Longtime starter Luke Altmyer is gone, and the presumptive answer at quarterback is transfer Katin Houser, who threw for 3,300 yards, 19 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions in 2025. Houser brings the veteran resume; what he doesn't bring yet is reps in Bielema's retooled scheme, and a season-opening test in Columbus is a brutal way to find out how it translates.
Show fees
11:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
ILL Illinois
OSU Ohio State
Ohio State, meanwhile, is still working through the hangover of a title defense that came up just short. The Buckeyes ran the regular season table at 12-0 before dropping the Big Ten Championship to Indiana 13-10 and bowing out to Miami in the CFP quarterfinals. That defense, though, was absurd all year — opponents held to 16 points or fewer in every regular-season game, and under 100 rushing yards in 10 straight games. Julian Sayin is back at QB1 after a 3,600-yard, 32-touchdown breakout, giving Ohio State one of the more complete rosters in the country walking into this one.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Sep 19?vs Southern Illinois—
Sep 12?vs Duke—
Sep 3?vs UAB—
Ohio State Buckeyes
Sep 19?vs Kent State—
Sep 12?@ Texas—
Sep 5?vs Ball State—
Recent form.
The gap in continuity is the story here. Ohio State returns its starting quarterback, its defensive identity and its championship pedigree — the only real dent last year was a two-game skid to close the season, and even that came against Indiana and Miami, not exactly cupcakes. Illinois is asking a first-year QB in the building to hold up a program on the rise, on the road, against arguably the best defense in the sport. That's a tall order regardless of how good Houser's tape looked at his old stop.
Illinois Fighting Illini
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Ohio State Buckeyes
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
None of that means Illinois should be dismissed. Bielema's teams have made a habit of overachieving relative to the noise around them, and a veteran QB with real Big Ten mileage is a stabilizing piece even in an unfamiliar system. Ohio Stadium in September will be loud and hostile, but Illinois has shown it doesn't rattle easily under this staff. The margin for error is thin, though, and Ohio State's talent gap at nearly every position group is the kind of thing that tends to show up on the scoreboard by the fourth quarter.
