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The Illinois football team was overmatched on the road against No. 16 Ohio State. The Buckeyes were able to dominate the line of scrimmage and to open up big plays in the passing game in a 55-14 blowout victory.

OSU 0, ILL 0 11:30 remaining, 1st quarter

The Buckeyes were set up with premium field position on their first drive after a Reilly O’Toole interception was returned to the Illinois 38 yard line.

On Ohio State’s third play of the drive, the Buckeyes lined up in the shotgun with running back Curtis Samuel alongside quarterback J.T. Barrett. The Illini lined up in their base scheme, with STAR Earnest Thomas III on the slot receiver to the field (wide) side of the formation.

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On the short side of the field, an Ohio State wide receiver goes in motion toward the middle of the formation.

Barrett takes the snap and hands off to Samuel on a sweep to the outside. Along the line, the Ohio State center and right tackle both pull to the short side of the field, while the receiver cracks down on Illini linebacker Mason Monheim.

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Monheim never sees the block coming and is leveled by the receiver. The boundary corner, V’Angelo Bentley, continues to run across the formation and completely runs himself out of the play. Since no pursuit is coming from the middle of the field, two Buckeye linemen are matched up with Taylor Barton, who has no chance to make a play.

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The fault lies with Bentley for completely abandoning his side of the field. If he is able to stay home on the play, maybe either he or Barton could make a play. Instead, Samuel is untouched for the game’s first touchdown.

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OSU 10, ILL 0 1:38 remaining, 1st quarter

Later in the first quarter, with Ohio State now leading 10-0, the Buckeyes held a first-and-10 at Illinois’ 32-yard line. Ohio State lined up with two wide receivers with tight splits, along with two tight ends off the line of scrimmage on either side of the tackles.

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As the play develops, Ohio State dials up play action to the running back, with the right guard pulling to sell the fake. The Illini are in man coverage, with free safety Zane Petty rolling to the middle of the field in a Cover 1 look. Cornerback Darius Mosely is playing “trail” technique on the wide receiver Devin Smith because he expects help over the top from Petty.

Mosely appears to be slowed down by safety Taylor Barton, who is covering the tight end coming out of the flat. Smith gets a free release off the line and Mosely is in no position to make a play.

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Barrett is given a clean pocket to throw and Petty is late getting over to Smith on the help. Petty was in a position to defend the pass, but didn’t make a play on the ball. A picture-perfect pass from Barrett led to six points for the Buckeyes.

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OSU 24, ILL 0, 0:25 remaining 2nd quarter

Just before halftime, the Buckeyes were knocking on the door again with first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. Ohio State lines up with four wide receivers, with three receivers bunched up at the hash mark. With 25 seconds left and no timeouts, Barrett and the Buckeyes know they must either get in the end zone or out of bounds.

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Based on Illinois’ pre-play alignment, the defense looks to be in man coverage, with three defenders matched on the three receivers. Ohio State rolls Barrett out of the pocket and the three receivers run a “spot” concept, designed to create traffic and beat man coverage. Working from the farthest inside receiver to the outside, the Buckeyes will run a flat route, a “spot” where the receiver angles to the middle of the field and stops, a finally, a corner route.

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As the routes develop, the Illinois defensive backs switch responsibilities, so that V’Angelo Bentley will take the flat route, while Earnest Thomas III will handle the corner route. Since Thomas is so far inside to begin the play, the receiver has outside leverage from the start, and Barrett has plenty of room to get the touchdown.

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The route combination puts a lot of pressure on the Illini defensive backs to communicate and make up ground, and Thomas wasn’t able to recover on the play.

The touchdown was the last play for Barrett on the day, who finished 15-of-24 for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Illinois’ offense put its defense in tough positions throughout the game with four turnovers, but it was the big plays that doomed the Illini in Columbus.

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @steve_bourbon.