Much has been made about the season Sophomore quarterback, Braxton Miller, is putting together.
What has gone somewhat overlooked is the contributions by Junior running back, Carlos Hyde.
On Saturday, Hyde rushed for 137 yards and three touchdowns in leading the 6th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to a 52-22 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Miller carried 18 times for 73 yards, and completed 12-of-20 passes for 226 yards.
Ahead 7-6 after a quarter, the Buckeyes blew the game open with four scoring drives.
Drew Basil's 31-yard field goal made it 10-6 before a short Illinois punt gave the Buckeyes decent field position at their 36. Five plays later, Hyde's second short touchdown run of the day made it 17-6 with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Illinois, which settled for Nick Immekus field goals after first downs at the Ohio State 29- and 10-yard lines in the first quarter, wasn't able to get anything going on offense as Scheelhaase was continually harassed and forced to run wide before picking his options.
Then, a Braxton Miller pass was nearly intercepted before Hyde gained 10 yards. Right after, Miller rolled right and then looked back to the left sideline where backup running back Rod Smith was several yards behind safety Supo Sanni. Smith hauled in the pass to complete the 51-yard score.
After an 18-yard punt and a penalty put the Buckeyes right back in control at midfield, Miller juked and spun for 11 yards, Hyde picked up 11, Miller found tight end Nick Vannett for 14 yards, Miller scrambled for 11 more and Hyde then collected his third score of the day on a sweep around right end.
With a 31-6 lead heading into the half, the Buckeyes never left their foot off the gas pedal. Miller rushed for a two-yard touchdown and threw a 37-yard score to Philly Brown.
The Illini did however come up with one big play as Ashante Williams picked up Ohio State backup quarterback Kenny Guiton's bad option pitch and raced 77 yards for the touchdown in the final minutes.
OSU had the final say, rounding out their scoring with a Bri'onte Dunn three-yard run.
Overall, Ohio State compiled 567 yards (7.2 per snap) while allowing a mere 170 yards to the Illinois offense.
With the victory, the Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) maintained the upper hand in the Leaders Division heading into a bye week. They have games remaining at Wisconsin on Nov. 17 and against rival Michigan at home a week later.
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