With a couple minutes to go in the first quarter, the Ohio State Buckeyes finally found the endzone, as running back Carlos Hyde followed up two-straight Braxton Miller rushes with a three-yard touchdown score of his own. Drew Basil kicked the extra point and the Buckeyes led the Illinois Fighting Illini, 7-3. The Illini managed a field goal on the following possession though, and the score heading into the second quarter is 7-6 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Miller didn't attempt a pass for the first 10 minutes of the opening frame, before he hit Jake Stoneburner for a 24-yard reception. Prior to that pass, he'd ran the ball four times for just six yards, and nobody had more than 25 yards at that point. In short, the Buckeyes didn't get their offense going nearly as fast as they usually do, and at the end of the quarter, still haven't got into a rhythm.
Illinois managed a field goal on their second possession, when Nathan Scheelhaase led his team on a 10-play, 39-yard drive. Scheelhasse had two-straight incompletions following a nine-yard pass after a false start penalty, and Nick Immekus had to kick a 43-yard field goal to make it 3-0 at the time. The second field goal came on a promising drive in which the Illini had a strong return and a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Ohio State, but they stalled at the nine-yard line and Immekus kicked a 28-yard field goal.