The Illinois football team is going to need all hands on deck when it comes to taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Talent-wise, on paper, the Buckeyes have way more talent than the Illini. Thankfully, games aren’t played on paper. Illinois has some quality talent with experience at key positions on the field.
I fully expect Luke Altmyer to have a good game against Ohio State. He learned from the rough outing against Indiana, and the offensive line should be better prepared. Another key element in Illinois potentially pulling off the upset is at the running back position.
Illinois has only been going with two running backs the last few weeks, as starting running back Aidan Laughery hasn’t played a snap. While he hasn’t been on the injury report, Laughery hasn’t been quite ready to go. That seems to be changing this weekend against Ohio State, though.
In the weekly press conference, Bret Bielema talked about Laughery and his injury status.
“I thought Aidan (Laughery) was really close. He was, he practiced really good Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday, he literally tweaked it a little bit. Friday, he felt pretty good, but we didn’t do a lot of activity, and then when he went to run Saturday, he wasn’t there.”
That means Laughery was close to going against Purdue. It was smart to hold him out and let him rest another week. Ohio State has a vaunted run defense, and the potential of Laughery playing is huge. From the sound of it, Bielema thinks he will be ready to go.
“I think both (Mac Resetich and Aidan Laughery) of those guys will play.”
The Illinois football running game has been atrocious this season
I am not sure I have seen an Illini running attack this poor in quite some time. Illinois currently averages 115 yards per game on the ground, which ranks No. 103 in the country. We haven’t been able to consistently get the running game going this season, and there are multiple reasons for that.
Illinois’ offensive line hasn’t been good in 2025. They have trouble blocking anyone on the field, and this clogs any running lanes.
Another reason is that Laughery has been out. He gives the Illinois running backs a different element on the field. Laughery is electric out of the backfield, and he can find holes when they don’t seem to be there.
I think having Laughery back is going to give the Illinois offense a much-needed boost. With him in the fold, we should be able to sustain more drives and keep the ball away from Ohio State’s high-powered offense.