It is going to be a monster task for the Illinois football team to score against this great Ohio State defense. Here are some notes and stats on the Ohio State defense heading into the game. Defensive Leaders Tackles: 83 (Raekwon McMillan) Sacks: 5.5 (Tyquan Lewis) Interceptions: 2 (Gareon Conley, Vonn Bell, Tyvis Powell) Defensive Line: The Ohio State defensive line is filled with NFL prospects. The leader of this squad is defensive end Joey Bosa. Bosa is 3rd on the team in sacks with 3.5, 8th on the team in tackles with 33, and he leads the team in tackles for loss with 12. He has been a stabilizing force for the Buckeyes, along with his rushing mates. Four of top five sack leaders for Ohio State are all on the defensive line. They are going to be a nightmare for the Illini this weekend. More from Writing Illini Linebackers: The linebacker squad is stacked as well. Two of the starting linebackers are leading the team in tackles and the other linebacker is a sure-fire NFL starter. Raekwon McMillan and Joshua Perry lead the team with 83 tackles and 64 tackles, respectively. These two guys have combine for 147 tackles and they also have combine for 4 sacks and 4 pass deflections. The other linebacker, Daron Lee, has been a solid player on the team as well. He has 38 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He also has returned an interception for a touchdown this season. This squad is one of the main reasons why this defense is so stout. Defensive Backs: One of the more underrated squads on this team is the Ohio State defensive backs. The Buckeyes rank 5th in the nation in pass defense; only giving up 163.9 yards per game. The main reason for the success of this pass defense is because of the defensive backs. There are three guys who lead the team with 2 interceptions a piece. They are Vonn Bell, Tyvis Powell, and Gareon Conley. These are all defensive backs. Both Bell and Powell have been extremely impressive this season. They both lead the team in interceptions and they are also both in the top four in tackles. Illinois is going to struggle moving the ball if Ohio State is on their game Saturday…
Continue Reading: Preview of the Ohio State Defense
