Illinois coach Bret Bielema was mostly profuse in his praise for Ohio State (6-0) after the Buckeyes’ 34-16 win on Oct. 11.
Mostly.
“I actually wanted to go tempo the whole freakin’ game, because they couldn’t do s— with it,” he said. “We were doing a lot of really good things. In retrospect, I think we could have done that sooner, a little bit quicker. Our quarterback is really good with it.”
Warning: The following video contains an obscenity.
The Fighting Illini’s (5-2) two touchdown drives lasted 4:54 and 4:07, so they weren’t exactly going hair-on-fire pace, but they weren’t huddling or taking much time to send in plays.
Those two touchdowns equaled the number of TDs OSU had given up in the first five games combined, and Luke Altmyer had more success against the Buckeyes than any other opposing quarterback has this season.
However, along with his 30-for-44 passing for 248 yards and a touchdown, Altmyer was sacked four times and forced into his first interception of the year.
That’s why Bielema was also complimentary.
“They’ve got good players all over the place,” he said. “Matt (Patricia) is obviously a very good coordinator.
” … I am excited because they’re a Big Ten team and I think they can do a lot of things nationally that continue to make our conference what it is.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ilinois coach Bret Bielema praises Ohio State football team with one big caveat
Reporting by Lori Schmidt, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
