Ohio State 2026 opponent breakdown: Week 4, Illinois

Bret Bielema is 1-6 in his career against Ohio State. Do his Illini have any shot against the Buckeyes on Sept. 26 in the Shoe?

Bret Bielema is 37-26 at Illinois and entering his sixth season leading the Illini. (Photo courtesy of Illinois footnall).

COLUMBUS — Nothing starts a week in late May like a smiling photo of Bret Bielema, eh?

It’s onto the start of Big Ten play in our breakdown of Ohio State opponents for the 2026 regular season, as Illinois will roll into town on Sept. 26.

Illinois has won 19 games the last two seasons. That’s tied for the 13th-most in the Power 4, and is the fourth-most in the Big Ten, behind Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon.

Does that mean the Fighting Illini are … good?

Let’s get to the breakdown of this Week 4 matchup.

Previous schedule breakdowns

Week 1: Ball State

Week 2: Texas

Week 3: Kent State

Illinois Fighting Illini

Ohio State opponent No. 4

Sept. 26, time TBA, at Ohio Stadium

2025 record

9-4, 5-4, tied for seventh in the Big Ten

2025 stats

• 24 out of 136 teams in final SP+ ratings

• 23 in FEI ratings (No. 14 offense, No. 52 defense)

• 100 in adjusted EPA/play (No. 70 offense, No. 105 defense)

• Scored 29.4 ppg (No. 52), allowed 23.6 ppg (56)

History vs. Buckeyes

This will be the 105th meeting of the Buckeyes and Illini, with Ohio State holding a 70-30-4 edge.

The Buckeyes have won 10 straight dating back to Illinois’ upset of No. 2 Ohio State in Ohio Stadium in 2007. And they’re 19-4 against the Illini since 1993. That followed what is honestly one of the more staggering losing streaks in Ohio State football history, I’d argue

Illinois beat Ohio State five times in a row between 1988 and 1992. Forget Michigan, John Cooper couldn’t beat the Illini for his first half decade in Columbus. Coop must have had that in mind while drubbing Illinois four straight times by a combined score of 171-9 between 1995 and 1998.

The teams met last season for the first time in eight years and No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 17 Illinois 34-16 in Champaign in mid-October. That was the second-most points scored against the Buckeyes last season, behind the 24 Miami dropped in the playoff quarterfinal. Head coach Bret Bielema said after the game he regretted not getting to an up-tempo offense more quickly, because he felt the Buckeyes had trouble with it.

Head coach