Ohio State sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa recorded two sacks Saturday to become the first Big Ten player this season with 10 sacks as the Buckeyes tuned up for next week's showdown with Michigan State by hammering Illinois, 55-14.
Ohio State's single-season sack record is 14, by Vernon Gholston in 2007.
Bosa (6-foot-5, 278 pounds) had sacks in the first and third quarters and now has 18.5 in his 22-game college career. He has 6.5 sacks in the past three games, and his one-on-one matchup with Michigan State left tackle Jack Conklin next week will be perhaps the most intriguing individual battle of the game.
Illinois came in having allowed a league-high 25 sacks. Michigan State has allowed a league-low five.
Bosa and the Buckeyes limited Illinois to 243 yards, and 152 of those came on the Illini's final three drives in the final 20 minutes of the game, against a lot of backups.
Earlier this week, NFL Media analyst Charles Davis called Bosa "a big, agile true sophomore" who has "a high ceiling as a prospect."
The Buckeyes' offense did its part, too. It was the fifth time the Buckeyes scored 50 points this season, the most in the FBS ranks; in addition, it was the 14th 50-point game in three seasons under Urban Meyer.
Ohio State led 31-0 at halftime behind two TD passes by J.T. Barrett and two TD runs by Curtis Samuel. Barrett -- who didn't play in the second half -- now has 23 TD passes this season; the school single-season record is 30 by Troy Smith in 2006, when he won the Heisman. The Buckeyes -- who scored on nine of their first 12 drives -- finished with 545 total yards, with 296 coming on the ground. Six players had at least 37 rushing yards, but no one had more than 69.
It was Ohio State's 20th consecutive league win, which ties the conference record set by the Buckeyes from 2005-07.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
