Scouting: Ohio State @ Illinois

Ohio State (4-0) at Illinois (2-1)

When: 11 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, IL

TV: BTN; Radio: WIND 560-AM

Series: Ohio State leads 62-30-4

Coaches: Jim Tressel (98-21, 10th year at OSU; 233-78-2 overall); Ron Zook (23-40, sixth year at Illinois; 44-54 overall)

OSU players to watch: Ohio State junior QB Terrelle Pryor has lived up to the Heisman hype. He accounted for 14 touchdowns during non-conference play, including 4 passing scores, 1 rushing TD and 1 receiving TD last week against Eastern Michigan. Perhaps most impressive, Pryor has hit 66.4 percent of his passes 10 percentage points higher than last year. WR Dane Sanzenbacher (20 catches, 316 yards, 5 TDs) caught all 4 TDs last week. DE Cameron Heyward, son of the late Bears RB Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, owns 12 career sacks and 26.5 TFLs.

Illini players to watch: RB Mikel Leshoure (58 carries, 398 yards, 3 TDs) ranks seventh nationally in rushing yards per game. QB Nathan Scheelhaase, a viable running option in his own right, has 584 total yards but has completed just 54.4 percent of his throws. ILBs Martez Wilson (25 tackles, 3 TFLs) and Ian Thomas (24 tackles, 4 TFL) must play perfect technique in order to keep Pryor reined in without ignoring their role in stopping OSU's tailbacks.

The skinny: Illinois has won just one Big Ten opener since 1993, which isn't a good omen even if Zook's crew wasn't facing the nation's No. 2 team. In addition, Illinois has lost seven consecutive games against nationally ranked teams since it toppled top-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 10, 2007. The Illini can't win this one without an incredible effort from Leshoure, who'll be bucking an OSU defense that hasn't allowed a 100-yard game in more than two seasons. On the plus side, Illinois' blocking will be boosted by the return of tight end Zach Becker. He missed the first month with a stress fracture in his foot.

He said it: Ron Zook putting Pryor and Scheelhaase in the same breath, sort of: "You look at Terrelle Pryor, you look at him now compared to as a freshman, he is a completely different player. He had the same abilities and athleticism and so forth two years ago, but this year he's different and Nathan will be as well."