Oct. 31--CHAMPAIGN -- Earnest Thomas, a man never afraid to share his thoughts, was eager to share his energy with his Illinois teammates.
"I call myself 'The Juice Man,'" said Thomas, who plays the star position, a safety/linebacker hybrid. "Before the game (against Minnesota), I asked, 'Who has the juice?' I was telling them I'm going to have the juice the entire game. Just feed off of my energy."
The Illini used that fuel in a 28-24 home victory against the Gophers last weekend. But to avoid getting squeezed Saturday at No. 16 Ohio State, the Illini will need more voltage.
The Buckeyes, who have won 19 straight Big Ten games, rank seventh nationally with 44.3 points per game. Quarterback J.T. Barrett was limited in practice this week by a knee injury but is expected to play.
Barrett has thrown 18 touchdown passes and only three interceptions in the last five games. He leads the Big Ten with 306.7 total yards per game and a 172.8 passing efficiency rating.
The Illinois defense turned a corner against Minnesota, holding the Gophers to three points and 86 yards in the first half. But the Illini recognize they will be facing a different beast at the Horseshoe.
"They're going to try to spread you out a little more," defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. "You knew exactly what you were going to get from Minnesota. This team isn't going to show its hand quite as much. I wouldn't say (it's) easier; Minnesota has a really good offensive line. It's just different."
The defensive line is coming off its best game of the season.
"They didn't get knocked off the ball," Banks said. "And if they did, they got up and ran and got right back in their gap. We just didn't get dominated up front. We won our up-front battles."
The Illini (4-4, 1-3) assert that if they keep the edge that helped produce three Gophers turnovers and four sacks, they can compete with the Buckeyes (6-1, 3-0).
"The win defensively was a great momentum builder and a great confidence builder," Thomas said. "It showed that when we come out and play with that kind of energy and focus, playing hard for an entire 60 minutes ... we can compete with anybody. We have talent here. It's just about executing."
sryan@tribune.com
Twitter @sryantribune
