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UNFORTUNATELY for the Buckeye faithful, the Fighting Illini had too much juice during the weekend.
It happened to be centered in one person -- Isiah "Juice" Williams.
When OSU lost its first game this season with a 28-21 score Saturday, Williams threw a career-high four touchdown passes while going 12-for-12 for 140 yards and zero interceptions. He also rushed 16 times for 70 yards, an average of 4.4 yards per carry.
He connected with eight different receivers Saturday, with no receiver catching more than three passes.
Williams, who was graduated from the same high school as Dick Butkus, has had 12 touchdown passes this season, including the four completed Saturday.
"He managed the game well and after today, we can all see why he is our starter," said Illini head coach Ron Zook, a native Ohioan. "He is a tough competitor who plays the game well."
Noting he was so proud of the Illinois team and how its coaching staff prepared for the game, Zook added.
"The players did what we asked them to do. It is definitely a different story from two years ago when we played here. It is evident we have made some progress, and the team did what we had to do to come away with a win."
OSU junior linebacker Marcus Freeman, who had a career-best 18 total tackles in Saturday's game, described Williams as a playmaker, adding that Juice "went out and competed for them and made great calls."
With Saturday's loss, the Buckeyes dropped to seventh in the BCS standings, and their three-game winning streak against Illinois ended. OSU still leads the all-time series with Illinois 60-30-4 with a 26-18-4 edge in Columbus.
The Buckeyes' hopes for a perfect season were as high as the impressive flyover when "The Star-Spangled Banner" resounded through the 'Shoe prior to the game. The F-16 flyover was by the 180th Fighter Wing, Toledo.
Those hopes, however, begin to drop as the game progressed. At halftime, the score was 21-14 in favor of Illinois, and it the first time this season for Ohio State to trail at the half.
Saturday's upset ended the Buckeyes' school record, regular season winning streak at 28. The last time that OSU had lost during regular season was in 2005 when Penn State defeated the Buckeyes, 17-10.
OSU head coach Jim Tressel said that in the locker game after the loss, "We talked about how proud we were that they (members of the team) kept fighting and over the course of the entire time we've been preparing for this season and playing in this season, they've worked like crazy and done everything that you could possibly imagine.
"And they did that today and it didn't work out for us, and obviously, we can't erase how we feel about it, but on the other hand, we know we have a big week coming up, and we've got to grow from this."
Several team members also mentioned the importance of not dwelling on the loss.
OSU sophomore wide receiver Brian Hartline said, "Now we have to pick our heads up and get ready for Michigan. It's going to be a battle so we better be prepared."
Jamario O'Neal, junior defensive back for the Buckeyes, pointed out, "All hope is not lost. It was a bad loss, but we have to hold our heads up and come out fighting. Our focus is now on Michigan."
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OSU's honorary captain Saturday was Thomas "Pepper" Johnson, an All-America linebacker at Ohio State and Buckeye team captain in 1984-85. His son, Dionte, is one of the 2007 team captains. "Pepper," who played 13 seasons in the NFL and currently is an assistant coach for the New England Patriots, said, in part, "It's a great honor for me (to be honorary captain). The cards worked out well for me. We're on an off-week."
INVITED by the OSU coaching staff to be a guest at Saturday's game was Zach Gust, a Union Local senior who is a wide receiver for the Jets.
BUCKEYE sophomore Chris "Beanie" Wells rushed for 76 yards on 20 carries Saturday. With a total of 1,241 yards, he is the fifth sophomore in OSU history to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season and places third behind Archie Griffin with 1,577 yards in 1973 and Antonio Pittman, 1,331 in 3005. Rounding out the top five are Keith Byars, 1,199 in 1983 and Vince Workman, 1,030 in 1986.
OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis, 2006 Bronko Nagurski Award winner, now is one of three finalists for the 2007 Butkus Award and one of four finalists for the 2007 Rotary Lombardi Award. The Butkus Award was won by Buckeye Andy Katzenmoyer in 1997. Thirteen other Buckeyes have been finalists for the Lombardi Award, and six of them have gained the honor with the most recent one being A.J. Hawk in 2007.
THE OSU-Illinois matchup drew a crowd of 105,453, the fifth largest in the history of the 'Shoe. Activities throughout the game were geared "to honor those men and women who bravely serve and have served the United States of America in the various branches of the Armed Forces. Included was the band's "Salute to America's Finest." with music such as a service song medley, "God of Our Fathers" and "Beautiful Ohio."