After surviving a late scare against Indiana last weekend, the Buckeyes head back on the road to take on an Illinois team riding a two-game winning streak into the matchup.

Ohio State has plenty to prove on both sides of the ball after its tight game with the Hoosiers, and we'll be paying close attention to several storylines that deal with that fact leading into Saturday's kickoff.

Will Justin Fields rebound from a three-interception game? Will the Ohio State secondary bounce back from a poor showing against the Hoosiers? Those questions and more have been pondered below, as we pose Five Questions about the upcoming matchup between Big Ten foes.

Check out our thoughts on a number of topics below, and let us know yours over at the Horseshoe Lounge.

It was certainly unexpected when Justin Fields threw his first sack of the season in the first half against Indiana last week, but his second and third picks seemed to get increasingly inexplicable.

Fields gave no excuse for what was likely his worst performance in a Buckeye uniform, although he still finished with close to 400 total yards and three touchdowns, and tracking how he bounces back will be a storyline of high interest for many spectators.

Ryan Day said that some mistakes from Fields were expected against Indiana, given the frequency with which the program blitzed (every snap, according to Day), but he said Fields is his own worst critic when it comes to any errors he makes on the field.

Luckily for the Buckeyes, and Fields in particular, Illinois has not been particularly stout against the pass, entering Saturday as the No. 10 pass defense in the Big Ten.

It's the perfect opportunity for Fields to get back on track in a major way, and also to prove that a little adversity in an otherwise nearly spotless college career won't get to his head.

-Griffin Strom

With Chase Young leading the way last season, Ohio State was rarely at a loss for big-time sacks last season.

The Buckeyes are having success rushing the passer in 2020, you just wouldn't know it by tallying their sack total.

Ohio State has 11 sacks on the season, one less than the Buckeyes have allowed on the other side of the ball, and the group has combined for just three sacks in the past two games.

The Buckeyes had 14 through their first four conference games a season ago, and that was with backups playing much of the game as Ohio State blew the door off of opposing teams to begin the Big Ten season.

Advanced metrics have shown that Ohio State is sill racking up quarterback pressures at a high rate, but the deep room of Buckeye defensive ends won't want to continue answering questions about a lack of sacks for the third-straight game.

-Griffin Strom

In its two wins this season, Illinois has rushed a combined 111 times for 623 total yards. Lovie Smith wants to pound the ball downfield as seconds tick off the clock-- especially when it means keeping this Ohio State offense off the field.

Even though it appears Brandon Peters has settled into the starting quarterback role, Illinois is very likely going to attempt to drain the Buckeyes with the run.

Chase Brown and Mike Epstein (combined 223 yards last week) are both more than capable backs who can eat carries and move the ball. Isaiah Williams is the wildcard here-- the former starting quarterback for the Illini has the capability to enter this game as a secondary weapon on the ground, similar to how Nebraska used Luke McCaffrey in game one.

The Ohio State defense only allows 3.5 yards per carry this season. It limited Indiana to less than zero yards on the ground. This is a powerful front group backed by Tuf Borland and a run-stopping unit of linebackers.

Ever since that dreaded Nebraska afternoon when the Buckeyes allowed consistent chunks of yardage by an array of Cornhuskers, this run defense has been much improved. It has allowed less than 45 yards rushing in two of its past three games.

If Illinois can find some running room against a physical Buckeye defense and keep Justin Fields away from the field, it gives itself a much larger shot at overall success.

-Marcus Horton

Ohio State’s air attack has never been in question. With Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson leading the way, why should it be?

However, Illinois presents a great chance for more than just the Buckeyes’ pair of stars to see some targets.

No one beyond Olave and Wilson has triple-digit receiving yardage or double-digit catches this season. Being able to sprinkle in Jameson Williams, Jeremy Ruckert, or one of its talented freshmen wideouts will help diversify this offense.

It never hurts to show a defense that every player on the field is a threat. We’ve seen that at times, whether it’s Ruckert’s end zone capabilities or Jaxson Smith-Njigba’s playmaking potential.

Seeing a consistently larger group of targets only raises the ceiling for Fields and company.

Illinois has given up the second-most yards per catch in the Big Ten this season and has been susceptible to the big play all year long. This is the chance for Ryan Day to start priming younger players for things to come in the future.

Against Indiana, no one beyond Olave or Wilson caught more than one pass. That won’t lead to victories against top-tier opponents very often. Whether or not there is a concerted effort to find Ohio State’s secondary playmakers on Saturday remains to be seen.

-Marcus Horton

It seems the secondary can only go up from here after allowing the fourth-most passing yards in a single game last week to then-No. 9 Indiana.

Shaun Wade did have a pick six late in the third quarter last Saturday, four pass break-ups were recorded by Wade and Sevyn Banks and Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw 24 incompletions. Those were among the few bright spots in a game for an area of the Buckeyes defense that needs a stronger showing.

Illinois has not had a receiver catch more than 97 yards in a single game this season and has had less than 216 passing yards in the last three games. In fact, the Fighting Illini have thrown a total of 60 passes over the last three games. Opportunities for improvement seem like they will be limited this week.

Ryan Day said earlier this week that different combinations will be tried out in practice in order to find the right mesh of defensive backs to limit the damage going forward. The good news for the Buckeyes is that they likely won’t play another quarterback with the skill set of Penix Jr., but the secondary must still take strides to improve for games later in the future.

-Jacob Benge