Ohio State defeated Illinois 38-17 to stay atop the Big Ten Conference with a 4-1 record, and Indiana also logged a victory to put those two on the inside track for the conference championship game.

IU got tries from Will Chevalier and Mike Nettleton in the first five minutes, and flanker Max Ney was over a few minutes later.

No 8 Russell Lemaster scored three and prop Matt Davey, back Salvatore Cahoon, and Chevalier again all scored as Indiana beat  Michigan State 58-5.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes and Illinois battled to a standstill for the first 15 minutes or so, with Ohio State mostly on defense. finally OSU broke through with center Ryan Bradfield going over. Flanker Michael Kwarteng was over moments later and then Vince Carso squirmed through several tacklers to touch down and the Buckeyes led 21-0 (Conor Forestal converted all three teams).

Luka Pavlakis scored for Illinois, and he continues to impress, as do loose forwards Chris Royer and Lonnie Buchanan. But lock Nolan Skelly got five back for Ohio State, and then Carso chased a nice cross-field grubber to touch down for his second.

Forward Jim Anderson scored the final Ohio State try and with Forestal's conversion the BUckeyes led 38-5. Illinois scored twie late, and that was a source of concern for program director Tom Rooney.

"We had them 38-5 and we let them back in the game, and we've done that just about every week," said Rooney. "I'm happy with the way we're playing with right now, but I would like to see us string it together and keep the strung together. We have yet to accomplish that."

Carso has been a revelation and he leads the conference in tries. The Ohio State lineout has been solid, but, normally a strong scrummaging team, the Buckeyes have had some issues come packdown time.

Illinois, however, received some praise from Rooney.

"They have some very good players and their new coach, Joe Rasmus, has them playing a good system," said Rooney.

At 4-0 Indiana looks in good shape to be among the top two teams and play in the championship match November 9. But there's one other team that did itself a world of good this week, as Michigan beat Wisconsin 37-17 to move to 2-1. Michigan got on the board early and kept the pressure on for the entire match. It was an impressive victory for the Wolverines, who still have to make up a postponed match with Michigan State. That game will be played midweek before the finals weekend, and if Michigan beats Indiana November 2, the Wovlerines-Spartans game could decide who makes the championship match.