Ohio State – Wisconsin : Recap

This was not the way everybody envisioned it.  At least nobody figured we would win big like this…

Undefeated Wisconsin arrived in Columbus a 16 point underdog to the heavily favored Buckeyes and dropped an 18 point game that was decided entirely by the defenses and special teams.  Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) dominated the Time of Possession – 42:03 to 17:57 – over Ohio State (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten), but was only able to score 13 points against the stingy Buckeye defense.  Those Badger points came solely by the special teams on a pair of field goals by Philip Welch and a fake field goal for a touchdown run in from the 9 yard line by Chris Maragos.

Of the 44 points scored, only one TD came from an offense. Those points came at the end of the first half when Terrelle Pryor hit DeVier Posey with a 32 yard strike to take a 14-10 lead going into the locker rooms.  But the main story of the game was all about Ohio State’s defense and special teams, which scored 24 points in the win.

The defensive secondary was spectacular in the win limiting Wisky QB J.R.R. Tolzien to 27-45 for 250 yards and 2 interceptions.  Both Interceptions were returned for Touchdowns, including an 89 yarder by Kurt “Hurt” Coleman, in what became the 5th longest return in Ohio State History.  That interception gave OSU an early 7-0 lead.  The second pick came as Jermale Hines tipped the ball to himself and took it into the house from 32 yards out just 3 minutes into the second half.

Therefore, Tolzein threw for 250 yards to his own team, and 121 yards to the guys in the other team’s jerseys. Oh, and 2 TDs. Both to the wrong team. Nice.

Wisconsin responded with their last points of the game on a field goal in the middle of the third.  However, on the subsequent kickoff, Ray Small drove straight up the gut and went completely untouched 96 yards for the TD.  Ohio State scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter, despite running only 3 plays and making only 1 first down on the last play of the quarter. They actually had 10 yards of offense and 14 points in the third. Efficient, huh?

The Buckeye D-line was dominant all game.  Wisconsin came in having only allowed 2 sacks all season.  They left having allowed 8 sacks all year, as Ohio State added an additional 6 to the total. Despite the best efforts of Matt Millen (seriously, how could you be a WORSE color announcer than Glen Mason?), the Wisconsin offensive line was harassed all game.  Nathan Williams stood out putting Tolzien in pressure all game, and Austin Spitler was in the backfield more often than not on the linebacker blitz wreaking havoc as often as he could.

Ohio State’s offense was not nearly so impressive putting up less than 100 yards each in both the passing and running games.  Pryor went a measly 5-13 for 1 TD and an interception that set up Wisconsin’s fake field goal in the second quarter.  The running game was equally unimpressive, though both Brandon Saine (14 carries, 55 yards) and Terrelle Pryor (10 carries, 35 yards) looked good running.  The longest run of the game was by Saine….a 31 yarder. Without that 31-yarder, we would have had one u-g-l-y stat sheet. Hell, it still was ugly. But if you recall 2002, there were about 9 or 10 u-g-l-y wins.

Daniel “Boom” Herron came back after suffering an injury against Illinois, but carried only twice for 8 yards.  He left the game early with what may have been another injury to his foot and did not come back. No early word on his injury. Fortunately, we didn’t need his services tonight.

The offense struggled early trying to move the ball.  4 of the first 5 offensive drives ended in a punt, the 5th ending in Pryor’s only interception.  Those drives gained a grand total of 31 yards.  Yikes. They were followed by OSU’s only decent offensive drive of the game, going 88 yards down the field for the touchdown pass to Posey.

Wisconsin came in hoping to take advantage of their big offensive line and powerful running game.  They never got their wish, having discovered early that the Ohio State defense wasn’t going to allow it.  Wisconsin RB John Clay, who was averaging more than 100 yards per game coming in, rwas stuffed for 59 yards on 20 carries and never sniffed the end zone.  He looked tough running between the tackles and trying to stay up when being tackled, but the OSU defense was clearly keying on him.

Wisconsin’s best success came by running David Gilreath on the end-around, gaining 36 yards on 4 carries with a long of 15.  For some reason, however, Wisconsin decided to go away from this strategy.  The general consensus around the chat room was that “Bret Bielema is stupid”. Whether Ohio State made a good adjustment to stop those plays, or Wisconsin decided to try other aspects of their gameplan is unclear.  Gilreath accounted for 2 of Wisconsin’s 3 longest plays of the game, and then disappeared from the plan.

The Stat of the game is likely the possession differences.  Wisconsin did everything right in terms of Tresselball, limiting OSU to 40 total offensive plays while taking 89 plays themselves.  Unfortunately for them, they just could not stop shooting themselves in the foot.

Ohio State’s defense is now allowing a paltry 12 points per game, while the team (it’s unfair to say “the offense” given how much the defense and special teams are doing this season) is scoring 29.7 points per game.  Those are the kinds of stats that will win you football games.  As we progress through the season, the Navy game is looking more and more like an aberration.

Ohio State faces a Purdue team next week that has won only 1 game in their last 6, having lost to Minnesota 35-20 this weekend.  Wisconsin will take on an increasingly dangerous looking Iowa team in Madison.

With Purdue, Minnesota, and New Mexico State finishing out October, this team may be 8-1 heading to Happy Valley without even breaking a sweat.