MADISON, Wis.: Perhaps Ohio State’s steamrolling of Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game will be an aberration the series won’t see again for some time.
The nationally televised clash between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 8 Wisconsin Saturday night in Camp Randall Stadium returned to the dramatic, bruising affairs that usually characterize the matchup.
The game went to overtime, with Ohio State escaping with a 30-23 victory.
In the extra period, Wisconsin won the toss and elected to play defense. The Buckeyes overcame a holding penalty and scored a touchdown on J.T. Barrett’s 7-yard pass to Noah Brown, with Tyler Durbin kicking the extra point.
On Wisconsin’s possession, it reached the OSU 4, but Tyquan Lewis sacked Alex Hornibrook for a loss of 11 yards on fourth down to end the game. Jerome Baker tackled Corey Clement for no gain on third down.
Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) has won eight of the last nine meetings since Wisconsin (4-2, 1-2) prevailed in 2003 and ’04. With the Buckeyes favored by 10½ points, it marked the first time the Badgers had been a home underdog since 2010, when they upset No. 1 OSU 31-18.
Ohio State trailed 16-6 at halftime, but quarterback J.T. Barrett came out of the locker room with newfound insight on how to solve the tough Wisconsin defense. In the third quarter, OSU outgained Wisconsin 118 yards to 11.
On the Buckeyes’ first series of the second half, Barrett drove them from their own 36 to the Wisconsin 13. But during a brief downpour, safety D’Cota Dixon picked off Barrett’s pass in the end zone at the 9:17 mark.
Barrett shook it off to direct a 13-play, 47-yard drive capped by his 1-yard TD run that cut the gap to 16-13 with 2:52 left in the third quarter.
The Badgers had the ball for only one play as cornerback Gareon Conley of Massillon picked off Alex Hornibrook’s pass at the Wisconsin 38. It marked Conley’s second interception of the season and the 11th by the Buckeyes, who came in fourth in the nation in turnover margin at plus-8.
Ohio State capitalized for a touchdown, with Barrett running 8 yards for the score with 14:09 remaining to give the Buckeyes their first lead. That was Barrett’s 88th career touchdown, tying him with Braxton Miller for the most in school history.
But the Badgers found life, driving 81 yards in 11 plays with junior fullback Austin Ramesh scoring on an 8-yard run with 7:54 to play. It was the first rushing touchdown given up by Ohio State all season. Coming in, it had been the only team in the Football Bowl Subdivision to boast that.
On its next possession, OSU reached the Wisconsin 14 before being forced to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Tyler Durbin that tied the score 23-23 with 3:57 remaining.
With 55 seconds left in regulation, Conley appeared to get his second pick of the game. But as he tried to transfer the ball from his arm to his stomach as he hit the ground, the ball touched the turf and the play was ruled an incompletion after a replay review. The Badgers failed to convert on the ensuing third-and-12 from the 50, forcing overtime.
In the first half, the Badgers found success where the Buckeyes’ previous five foes hadn’t. Ohio State’s defense came in allowing 98 rushing yards per game; Wisconsin senior Clement had surpassed that by halftime with 110 yards, including a 68-yard scamper, the longest rush given up by OSU this season. At the end of regulation, the Badgers had rushed for 247 yards and had totalled 440.
Clement’s 68-yard run set up Wisconsin’s only touchdown of the first half, a 24-yard pass from Hornibrook to Jazz Peavy with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
The rest of the half was a field goal duel. Wisconsin’s Andrew Endicott connected from 46, 32 and 22 yards, while Ohio State’s Durbin hit from 25 and 40 yards.
The low-scoring game had been expected, with Ohio State ranking second in the nation in scoring defense coming in and Wisconsin fourth.
In recent years, the meetings between OSU and Wisconsin had been nail-biters, save for the Buckeyes’ 59-0 victory in the conference championship game en route to the 2014 national title.
In 2011, OSU won 33-29 on Braxton Miller’s 40-yard TD pass to Devin Smith with 20 seconds remaining. In 2012, OSU prevailed 21-14 in overtime. In 2013, OSU won 31-24.
Adding to the task coming in was Wisconsin’s 75-9 record at home since 2004, its .893 winning percentage the second-best among Power 5 teams in that span behind Ohio State’s .899 (80-9).
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.