Buckeyes, Badgers running in opposite directions

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http://www.centralohio.com/ohiostate/stories/20041008/football/1381664.html

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After whiffing on repeated curveballs thrown by Northwestern, "IS" Ohio State's suddenly suspect defense ready to dig in and take it cuts against a good old-fashioned Big Ten football team in unbeaten Wisconsin???

http://www.centralohio.com/ohiostate/stories/20041008/football/1381671.html

[george tinkham]

on paper the badgers look like a good team,butt their record is tricky cause they aint played a good team yet...

[XX78]

Watch out for their defense

[countyroad320]

Wisconsin is not going to win at the Shoe.

[rjolenic]

I'm tired of three point wins ..... or losses for that matter. Im going to skip the Bucks game and go hunting! Same ***** different team watching Ohio State football anymore. I'd rather be in the woods!

Ray

[Ohio Bill]

Buckeyes STINK!!! Wisconsin Wooped up on them.....I shoulda went hunting...lol

[XX78]

The Ohio State Browns. Same crap different day, it sure does get old.

[george tinkham]

well we know how good the bucks are now an thats not too good ,butt if they start winnin i'll be the 1st tuh jump on the bandwagon...

[countyroad320]

They sure aren' t making it hard for me to hunt the upcoming Saturday afternoons.

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Badgers bring back Buckeye blues

By Jon Spencer
Gannett News Service

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COLUMBUS -- Adding new wrinkles on offense couldn't erase the worry lines and frowns from the droopy face of an Ohio State football team that is aging -- if not exactly maturing -- by the week.

For the second straight game, the Buckeyes found themselves streaking in the wrong direction after wasting a 10-0 lead and 65-yard punt return by Ted Ginn Jr. in Saturday's 24-13 loss to Wisconsin.

On the heels of their first loss at Northwestern since 1958, the Buckeyes saw their 18-game home winning streak snapped and the Badgers' winning streak in Ohio Stadium extended to three games.

The setback marked the first time OSU has lost consecutive games under Jim Tressel, dropped the Buckeyes to 0-2 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1992 and all but eliminates them from title contention.

After mustering only 49 yards of offense in the second half -- minus-three rushing -- Ohio State (3-2 overall) will be lucky not to fall completely out of the national rankings heading into next weekend's road trip to Iowa.

"It's been awhile since I myself have lost two in a row," sophomore quarterback Justin Zwick said on a day when he avoided turnovers but repeatedly missed open receivers and finished 15-of-31 passing for 125 yards.

"It's something we have to look at and learn from, but we can't dwell on it. We have to hope to get more wins down the road."

The obstacles along that road don't look to get any easier for an OSU offense that is struggling to find its identity.

The Buckeyes operated mostly out of a shotgun, spread attack, all but conceding they couldn't run against the Badgers. OSU sprinkled in a Statute of Liberty play that turned into a 43-yard gain by freshman tailback Antonio Pittman, a shovel pass to Bam Childress, a fake reverse on the opening kickoff and a play-action, misdirection pass to fullback Branden Joe.

It was a splash of creativity rarely seen from the ultra-conservative Tressel.

Too bad it didn't translate into an offensive explosion.

Some of the credit has to go to a Wisconsin defense that came in ranked first in the nation in scoring defense and total defense. The Buckeyes became the first team to score more than seven points on the Badgers (6-0, 3-0), but it was small consolation for an offense that truthfully generated only three points on Pittman's long gain.

Zwick and Co. can't take any credit for OSU's only touchdown -- Ginn's first-quarter punt return for a 7-0 lead -- or for Mike Nugent's 55-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, drawing the Buckeyes within 14-13.

"Against any good defense, you better do a lot of different things, but (the Badgers are) veterans and they've seen a lot of different looks," Tressel said. "If you think you're going to run the same thing all the time, you're mistaken. We just didn't get enough done in the second half to keep our defense off the field."

A momentum-turning decision by the officials on the opening series of the second half didn't help. The Big Ten's eye-in-the-sky replay system showed that linebacker A.J. Hawk recovered a fumble by tailback Anthony Davis at the UW 38, but Wisconsin retained possession because the on-field officials ruled an inadvertent whistle had blown before the ball popped loose.

The Badgers went on to hold the ball for the first 6:17 of the third period and scored on a 23-yard field goal by Mike Allen that pushed their lead to 17-13.

They all but put it out of reach early in the fourth quarter when Santonio Holmes tried to field a punt that was slicing away from him. His muff gave the Badgers the ball at the OSU 17 and it took them only three plays to capitalize on a spectacular 10-yard catch in the left corner of the end zone by wide receiver Jonathan Orr.

A 12-play, 71-yard march by Wisconsin later in the period didn't result in any points but hampered OSU's comeback bid and underscored UW's 13-minute advantage in time of possession.

John Stocco, the Big Ten's lowest-rated passer, completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including an 8-yarder to Darrin Charles that gave Wisconsin the lead for good (14-10) in the second quarter.

Davis finished with 168 yards on 39 carries -- his third 100-yard effort against the Buckeyes -- and dug the Badgers out of a 10-0 hole by darting 31 yards for a score in the second quarter.

"I didn't hear a whistle and I don't know about the rules," said Hawk about the call that robbed him of what could have been a pivotal fumble recovery, "but I know that on defense, if a call doesn't go in our favor, we have to go out and respond, and we didn't."

It's bad enough the Badgers have won three straight in Columbus. But they've done it by rallying from 17-0, 17-0 and 10-0 deficits.

"We have been in this position before against Ohio State and we've learned that if we don't panic, stay focused and play our style, the cards will fall in our favor," UW safety Jim Leonhard said. "In the second half, our offense went into high gear and our defensive played aggressive and shut them down."

Originally published Sunday, October 10, 2004


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