Playing in front of 105,301 fans Saturday afternoon at the Horseshoe in a showdown of Big Ten conference unbeatens, the Wisconsin football team was able to double Ohio State’s total offensive yards and limit dual threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor to 122 yards of offense.
If only total yards were directly correlated to total points.
The Badgers were outclassed 31-13 by the Buckeyes for the third time in head coach Bret Bielema’s tenure due to 21 points given up with the defense sitting on the bench. Two touchdowns came directly off junior quarterback Scott Tolzien’s interceptions and the third touchdown — possibly the final nail in UW’s coffin — was a Buckeye kick return for a score.
“It is a 31-13 game and 21 points were scored when our defense wasn’t on the field,” Bielema said. “Any time that happens you have no chance of winning on the road in the Big Ten.”
Wisconsin looked like a 5-0 team for much of the first half, moving the ball with a balanced offense and capitalizing on opportunities when they came.
One such opportunity was UW’s first touchdown of the game, a nine yard scamper by safety/holder Chris Maragos on a fake field goal attempt. Maragos — who made the call for the fake — was able to dive over the pylon beating OSU defenders to the edge.
“I was looking for a certain look and we got the look and we put it on,” Maragos said. “I knew it was going to be a race to the corner, Garrett threw a great block, just went dove and got there. It was good but it doesn’t really matter because we lost.”
With kicker Philip Welch converting on a 50-yard field goal with 1:12 left in the half, it appeared certain UW would enter the locker room with all the momentum.
However, Pryor came alive for one drive during the game, marching OSU down the field with his legs and arm before floating a 32-yard TD pass.
“Because they have been in four straight Big Ten championships, if you want to be considered a player in this league you have to beat Ohio State,” Bielema said. “It is something that I will definitely, personally be able to think about for another year.”
It would be a severe understatement to say the game got away from Wisconsin in the final 30 minutes.
The Buckeyes punched in their second “pick-six” of the game after Tolzien underthrew a pass towards the sideline.
“The first [interception] I just threw it late across the middle and threw it high,” Tolzien said. “The second one there was a linebacker dropping and I thought I could get it over the top of him, and it was too close to call. At that point you shouldn’t throw it.”
After a Welch field goal cut the score to 21-13 in favor of OSU, the Buckeyes immediately pushed the lead to 28-13 with a Ray Small 96-yard return straight down the middle of the field.
According to Bielema, UW was simply out-toughed on the play.
“The biggest thing that you have to emphasize in coverage is just keep moving down the field,” Bielema said. “Players a lot of times when they see they are about ready to get blocked will stop and that is the last thing you want to do.”
Although Tolzien wouldn’t attribute any blame to his offensive line, the junior signal caller was never able to find room in the pocket, a difficult task when trailing by three touchdowns in the second half. Tolzien finished the game with 250 yards on 45 attempts and was sacked six times after taking just two sacks in the previous five games.
“I don’t think we gave him a chance,” UW guard John Moffitt said. “I don’t think we set up the pocket enough to give him a chance to get comfortable.”
“I don’t know if since I have been in the league I have ever seen defensive linemen rotation and the depth that they have got,” Bielema added. “To be able to keep coming with new guys and the four guys that started are pretty special.”
A quirky game in many respects, Maragos is confident the team will learn how to finish the plays needed to win games.
“We had the ball, and I felt like we were on the sideline forever,” Maragos said. “But again, it goes back to scoring points and we didn’t score points.”