When the No. 23 Wisconsin football team (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) heads to Columbus, Ohio for a matchup Saturday with No. 4 Ohio State (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten), its team members already know what they are getting themselves into.
Over the last season — and continuing into this season — the Buckeyes have not lost a single game and currently hold the nation’s longest active win streak at 16 straight games.
Last year, although they came close to pulling an upset and ending OSU’s bid for a perfect season, Wisconsin was one of those “W”s for Ohio State, losing 21-14 in overtime in Madison on Nov. 17.
Leading the way for OSU throughout most of its unbeaten run has been junior quarterback Braxton Miller, a dual-threat passer who averaged more than 100 yards rushing in 2012 in addition to completing 58.3 percent of his passes.
While Miller was forced to sit out of Ohio State’s previous two matchups against California and Florida A&M as he prepares to return Saturday, his job as starting quarterback is no longer quite so secure.
Filling in for Miller has been senior Kenny Guiton, who not only led OSU to a 76-0 thrashing of Florida A&M Sept. 21 but also broke a school record by passing for six touchdowns, all of which were in the first half.
In respect to Guitton’s breakout weekend, OSU head coach Urban Meyer elected to name both quarterbacks co-starters on the depth chart released earlier this week.
Still, even though Wisconsin does not know exactly who will be calling the shots when it steps on the field Saturday, the players and coaches expressed their confidence in their ability to adapt to either quarterback.
“They are a very formation-based offense,” redshirt sophomore cornerback Darius Hillary said. “You look at some of the offenses, some of the pictures that we’re given and then you can gauge what players you are going to be getting out of them.
“I definitely think they are two very great quarterbacks that we have to look out for, but I think we can do a great job this weekend.”
This might be easier said than done for the Wisconsin secondary, however.
While UW’s defense didn’t allow a point in its first two games in 2013, it was a number of critical passes in a late-game drive for Arizona State that helped it to score the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
In the 2012 matchup, OSU’s weak passing game made it easy for UW to focus on the running game and Miller’s ability to make something out of nothing on broken plays, but the first few games this season seem to indicate that may no longer be the case.
In four games, the Ohio State passing game has averaged 218 yards per game on its way to 15 touchdowns already this season.
With this in mind, Hillary emphasized the need for them to get back to the basics as they take on a core of talented OSU receivers.
“It starts up front with the pass rush,” Hillary said. “We want to make them move around in the pocket and just have to stay on top of them and be good in coverage.”
A number of injuries have prevented key players from practicing throughout the week, Making things more difficult for the Wisconsin defense as they head to Columbus.
Over the course of the week, both redshirt senior linebacker Brandon Kelly and redshirt junior defensive end Peniel Jean have been forced to sit out with hamstring and leg injuries, respectively.
The injuries forced head coach Gary Andersen to look at a number of different options should they not be able to play in time for Saturday’s game, particularly when looking at the Wisconsin secondary.
“We could do a lot of different things,” Andersen said at his Monday press conference. “With the way that [Caputo has] moved himself forward at the safety position, it makes you start to look at the situation and say, ‘Are you going to put him more down into the box and let him be an outside linebacker type of guy?’ He’s been so productive.
“We’ll always just try to get the best 11 kids on the field. … [It] will depend on the transformation of the free safety at that point and who can get back there and play, and can Tanner [McEvoy] get in a spot to be able to play some free safety.”
With Wisconsin posing the first real test for OSU in 2013, Buckeye fans aren’t taking their advantage as the home team lightly. The Ohio State Athletic Department has scheduled a “scarlet out” for Saturday’s game, urging fans to wear OSU’s school color scarlet red at the game.
Still, while the prospect of playing at the Horseshoe may be intimidating, redshirt senior defensive end Pat Muldoon believes his team is prepared for the task ahead.
“I think we’re ready for it,” Muldoon said. “We’ve got a lot of senior leadership, this is the biggest class of seniors we have had since I’ve been here. It’s kind of seniors lead the way and everything will follow.”
