COLUMBUS, Ohio — For Wisconsin football fans everywhere, Saturday’s 31-24 loss to No. 4 Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will be just another tally in a string of heartbreaking losses for the Badgers (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) over the past few seasons.

Since 2010, each of No. 23 Wisconsin’s last 12 losses have come by a margin of less than seven points, with the last double-digit loss coming in 2010 against Michigan State (34-24).

Down by seven, with 1 minute, 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin couldn’t manage to make any magic out of its final drive of the game, ultimately turning the ball over on downs to allow Ohio State to run out the final seconds and extend its unbeaten run to 17-0 spanning two seasons.

After playing Ohio State close throughout the first half, miscommunication in the Wisconsin secondary in the final seconds of the half by senior safety Dezmen Southward and cornerback Peniel Jean helped junior quarterback Braxton Miller connect with wide-open senior wide receiver Corey Brown for a 40-yard touchdown.

“It’s basically a play that should absolutely never happened,” Southward said. “I know exactly what happened, but we’ll have to see it on film and definitely go from there.

“It was just a bad [play].”

The momentum-swinging touchdown came just one play after freshman cornerback Sojourn Shelton dropped an interception that would have sent the Badgers into halftime down just three points to the host Buckeyes.

To begin the game, things looked like they might get out of hand in a hurry for Wisconsin after Ohio State marched down the field on four plays in just over a minute to give them an early 7-0 lead.

However, the Badgers settled down quickly and managed to stay within threatening distance despite a missed 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter by redshirt junior Kyle French, trailing Ohio State 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.

While Wisconsin’s running game couldn’t pick up where it left off last week against Purdue, redshirt sophomore Joel Stave had a breakout night passing the ball — particularly to his favorite target: redshirt senior Jared Abbrederis.

In the first quarter alone, Abbrederis and Stave combined for 118 yards and one touchdown on just four passes, including an acrobatic catch for 64 yards to set up French’s missed 32-yard field goal attempt.

Abbrederis finished with a career-high of 207 yards Saturday night.

“Jared is just a phenomenal competitor,” head coach Gary Andersen said. “He is tough to cover in man coverage. He is tough to cover in zone coverage. … He makes big plays for us and I expect that to continue as we move through this season.”

After trading punts throughout much of the third quarter, a misplaced pass by Stave gifted Ohio State an interception and good field position on the Wisconsin 32-yard line.

Nine plays later, Ohio State found the end zone for the fourth time on a one-yard completion from Miller to Brown.

Wisconsin would make things interesting, however, in the fourth quarter — pulling back within 10 on a 17-yard run by senior running back James White with 13:41 left on the clock.

The 17-yard touchdown run would be UW’s longest run of the day in a game that saw White and redshirt sophomore Melvin Gordon combine for a total of just 105 yards. Gordon would be forced to leave the game early in the fourth quarter with an unidentified left knee injury, finishing with less than 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.

Wisconsin had one last glimmer of hope after French made a 42-yard field goal with 2:05 remaining in the game, but the onside kick attempt was successfully batted out of play by Ohio State’s special teams, allowing the team’s offense to drain off precious seconds late in the game.

The loss gives Ohio State a commanding lead in the Big Ten Leaders division moving into the rest of the conference season as six teams jockey for one slot in the Big Ten Championship Dec. 7.

Still, Andersen remained optimistic after the game that his team is far from out of the title hunt and will have a shot later in the season to make a play at their third-straight appearance since the championship games origins in 2011.

“Sometime, someway, out there, there will be another big game for us to play to put ourselves into a position to do some special things with season,” Andersen said. “These kids will come back. They will be ready to roll.”