Wisconsin redshirt junior running back Melvin Gordon is the Big Ten Running Back of the Year, a Heisman frontrunner and the nation’s leading rusher. But there is one thing Gordon wants to do in what is likely his last season playing college football that he has not done in his illustrious career as a Badger: beat the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Gordon and the rest of the No. 13 Wisconsin football team (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) will have that opportunity Saturday when they take on the No. 5 Buckeyes (11-1, 8-0 Big Ten) in the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“Going up against Ohio State, I’m pretty excited about that,” Gordon said. “Since I’ve been at Wisconsin I haven’t had a chance to beat Ohio State yet. I’ve lost to them every year, even when I was a freshman when we had Russell [Wilson] here.”
In fact, you have to go back to 2010 when the Badgers last knocked off Ohio State. Wisconsin defeated the No.1 Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium 31-18, helped by a memorable David Gilreath kickoff return touchdown on the first play of the game.
But since then, the Badgers have fallen three times in the last three seasons to the Buckeyes by an average of six points, including a 31-24 loss to No. 4 Ohio State last season in Columbus.
Both Ohio State and Wisconsin had different paths in getting to Indianapolis. The Buckeyes’ lone loss this season came in a stunning home loss to Virginia Tech in week two, but that was just the second game freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett played in after a season-ending injury to Braxton Miller. Since then, the Buckeyes have rolled through the rest of their schedule without a loss to win the Big Ten east division.
The Badgers meanwhile bounced back from a deflating loss to Northwestern in the conference opener to win their last seven games including a win over Minnesota last Saturday to clinch the Big Ten west division. Before taking down Minnesota last weekend, UW blew out Nebraska before pulling out a two-point victory at Iowa. The two-quarterback system with redshirt juniors Joel Stave and Tanner McEvoy has found its groove for the Badgers, while UW boasts one of the best defenses in the nation.
Ohio State will be without Barrett Saturday after he broke his ankle last weekend against Michigan and will be out for the rest of the Buckeyes’ season. Prior to the injury, Barrett threw for 2,834 yards with 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions combined with 938 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He was slowly creeping up the Heisman rankings and was named the Big Ten Quarterback of the Year Monday night.
Filling in for Barrett will be sophomore Cardale Jones. The 6-foot-5, 250 pound quarterback has thrown for 118 yards and two touchdowns this season while rushing for 206 yards on 26 attempts.
“He likes to run and he’s a big guy,” Wisconsin senior linebacker Marcus Trotter said of Jones. “We’re still going to expect him to do really well against us so we still have to practice as hard as we have been and just act like the starting quarterback is still there. So he’s going to be a really good quarterback and he’s going to be tough to bring down.”
Surrounding Jones for Ohio State is a talented group of players such as sophomore running back Ezekiel Elliott – who has rushed for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns – and wide receivers senior Devin Smith and sophomore Michael Thomas who each have scored eight touchdowns and have over 600 receiving yards this season.
So while Ohio State may be without their starting quarterback Saturday, it’s something that Gordon doesn’t think will hurt their offensive attack with the playmakers around Jones.
“I definitely believe the guy that fills in will do just fine,” Gordon said of Jones. “I mean he has playmakers all around him so regardless, I think at the end of the day, he’ll play well so we have to bring our best ‘A’ game.”
Defensively the Buckeyes have one of the best players in the Big Ten in defensive end Joey Bosa. A sophomore, Bosa was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and leads the Big Ten in sacks (13.5), tackles for loss (20.0) and is tied for the Big Ten lead with four forced fumbles.
Bosa will be a tough assignment for the Wisconsin offensive line come Saturday. His ability to seal the edge could affect how productive Gordon and the UW rushing attack will be.
“He can do it all,” Andersen said. “He plays the run well, he rushes the passer, he understands the situation he’s in, whether it’s third and long, third and short, whatever it may be. You can see by the way he plays he understands.”
Saturday’s game will be Wisconsin’s third appearance in the Big Ten championship game after winning its first two appearances against Michigan State and Nebraska. Ohio State was in last season’s championship game but fell to Michigan State.
For Gordon and any Wisconsin player who wasn’t on that 2010 team that last beat Ohio State, Saturday would be the perfect time to notch their first win against the Buckeyes.
“It would be good to have my first win against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship,” Gordon said.
The Badgers and Buckeyes will kick off at 7:17 p.m. (CST) from Indianapolis Saturday.
