INDIANAPOLIS — Right from the start of the game, the Ohio State Buckeyes were the better team Saturday in Indianapolis.
The No. 5 Buckeyes (12-1, 9-0 Big Ten) – behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones who threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns – shut out No. 13 Wisconsin (10-3, 7-2 Big Ten) 59-0 to claim the Big Ten championship Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“I don’t want to see the blame go the players,” Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen said. “I don’t want to see the blame go to any of the other coaches. Put all the blame on me and I failed them today.”
Jones, who made his first start of the season Saturday after Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was injured last weekend against Michigan, put to rest any doubt about whether or not a third-string quarterback could handle the big stage.
On the first drive of the game the sophomore quarterback – who took home MVP honors for his performance – led the Buckeyes on a six-play, 77-yard drive that ended in a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devin Smith and put Ohio State on top 7-0 just under two minutes into the game.
Jones completed 12 of his 17 pass attempts over the course of the game and hooked up with wide receiver Devin Smith for all three of his touchdowns. Smith finished with four catches for a game-high 137 yards.
Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott also gashed the otherwise stout Wisconsin defense for 220 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Ezekiel’s first touchdown came on the Buckeyes’ second drive of the game when he took a handoff straight up the middle and ran 81 yards for the touchdown.
After Elliott’s touchdown run, the Buckeyes scored on three of their next four drives which came on a Sean Nuernberger field goal, a 44-yard pass from Jones to Smith and an Ezekiel touchdown run from 14 yards out.
The one drive Ohio State was forced to punt in that strech, Buckeye defensive end and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Joey Bosa forced Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon to fumble on the ensuing UW drive, recovered the fumble himself and returned it four yards for the touchdown.
The touchdown put Ohio State up 38-0 with 36 seconds left in the first half where the score would remain at halftime as the Buckeyes exited to loud cheers from the large Ohio State contingent that made up the 60,229 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“That just took the momentum away completely,” Gordon said of the fumble. “I don’t think we had any [momentum], but if we had any ounce, that right there sealed the deal.”
In the second half, the Buckeyes continued to shutout the Wisconsin offense while the defense continued to allow the Ohio State offense to score.
Jones found Smith in the end zone for the final time in the third quarter when the two hooked up for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Running back Curtis Samuel added two rushing scores in the fourth quarter for the Buckeyes to extend Ohio State’s lead to 59-0 which tied Wisconsin’s largest loss since they lost to the Buckeyes 59-0 in 1979.
Overall the Buckeyes outgained the Badgers 558-258 and ran for 301 yards to Wisconsin’s 71. It was a surprising result for a Wisconsin defense that came into Saturday’s game second in the nation in yards allowed per game (260.3) and ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense (16.8).
“It’s a really bad feeling,” Wisconsin defensive back Sojourn Shelton said. “We didn’t expect to get to this game and play the way that we did. It’s a very bad feeling.”
“I felt like the defense today was in some parts playing a little timid,” UW senior inside linebacker Marcus Trotter said. “We’re a bunch of guys who are blue-collar workers with a chip on our shoulder. Something about today, we didn’t have that attitude. Me and the other guys really try to implement that today. I put that on myself.”
Offensively, the Badgers couldn’t do much of anything or find any sort of rhythm. Quarterback Joel Stave was just 17-of-43 for 187 yards and threw three interceptions. Gordon, the nation’s leading rusher, was held to just 76 yards on 26 carries. Wide receiver Alex Erickson hauled in seven passes for a team-high 83 yards.
Eleven of Wisconsin’s 15 offensive drives went five plays or less and seven of those drives were three-and-outs. UW was just 5-of-19 on third down.
“We got beat,” Stave said. “[Ohio State’s] a good team and we just couldn’t really get anything going or get into a rhythm. They got the best of us.”
“This is not Wisconsin football,” Gordon said. “This is not how we play. I’ve never been a part of anything like that.
“It’s an embarrassment.”
But the season isn’t over for Wisconsin despite the upsetting loss to Ohio State. The Badgers will head to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 to take on Auburn. It will be UW’s 19th straight bowl game and will be a shot at redemption for a Wisconsin team that doesn’t have a single player on its team who has won a bowl game.
“As disappointing as this is, there’s a lot of positives from this season and we just have to look at those, learn from this week, and get as much as we can out of bowl prep,” Stave said.
