Junior Craig Krenzel passed for 204 yards and two touchdowns as No. 4 Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 19-14 in front of 79,729 at Camp Randall stadium Saturday. In a game which the Badgers seemingly controlled for the better part of three quarters, Krenzel found tight end Ben Hartsock in the endzone with just under ten minutes to play, putting the Buckeyes ahead for good.

Wisconsin had two more chances on offense to take the lead before time elapsed, but an interception deep in Ohio State territory and a failed third-down conversion forced the Badgers to give up the ball. The Buckeyes ran out the remaining 4:24 of the game as the helpless Badgers could do nothing but watch, having carelessly burned two of their timeouts earlier in the half.

“It’s frustrating, because I thought that we played a very good game,” head coach Barry Alvarez commented after the game. “We just needed to make a few more big plays down the stretch.”

Ohio State wasted no time in opening up the scoring, as Krenzel found speedy wide out Michael Jenkins for a 47-yard touchdown pass on just the third play of the game, giving the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead.

Anthony Davis, who carried the ball 25 times for 146 yards, responded later in the quarter with a 41-yard touchdown dash, capping a three-play Wisconsin drive that saw Davis rush two times for 61 yards. The touchdown run was UW’s longest run from the line of scrimmage this season.

After a Brooks Bollinger fumble was recovered by Mike Doss on Wisconsin’s 32-yard line, Ohio State’s Mike Nugent nailed a pair of field goals, his 16th and 17th consecutive, putting the Buckeyes ahead 13-7. It appeared, on Bollinger’s fumble, that one of the Ohio State players had jumped into the neutral zone before the ball was snapped, but no call was made on the play.

“It sure looked like he was across the line,” UW offensive coordinator Brian White stated.

Three vicious Ohio State sacks late in the second quarter forced Bollinger out of the game with a concussion, putting junior Jim Sorgi at the reins of the Badger offense. After an uncharacteristic, yet designed, 10-yard scamper by Sorgi for a first down, he hit freshman Jonathon Orr for a 42-yard touchdown pass, making the score 14-13 with Wisconsin leading heading into halftime.

Orr caught four balls for 107 yards on the afternoon, setting the record of receiving yards by a Wisconsin freshman with 596 yards, surpassing the mark set by former UW standout Tony Simmons 14 years ago.

The second half was characterized by a defensive battle as punters R.J. Morse and Andy Groom spent a considerable amount of time on the field, trading kicks on five consecutive series.

Ohio State broke the monotony by marching on a nine-play, 88-yard drive culminating with a three-yard Krenzel touchdown pass to Hartsock on a play-action rollout. The key play of the drive came when the Buckeyes were faced with a third down and seven from their own 16-yard line. Krenzel found Jenkins on a post pattern 45 yards downfield, splitting two UW defenders and putting the Buckeyes into Wisconsin territory.

“That third down and seven pass late in the game was probably the turning point,” Alvarez lamented. “It started to give them some momentum.”

After failing to convert the two-point conversion, Ohio State gave the ball back to the Badgers, who immediately began charging down the field. Sorgi found sophomore Darrin Charles for 10 yards and a first down and then passed to Orr, who, despite being held by an OSU defender, managed to haul in a 42-yard reception on third down on a play identical to his touchdown grab earlier in the game.

On third and 11 from the Ohio State 29-yard line, Buckeye wide out Chris Gamble intercepted Sorgi after trying to hit Orr on a fade pattern in the endzone. Gamble, one of OSU’s dangerous receivers, who occasionally plays cornerback, picked off his second pass of the season.

“I saw that J.O. had one-on-one coverage and his man was playing pretty tight so I audibled,” Sorgi said. “I just under-threw it a little bit and he made a real nice play on the ball.”

Wisconsin forced the Buckeyes into a three and out and got the ball back with 5:31 to play in the game. Davis gained a yard on first down, but Sorgi’s next two passes to Charles and Orr fell incomplete and UW was forced to punt.

From that point on, the Buckeyes’ freshman sensation Maurice Clarett, who had been held relatively in check throughout the game, took over the final four minutes, rushing for a pair of first downs and spoiling any chances the Badgers had at getting the ball back. Clarett, who came into the game with 15 touchdowns, finished the game with 135 yards on the ground but failed to cross the goal line.

For the Badgers, Sorgi was 7-15, with a 137 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought Jim played well today,” White stated. “He gave us a chance towards the end.”

The loss drops Wisconsin to 0-3 in the Big Ten for the second time in three years, as they look ahead to consecutive road games at Michigan State and Iowa. Despite being 5-3 overall, Saturday’s defeat all but eliminated the Badgers’ chances at capturing the conference title and casts a serious shadow on the fate of the entire season.

Nevertheless, many Wisconsin players are remaining optimistic.

“All we can do now is worry about the next game,” commented senior tackle Ben Johnson. “We’re just going to have to look at what’s in front of us.”

Wisconsin’s defense turned in one of its most valiant performances of the season, holding the explosive Buckeye offense scoreless for 33:10 of the game before yielding the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. The defense also did a commendable job containing Clarett, allowing the Badgers to become just the second team this season to out-rush Ohio State.

When Wisconsin opened 0-3 in the 2000 season, the team responded by winning five of its final six games. Sorgi, who played well enough to resurrect UW’s quarterback controversy, expressed a great deal of optimism heading into the teeth of the team’s Big Ten schedule.

“Being 5-3 is just going to have to keep us going,” Sorgi commented. “We know that if we play as well as we did today we can win out, which puts us at 10-3, and make it to a major bowl.”