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Rapid reaction: Ohio State rolls over visiting Wisconsin in Big Ten opener
By Joe Cox
Published:
How good was Ohio State’s Big Ten opener against Wisconsin? Well, early in the second quarter, the Buckeyes led Wisconsin 28-23. Wait, that was 28 points for Ohio State against 23 YARDS for Wisconsin. It was that kind of day for the Buckeyes, who took care of business early in a surprisingly easy 52-21 victory over Wisconsin.
The Buckcyes were without star wide receiver Jaxon-Smith Njigba, but they didn’t lack playmakers in a typically diverse offensive attack. OSU quarterback CJ Stroud passed for 281 yards and 5 touchdowns. Stroud’s outing was marred only by his first interception of the year. Still, his TD-INT ratio stood at 16:1 at the midway point of the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes had hit 30 first downs and topped 500 total yards by then.
Ohio State’s running game was typically strong, with both TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams rushing for over 100 yards. The defense fared well, with Wisconsin not surpassing 200 total yards until early in the 4th quarter. While standout Wisconsin back Braelon Allen eventually topped 100 yards rushing, he had to work for every yard before a 75-yard TD burst in garbage time. On the other hand, the yards came easy for OSU.
On the opening drive of the game, the Buckeyes went 88 yards on 6 plays, finishing the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from Williams. On the opening drive, Stroud connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. (18 yards), Cade Stover (22 yards) and Emeka Egbuka (33 yards). Without Smith-Njigba, that trio, along with Julian Fleming, led the OSU passing attack in a typical banner day.
On Wisconsin’s first possession, Buckeyes DB Tanner McCalister intercepted a Graham Mertz pass and returned it to the Wisconsin 16-yard line. Two plays later, Stroud connected with Stover for a 13-yard score, and OSU led 14-0 with 8:54 left in the opening quarter. After a Badgers’ 3-and-out, OSU went 70 yards on 7 plays, finishing with another Stroud to Stover score from 2 yards out. OSU led 21-0 after a quarter in which Wisconsin had only a single first down.
From there, OSU stretched the lead to 28-0 on a Williams’ 3-yard run early in the second quarter. Wisconsin answered with a 72-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard Graham Mertz touchdown run. Wisconsin pulled it to 28-7 with 8:31 left in the half. Ohio State answered with a 25-yard Noah Ruggles field goal that made the halftime edge 31-7.
In the second half, the Buckeyes cashed in their opening possession, finishing a 72-yard march with a 12-yard pass from Stroud to Fleming. Later in the quarter, Stroud hit Emeka Egbuka for an 8-yard score that stretched the OSU advantage to 45-7. Wisconsin trimmed into the lead with a Mertz to Jackson Acker 2-yard score with 9:46 to play.
Tommy Eichenberg led the Ohio State defense in tackling and also contributed a pair of tackles for loss. Aside from his interception, McCalister broke up another pass, and banged-up safety Josh Proctor also played well for the stingy Buckeyes defense.
No. 3 Ohio State moved to 4-0 on the season and will host Rutgers next week. Wisconsin fell to 2-2 and will host Illinois next week.
Veteran college writer Joe Cox covers Ohio State and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.