Big 10 Championship Recap: Ohio St. Beats Wisconsin

Wisconsin Came out Fast

This was the rematch for the Big 10 Title that most thought was going to happen after the first match up. Wisconsin won the toss and wanted the ball first, which is normally deferred by most teams. In my Championship game preview, I said that Wisconsin needed to win the line of scrimmage and get Taylor going. This is exactly what the Badgers did on the first drive and really, the whole first half.

The first play of the game was a deep pass for 27 yards to Quintez Cephus. On first and ten from the 44-yard line of Ohio State, Taylor struck. He went untouched to the endzone on an inside trap that had jet sweep action. Ohio State"s defensive backfield was left wide open with the rotation. The result was Taylor running free and no one around. And this now explains why Wisconsin wanted the ball first. Because they wanted to set the tone for the game and make a statement.

Ohio State Struggles

During the pregame show on Fox, they were talking about Justin Fields and the bigger knee brace he was wearing for the Championship game. He originally tweaked his left knee against Penn State and also hurt it against the Wolverines. As a result, it was pretty evident that Ryan Day was trying to protect Fields and not run him very much in the first quarter. Wisconsin was able to control the line of scrimmage early in this game and it was causing issues for the Buckeyes.

The Ohio State offense struggled early on just like in the first meeting. With that in mind, it was not a pretty start for the Buckeyes. Their first drive ended on a failed fourth-down play at the Wisconsin 34 yard line. The second drive ended up in a punt because of an eight-yard sack on third down. The Badgers defense was getting a lot of pressure on Fields. As a result of this pressure, the Badgers would have five sacks on the night. The third drive ended in a fumble by Fields on a third-down play at the Wisconsin seven-yard line. He got stripped while he was trying for extra yards. After the fumble, the Badgers are leading 14-0.

Fireworks to End First Half

Ohio State was able to get their act together just before the end of the half. They put together a 10 play drive that covered 71 yards. The offensive line was starting to give Fields time to throw. We started to see Fields dissect the Badgers defense and hit his playmaking wide receivers. The key play on this drive was Fields hitting K.J. Hill for a 27-yard pass on a third and nine play. Dobbins finished off this drive with a two-yard touchdown run. This cut the lead to 14-7 and gave Ohio State life.

With 42 seconds left in the half, Jack Coan handed the ball off to Jonathan Taylor who ripped off a 45-yard run. What was supposed to be a simple run play to run out the clock turned into a scoring chance. Poor tackling by the defense created this opportunity for the Badgers. With 23 seconds left, Coan threw a fade route to Cephus and was able to come down with the ball. There was a penalty on the play for pass interference, but he caught it anyway and the Badgers had first and goal on the half-yard line. Coan was able to get his second touchdown of the game on a sneak play. The halftime score was 21-7 Badgers.

The Second Half was not Like the First

Since Wisconsin took the ball first, this meant that Ohio State got the ball to start the second half. It did not take the Buckeyes long to tell the Badgers that they were back and in for a fight. The Buckeyes went 75 yards on five plays in 1:39. The big play on this drive was Fields hitting Chris Olave for 50 yards on a third and seven play from their own 28-yard line. The touchdown was an amazing one-handed catch by Jeremy Ruckert for 16 yards in the back of the endzone. This highlight grab ignited a very pro Ohio State crowd and started to change the momentum.

On the ensuing drive, the Ohio State defense was able to force a three and out. The Badgers punter dropped the ball mid-motion and got tackled by the defense to force the turnover on downs. This gave the Buckeyes the ball on the Wisconsin 16 yard line. The Badger defense did respond and was able to minimize the damage to only a 27-yard field goal by Blake Haubeil. It was now 21-17 Badgers and the next drive for them was going to be crucial.

Ohio State Flexes its Muscles

Wisconsin needed to change the momentum quickly. The Badgers were able to mount a 10 play drive that covered 44 yards. It did not end well as Zack Hintze missed a 48-yard field goal attempt. The Buckeyes then started to flex their Championship pedigree. After that missed field goal, they drove the ball 69 yards on seven plays for a touchdown. This drive was finished off by K.J. Hill with a 16-yard grab from Fields. Ohio State finally takes the lead 24-21.

The defense was starting to play like one of the top units in the nation. They were able to force punts on the next two possessions. On the Badgers third drive, the defense stopped them on fourth down. While the defense was stopping the Badgers, the offense was doing what they do the best, score. The Buckeyes were able to put the ball in the endzone again on their next drive. On a third and 18 play, Benjamin Victor was able to haul in a 28-yard catch from Fields. Fields finished off this drive with another touchdown pass to Hill for 13 yards. This pushed the score to 31-21 Buckeyes. After another defensive stop, the offense came out and ran down the clock to kick another field goal. As a result of this drive, it took off almost six minutes of game time.

Big 10 Champs

With the 27-0 blitzing by the Ohio State Buckeyes in the second half, this finished off their first goal of winning the Big 10. This game was their biggest test so far. It was the first time losing at the half all year and were being dominated. They made adjustments and went back to playing their type of football. The Buckeyes started giving Fields time to throw and Dobbins room to run. The defense was able to shut down the running game of the Badgers and started playing more zone coverage to stop the slant passes. When you look back at the game, the Badgers had no answers for what the Buckeyes were doing in the second half.

What is next for both teams? After the 12 pm announcement on Sunday, the Buckeyes dropped to #2 and will play #3 Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl. This game takes place in Tempe, Arizona on December 28th at 8 pm. The other playoff game will pit #1 LSU and #4 Oklahoma in Peach Bowl. This game will be at 4 pm in Atlanta, Georgia. The Wisconsin Badgers could possibly play in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl on December 28th in Arlington, Texas at 12pm. This should be one of the best BCS Playoffs we have seen yet. These are the best four teams in the nation.

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