The second-ranked Buckeyes rallied from a 16-6 halftime deficit against the eighth-ranked Badgers at rowdy Camp Randall Stadium.
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Ohio State would win 30-23. On third-and-2 from the Wisconsin 7-yard line, the Buckeyes faked a zone read to back Mike Weber, and instead of running, Barrett identified Brown in a one-on-one matchup and delivered a ideal back-shoulder throw into the corner of the endzone for what ended up being the winning score.
OSU coach Urban Meyer said he expected nothing less from his veteran quarterback. Barrett also reached the 88-TD mark in his career, which ties the QB from Wichita Falls, Texas with Braxton Miller for the most touchdowns in program history.
The Buckeyes stopped Wisconsin’s top running back, Corey Clement, twice for no gain, forced quarterback Alex Hornibrook into an incompletion, then ended it on a sack credited to Tyquan Lewis.
The Buckeyes then completed the comeback victory in the extra frame on Barrett’s touchdown pass to Brown and the defensive stand. He also ran for 92 yards on 21 carries and two scores.
Ohio State senior kicker Tyler Durbin put the Buckeyes on the scoreboard in the first half with field goals of 40 and 46 yards. Defensively, Ohio State is allowing 12.8 points and 278.8 yards per game.
But Barrett, as usual, led the Buckeyes’ charge.
“They had a good gameplan for us”, Barrett told ESPN”.
Barrett rushed for 4 to end the third quarter. But the combination of Barrett’s lack of accuracy, dropped passes and tight coverage by UW’s cornerbacks limited Barrett to six completions in 14 attempts for 81 yards in the first half. That work paid off, though it didn’t come easy against the Badgers’ tough defense.
The Badgers utilized an effective combination of jet sweeps with Peavy, power runs with Clement and timely passing to tight end Troy Fumagalli to pull out to a 16-6 halftime lead in a 30-minute period stamped by effective kicking. The Badgers had manageable third-down situations, for the most part, for Hornibrook.
The final leg upon which Wisconsin built its lead was coach Paul Chryst’s offensive game plan.
“We just had to keep on grinding”. “This one hurts tonight”. The next three on UW’s schedule may be the three toughest remaining – a matchup with No. 8 Nebraska on October 29 at Camp Randall Stadium sandwiched between road games at Iowa and Northwestern.
Ohio State’s defense, which had been one of the best in the country leading up to the game, allowed chunk plays and big yards to a Wisconsin offense that had done little of either coming in.
The University of Wisconsin football team’s two recent losses did more for its national reputation than its 4-0 start to the year.
Every season, every team, every group of people is different, even when the core leadership of them is the same. “We’ve just got to go take care of Monday and take care of Tuesday and so on”. It dropped a 14-7 game to No. 4 MI before the bye.
On Clement’s 68-yard run, OSU linebacker Chris Worley tracked Clement down and stripped the ball – which the Buckeyes recovered – but a subsequent review ruled that the ball touched Clement while he was out of bounds, thus ending the play and letting Wisconsin keep the ball. “The only way you earn that is by playing your best on gameday”. “A lot’s at stake, but we’re going to soak in this loss and know what it feels like”.
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Barrett was 17 for 29 for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception. And if it handles its business, it’ll get another shot at either Ohio State or MI.
