Wisconsin Upsets Ohio State in Madison

Just when you thought Terrelle Pryor was going to win the Heisman and Ohio State was going to win the National Championship, Wisconsin upsets the Buckeyes and the season has a whole new look. The seniors were hoping for an undefeated season and rallied back in the second half to come within 3 points, but couldn’t stop the Badger offense in the end.

By Steve Patterson

The game in Madison got off to a bad start for the Buckeyes as Wisconsin scored on the opening kickoff, a problem that has plagued Ohio State from the beginning on the season. And the first half just got worse from there with Wisconsin scoring two more times before Ohio State could get on the board. If the No 1 team in the country was looking for some adversity to overcome, this was the game.

The Buckeyes put together a drive at the end of the first half to score a field goal and came out of half time with the adjustments needed to score 15 more points before Wisconsin could adjust. But adjusting is just what the Badgers did and surprised Ohio State with their fourth quarter passing attack that put 10 more points on the scoreboard and secured the 31-18 victory.

Terrelle Pryor had a decent night with 156 yards passing and 56 yards running. He still can be a strong contender for the Heisman if his numbers remain good and the Buckeyes continue to win in the second part of the season. November is usually a tough schedule for Ohio State and this year they face Penn State and Michigan at home with a road trip to Iowa in between.

The Buckeyes had a number of defensive starters out for the Wisconsin game which made it more difficult to get a pass rush and to stop the potent running attack of the Badgers. The team has lost starting safety CJ Barnett and starting star Tyler Moeller for the season. They also lost starting linebacker Ross Homan early in the game. Homan has been one of the best tacklers and often falls back into coverage were he is able to intercept passes.

The National Title is still a possibility for Ohio State but becomes a lot more difficult. The BCS rankings were released this weekend for the first time and Ohio State is ranked 10th. Undefeated Oklahoma, Oregon, Boise St, TCU, LSU, Utah and Michigan State are all ahead of them in the rankings. They would need other teams to lose for them to sneak in. Even the Big Ten Title is a little bit of a problem after the Wisconsin loss. With Michigan State undefeated and not facing Ohio State, they could be outright winners for 2010.

Ohio State faces Purdue this coming weekend at home and still remembers the bad loss in 2009 that the Boilermakers put on the Buckeyes. Purdue is a surprising 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten conference so far this season. They have some good young talent in Rob Henry and Dan Dierking but will meet an angry Ohio State team this weekend and shouldn’t have the kind of success they did last year.