It seemed all too familiar for Buckeye fans. A late lead at home under the lights, slipping away to a ranked team Ohio State had outplayed almost the whole way.
In 2005, Ohio State was on the fringe of field goal range looking to cash in to push their margin over future national champion Texas to a two-score game late in the fourth quarter. The offense stalled, Tressel opted to not try a long but makeable field goal. Vince Young would go on to lead an epic drive to take the lead. With little time on the clock to answer, Ohio State turned it over and Texas held on.
In 2008 versus top-five USC, it was a mirror image as another long field goal chance to put the game away was bypassed, leading to a long Trojan game winning drive. Again, the Buckeyes were left with little time and failed to muster anything in terms of a comeback.
The following year a Terrelle Pryor fumble gave undefeated Penn State a short field late in the fourth quarter in a tie game. The Nittany Lions took the lead, and left with little time, Pryor threw a pick that ended the Buckeyes’ comeback chances.
This time, up by 12 with under five minutes to go, two deep Wisconsin aerial strikes again put the Buckeyes in the familiar position of blowing a late lead at home under the lights versus a ranked team and with little time to answer.
Jordan Hall, who had earlier muffed a punt return that led to a Wisconsin touchdown drive, redeemed himself, returning the kickoff to near midfield and giving the Buckeyes a chance to tie the game with a field goal. After a first down wound the clock down to 31 seconds, the Buckeyes were a completion away from having a shot to knot things up. Braxton Miller subsequently etched his name into Buckeye lore by avoiding two pass rushers before throwing a deep ball off of one foot to the middle of the end zone.
Wisconsin made it interesting, benefiting from two costly penalties, but Ohio State’s pass rush iced the game, hitting Badger quarterback Russell Wilson just as he was unleashing a Hail Mary attempt and giving OSU a 33-29 win.
It was a banner day for John Simon and the OSU defensive line, which caused 3 sacks, forced an intentional grounding penalty, and were generally effective in making Wilson uncomfortable the majority of the game.
Ohio State’s run defense also showed up in a big way, limiting Wisconsin to only 89 rushing yards on 29 attempts, with nearly half of that total coming on one run late in the game.
The Buckeye offensive line was the unsung hero of the day, as 58 of the 70 offensive plays were runs. Despite the typical predictability, the OSU offense churned out 268 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns. Against a physical Wisconsin defense, all of it was earned.
While the Badgers’ memorable loss to Michigan State will likely be the Big Ten’s game of the year, tonight’s game may finish the year in second place.
The first half showcased some sustained drives, good defense and 10 hard-earned points. To the surprise of many, the second half saw an explosion of points, with 52 scored in an exciting fast-paced half of football.
The Buckeyes were able to put up the first 14 points of the half in back-to-back goaline scenarios that first saw Miller score on a fourth down bootleg. After a blocked punt put the Buckeyes on the one-yard line again, another physical series of downs ended in a tough 2-yard TD run by Jordan Hall.
Another special teams snafu led to points, as Jordan Hall muffed a punt deep in Buckeye territory leading to a Wisconsin touchdown drive.
A Buckeye field goal and a long touchdown run by Miller seemed to put the game in hand before Wisconsin answered back. In the last five minutes, 28 points were scored, as Wisconsin utilized two quick scoring drives and deep touchdown passes to retake the lead before Ohio State’s final drive.
Just eight days ago the Badgers were in the hunt for the national championship game. Now wiith two straight losses, they find themselves in a hotly contested race to represent the Leaders Division in the conference title game.
With the win, Ohio State has a glimmer of hope to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, which is a big step forward considering that earlier this month some believed the team might not be bowl eligible. OSU still has an NCAA infractions hearing looming that may impact bowl eligibility, as well as games against Penn State and Michigan.
Going forward it will be interesting to see if Miller’s late game heroics and poise allow Ohio State’s offense to continue to progress. In the last six games, OSU has averaged less than four receptions to a wide receiver per game. Twice the Buckeye offense didn’t even complete a pass to a wide receiver.
Miller has yet to really put together an impressive game, although he hs been showing flashes of big things to come. His late-game heroics, both through the air and on the ground, could potentially be the impetus to restarting the meager Buckeye offense.
With a month left to play, both divisions of the Big Ten seemingly have hard-to-call three-way races to get to Indianapolis – Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska all have a shot at meeting either Wisconsin, Ohio State or Penn State.
With the conference effectively out of the national championship discussion, suddenly the allure of a conference championship game has half the conference thinking about Pasadena heading into what should be a very exciting November for the Big Ten. The addition of Nebraska and the hampionship game has definitely added intrigue to the second half of the conference schedule. The thought of a trip out west as the temperature drops across the Midwest is mighty tempting to those rabid fan bases.
