Buckeyes blast Badgers for ninth-straight win
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (left) celebrates with wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (right) after their 32-yard touchdown connection midway through the fourth quarter against Wisconsin. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
The last time Wisconsin played Ohio State in the Horseshoe in 2019, things didn’t go so well for the Badgers, losing 38-7 to the Buckeyes in a regular season game.
Fast forward three years later and nobody bothered to change the record at the party as No. 3 OSU (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) won again by 31 points against the Badgers at home, 52-21. The win marked their ninth straight over Wisconsin (2-2, 0-1), dating back to 2011.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said despite the huge win, it’s not time to start ingratiating themselves.
“The big challenge we all know in college football is that you got to bring it every week and that’s the competitive standard we’ve been talking about. Every single week you got to bring it,” he said in the postgame press conference. “As good as this feels and as much as we want to celebrate this, we can’t spend too much time patting ourselves on the back after this thing, which is hard because this is one heck of a win for us. To play like we did tonight was a lot of work and I’m very, very proud of our team.”
The Buckeyes piled up 539 total yards with 281 through the air and 258 on the ground while holding the Badgers to a season-low 296 total yards, amassing 104 through the air and 196 on the ground.
Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst praised Day and said his team just got beat.
“Credit to Ohio State. It’s a really good football team and … a lot of respect for Ryan and what they do and we got beat. We didn’t get off to a good start. There was enough (times) in that game where we didn’t respond on the field the way we had to.”
Ohio State’s defense smothered Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz all night long, not allowing him to throw for over 100 yards. The Badgers’ fourth-year QB and three-year starter finished 11-of-20 for 94 yards with one touchdown and one interception, which came on Wisconsin’s first drive of the game where Mertz woefully threw behind his receiver and safety Tanner McCalister was there for the pick. It was the Buckeyes’ second pick of the year and set up the Scarlet and Gray for Stroud’s first TD toss of the night, a 13-yarder to the right side that went to Cade Stover, which was the fourth-year tight end’s first-ever TD.
Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg led the Buckeyes with 14 tackles including two for-loss. Linebacker Steele Chambers and safety Josh Proctor both tied for second on the team with six tackles apiece.
One aspect that the Buckeyes did allow, however, was a single rusher to get over 100 yards in a single game as Badger running back Braelon Allen led the team with 23 carries for 165 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown run was a 75-yarder that came midway through the fourth quarter against OSU’s second stringers and was Allen’s last rush of the night.
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud didn’t seem to skip a beat despite not having wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, going 17-of-27 for 281 yards and five touchdowns, adding another notch on his belt when it comes to school records to become the first-ever QB in school history to have at least seven games with five touchdown passes or more. However, one minor scratch on the disc occurred when Stroud threw his first interception of the season, which came on an overthrow to receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. towards the near sideline and was swallowed up by Wisconsin safety John Torchio.
Despite setting another school record, Stroud said he wasn’t entirely happy with his overall performance.
“I’m never going to play perfect so you can get that out of your head right now,” he said. “That interception, it was my fault, I got to make the throw.”
Stroud said the Badgers were in “cloud” coverage where one safety and both corners sank deep as the other safety played the flat, exactly where his throw to Harrison was going. He said he tried to anticipate where the throw should have gone right as he snapped the ball but Torchio took a different angle hence the pick.
“Marvin did a great job with that route, I just got to make the throw better. And then I just got irritated after that.”
The interception came with barely a minute left to play in the first half and the Buckeyes already owning a comfortable 31-7 lead. Stroud said the pick was a good thing, though, because it made him play harder.
“Then we fought back (in the second half), I think that’s the most important thing. So I’m never going to play perfect, never going to be perfect in life, football or off the field so I’m not really worried about your question, it’s cool.”
The question that prompted all of that response was by one reporter who had initially asked head coach Ryan Day what he thought of Stroud’s “off night” as Stroud was waiting in the hallway and heard the reporter’s question.
Day’s thoughts?
“I thought he was really good in a lot of spots. That was a very good defense. To throw five touchdowns, I mean he was really good.”
The Buckeyes were also really good on the ground as they posted their best collective rushing effort on the season with 258 yards and had not only one, but two 100-yard rushers as TreVeyon Henderson led the team with 21 carries for 121 yards while Miyan Williams toted the rock 11 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. True freshman Dallan Hayden chipped in eight carries for 31 yards in fourth quarter mop-up duty. That was the first time the Buckeyes touted two 100-yard rushers in a single game since Trey Sermon and Justin Fields did it against Michigan State in 2020.
Williams gave credit to the offensive line and a higher power for giving them that opportunity.
“I wasn’t expecting that but that was just all God’s plans,” he said. “And I thank the O-line for that (too). We wouldn’t have had over 100 without them.”
Ohio State’s next game is at home against Rutgers (3-1, 0-1) in a 3:30 game with the on-air channel yet to be determined.