The 2017 Big Ten Championship Game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes does not offer a perfect template for Wisconsin as it prepares for a 2019 rematch in Indianapolis. However, several components of this game show the Badgers what they need to replicate on Saturday night.
The best things Wisconsin did in that 27-21 loss to Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes: First of all, the Badgers produced takeaways which had a high level of impact. Andrew Van Ginkel produced a pick-six when the Wisconsin offense was floundering in the first quarter. Two other takeaways were part of a gallant defensive effort in which Ohio State constantly moved the ball — 449 total yards — but didn’t score 30 points.
Second, Wisconsin’s defense stood tall in the red zone. Ohio State twice settled for field goals inside the Badgers’ 11-yard line. That was another reason the Buckeyes finished with only 27 points instead of a much higher number on the scoreboard.
Third, Wisconsin’s run-pass mix was 41 passes to 32 rushes. That isn’t an ideal run-pass mix, but do remember that Ohio State jumped out to a 21-7 lead. Wisconsin had to throw a lot more than it would have liked in this game. To throw only nine times more than the Badgers rushed the ball is an achievement under those circumstances. Wisconsin knew that even though it was trailing, it had to rest its defense and rely on what worked best.
YES, the late-game drive in that 2017 Big Ten title tilt wasn’t good, and YES, Wisconsin needed downfield passes in that game which didn’t emerge in crucial moments. That was a pronounced flaw of the evening in Indy. However, in terms of a 60-minute approach, Paul Chryst’s plan was sound. The plan wasn’t adjusted to the extent it needed to be at the end of the game, but the larger whole was not misguided. It was fundamentally the right way to play Ohio State under those circumstances. The key detail which supports this thesis: Wisconsin, despite an offense which frankly wasn’t all that good in that game (under 300 total yards, only 14 points scored since seven were produced by the pick-six of J.T. Barrett), nevertheless kept the ball for 34 minutes. If Wisconsin had kept the ball for only 30 minutes, the score is probably more lopsided in Ohio State’s favor.
Wisconsin didn’t do a number of things well — we’ll have more on that in a separate post — but in terms of takeaways, red-zone defense, and time of possession, the Badgers checked some of the boxes they will need to check off in 2019 this coming weekend.