Ohio State has its work cut out for it against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Badgers came to play. Two things dominated the first half. Ohio State’s inability to get off the field on third and long, and the Buckeyes’ inability to solve the Wisconsin defense. Both of those led to Ohio State’s largest deficit of the season at the break.
Another interesting development is little mention of Chase Young. Any game without his impact on it may not turn out well for the nation’s best team.
That said, here’s a rundown of how the half went for Ohio State.
To start, Wisconsin won the coin toss and chose to receive, wanting to blast Ohio State in the mouth early knowing that Ohio State would return the fair. Well, the Badgers did just that.
They, after a pair of first downs, gave the ball to Jonathan Taylor for a 44-yard touchdown. They went five plays and under three minutes to take a quick 7-0 lead.
Then, the mighty Ohio State offense took the field for the first time. Sadly, the Buckeyes didn’t succeed on a fourth and 7 after driving for a few first downs. It was justified attempt though as a field goal at that point would’ve been at least a 50-yarder.
Wisconsin punted on their next drive, pinning Ohio State within its own ten yard line.
J.K. Dobbins quickly changed that and then Austin Mack made his presence felt with a stellar 34-yard gain. Ohio State’s second drive started off well yet a third and ten stalled another drive as Fields was pressed and sacked out of field goal range.
With the clock under two minutes in the first and the Badgers up seven, Ohio State punted for a touchback. The quarter ended 7-0 with Wisconsin on its own 41.
Wisconsin continued to march down the field, completing a difficult third and long en route to entering Ohio State territory yet again. A missed Jonathan Taylor third down set up a fourth and five which Wisconsin converted on.
Jack Coan then ran in a 14-yard touchdown to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 14. It certainly wasn’t the first 21 minutes that Ohio State had dreamed up as it saw itself in the largest deficit of the season early in the second.
That said, early in the second, Taylor, a potential first-round, did surpass 6,000 career yards.
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer watches anxiously from the sideline: pic.twitter.com/CyfVihhHLs
— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) December 8, 2019
Ohio State got the ball back with around ten minutes left in the half. After three pitiful attempts, Ohio State faked a punt and was able to pick up a first down where the offense finally started to gain some steam.
Two 20-plus yard gains put Ohio State on 1st and goal. Justin Fields eventually fumbled, something Ohio State has had a clear problem with this season. With under four minutes left though, the Buckeyes were able to get the ball back.
Ohio State drove, with a few third-down conversions, and put points on the board before half. But just when you thought it had some momentum going headed to the locker room with under one minute in the half, Jonathan Taylor ripped off a big run. Then Wisconsin had another big play through the air and scored a TD just before half to go up 21-7.
The Buckeyes are now left looking for answers and will need to make some adjustments to find a way to win this one. Ohio State is in serious jeopardy of losing its grip on what has been a fantastic season.
