Game Thread Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 17 (Oct. 4)

[buckeyes_rock]

I didn't notice last night, but did Denlinger play? I only saw Worthington, Larimore, and Abdallah, and I feel like Denlinger is our best DT.

Denlinger was in uniform, but I didn't notice him on the field either. Maybe he's still a little dinged up?

 

[scooter1369]

Denlinger is still dinged up. Bad hammy.

 

[Taosman]

I could have sworn I saw Denlinger play a good bit?
Check that. I was seeing Larimore. #72 vs Denlinger #92

 

[NightmaresDad]

What do you want Robo to do? Toss the guy over his head like he's [censored]in' Bam-Bam Rubble? Next time you're around a young teen, like a son or nephew, let them grab on your arm and try to move it up in the air. It's a lot harder than you're making it out to be.

Contact, fine. Blatant grabbing and holding? There's a reason those are penalties.

No, you windmill it back around so it's on top.

Yeah, it was pass interference, but the ref must have been at an angle that he didn't see it.

Yeah, Robo could have done a lot more to draw the flag, or free his arm. If he can't swing his arm down and back around, then his shoulder is really hindering him.

What a perfect pass, though.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Buckeyes handle pressure at Randall

by Doug Lesmerises Sunday October 05, 2008, 8:10 PM


Madison, Wis. -- It's not a national championship, but the 2008 version of the Buckeyes pulled out something Saturday night that neither of the past two Ohio State title game teams had managed.
And maybe that's why even coach Jim Tressel wondered if his team could handle it.
"That's what Tress told us, he wasn't sure how mentally tough we've been the last couple of big games," senior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said, "and this was going to be a chance to prove how tough we are."
Ohio State's 20-17 victory at Wisconsin was the 15th time in Tressel's tenure that the Buckeyes won a regular-season game in which they trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter. It was the ninth time the winning score came in the final two minutes of the game or in overtime -- but the first time that happened since OSU's 2005 victory at Michigan was secured on Antonio Pittman's touchdown run with 24 seconds to play.

That win came on the road as well, and Tressel tried to train his team on Saturday to use the Badgers crowd to their benefit.
"Coach challenged us, and he said all week that the louder it got here, the tougher we should get," senior linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "That should be our cue to get tough, and I think our guys did that."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Scout$--5 Answers: Ohio State at Wisconsin

Beanie's performance, lack of environment, pass protection, and 2nd half performance discussion

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Football:Analysis


By: Nate Carey /The Daily Cardinal - October 6, 2008

Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema lost his first home game in 17 tries this Saturday. The Buckeyes simply made more plays than the Badgers and snuck out with a 20-17 win.

It had to happen sooner or later. The Wisconsin Badgers football team came into Saturday?s game against Ohio State with a perfect record at Camp Randall Stadium under head coach Bret Bielema, going 16-0 during that stretch.
But all good things have to come to an end, and the Badgers lost 20-17 in front of the 81,608 in attendance at Camp Randall.
?This was a tough game. Wisconsin played their hearts out, Ohio State played their hearts out,? Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said. ?There was a great atmosphere and a great crowd. It was a battle, and we were fortunate to be able to take it down that last drive and make some plays.?
In the end, that is what it boils down to: the Buckeyes made the plays and the Badgers didn?t.
Holding onto a 17-13 lead with 6:24 left in the game, it was up to the Badger defense to nail the door shut on the Buckeyes. Considering the defense had been Wisconsin?s strength this season, the daunting challenge of stopping OSU freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor and junior running back Chris Wells seemed a little bit easier, especially since the Badgers had held the OSU offense relatively in check up to that point in the second half.
However, what followed did anything but relax Badger fans.
Pryor orchestrated a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with him scampering into the end zone from 11 yards out.
?He was everything the coaches said he would be,? senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy said. ?It?s tough when it?s second, third and long and [Pryor gets] a first down on a run, but that?s football. You?ve just got to bounce back and play the next play.?
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Late drive, pick doom Badgers at home


By: Scott Allen /The Daily Cardinal - October 6, 2008

-The Wisconsin football team lost a heartbreaker to OSU when the Buckeyes drove 79 yards for the game-winning touch down. Chris Wells ran for over 150 yards as the Badger passing game sputtered for much of the evening.

View Larger

By: Isabel Alvarez /The Daily Cardinal​

Senior wide receiver Richard Kirtley walks off the field after the Badgers? second-consecutive close loss to a Big Ten opponent.​

Two weeks ago the Badgers were a top-10 team, oh how things have changed.
The Badgers fell to 3-2 on the season after losing at home to Ohio State, their second consecutive Big Ten defeat. The Buckeyes (2-0 Big Ten, 5-1 overall) persisted through a tight battle that ended when Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor dashed into the end zone with an 11-yard carry on an option play, dodging two UW defenders to put OSU up 20-17 with 1:08 remaining.
?He?s elusive, he?s a big body,? Bielema said of Pryor, a 6?6? freshman whose athleticism gave Wisconsin fits all night. ?There were a couple of times where we were kind of just hanging on him or just barely on him, and he was able to fight through some tackles.?
Ohio State corner back Malcolm Jenkins buried any hopes of a final-minute UW comeback when he picked off a pass hurled by senior quarterback Allan Evridge under pressure.
?I didn?t want to take a sack so I was trying to check it down, and I just didn?t see Jenkins,? Evridge said.
Evridge had a mixed performance, completing 13-of-25 passes for 147 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Dropped and off-target passes plagued the offense and proved too much for the few successful drives to overcome. Senior tight end Travis Beckum was Evridge?s favorite target, catching six passes for 60 yards.
Freshman tailback John Clay moved the ball 69 yards in 10 carries on the ground to overshadow senior P.J. Hill, who accumulated 64 yards and a touchdown in 16 carries. Sophomore wide receiver David Gilreath also utilized his speed to get around defenders on five hand-offs that produced 36 yards.
?I was a little shaky at the beginning of the season, but I?m really starting to feel comfortable,? Clay said.
?I got goosebumps. The crowd was just cheering and my teammates were slapping me and getting me together.?
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Lantern

OSU Football: Pryor thrives under pressure

Dylan Horowitz

Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Campus

[SIZE=-1]Matt Critton/The Lantern[/SIZE]

Madison, WI - In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, junior running back Chris "Beanie" Wells peered into the eyes of his much-heralded freshman quarterback and challenged him to lead the Buckeyes to a game-winning score, "This is a man's game. Are you a man or a kid?" Terrelle Pryor responded with what is, up to this point, the drive of the season - a 12-play, 80-yard drive which ended in an 11-yard touchdown run to give No. 14 Ohio State (5-1 2-0) the 20-17 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2).

Trailing 17-13 with 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter of play, OSU embarked on a miraculous roller coaster finish in which Pryor nailed junior wide receiver Brian Hartline for a 19-yard gain and then fumbled a short pitch which he quickly laid out to recover. From there, the excitement only intensified when senior wide receiver Brian Robiskie was forced to frantically leap backward to pick up Hartline's dropped football after a 27-yard reception. Inside of the 30-yard line, OSU got their bearings and settled down. Junior wide out counterpart Ray Small hauled in a 13-yard bullet leading up to a run by Wells and the put-away quarterback option to the far side of the football field.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Lantern

Football Notebook: Backfield duo, defense deliver

Brian Rosen

Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Sports

[SIZE=-1]Kenny Greer/The Lantern
Linebackers Marcus Freeman, James Laurinaitis and Ross Homan are joined by defensive linemen Dexter Larimore and Cameron Heyward and defensive back Malcolm Jenkins as they swarmed Wisconsin's P.J. Hill during Saturday's 20-17 Ohio State victory.[/SIZE]

Trailing 17-13 with just 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Ohio State offense needed big plays and limited mistakes. Fumbling twice while completing three passes on a 12-play, 80-yard drive would certainly not appear to fit the ideal script.

Nevertheless, OSU managed to down Wisconsin 20-17, despite fumbles by freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor and redshirt junior wide receiver Brian Hartline.

Pryor's 11-yard run left Wisconsin just 1:08 to work with and an interception by senior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins sealed the victory.

"Terrelle didn't have everything go his way, but he kept hanging in there," coach Jim Tressel said. "We made enough mistakes tonight to make it hard on ourselves, but I was awfully proud of the way we fought."
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

OZone

Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas​

Digging Deep to Win One to Remember : Taking on Wisconsin is never easy. Taking on Wisconsin at Wisconsin is tough. Taking on Wisconsin at Wisconsin when the Badgers are coming off a loss is even tougher. Did we mention that it was a night game?​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cameron Heyward [/FONT]

"Camp Randall is a hostile environment and they came ready to play," commented sophomore defensive lineman Cameron Heyward on the play of the Badgers.​

"I've got to give a lot of credit to Wisconsin, because that's a great football team. They fought their hearts out," agreed wide receiver Brian Robiskie.​

Such was the challenge for the Buckeyes against the Badgers, and the way the game played out, OSU had plenty of opportunities to tuck their tails and fold, but when push came to shove they were the ones doing the pushing and shoving and got the win. After being pushed around to the tune of 236 net yards and 10 points in the first half, the OSU defense dug deep to limit Wisconsin to 91 total net yards and seven points in the second half. The Buckeye offense dug deep to turn around the momentum of the game in the third quarter, then put together the winning drive late in the fourth quarter.

Cont...​

 

[osugrad21]

OZone

Football
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony Gerdeman ​

Well, the Terrelle Pryor saga finally has its first chapter complete. Let?s hope we?ve got an epic novel on our hands here.​

A win at night in Madison is something that few visiting senior quarterbacks can accomplish, let alone a freshman making his first road start.
But it wasn?t just Terrelle Pryor responsible for the win. It was far from it.
Beanie Wells rushed for 168 yards and made several big runs when they were needed the most.
But the story of the game was the turnaround that the defense made in the second half. After giving up 236 yards of total offense in the first thirty minutes, the Buckeyes held the Badgers to just 90 yards of offense in the second half.
If not for that defensive effort, there is no last minute drive by Pryor for the win. There is no quarterback coming of age story. There is no ?moment?.
But the defense did come through. And there was a quarterback coming of age. And there was a ?moment?.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

OZone

Football
Dramatic Final Drive Gives Buckeyes Hard-Fought Road Win over Wisconsin
By John Porentas ​

"I was telling Terrelle, I always tease Terrelle, I told him this is a man's world. He's stepping into manhood right now because it's going to be a long drive and he's going to face some adversity and we did that."​

------OSU tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells to freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor as the Buckeyes offense began its final possession of the game. ​

Some questions got answered in No. 14 OSU's (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) 20-17 win over No. 18 Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten), and most the answers are likely to bring a smile to the face of OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel. ​

Some people have questioned the heart and mental toughness of the OSU football team and their ability to handle adversity. They got a chance to just that against the Badgers, because after taking the opening kickoff and driving to an early touchdown the Badgers really brought it to the Buckeyes.

Cont...​

 

[osugrad21]

OZone

Gallery

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Ohio State football
Buckeyes made their own noise in Madison

Monday, October 6, 2008 3:10 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
MADISON, Wis. -- The louder they get, Jim Tressel told his team, the tougher you get. His Ohio State Buckeyes listened, and they needed every ounce of their toughness to emerge victorious on a night when rocking Camp Randall looked more like a field hospital than a stadium.
The Buckeyes survived numerous blows, physical and psychological, to claim a 20-17 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday night.
With the win over the Badgers (3-2, 0-2), who came in ranked 18th, OSU (5-1, 2-0) climbed two spots to 12th in the Associated Press poll.
"It was a great step," Tressel said. "Any time you can win a Big Ten game on the road that's huge, because every stadium you go to is tough. This one is especially tough."
Tough? The game had all the subtlety of a duel fought with sledgehammers.
Players went down with regularity. Medics were called upon to evacuate the wounded. Some returned; some didn't.
"Oh my goodness," said OSU tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells, who rushed for 168 yards and a TD despite a very sore right foot. "I've never been in a football game where I was just constantly getting hit hard every play. It was incredible."
Cont...