Most people thought this would a close, low-scoring game, as both teams had terrific defenses. Lee Corso on Colllege Gameday even jokingly predicted the final score would be 3-2. Ohio State jumped out early on Wisconsin once again. The Badgers had to punt from deep in their own territory and the home team took advantage. The always-dangerous Ginn Jr. received the punt at his 35 and found a seam and took it 65 yards back to the house and Ohio State had a 7-0 lead.
Ohio State dominated the first 18 minutes of the game, and added a field goal early in the second to make it 10-0. The Buckeyes also fumbled deep in Wisconsin territory, which took points away from them on that drive. Down 10-0 for Wisconsin? No problem. Bucky was down 17-0 the last two times in Columbus and came back to win each time. The Badgers had the Buckeyes right where they wanted them.
Brandon Williams gave the team a spark on the kickoff after the Ohio State field goal, returning it to the Wisconsin 46. The Badgers would cruise down the field and would claw their way back into the game on a 31-yard touchdown run around the left side by senior running back Anthony Davis.
On the next possession, Wisconsin would take the lead. Quarterback John Stocco, who was in his first year as the starter, completed two passes to start out a drive that started on his own 22. The first pass was to tight end Jason Pociask for 18 yards and the second was to the other tight end, Owen Daniels, for 32 yards, to put the Badgers in business inside the Ohio State 30. Five plays later, Stocco threw a jump ball to the 6-foot-6 Darrin Charles, who reached up and hauled it in the end zone and Wisconsin led 14-10.
Ohio State would get three back on a 55-yard field goal by Mike Nugent as time expired in the first half, and the Badgers led 14-13 at halftime.
The Buckeyes had not scored a point on the Badgers in the second half in each of the last two games played in Columbus. That trend would continue in this one, as the Badgers outscored Ohio State 10-0 in the second half in this game.
Davis rushed for 27 yards of the 71 on the opening drive of the second half for the Badgers, as Wisconsin would get a Mike Allen field goal to give the Badgers a 17-13 advantage early in the second half.
Then the Badgers defense would put the clamps on the Ohio State offense. In the second half, only one of Ohio State’s possessions lasted longer than four plays, and three ended in a three-and-out. And the Buckeyes did not even have 100 total yards of offense in the second half.
The only touchdown in the second half came following an Ohio State muffed punt. The Ken DeBauche punt went off of Holmes, who was trying to catch it. Scott Starks, who would make a much bigger play the following week, would push Holmes out of the way to recover the muff.
Facing a 3rd-and-3 at the Ohio State 11 on the drive following the turnover, Stocco went back to pass and floated a pass to Jonathan Orr, who dove and caught the ball in the end zone to give Wisconsin a 24-13 lead and essentially end the game, considering how the Buckeyes offense was being shut down in the second half.
This was the fourth game out of six in which the Badgers did not yield an offensive touchdown. The Badgers would eventually start the season 9-0, just the third time in history that the Badgers had ever done that.
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