With Ohio State living dangerously in all of 2002, even in winning the championship, and keeping that trend through the first part of 2003, their luck was bound to run out at some point. Schabert got his chance in the third quarter to show what he could do after Ohio State linebacker Robert Reynolds choked Wisconsin’s starting quarterback Jim Sorgi, knocking him from the game. After Michael Jenkins caught a game-tying touchdown with six minutes to play, Schabert and Wisconsin made the play of the night. The backup quarterback would find star wide receiver Lee Evans down the right sideline for a 79-yard touchdown to give the Badgers a 17-10 lead and the eventual win to snap the Buckeyes 19-game winning streak.
It looked like it would start out well for the Badgers, as Wisconsin forced a three-and-out on the Buckeyes first drive of the game. The punt by future Green Bay Packers draft bust B.J. Sander would be returned by Jim Leonhard 26 yards to the Ohio State 44. Wisconsin would pick up one first down, but a run by Dwayne Smith for a loss and a penalty on the Badgers forced Bucky to punt on his first drive. It would remain scoreless at the end of the first quarter, but the Badgers were on the doorstep as the second quarter began.
The Badgers would go on a seven and a half minute drive to take the lead. Playing for the injured Anthony Davis, Booker Stanley would have a big game. He would rush for 38 of his 125 yards on the drive, and he scored from two yards out to give the Badgers the first lead of the game. The Badgers would convert three third downs on the drive, including the Stanley touchdown. On the last play of the first quarter, Sorgi fumbled, but fullback Matt Bernstein recovered for the Badgers to retain possession. On the following play, Stanley scored to put Bucky on top on the first play of the second quarter.
It would remain 7-0 until late in the second quarter. After a three-and-out was forced by the Wisconsin defense, Sander’s punt was muffed by Leonhard in the rain and Ohio State’s Jason Bond recovered the loose ball at the Badgers 18. Ohio State would get one first down and would move down to the 7, but the Badgers defense would hold and Mike Nugent’s 24-yard field goal was good to cut it to 7-3. It would remain that way the remainder of the half.
Wisconsin was looking at increasing the lead coming out of the half. Stanley rushed for 33 yards on two carries to open the drive. However, Sorgi would throw an interception to Dustin Fox at the Badgers 14 to end the threat. Sander would have booming punt after the Buckeyes drive ended and it was downed at the Badgers 1. Wisconsin would go three-and-out and Ohio State was expected to get terrific starting field position. Chris Gamble was back deep to receive the punt and Wisconsin’s R.J. Morse boomed it to the Ohio State return man, but Gamble would muff the punt and the Badgers would recover at the Buckeyes 39. That would set the stage for one of the signature moments in the game.
Stanley would gain 16 yards on the first two carries of the drive to move the ball to the 23, but would lose five on the next two. That would set up Wisconsin with a 3rd-and-15 from the 28. Sorgi would drop back to pass and not find a receiver open, so he took off and ran. He got what he could, down to the 20. When on the ground, Sorgi was being held down by a number of Ohio State defenders, including A.J. Hawk. Buckeyes linebacker Robert Reynolds would come in and and grab a hold of Sorgi’s neck and started choking him. Wisconsin center Donovan Raiola came in and started protecting his quarterback. There would be no flag on the play, but Reynolds was suspended for the following game for his actions. Sorgi would have a hard time breathing and was unable to speak. So obviously he would be unable to come back into the game. Enter backup Matt Schabert. But first, Mike Allen would kick a 38-yard field goal to put the Badgers in front 10-3. It would stay that way until midway through the fourth quarter.
Ohio State would tie it up with six minutes to go, ending a 75-yard drive. Senior wide receiver Drew Carter would only make three catches on the night, but two of them would come on this drive. He would lead off the drive with a 12-yard reception up to the Ohio State 37. After a third down reception by Jenkins, Craig Krenzel would go back to Carter. On the first down play, Krenzel aired it out down the right sideline for Carter, who would make a great catch down to the Badgers 6 for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later, Krenzel found Jenkins for the touchdown to tie the game up at 10.
At that point, most people expected the Buckeyes to come out on top. First of all, the momentum had shifted squarely to Ohio State. Wisconsin was playing with its backup quarterback and he would need to make a play in order for the Badgers to win since the Buckeyes would stack the box in order to stop the run. Wisconsin had not reached midfield in the two possessions with Schabert up to that point. Secondly, Ohio State was used to winning these types of games. For the last year and a half, the Buckeyes had made a living winning games like this. Nobody thought Wisconsin had a chance to win.
On the second play of the drive following the kickoff, the Badgers were faced with a 2nd-and-9 from their own 21. That is when the training wheels were taken off the backup quarterback. Bucky was in desperate need of somebody to make a play, and that would come on the following snap. Up to that point, Evans was shut out. Gamble had not allowed one catch to the Badgers star wide receiver. On the play of the game, Schabert went back to pass. The play was called 56 Jerk. It worked against Akron earlier in the season and Sorgi found Evans for a 99-yard score. On the outside, Evans ran an out and up against Gamble. Expecting the Badgers to play it safe and go for the short pass, Ohio State’s star cornerback bit hard on the out route. But Evans then ran right by him down the right sideline. Ohio State brought a blitz, but the Wisconsin offensive line picked it up well and Schabert had a clean pocket to throw it deep down the field to the wide open Evans. The receiver caught it at midfield and raced into the end zone for the 79-yard touchdown to give Wisconsin the 17-10 lead with 5:20 remaining in the game.
Ohio State would move into Wisconsin territory after two Krenzel passes for 21 yards and a 19-yard run. However, a holding penalty would push the Buckeyes back into their own territory, forcing them to punt. The punt by Sander was downed at the 6. The expectations were that the Ohio State defense would force a three-and-out and the offense would get great starting field position to begin its next drive. However, the Buckeyes would not get the ball back.
The Badgers took over at their own 6 after the Sander punt. The drive did not start well for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes were whistled for offsides to give Wisconsin five free yards. The first two carries by Stanley gained three yards and Ohio State used its final two timeouts. With the game on the line, offensive coordinator Brian White made an unexpected play call. The Ohio State defense was expecting another run by Stanley, but Schabert would make another huge play. Schabert faked it to Stanley and ran a bootleg to the left and gained five yards to pick up a huge first down with a little under three minutes left. Wisconsin could not take a knee and run out the clock quite yet, but Stanley would insert the dagger two plays later. On a 2nd-and-7 from the 22, Stanley received the handoff and went down the left sideline for 24 yards to seal the deal. Schabert would take a knee twice and the Badgers would come out with a huge win and end Ohio State’s 19-game winning streak. Schabert would also become a folk hero in Madison after this performance.
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