MY THOUGHTS.....Wisconsin

 

Ohio State, despite two picks and a fumble by QB Kyle McCord, was able to dominate the Wisconsin Badgers for most of the game to come away with a 24-10 victory.  The Ohio State offense left points on the field and never got into a consistent rhythm, but the offensive side was bailed out by yet another spectacular performance by Marvin Harrison Jr and the return of TreVeyon Henderson.  Harrison caught six passes for 123 yards, while Henderson ran for 162 yards and the final touchdown in his first action since the Notre Dame game.  It was quite evident the difference that TreVeyon Henderson makes in the ground game.  While Chip Trayanum and Miyan Williams have their own effective style of running  and Dallan Hayden has produced when given the ball, none of them have the complete package of straight-ahead running, breakaway speed, and the hands of a receiver; Henderson also caught four passes out of the backfield. 

            Ohio State’s defense suffocated the Badgers, allowing points on just two of 12 drives and holding them to under 100 yards rushing.  Some could argue that the injury to Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen led to that, and while his absence probably affected the play calling, Allen was being limited when he was in there, fumbling twice (one lost) and being stuffed twice near the goal line near the end of the first half, compelling Wisconsin to settle for a field goal.  The defense gave up a 75-yard touchdown drive to begin the second half, but after that, the Badgers never came close to scoring, as the Ohio State defense, on the last five possessions, forced three punts and two turnovers on downs.  Tommy Eichenberg led the way, as usual, with seven tackles, while Jack Sawyer had six, and forced a Braelyn Allen fumble that Davison Igbinosun recovered, just after Wisconsin recovered Kyle McCord’s fumble on the opening possession.

            It was very curious, however, how the radio feed provided by 97.1 The Fan kept cutting out, mostly during critical parts of drives.

            Next week, it’s on the road again for a noon kickoff at Rutgers.