Wisconsin Football v. Ohio State: Gut Reactions & Highlights

In the Big Ten Title game, the Wisconsin Football team took an early lead, but in the end Ohio State was just too much for them. Here are the gut reactions and highlights from the game.

This game really couldn’t have started any better. The Wisconsin Football team jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and they were in complete control for much of the first half. On offense Jonathan Taylor was breaking off some chunk runs and Jack Coan looked the best that he had looked all season. Meanwhile the defense was bottling up J.K. Dobbins and putting pressure on Justin Fields.

However, it may have taken some time but Ohio Sate regained their form and in the end, they were just too much for this Badger team to handle. As always, here are the gut reactions along with some highlights from Wisconsin’s performance on the field.

• Wisconsin jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and a big reason why was because of their play calling. We saw read options, reverses, and a fantastic run/pass balance.
• Speaking of the run/pass balance, it was spectacular! After Jonathan Taylor couldn’t get anything going in their last meeting, Wisconsin had to make Ohio State respect the passing game in order to give J.T. some room to run.
• Jack Coan’s stat line isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it did feel like he played better than the end results will show. He was in complete control during the first half as he came up with some key throws on third downs and ran exceptionally well.

• Unfortunately, in the third and fourth quarters, we saw Coan revert back to his old ways.
• Have a day, Isaiaah Loudermilk!
• In the first half, Jonathan Taylor was being Jonathan Taylor with over 130 rushing yards and this touchdown run on the opening drive.

• In their first meeting, the Badgers were able to sack Fields five times, and once again tonight, they made life difficult for him with consistent pressure.
• And credit for some of those sacks has to go to the secondary for locking down the Buckeye receivers.
• When they were working, those quick slants were a thing of beauty!
• All season long, the Wisconsin linebacking trio of Jack Sanborn, Zack Baun, and Chris Orr have been phenomenal and tonight each of them were able to make some noise.
• But when Orr left with the injury, things became a bit easier for the Buckeye offense.
• With all of the momentum in the Badgers’ favor, the Ohio State fake punt to extend the drive was a momentum killer but a few plays later as it looked like they were going to score, Wisconsin came up with a huge forced fumble.

• Chase Young of Ohio State still made his presence known, however, Wisconsin did a much better job blocking him this time around by actually trying to chip him as well as some double-teams. If you recall in their first meeting he had four sacks and two forced fumbles, but tonight he didn’t wreck the game nearly as much.
• Quintez Cephus was Jack Coan’s top target tonight and had a very nice game totaling seven receptions for 122 yards, including this fantastic catch.

• While in the end the Badgers still lost, that drive at the end of the second quarter to respond to the Ohio State touchdown was very impressive. And as has been the case a majority of the time for three years now, it was all started by a Jonathan Taylor run.

• Early on, the Wisconsin defense was able to slow J.K. Dobbins but much like Jonathan Taylor, you can only do that for so long. In the end he would rush for over 160 yards at over 5 yards per rush.
• Ohio State hadn’t been trailing in the second half all season long and how they would respond to the adversity was a bit of a question mark. However, to their credit they took control of this game.
• It was at this point that we should have known things were taking a turn for the worse.

• Wisconsin came out swinging on offense and kept this Ohio State defense off-balance but you have to wonder if they used their entire bag of tricks during that first half.
• Despite the slow start, Justin Fields put together a sneaky good stat line with 299 passing yards and three touchdown passes.
• As far as what Bowl Wisconsin will end up in, with Ohio State going to the College Football Playoffs the next highest ranked Big Ten team will go to the Rose Bowl. Prior to this game, the Badgers were #8, while Penn State was #10 and each team had two conference losses. I don’t think that Wisconsin should be penalized for playing an extra game, but we will see what the committee decides.
• Lastly, even though it ended in a loss, it was still better than watching the Gophers play in this game.

This was a bit of a roller coaster season but one that I still think you chalk up as a successful one. Ohio State is just that good. Now it won’t be long but Wisconsin will still play the waiting game as they await to see what Bowl game they will end up in. Hopefully a trip to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl is in their future.