BIG TEN FOOTBALL 17 is bad for OSU vs. Wisconsin

For the second time in three years, Ohio State had the lead over the Badgers and 17 points, only to lose both games.
By GARY HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- The number 17 and Wisconsin just don't mix when it comes to home games for Ohio State against the Badgers.
For the first time ever, an Ohio State team was defeated at home by the same opponent in consecutive appearances in the Horseshoe, and in both contests the Buckeyes led the Badgers 17-0 at one point in the contest.
Two years ago, Ohio State took a 17-0 lead into the locker room only to be steam-rolled in the second half, losing to the Ron Dayne-led Badgers, 42-17.
This time, the Buckeyes once again led comfortably 17-0 late in the first half, only to be stymied again in the second half and lose 20-17.
Coaches: John Cooper was at the helm of the first OSU team that finished 6-6 on the campaign, and this time around Jim Tressel was on the sideline in just his second Big Ten football game.
"When good things happen there's plenty of praise to go around," said Tressel as he began his post-game press conference. "And when things don't work exactly as we would like them to, there's plenty of us that can look in the mirror and say, 'Here's some things I could have done to make the outcome different.'
"It was disappointing obviously losing a ball game in our stadium, which we feel horrible about, but also having the chance to have the lead and then lose the ball game makes the feeling even worse."
Early control: Ohio State took control of the game early by putting points on the scoreboard in each of their first three drives.
The Buckeyes marched 32 yards on 11 plays on the opening drive of the game, but had to settle for Josh Huston's 44-yard field goal, after Steve Bellisari was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down and 10.
Ursuline High School graduate Mike Echols had the sack. He is a fifth-year senior who is second in career pass breakups at Wisconsin.
Echols, a team captain, started his 42nd game as a Badger.
OSU gets TD: After the Buckeyes' defense forced a three-and-out, they then marched 51 yards on nine plays as Bellisari sneaked it in from the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal to take a 10-0 lead still in the first quarter.
Freshman Lydell Ross had 30 yards on the drive.
After another Wisconsin punt, Ohio State went 80 yards on 11 plays, capped off by a 3-yard touchdown plunge by Ross, to take a 17-0 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Unraveled: But things began to unravel for the Buckeyes later on in the quarter.
"The facts are what they are," Tressel said. "We made enough errors to allow a good, hard-fighting, tough Wisconsin team to stay in there and do what they do.
"You have to give them credit for playing the entire ball game, and coming up with the plays that they needed to come up with."
Unfortunately for Ohio State, the first big play that changed the tone of the game was handed to them.
Punt situation: On a fourth-and-20 from their own 22, disaster struck with Andy Groom back in punt formation. Due to a high snap from center, Groom was faced with a dire situation of having his punt surely blocked. So he tried to escape the rush and ran for just a 1-yard gain.
"He felt like the snap pulled him enough right that if he would have punted it would have been blocked," Tressel said of Groom's reaction in that situation.
"He just felt the momentum was going out around that corner and he wanted to try and take that corner. We have to make decisions as we go and that's the one he made."
Struck quickly: After a change of possession on downs, Wisconsin struck quickly as Anthony Davis ran 23 yards around right end and sprinted into the end zone.
Instead of the 17-0 margin at the half, after dominating for much of the first half, the Buckeyes lead was cut to 17-7.
Things only got worse for Ohio State in the second half on both the offensive and defensive fronts.
After putting up 189 yards of offense in the first half, 125 of it coming on the ground, the Buckeyes were held to just 253 total yards, losing 4 yards on the ground in the second half to finish with a net total of 121 yards.
"No, I don't think that they made any tremendous adjustments," Tressel said. "We just felt like for as many people they were committing to the line of scrimmage, that we needed to effectively throw the football."