OSU suffers Badger bite

By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- It hasn't been a good start in the Big Ten for Ohio State.
Losing for the second straight week, especially when it comes in your home stadium, can be demoralizing.
After falling to Wisconsin on Saturday, 24-13, Ohio State has some soul-searching to do.
"We need to do a better job keeping the defense off the field," coach Jim Tressel said following the defeat, which sent his Buckeyes to 3-2 overall and 0-2 before 105,090 fans at Ohio Stadium.
Impotent offense
Tressel was referring to Ohio State's offense, which was held without a touchdown while being out-gained in total yards, 344-224.
"When the other team had the ball 36 minutes and our team had it 23 minutes, there's a problem. I wish the turnover margin would have been 2-0 in our favor, but it was 0-2 against us."
Ohio State lost two fumbles, the second of which gave Wisconsin possession at OSU's 17-yard line in the fourth quarter. At the time, the Badgers were ahead, 17-13.
Three plays after the turnover, a fumble by Santonio Holmes on a punt catch attempt, Wisconsin's Jonathan Orr caught a 10-yard pass from quarterback John Stocco for the final points that lifted the Badgers to 6-0, 3-0.
Wisconsin was ranked No. 15 and Ohio State No. 18.
About his team's offensive output -- or lack of it -- Tressel said, "That can be looked at two ways: One, Wisconsin has a good defense and two, we didn't do a good job hitting open receivers. We had a good drive going in the first quarter, but then we fumbled. You've got to do everything just right against Wisconsin."
On the play, quarterback Justin Zwick's pass to Roy Hall was caught, then lost and recovered by Wisconsin's Anttaj Hawthorne at the Badgers' 25-yard line. At the time, Ohio State had a 7-0 lead.
Didn't finish
Tressel said he was most disappointed that his players gave an exceptional effort, then didn't do the things needed to be a good team.
"It's not a reason to be abysmal and there's nothing out of the ordinary, it's somewhere in between," he said.
"I don't sit around and think about being 0-2. I hope I have to worry about winning streaks in the future, but I want to start with one."
Wisconsin led at halftime, 14-13, but the Buckeyes never threatened thereafter.
The Badgers had the only scoring in the final two quarters when Mike Allen boosted Wisconsin's lead to 17-13, before Orr caught Stocco's pass with 10:41 remaining.
One bright spot was Mike Nugent. He had more points in the first half than the rest of his team -- 7-6 -- as the senior kicker from Centerville had two field goals and an extra point while the rest of the Buckeyes, namely Ted Ginn, had a touchdown.
Ginn's TD came on a 65-yard punt return with 8:33 to go in the first quarter. Nugent's PAT followed and the Buckeyes were up, 7-0.
Adding on
Ohio State bumped the score to 10-0 on Nugent's 42-yarder with 11:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Wisconsin came right back at the nine-minute mark when Anthony Davis went to the left side of his line for a 31-yard touchdown run. Allen's kicked pulled the Badgers to within 10-7.
After Ohio State was forced to punt, Wisconsin marched 78 yards with Darrin Charles scoring from 8 yards out with 3:30 remaining in the first half. Allen's PAT put the Badgers ahead, 14-10.
The Buckeyes were able to keep the ball the remainder of the half and got within one point at halftime when Nugent's 55-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired.
Nugent's two first-half field goals gave him a school-record 60 for his career. The 59th tied Dan Stultz's OSU record.
The 55-yarder also tied the Ohio Stadium record of which Nugent is a co-holder.
Wisconsin01437--24
Ohio St.7600--13
First Quarter
OSU--Ginn Jr. 65 punt return (Nugent kick), 8:33
Second Quarter
OSU--FG Nugent 42, 11:34
Wis--Davis 31 run (Allen kick), 9:00
Wis--Charles 8 pass from Stocco (Allen kick), 3:30
OSU--FG Nugent 55, :00
Third Quarter
Wis--FG Allen 26, 8:43
Fourth Quarter
Wis--Orr 10 pass from Stocco (Allen kick), 10:41
A--105,090
WisOSU
First downs1912
Rushes-yards48-18425-99
Passing160125
Comp-Att-Int15-24-015-31-0
Return Yards78177
Punts-Avg.7-39.78-41.1
Fumbles-Lost1-03-2
Penalties-Yards2-307-59
Time of Possession36:2923:31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Wisconsin, Davis 39-168, Bernstein 5-25, Stocco 4-(minus 9). Ohio St., Pittman 4-48, Ross 7-30, Zwick 11-17, Joe 3-4.
PASSING--Wisconsin, Stocco 15-24-0-160. Ohio St., Zwick 15-31-0-125.
RECEIVING--Wisconsin, Daniels 4-72, Charles 4-30, Williams 3-18, Pociask 1-19, Orr 1-10, Bernstein 1-9, Davis 1-2. Ohio St., R.Hall 5-25, Holmes 3-34, Childress 3-26, Pittman 1-16, Ross 1-12, Joe 1-9, Hamby 1-3.
bassetti@vindy.com