Miller passes Buckeyes to win

Associated Press

Columbus

Braxton Miller threw a career-high four touchdown passes in his first game in three weeks and No. 4 Ohio State ran the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a 31-24 victory over No. 23 Wisconsin on Saturday night.

Miller was back after missing the last two games with a sprained left knee and didn’t show the slightest bit of rust. The junior threw three touchdown passes in the first half, including a 40-yarder to Corey Brown with 1 second left that put Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) up 24-14.

Joel Stave and Jared Abbrederis kept the Badgers (3-2, 1-1) in it. Stave threw for 295 yards and two TDs. Abbrederis caught 10 passes for a career-best 207 yards and a score, winning most of his one-on-one matchups with star cornerback Bradley Roby. James White ran 17 yards for a touchdown with 13:47 left in the fourth quarter to cut Ohio State’s lead to 31-21.

Wisconsin got within 31-24 on a 42-yard field goal by Kyle French with 2:05 left in the fourth, and got the ball back at its own 10 with 1:29 left but Ohio State didn’t even give up a first down.

The Buckeyes’ first big game of the season was big enough to bring Ohio native LeBron James to the Horseshoe and turn Ohio Stadium into the most-scarlet place on Earth. Just about everyone in the crowd of 105,826 — third-largest in Ohio State history — was donning the Buckeyes’ shade of red.

The Buckeyes had been off the radar for the first four weeks of the season, beating up on overmatched foes and dropping a couple of spots in the polls.

The only news from Columbus was Miller’s injury early in the second game of the season, though the Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat without him.