Football Friday: Badger Edition

Posted on October 3, 2008 by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
No. 14 Ohio State (4-1, 1-0) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1)
No. 14 Ohio State (4-1, 1-0) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1)
Date: Saturday, October 4
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Place: Camp Randall Stadium – capacity 80,321
TV: ABC will televise the game. Mike Patrick will call the play-by-play with analysis from Todd Blackledge. Holly Rowe is the sideline reporter.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan in Columbus is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State Radio Network. The Jim Tressel Pregame Show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. “Big Daddy” Paul Keels will call the play-by-play and will be assisted by former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines.
Weather from AccuWeather.com: Mostly cloudy skies with a 30 percent chance of rain and a game time temperature of 59 degrees.
Latest Line: Ohio State is an 1 1/2-point favorite. The Over & Under is 44.

Series History: This is the 74th meeting between the two schools. Ohio State owns a 51-17-5 record against Wisconsin.
Last Season: Beanie Wells rushed for 128 of his 169 yards in the second half with three touchdowns to lead then top-ranked Ohio State to a 38-17 win over the Wisconsin.

The Buckeyes trailed 17-10 before marching 80 yards in 10 plays to tie the game at 17-all after Beanie ran through the left side of the line and bolted in from 31 yards out with 2:46 to go in the third quarter.

Less than three minutes later, Beanie scored on a 30-yard run at the 14:18 mark of the fourth quarter to give OSU the lead for good at 24-17.

Brian Robiskie made a spectacular catch in the end zone from quarterback Todd Boeckman to give Ohio State a 31-17 lead with 10:05 left to play in the game.

The Buckeyes put the final nail into the coffin when Beanie scored on a 23-yard run with 3:16 remaining.

Ohio State’s defense was led by junior linebacker James Laurinaitis, who has a career-high 19 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack.

As a team, the Buckeyes had 10 sacks for the game, with junior defensive end Vernon Gholston collecting a team-high four QB takedowns.
Last Time at Camp Randall Stadium (2003): Wisconsin wide receiver Lee Evans scored on a 79-yard touchdown reception from backup quarterback Matt Schabert with 5:20 left that gave the 23rd-ranked Badgers a 17-10 victory over then No. 3 Ohio State.

Schabert, a junior who had just two touchdowns tosses in his career, was in because starter Jim Sorgi was injured when Ohio State linebacker Robert Reynolds shoved his fingers into his throat in the third quarter.

Ohio State had trouble moving the ball on a windy, rainy night in Madison. Running backs Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall combined to rush for just 45 yards on 13 carries, while quarterback Craig Krenzel was 14-of-26 passing for 202 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Ohio State never led in the game, but they did tie it at 10-all with 6:09 left in the game on a 6-yard pass from Krenzel to Michael Jenkins.
Analysis and Prediction: As noted above, the weather forecast for Saturday night in Madison calls for mostly cloudy skies at kickoff, but as the game progresses there’s a good chance of rain, just like it was the last time Ohio State played there in 2003.

Even before finding out what the weather could be, I was thinking it may be a low-scoring game. Both team’s offenses are run-first oriented, so that in itself with the new play clock rules will shorten the game.

When looking over the stats for both teams below, one can easily see that Wisconsin has, on paper at least, a better offense, while Ohio State has a better defense. But just looking at those stats are a bit misleading. Terrelle Pryor will be making his third start at quarterback, and it will be just the second game he will line up in the same backfield with Beanie Wells.

Pryor leads the team with 292 rushing yards and three scores while averaging 6.2 yards per carry. As a passer, he has thrown for five scores against only one interception and has completed 63 percent of his tosses (29-of-44).

In the two games Wells has played, he has averaged 108.5 yards per contest and an even better 8.0 per tote, so it’s safe to say that Ohio State’s offense will improve each week with both Terrelle and Beanie on the field at the same time.

On the other side of the ball, Wisconsin’s defense gave up 20 second half points to Michigan last week, and three of the Wolverines scoring drives were 75 yards or longer which is a real head-scratcher. Michigan has just one first down and five turnovers in the first half.

The Badgers on offense feature a power running game with P.J. Hill leading the way with 449 yards and four touchdowns. He’s is complemented by freshman John Clay, who has posted 6.6 yards per carry and reached the end zone four times.
The problem with Wisconsin’s offense just might lie on the hands of quarterback Allan Evridge, who has completed just 57.7 percent of his passes for 752 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Getting to start his first game on the national spotlight, I think Pryor will have a big game, a coronation of sorts, and the Buckeyes will win somewhat easily.

Ohio State 24, Wisconsin 13
STATISTICS
OFFENSE
OHIO STATE
WISCONSIN
Statistical
Average
Big Ten
Rank
NCAA
Rank
Statistical
Average
Big Ten
Rank
NCAA
Rank
Scoring Offense
26.8
9
63
31.8
4
37
Total Offense
339.4
10
83
413.5
4
37
Rushing Offense
186.6
6
33
218.5
3
15
Passing Offense
152.8
10
103
195.0
9
80
DEFENSE
OHIO STATE
WISCONSIN
Statistical
Average
Big Ten
Rank
NCAA
Rank
Statistical
Average
Big Ten
Rank
NCAA
Rank
Scoring Defense
16.0
4
23
17.0
6
30
Total Defense
251.8
1
12
305.5
4
30
Rushing Defense
95.2
3
22
108.8
5
34
Passing Defense
156.6
1
16
196.8
4
51
STARTING LINEUPS
OHIO STATE
Offense
WISCONSIN
Defense
WISCONSIN
Offense
OHIO STATE
Defense
75
Alex Boone
6-8, 312, Sr.
LT
DE
50
O’Brien Schofield
6-3, 232, Jr.
68
Gabe Carimi
6-8, 301, So.
LT
DE
87
Lawrence Wilson
6-4, 274, Jr.
64
Jim Cordle
6-4, 297, Jr.
LG
DT
91
Jason Chapman
6-4, 285, Sr.
75
Andy Kemp
6-6, 315, Sr.
LG
DT
97
Cameron Heyward
6-6, 287, So.
50
Michael Brewster
6-5, 296, Fr.
C
DT
54
Mike Newkirk
6-3, 264, Sr.
74
John Moffitt
6-4, 323, So.
C
DT
84
Doug Worthington
6-6, 276, Jr.
63
Ben Person
6-3, 323, Sr.
RG
DE
92
Matt Shaughnessy
6-6, 253, Sr.
63
Kraig Urbik
6-6, 332, Sr.
RG
DE
90
Thaddeus Gibson
6-2, 240, So.
70
Bryant Browning
6-4, 312, So.
RT
WLB
2
Jonathan Casillas
6-2, 226, Sr.
71
Eric Vanden Heuvel
6-7, 324, Sr.
RT
WLB
51
Ross Homan
6-0, 229, So.
86
Jake Ballard
6-6, 256, Jr.
TE
SLB
11
DeAndre Levy
6-3, 228, Sr.
9
Travis Beckum
6-4, 235, Jr.
TE
SLB
1
Marcus Freeman
6-1, 239, Sr.
2
Terrelle Pryor
6-6, 235, Fr.
QB
MLB
47
Jaevery McFadden
6-3, 220, Jr.
4
Allan Evridge
6-2, 212, Sr.
QB
MLB
33
James Laurinaitis
6-3, 240, Sr.
87
Brandon Smith
6-2, 251, Sr.
FB
FS
25
Shane Carter
6-2, 202, Jr.
44
Chris Pressley
6-1, 259, Sr.
FB
FS
21
Anderson Russell
6-0, 205, Jr.
28
Chris Wells
6-1, 237, Jr.
RB
SS
12
Jay Valai
5-9, 197, So.
39
P.J. Hill
5-11, 236, Jr.
RB
SS
4
Kurt Coleman
5-11, 188, Jr.
80
Brian Robiskie
6-3, 199, Sr.
WR
CB
17
Allen Langford
5-11, 189, Sr.
85
David Gilreath
5-11, 165, S0.
WR
CB
2
Malcolm Jenkins
6-1, 201, Sr.
9
Brian Hartline
6-2, 186, Jr.
WR
CB
29
Niles Brinkley
5-10, 177, So.
7
Kyle Jefferson
6-5, 175, So.
WR
CB
5
Chimdi Chekwa
6-0, 188, So.

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