Wells' big day puts hurt on Badgers

The two season-changing directives came midway through Saturday’s third quarter.

First, as top-ranked Ohio State fell behind Wisconsin by a touchdown, tailback Chris Wells approached running back coach Dick Tressel.

“Coach, give me the football,” said Wells, who at that time only had seven carries. “I want the ball.”

And moments later, tackle Kirk Barton gathered the offense on OSU’s sideline. Seeing a “season on the line,” the senior who returned for a fifth year with the single purpose of winning a national title issued an impassioned plea.

“We got to go. We can’t not score on this drive,” Barton recalled saying. “Where do you guys want to be in January? We got to go.”

The Buckeyes obliged on both counts. Wells, working behind a revived offensive line, ran for three touchdowns over the final 18 minutes as the Buckeyes turned an early scare into a 38-17 dusting before 105,449 at Ohio Stadium.

The man known as Beanie wiped out OSU’s deficit with a 31-yard touchdown run up the left sideline, putting the Buckeyes ahead. With a 30-yard score on the next drive and later delivering the coup de grace with a 23-yard scoring dash over the left end Wells came through.

In all, Wells impossibly overshadowed a virtuoso 10-sack effort from the nation’s top defense by slashing his way to 169 yards and a career-high of three touchdowns on 21 carries.

“Beanie gets in that mode and you don’t mess with him,” junior guard Steve Rehring said. “He’s gone.”

The win snapped Wisconsin’s three-game winning streak at the Horseshoe and gave OSU a Big Ten record 20th straight conference victory. But most importantly, the dream of a scarlet and gray-shaded BCS title game lives on.

“We don’t want to feel like we did last year,” Barton said. “We’ve got to win them all if we’re going to be remembered around here as a special team.”

The road to immortality sees the Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) hosting Illinois Saturday before heading to Ann Arbor for what’s looking to be another classic brush with Michigan (8-2, 6-0). For the fourth time in Tressel’s seven years here, “The Game” looks to hold national title implications.

For OSU that is, though some BB (Before Beanie) doubt undeniably entered the picture Saturday.

The Buckeyes started auspiciously as quarterback Todd Boeckman effortlessly passed over a Wisconsin defense bent on stopping the run by loading the box. Yet after Boeckman capped the 75-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown to wideout Brian Robiskie, the Badgers shifted strategy.

Wisconsin moved into a two-deep coverage zone, looking to hinder OSU’s passing game. Problem was, the Buckeyes didn’t entirely adjust.

After several penalties and a stubborn reluctance to run (Wells had just six first half carries) made for some offensive offense. OSU punted on four of its next five drives.

It was not until the game started to slip away, as the Buckeyes were gashed by touchdown drives of 92 and 62 yards opening the second half, were the coaches forced to budge.

“I don’t think we got our gears shifted quickly enough,” Tressel said.

Good call. Once Wells finally got his wish, look out. Perhaps relying on his speed and ability to change direction more than ever, Wells was called upon on six of the 10 plays on OSU’s game-tying drive. Following his 31-yard touchdown run, he never relented.

The difference in the second half?

“Getting the ball,” Wells said with a smile.

“You’ve just got to thank whoever made (football) 60 minutes,” fullback Dionte Johnson said.

Meanwhile, the defense had the same thoughts. As if angered at having bent so greatly, the defense helped lay the Badgers to rest by sacking quarterback Tyler Donovan four times in the final quarter.

Then again, setting up shop in the backfield is nothing new. With Wisconsin’s star running back, P.J. Hill, injured, the Buckeyes aimed for Donovan instead. They held the Badgers to just 12 yards on the ground while cracking Donovan to the turf for a season-high, 10 times.

“I’m sure he’s sore now,” Tressel said.

Defensive end Vernon Gholston equaled a school record with four sacks and James Laurinaitis had a career-high 19 tackles.

For once, however, the lion’s share of acclaim belonged to the offense. And to the soft-spoken 19-year-old Wells, who in the face of the season’s greatest adversity, refused to let the Buckeyes lose.

“I don’t know that it was our greatest performance, but it was winning,” Tressel said. “We got a chance to fight another round.”

And really, what else is there?

“You usually only get one golden opportunity in life and we blew it last year,” Barton said. “Now we’ve got another one.”

David Briggs can be reached at [email protected].