Ohio State sophomore quarterback Justin Fields (1) goes in for a touchdown in the second half of the game against Wisconsin on Oct. 26. Ohio State won 38-7. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor
Stop the presses if you’ve heard this one before.
A team waltzed into a game against Ohio State Saturday and through the first, looked as if it may play the Buckeyes close.
Then in the second, Ohio State’s offense exploded for a bevy of points and ran away to a comfortable win.
Against Cincinnati, Indiana, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, Michigan State and Northwestern, place the word “quarter” after “second,” and you essentially have the story of the game. Against No. 13 Wisconsin in Ohio Stadium, simply replace “quarter” with “half.”
In the third and fourth quarters Saturday, the Buckeyes boat raced Wisconsin 28-7 with 251 yards of offense against the nation’s No. 1 total defense.
“It was hard early on. It was a mess out there,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “In a game like this you can’t be foolish, and you can’t take chances early in the game. The defense is playing good. You can’t let your ego get in the way.”
With a swirling rain blowing across the field, Ohio State’s offense took a conservative approach to open the contest. It didn’t attempt a pass until its third drive.
A third-and-16 handoff to junior running back J.K. Dobbins in the first quarter, playing to punt, exemplified the cautious approach Ohio State’s offense took.
“Trust me, it’s harder for me to do that than anybody in the country. I hate doing that,” Day said. “But I just knew that you can’t all of a sudden throw an interception now; you’ll put yourself behind the eight ball.”
Rumblings of offense started in the second quarter, when a 49-yard field goal by junior kicker Blake Haubeil and 27-yard pass touchdown connection from sophomore quarterback Justin Fields to sophomore wide receiver Chris Olave gave the Buckeyes a 10-0 lead entering the locker room.
A blocked punt to open the third quarter created a Wisconsin touchdown and quelled momentum, as the Badgers climbed back into a 10-7 football game.
Then the explosion happened.
Ohio State’s next four drives all ended in touchdowns, gobbling up 228 combined yards and capping a 38-7 win for the Buckeyes.
“[At] halftime, we figured out where the mistakes were being made at and how to correct them,” redshirt sophomore guard Wyatt Davis said. “What happened was a product of our corrections we made during halftime.”
Dobbins outgained the entire Wisconsin offense in the second half, as well as the entire game, picking up 110 yards on the ground and 21 receiving before subbing out with nearly 13 minutes still to play.
The offensive line came together too, Davis said, and allowed just one sack as opposed to four in the first half.
Eight games in, there’s still no team that’s come within 24 points of defeating Ohio State in 2019, mostly due to its second quarter — or second half — detonations.
Day said the team is happy for the win, but will soon shift focus to ensure no one diffuses the bomb before it goes off.
He compared college football to March Madness: You can’t lose a game.
“When you look at our schedule, we feel we have a good chance with anybody on the schedule,” Day said. “But when you put them all together, it becomes a little overwhelming because so many things come into play like we’re talking about, distractions or things that show up, injuries, lack of focus, not getting your energy level up.”
