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Building A Rivalry: Wisconsin Football vs. Ohio State

“They better get season tickets right now because, before long, they probably won’t be able to.”

Barry Alvarez’s statement during his introductory 1990 press conference announcing him as the head football coach of the University of Wisconsin was viewed as either bold visionary or complete buffoonery. After all, UW was coming off five consecutive losing seasons, was a combined 6-27 in the three seasons under previous head coach Don Morton and was a program that had its fans giving away tickets to the 1989 season opener against No.3 Miami (spoiler, UW lost 51-3).

From left, Gary Andersen, Bret Bielema, Paul Chryst and Barry Alvarez have coached Wisconsin during its football renaissance
From left, Gary Andersen, Bret Bielema, Paul Chryst and Barry Alvarez have coached Wisconsin during its football renaissance (Dan Sanger)
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Many fans likely thought Alvarez was in over his head when the Badgers went 1-10 his first season, but the groundwork was being laid that season for what has been – for the most part – 30 years of success.

Starting with Alvarez’s 16 seasons (1990-2005) and extending to Bret Bielema’s seven years (‘06-‘12), Gary Andersen’s brief tenure (‘13-‘14) and, now, Paul Chryst (‘15-present), Wisconsin has been one of the more successful programs in the Big Ten. The program has won six conference championships, been to seven Rose Bowls and won 15 bowl games. Most importantly, the Badgers have either swung momentum in Big Ten series, completely dominating conference teams or closed the gap against some of the league’s heavyweights.

To understand how impressive Wisconsin’s run of success has been in the Big Ten, BadgerBlitz will examine UW’s series against 11 Big Ten opponents, looking at where it was and how it has evolved over four different Badgers coaches (Note: for this exercise, we are not including UW’s conference games against Maryland and Rutgers. The Badgers are 3-0 against each school and have outscored them a combined 137-71 in those six games).

Today, we examine UW’s series against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

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Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien scrabbles against Ohio State during  in Columbus in 2009.
Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien scrabbles against Ohio State during in Columbus in 2009. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Wisconsin-Ohio State Pre-1990

The first three games of the series were triumphs for the Badgers in 1913, ’14 and ’15, but the Badgers haven't had a three-game winning streak in the series since. Sure, there were some big wins for UW, such as the 17-7 victory in 1942 when Ohio State was No.1 and Wisconsin was No.6 (the program’s first victory over a No.1 program). But from 1916 to 1980, the Buckeyes went 39-4-4, including beating Wisconsin in 1952 (the only game the Badgers were ranked No.1 nationally) and winning 21 straight from ’60-’80. While UW won five of seven from ’81 to ’87, including an ’82 win in Columbus that was the Badgers first since 1918 (a span of 22 games), the Buckeyes won the final two games of the ‘80s.

Ohio State's quarterback, Rex Kern (10), is pursued by University of Wisconsin's Gary Buss (54) during game action in Madison, Wis., Nov. 9, 1970. Kern had to scramble when he could not find an open pass receiver. Guss was tripped up by Ohio's Charles Bonica (58).
Ohio State's quarterback, Rex Kern (10), is pursued by University of Wisconsin's Gary Buss (54) during game action in Madison, Wis., Nov. 9, 1970. Kern had to scramble when he could not find an open pass receiver. Guss was tripped up by Ohio's Charles Bonica (58). (AP Photo)

Series Since 1990

Minimal progress was evident after Alvarez’s ’90 team lost in Madison by 24 and then the ’91 team lost by 15 in Columbus, but the Badgers’ 20-16 victory over No.16 Ohio State in ’92 was UW’s first win over a ranked opponent in seven years, as well as their first conference-opening win in 11 years. A tie the following year against the No.3 Buckeyes (undefeated and on a 14-game win streak) helped open a path to the Rose Bowl.

Following three consecutive losses, UW registered its largest victory in Columbus, a 42-17 triumph. It was the start of three straight victories for UW in Columbus, winning 20-17 in 2001 and 24-13 in ’04. Alvarez’s teams won four of his final six meetings against Ohio State. His predecessors haven’t been so fortunate.

Bielema’s teams had chances in several games but suffered painful defeats time and again (giving up 21 fourth-quarter points to lose to No.1 Ohio State in ’07, allowing the winning score with 68 seconds left in ’08, losing 31-13 in ’09 despite holding a 368-184 total yard advantage, the Hail Mary in ’11 and the overtime defeat of ’12). The one shining moment was the 31-18 victory over No.1 Ohio State in 2010, giving the program the boost it needed to win a share of the Big Ten title and get to the Rose Bowl. It was Bielema's signature win and was highlighted by David Gilreath taking the opening kickoff 97 yards for the touchdown.

Andersen and Chryst have not experienced that kind of moment. After losing 31-24 at Columbus in 2013 (Ohio State was ranked No.4), Andersen’s Wisconsin team was pummeled, 59-0, in the Big Ten title game the following year. Being shutout for the first time since 1997, a span of 231 games, and the worst defeat since 1979, Andersen resigned four days later to take the Oregon State head coaching job.

Chryst has lost all four of his games against the Buckeyes, including two in the Big Ten title game (2017 and 2019) and another in overtime.

The Turning Point

After falling out of the Top 25 following two narrow losses, including the conference opener against Michigan, Wisconsin found itself behind the eight ball for repeating as Big Ten champions and getting back to the Rose Bowl as it headed to Columbus to play No.12 Ohio State. Things looked even bleaker when the Badgers fell behind 17-0.

However, under the direction of redshirt freshman quarterback Brooks Bollinger in his first collegiate start, the Badgers rattled off 42 consecutive points on eight consecutive possessions to win 42-17, the worst loss by Ohio State at home since 1967.

Starting in place of senior quarterback Scott Kavanagh (elbow), Bollinger went 15-of-27 for 167 yards and no touchdowns. He got help from Ron Dayne, who rushed for 161 yards and matched his career-high with four touchdowns, but Bollinger didn’t throw an interception and ran 17 times for 78 yards.

"It was as fine an effort for a redshirt freshman in a hostile environment - falling behind to a team with a football tradition - to make play after play and manage the team," Alvarez said. "That's as good a job as I've seen a freshman do."

The Badgers had the upper hand in first downs (26-15), yardage (463-351), rushing yards (296-124) and an almost 11-minute advantage in time of possession. The Buckeyes didn't get closer than the Wisconsin 32 in the last 40 minutes.

UW would win its final seven games to win the conference championship (and eventually a second straight Rose Bowl), and Alvarez’s crew would win on its next three trips to Ohio State.

State of the Rivalry Now

Wisconsin hasn't beaten the Buckeyes since 2010, an eight-game losing streak in this series is the longest since the late 70s, when Ohio State was routinely shutting out and blowing out bad Badgers programs. These games (minus the 2014 title game) carry a different tune. UW has been within one possession in six of them and held a 21-7 halftime lead a year ago in the conference title game. The Badgers have also had late leads or chances to win several others before Ohio State snuffed them out.

UW has been playing some of its best football over the last decade, which goes to show how high of a level the Buckeyes are recruiting at to keep restocking the talent in the cabinet. The Badgers have closed the gap some on the Buckeyes on the recruiting trail (and beat out OSU for a handful of targets), but this is still a series Ohio State feels like it controls until UW can once again get over the hump.

Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor (23) runs for a touchdown past Ohio State.
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor (23) runs for a touchdown past Ohio State. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

By The Numbers

Wisconsin’s overall record vs Ohio State pre-Alvarez: 12-43-4

Wisconsin’s record vs. the Buckeyes since 1990: 6-18-1

The Alvarez Years: 5-7-1

The Bielema Years: 1-5

The Andersen Years: 0-2

The Chryst Years: 0-4



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