Grades and Game Balls Week 4: Wisconsin falls to Ohio State

Wisconsin was unable to pull off the upset in Columbus on Saturday night, falling to the Buckeyes, 52-21. They didn't look on the same caliber as Ohio State, in any phase of the game.

Below, BadgerBlitz.com grades the Badgers performance in the Big Ten opener, and gives out game balls.

There were some bright spots, like Braelon Allen's 75-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. But ultimately, Wisconsin's offense was mostly non-existent in a game they absolutely needed to make their presence known.

On Graham Mertz's first pass of the night, he wasn't on the same page with receiver Chimere Dike and threw a pick right to Buckeyes safety Tanner McCalister. Mertz would protect the ball the rest of the game, but that play set the tone offensively. Ohio State scored immediately following the interception, and the Badgers quickly found themselves in a multiple-score hole.

The offense did deploy some interesting wrinkles that are worth noting. Allen took seven snaps from the wildcat Saturday night, even throwing a pass and completing it for 10 yards. Wisconsin just wanted to get the ball into the hands of their downhill running back, and Allen finished with a respectable stat line. He carried the ball 23 times for 165 yards and a score. Of course, nearly half those yards came on the breakaway touchdown — his yards-per-carry dips down to 4.1 if you discount the 75-yarder.

For the first time all season, Jackson Acker didn't play any special teams. He played exclusively offense, and ended up caching a touchdown from Mertz from two yards out in the fourth quarter. For all the talk of how good an athlete Acker is and how much they want him involved, Wisconsin hasn't deployed him that creatively thus far. He's only lined up as a fullback or a halfback through four weeks.

The Badgers were out of sync when they needed to be dialed-in the most. The offense, much like the rest of the team, didn't rise to the occasion. They played like they were severely overmatched.

C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes diced through Wisconsin's defense like it was nothing for most of the night. Stroud was 17 of 27 passing for 281 yards and five touchdowns. He did throw a pick to John Torchio right before half that Wisconsin was unable to capitalize on. For those following along at home, Stroud now has 16 touchdowns and one pick through four games.

The Buckeyes clearly knocked the Badgers out of their comfort zone on defense, because they made very un-Jim Leonhard-like mistakes. Bad tackling and poor angles haunted this defense all night.

There was very little resistance to Ohio State's rushing attack. It's hard to dig in in the trenches when Stroud is unleashing his arial circus, but running room was all too easy for the Buckeyes to find. Both TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams topped 100 yards, and ran for 5.8 and 9.2 yards-per-carry, respectively.

Even without Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the field, Wisconsin couldn't hold down Ohio State's array of pass-catching talent. The tight end Cade Stover had two scores, as did receiver Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka averaged 19.7 yards a catch — Buckeyes players were running amuck all over Wisconsin's defense.

Ohio State was expected to score points, but it was certainly a little disheartening how easily they came. The Badgers clearly weren't prepared to face an offense of that caliber.

Special teams gets a bit of a pass here. It's not that they were perfect, but Wisconsin was so deficient in other areas that special teams seems like an afterthought.

Isaac Guerendo continued to show why putting him at kick returner is a fantastic idea. He set the Badgers up with good field position on multiple occasions, like his 38-yard scamper to set up Wisconsin on their own 42 with a minute left. The drive was fruitless, but Guerendo gave them a shot.

Andy Vujnovich punted six times on the night, and had trouble getting his usual four-second hang-time. Nate Van Zelst didn't attempt a field goal, and knocked in all three extra points.

ABC's broadcast of the game showed an important statistic, comparing the number of blue chip recruits (four or five stars) on both teams. Currently, Wisconsin has 20, while Ohio State has 66.

It's important to keep this in mind while evaluating coaching, because there's only so much scheming that make make up for a clear and obvious talent disparity. Still, the Badgers were overmatched both individually and schematically. Leonhard couldn't draw up anything to slow Stroud and company down. Bobby Engram's unit couldn't move the ball for the majority of the night.

Besides Allen in the wildcat, there didn't seem to be much of anything new, as if Wisconsin thought they could just play how they always do and expect to compete. That works when you're the loaded, heavily favored team. Not when you're playing them in their house. Ultimately, this performance won't do much to quiet the 'apathetic Paul Chryst' crowd.

It's hard for Badgers fans to feel good after losing by 31 points, but Allen's 75-yard touchdown run may have eased the pain ever so slightly. It was a real identity moment for the Badgers: they may be getting blown out, but they're still Wisconsin, they're still gonna run the ball down your throat, and they're gonna cover ground doing it because they give the ball to guys like Allen.

After not being involved much in the rout over New Mexico State, Torchio made his presence known on Saturday night. He's the first player this season to pick off Stroud, and that alone deserves a game ball. By season's end, he should be in select company in that regard. Torchio also finished with seven tackles, good for second on the team.

Back-to-back game balls for Skyler Bell, who was Wisconsin's only consistent pass-catching threat. He hauled in four catches for 55 yards. No other Badger pass-catcher had more than one reception.

His play of the night was a smooth third-down conversion on Wisconsin's first scoring drive. Mertz layered the ball to him perfectly, and he tightroped the sideline to complete the catch and move the chains. Mertz loves throwing the ball to Bell.

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