Madison - Wisconsin fought valiantly against Ohio State, but ultimately ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

BadgerBlitz.com has grades and game balls from Week 9.

As if they needed more adversity on offense, tailback Braelon Allen got hurt at the end of the first half and wouldn't return. That left the Badgers with a backfield consisting of a converted fullback and a converted safety. Jackson Acker had some decent runs, but the offense was still severely handicapped without Allen and too much pressure was put on quarterback Braedyn Locke's shoulders.

Speaking of Locke, he played admirably at the controls of what was, again, an extremely limited unit. The completion percentage wasn't there (46 percent) and he only threw for 165 yards. However, the young quarterback hung in there and at times showed the same poise that helped Wisconsin come back against Illinois a week ago, like on his 29 yard scramble on third down and his no-look strike to Will Pauling for the Badgers' only touchdown on the night.

The running game wasn't what it needed to be. Allen had two uncharacteristic fumbles early in the game, losing one of them immediately after the Badgers strip-sacked Kyle McCord. They averaged an 3.8 yards-per-carry and couldn't break away for a big play or consistently keep Locke and the offense ahead of the sticks.

Wisconsin also struggled to cash in at what would've been opportune times. It scored three points off three turnovers, and finished 6-for-16 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. Locke made a few big time throws, but this offense just didn't have enough firepower when all was said and done.

Ohio State's defense is one of the nation's best, and that must be factored into the equation. 10 points won't win many ballgames, but there were some flashes against an elite unit.

The failure to score from 1st and goal at the one yard line was brutal, but that was born out of poor coaching decisions — more on that later.