COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Wisconsin brought the game within a field goal early in the third quarter, but the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes surged back and eventually overran the Badgers in a 38-7 blowout inside Ohio State.
As always, here is BadgerBlitz.com's five things we learned from the UW loss.
1. Wisconsin's offense could not, once again, get its rushing game going.
We all knew heading into this game that Wisconsin would face a juggernaut of a task in trying to rush the ball against an Ohio State defense allowing under 93 yards per game on the ground.
On Saturday, the Badgers again stalled against a Big Ten opponent, tallying a mere 83 yards on just 2.4 yards per carry.
There were three bright spots in the run game in terms of large chunk plays -- two runs by running back Jonathan Taylor that gained a total of 26 yards plus the Aron Cruickshank 27-yard scamper that got Ohio State off guard in a Wildcat look.
Outside of those three runs that totaled 53 yards, UW could only muster 30 yards. The Buckeyes contained Taylor to 52 yards on 20 carries (2.6 yards per rush) -- 26 on 18 if you discount the two larger runs.
When asked after the game, head coach Paul Chryst does not believe it is all on the offensive line.
"It's definitely not all on the o-line. It's definitely not on 'JT.' It's 11 on offense versus 11 on defense, and I know you guys know that," Chryst said. "It takes everything, and when they're doing certain things, they had a good plan. They came out and kind of went with a heavy look when we were in our couple personnel groups, and we weren't consistent enough in it, and we didn't, and when I say that, running and/or passing. Because you can chase them out. No secret, you're going to take away 'JT' or try to, and to say that it all goes on one group, one unit, I think that's wrong."
Maybe this is more of a question than a takeaway, but after some subpar performances on the ground, can Wisconsin turn the trend in two weeks against Iowa?
2. Ohio State's run game wore down Wisconsin in the second half, and J.K. Dobbins is a special back.
At halftime, the Buckeyes rushed for 71 yards on 21 carries -- and a noted good job by the Badgers in locking down J.K. Dobbins. (51 yards on 11 carries)...
...for two quarters.
In the second half, Wisconsin allowed 193 yards on 29 attempts overall -- an average of 6.7 yards per carry. According to StatBroadcast, that included seven chunk plays of 10 or more yards on the ground during the final 30 minutes of game time.
I asked inside linebacker Chris Orr after the game if Ohio State did anything different in those four consecutive drives that resulted in four straight touchdowns compared to the first half and first drive of the third quarter. His response: "A little bit."
"More Q [quarterback] runs," Orr said. "Even with him not running, the fact that he was able to run early kind of held us a little bit. So [the] running back was able to get a few more yards, which is always challenging when you face a team that has a quarterback that can run the ball."
Dobbins, who had two of those chunk plays of 28 and 34 yards, finished the game with 163 on 20 carries with two touchdowns in the showcase of the Big Ten's best backs. He displayed why he should be in consideration as one of the nation's best.
3. Chase Young is a special player, and Wisconsin had absolutely no answer for him.
The defensive end simply overwhelmed Wisconsin's offense to the tune of four sacks and five tackles for loss. He tied the school record for number of sacks in a game while also forcing two fumbles when UW was driving for potential points.
On a fourth down play in the third quarter, he came off the edge against tight end Jake Ferguson and subsequently ended the drive and the second to last real chance of points for the Badgers.
In the fourth quarter with Wisconsin driving near the red zone, Young speed rushed right past tackle Logan Bruss and caused another turnover that negated a scoring chance.
Young finished with six tackles, and aside from those five sacks, another tackle for loss as well.
"Well he's obviously a really, really good player," Chryst said. "What makes it tough is that they've got other players around him, right? So you can't put all the attention on him but you're trying to have protections that give whoever's with him or on him, responsible for him, some form of help. Couple of times we had it, we weren't successful in taking care of that. Then there's sometimes they can force it to where it still ends up being a one-on-one. He's a heck of football player."
4. Wisconsin's defense could pressure Fields early on, but could not get a turnover.
If you're looking for one bright spot for the game, Wisconsin got to quarterback Justin Fields often early on in the game. The Badgers recorded five sacks and six tackles for loss when the Georgia transfer was on the field.
Noah Burks led the way with 1.5, while Zack Baun, Chris Orr, Keeanu Benton and Isaiahh Loudermilk all contributed to the total.
According to Baun, he believed they could get that pressure, "but it was just getting them to getting to those third and long situations."
Though Wisconsin put pressure on Ohio State, it could not force any turnovers. On the flip side, the Badgers coughed up the ball twice to the Buckeyes.
For the season, UW holds 32 sacks through eight games -- that's four per contest.
5. To get back to Indianapolis, Wisconsin needs to pick itself back up after the bye week and be perfect.
Easily said, UW will need to win out and receive help in the month of November to reach the Big Ten Championship game.
Wisconsin now sits with two losses, same in the loss column as Iowa and Nebraska as of time of publication. Minnesota will likely sit undefeated as well heading into its bye week with the performance against Maryland.
After tough tastes of defeat -- both completely different in nature -- the team will have to regroup and refocus for a crack at the division championship that will likely run through the regular season finale inside TCF Stadium.
"This group will rally. That part I feel good about," Chryst said. "I do. I think, and like what I said earlier, you got to take all the things that this team has gone through the first eight games, right, and now we got a bye. Then how do we approach and take advantage of the opportunities that we get here in November? It's four Big Ten West opponents. All four really big games. Obviously you got to be in each week, just in that moment. It's a great opportunity for us to finish.
"I like this group a ton. I still do. No one said it would be easy, and it never is. We'll come out of this thing, and there's a lot of substance in that locker room. That's a group that I look forward to having a good productive bye week and then getting a chance to attack November."
