The Ohio State Buckeyes were able to beat the Wisconsin Badgers, 24-10. It wasn't a victory that will earn Ryan Day's team any style points for the College Football Playoff rankings set to be released on Tuesday, but it keeps a zero in the loss column.
Ohio State picked up the win in spite of the fact that Emeka Egbuka was limited in his return. Kyle McCord and the offense struggled against a talented Wisconsin defense overall, but there were certainly some standouts.
Most notably, though, the Buckeyes defense once again showed up big to render the Badgers offense entirely ineffective. And that's where we'll start as we look at the reasons why Ohio State picked up the win.
3. Ohio State shut down the Wisconsin rushing attack
Even before Braelon Allen was forced out of the game right before halftime with an injury, Wisconsin was unable to run the ball with any impact. The Buckeyes run defense kept the Badgers in check on the ground throughout this game.
The most egregious example of Wisconsin's offensive struggles and inability to run the ball came right before halftime. At first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, the Badgers were unable to gain anything, having to settle for a field goal. That's not going to get it done against the No. 3-ranked team in college football and it proved to be a them for Luke Fickell's team in this contest.
2. Marvin Harrison Jr. continues to be unstoppable and most of the Buckeyes offense
As has been a common thread through many games for Ohio State this season, Kyle McCord struggled. He made poor decisions with the football, turned the ball over three times, and generally showed his continued inexperience and issues. The good news for him is that he gets to throw to Marvin Harrison Jr., who just might be truly unstoppable.
Harrison Jr. finished the Buckeyes win with six receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown. He's looked like the best player in the country, despite the limitations of the offense and quarterback feeding him the ball. He elevates this OSU offense from something that might be a problem to a unit that is more than fine. No defensive back can match up with him and he showed it again as he put the Ohio State attack on his back once again.
1. Ohio State defense continued to make opposing offenses look awful
If Wisconsin was ever going to have a chance to upset Ohio State, they needed backup quarterback Braedyn Locke and the offense to step up against one of the best defenses in the country. Instead, the Badgers managed just 259 total yards in this game, which was never going to be enough to get the job done.
It's certainly a credit to the Ohio State defense that they have continuously been able to make even good offenses look hapless. It was particularly evident against Wisconsin, though, with the injuries leaving backups at QB and RB by the end of the game.
In the second half, the Badgers had several opportunities to answer or apply pressure on the Buckeyes. Instead, they punted on three straight drives down 17-10 -- two of which were on three-and-outs -- which is too many opportunities to give the Buckeyes to answer and extend the lead.
Having said that, the Buckeyes defense deserves its flowers for allowing this team to win by double-digits despite a pedestrian offensive performance. When you can make the opposing offense look bad routinely, it'll help win a lot of games in this sport.
