Wisconsin's 19-play, 89-yard touchdown drive, which ate up 10:04 in the first and second quarters, is something the Badgers should remember forever.
In a stunning repeat of a season-long problem, David Gilreath gave the Badgers an electrifying start to the evening with his TD return of the opening kickoff.INSIDE THE VEST
For a coach who values special teams so much, Jim Tressel will never forget the way Saturday night's game started.
The Buckeyes have been a great Big Ten road team in recent years, and so much of that is about seizing momentum and silencing the crowd. But in the conference's toughest venue, the Buckeyes immediately gave Wisconsin the edge with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game.
It was easy. Any team can make a special teams mistake. It's one play where every mistake is magnified and one wrong step can lead to six points. But more than halfway into this season, special teams mistakes for the Buckeyes are now a trend.
Whatever needed to be fixed hasn't been fixed. That reflects on the entire team, because the entire staff and entire roster makes special teams a priority.
Somehow this season, that hasn't been enough.
— Doug Lesmerises
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some fast impressions in the moments after the Badgers' victory Saturday night.
A -- Wisconsin's offensive line
We highlighted the Badgers' 1,600 pounds of beef on the offensive line during the week, but they deserve to be singled out again, each in their own sentence.
Left tackle Gabe Carimi. Left guard John Moffitt. Center Peter Konz. Right guard Kevin Zeitler. Right tackle Ricky Wagner.
Their dominance started immediately, but especially Wisconsin's 19-play, 89-yard touchdown drive, which ate up 10:04 in the first and second quarter, is something the Badgers should remember forever. That is how you run block.
A -- Ohio State's first drive of the second half
A zero wasn't an option. A three wasn't an option. Down, 21-3, the Buckeyes needed to take the kickoff to open the third quarter and score their first touchdown of the game. So they did. Their 10-play, 77-yard drive kept hope alive, and the Buckeyes did it by not hurrying.
On the initial third down of the drive, the offensive line gave Terrelle Pryor plenty of time and he stayed in the pocket and found Dane Sanzenbacher over the middle. Pryor later hit Sanzenbacher with a nice 24-yard completion, but they also ran the ball well with Pryor and Dan Herron. The Buckeyes got what they needed to survive.
F -- Ohio State's kickoff coverage
The fear of the fan base was that the special teams mishaps in other games would show up and bite the Buckeyes when it really mattered. There could not have been a worse time than at Wisconsin, yet the Badgers' David Gilreath reached the end zone on an 97-yard kickoff return to the start the game with ease.
He's good at what he does -- the return gave him the Big Ten record for career kickoff return yardage. But the Buckeyes made it look easy for him, with not even a real missed tackle on the play because the lane he had to run was so open.
F -- Ohio State's playcalling at the 3
The Buckeyes, down 21-3, had first-and-goal at the Wisconsin 3 and then never came close to a successful play before settling for a field goal. First down was a Terrelle Pryor sweep to the right for a loss of one yard. Second down was Dan Herron taking a direct snap in the wildcat formation for a gain of one. Third down was a repeat of first down, with Pryor on a clear keeper to the right for a loss of one.
Never did the Buckeyes let Pryor roll out of the pocket with a run-pass option. No lobs to DeVier Posey. Not even a straight running play with Herron, giving the line a chance to open a real hole. Then the Buckeyes took three points when a real shot at seven was so badly needed.