COLUMBUS, Ohio - With every passing day, anticipation grows for No. 3 Ohio State’s matchup with No. 13 Wisconsin. Despite the Badgers inexplicable 24-23 loss to Illinois, Wisconsin still boasts the best defense in the nation, and what better challenge for an Ohio State team that has been largely untested?
The narrative is overused and clichéd, but this truly does appear to be a contest between an unstoppable force in Ohio State’s offense vs. an immovable object in Wisconsin’s defense. The Badgers impressively own basically every defensive statistic in the country while Ohio State’s offense is third in points per game (49.7) and rushing yards per game (287.6). The Buckeyes are going to have to play their best game against a Badger squad giving up less than 200 yards per game, and conversely, Wisconsin is facing an offense unlike anything they’ve seen this season.
For an offense who hasn’t faced much of a push when they go down the field, Ryan Day is looking forward to the opportunity to see where his offense is at. While performances against top 40 teams in total defense like Indiana, Michigan State, Cincinnati and Northwestern are encouraging, there truly isn’t going to be a better litmus test for Day’s offense than going against the best defense in the nation.
“I think it's always a good benchmark to figure out where you're at. This is the No. 1 defense in the country. We consider ourselves to be one of the top offenses in the country. Find out where we're at,” Day said. “I think it is. You want to play good. You have to make sure you take care of the ball against guys like this. You got to be physical. You got to take care of it, for sure. Got to play good situational. They do a really good job on third down, in the red zone. They're really physical. They got talent on the edges.”
For a Wisconsin team that is good in all areas on defense, only allowing 60.9 rushing yards and 135.4 passing yards per game (both best in the nation), it’s an interesting challenge for Ohio State who has had no difficulty doing whatever they want to opposing defenses. Justin Fields is averaging 213 passing yards per game and his completion percentage has only dropped below 66 percent in one game, while J.K. Dobbins is rushing for 135 yards per game and has only dipped below six yards per carry once.
The offense has remained consistent regardless of the opponent, so against a Wisconsin team that does everything well, Day, Kevin Wilson and Mike Yurcich are going to have to get creative to find yards.
“But this is a good defense. It's hard to find areas to attack them. They're good in all areas. It's going to be hard. Illinois did find a couple things,” Day said. “But that's why we spend so much time game planning, making sure we go through everything.”
The battle in the trenches will specifically be a focus in this game with Dobbins trying to continue his tear through the Big Ten. The most yards put up on the ground against Wisconsin this season was the 141 rushing yards put up by Illinois with Reggie Corbin (83 yards) and Dre Brown (70 yards) both rushing for more than any individual rusher had gone for against the Badgers this season.
With the Buckeyes averaging 287.6 yards against Wisconsin’s 60.9 yards allowed per game, it’s going to be a serious challenge for Dobbins or Master Teague III to put a dent in the Badger’s defensive line.
“They're so stout up front. Those guys up front, [Isaiahh] Loudermilk, [Chris] Orr, they're strong and powerful in there,” Day said. “They win the line of scrimmage, they have a two-gapping mindset. They always have an extra gap in there.”
Another wrinkle for Ohio State will be on third downs. The Buckeyes rank first in the nation in converting third downs, moving the chains on 56.1 percent of their third down attempts. As you may have expected, Wisconsin’s opponents have the worst third down conversion percentage at 16.13 percent, so the battle of the titans that will take place late in the downs will be exciting to watch.
There isn’t one specific area Day is concerned about on third down, either, because he sees the ability of Wisconsin’s pass rush as well as their secondary to disrupt all aspects for Ohio State on third down.
“Pass rush is really good. [Zack] Baun coming off the edges, dynamite. He's really good. He's not the only one. They have other guys, good scheme, good challenge,” Day said. “They're not afraid to get up in your mug and challenge you, disrupt the route. They don't miss. When they get in there, they get a shot on you, they don't miss.”
Week after week the talk of adversity and Ohio State finally facing a challenge has been pervasive throughout whatever narratives have taken place throughout the week, but when the Buckeyes take the field for their noon game at Ohio Stadium against Wisconsin, it seems that Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are finally prepared to have to go toe-to-toe with a team on their level. However, their preparation for this game hasn’t changed one bit.
“We've said all along is all we're going to do is focus on this week, being 1-0. I know it sounds cliché, but it's real. We have to stay locked in on this, can't worry about what this game means or doesn't mean,” Day said. “Just worry about what we are doing in terms of on our assignments, motivation, guys practicing hard, getting ourselves ready physically, mentally, emotionally, and play a really hard game at noon.”
