Unbeaten Buckeyes Await Big Ten Road Test at Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 4, 2000
The undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes should find out how good they really are when they visit the No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium.
Eighth-ranked Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), which is coming off a bye week, opened its Big Ten schedule by pounding Penn State 45-6 on Sept. 23. The win put the Buckeyes on the inside track to the conference championship.
Ohio State, which finished a disappointing 6-6 last year, still needs to rack up some more big wins before it starts looking like a Rose Bowl contender. The Buckeyes did not play in a bowl game last year for the first time since 1988.
“I don’t think anybody will take us serious for three more, four more wins, ” Buckeyes noseguard Mike Collins said. “I truly believe everybody thinks we’re going to slip up. No one will take us seriously until we’re undefeated and we beat Wisconsin and other teams that stand in our way.”
With its 13-10 loss to Michigan on Saturday, Wisconsin (3-2) fell to 0-2 in the conference, making it nearly impossible for the Badgers to win a third straight Big Ten title. Since 1896, a Big Ten championship has been won by a team with two conference losses just four times.
“It may be tough to win the league, but we can get to a good bowl game,” Wisconsin’s Lee Evans said. “We just have to prove it. I’m more than positive we can get back to being the great team that we know we are.”
Despite their tough start, the Badgers remain one of the most talented and experienced teams in the conference. Running back Michael Bennett leads the nation with 834 rushing yards, including 123 in last week’s loss to Michigan. Bennett, who already has five touchdowns, is making Badger fans forget about Ron Dayne, who won the Heisman Trophy for Wisconsin last season. Quarterback Brooks Bollinger has not fared nearly as well, passing for just 497 yards, with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Bollinger will need to improve his efficiency if the Badgers are to turn around their slow start. “There’s no looking back from here,” Bollinger said. “They’re not going to take eight games off the schedule. We just have to do our best to win the rest.”
