Ohio State
Wisconsin
Harrison Jr., Henderson Lead Buckeyes to Road Win at Wisconsin
10/28/2023 9:56:00 PM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 3 Ohio State (8-0, 5-0) earned a hard-fought battle at Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2) Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
Marvin Harrison Jr. scored twice on passes from Kyle McCord to lead the Buckeyes to the 24-10 victory over the Badgers.
McCord completed 17-of-26 passes for two scores and 226 yards. Harrison Jr. had six catches for 123 yards and a pair of key touchdowns.
TreVeyon Henderson, who returned after missing games with injury, rushed for 162 yards and had a touchdown on 24 carries. He also had four receptions for 45 yards.
Tommy Eichenberg led the Buckeyes with seven tackles while Jack Sayer added six.
The Buckeyes remain on the road next Saturday for a noon game at Rutgers. CBS will televise the contest to a national audience.
First Quarter
No. 3 Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 0
The Badgers won the pregame coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Ohio State chose to receive.
Wisconsin kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff, giving the Buckeyes the ball at the OSU35.
Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord then moved the Buckeyes to the Badger 33 where OSU faced a fourth-and-3 situation.
Wisconsin gained possession of the ball after the Badgers defense sacked McCord and forced a fumble that was recovered at the UW41 by Maema Njongmeta with 11:44 showing on the clock.
The Buckeyes got the ball right back after the Badgers fumbled on its second play. Jack Sawyer forced the miscue that was recovered in the secondary by Davison Igbinosun.
McCord and running back TreVeyon Henderson then got the Buckeyes moving. First on a couple rushes totaling 9 yards and then on a 30-yard reception down the left sideline to the Badger 17.
Ohio State drove to the Wisconsin 9 before Jayden Fielding connected on a 27-yard field goal to give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead with 8:09 left. The drive covered 47 yards on seven plays over 2:53.
Wisconsin fumbled again after starting from their 25 after a touchback. The Badgers got the ball back after Ohio State’s Jordan Hancock forced a Braelon Allen fumble but Wisconsin fell on the ball to retain possession.
The Badgers then punted it away after the Ohio State defense held at the UW42. The Buckeyes took over at the OSU24 after a 45y-ard punt, 6-yard Jayden Ballard return and a 5-yard penalty for an illegal formation on the punt.
After Ohio State’s offense stalled, Jesse Mirco hit for a 42-yard punt to give Wisconsin the ball back at the OSU36 following a 30-yard return by Chimere Dike.
Facing fourth-and-long from the OSU36, Wisconsin missed on a 54-yard field goal attempt to give the ball back to Ohio State with 3:32 left.
McCord then went to air to find Marvin Harrison Jr. on third-and-long for a 35-yard gain to the UW24.
The Buckeyes, aided by Badger penalties, drove to the Wisconsin 8 but McCord was then intercepted in the UW endzone by Preston Zachman forcing a touchback.
The quarter ended after one Wisconsin 3-yard rush to the Badger 23.
Second Quarter
No. 3 Ohio State 10, Wisconsin 3
The Badgers were not able to gain a first down so start the quarter and punted it away to the Buckeyes, who took over at their 48 after a 29-yard Wisconsin boot went out of bounds.
McCord and the Buckeyes picked away at the Wisconsin defense before Harrison Jr. grabbed a crossing pattern over the middle and took it 16 yards to the left front corner of the Badger endzone for the score to put Ohio State up 10-0 with 10:36 left in the half. The drive covered 52 yards on seven plays over 4:07.
Ohio State’s defense then forced another punt, this time a 45-yarder from the Wisconsin 33 that Ballard fair caught at the OSU22.
The Buckeyes were driving again when the Badgers intercepted McCord at their 29 and returned it to the UW48. Ricardo Hallman got the pick, Wisconsin’s second of the half, and returned it 19 yards before Cade Stover got the tackle.
Wisconsin drove to the OSU1 and with a first down could not get the touchdown. The Ohio State defense held the Badgers to no gain on three-consecutive plays to force a 19-yard field goal as time expired in the half. The drive covered 51 yards on 12 plays over the final 5:09 of the half to make it 10-3 Buckeyes at the break.
Third Quarter
No. 3 Ohio State 17, Wisconsin 10
The Badgers opened the second half with the ball at their 25 after a touchback. Wisconsin gained 27 yards on its first play, a completion from Braedyn Locke to Bryson Green to the OSU 48.
Locke then used the rush to gain 29 yards to the OSU 15.
Three plays later the Badgers tied the game at 10-all on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Locke to Will Pauling in the back left corner of the endzone. Wisconsin took the opening drive of the half 75 yards on seven plays over 2:30 for the score.
The Buckeyes got the points right back on the next possession after McCord delivered a 19-yard pass to Harrison Jr., who got one foot down after a circus catch along right side of the Badger endzone to make it 17-10 Buckeyes.
Ohio State drove 75 yards on nine plays to take the lead. Harrison also had a 16-yard catch while Henderson added a 25-yard rush during the drive.
The Buckeye defense forced a punt on Wisconsin’s next possession. Ohio State took possession at its 24 after a Ballard fair catch after a 42-yard kick.
Harrison Jr. started the next Ohio State drive off with a 22-yard catch over the middle to the OSU46. The catch gave him more than 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in nine of the last 12 games.
The Buckeyes then had to punt after an intentional grounding penalty called on McCord pushing Ohio State back to the UW37.
Mirco then pinned the Badgers at their 7 after a 30-yard punt and a Wisconsin fair catch.
Ohio State’s defense drove the Badgers back to their 3 on consecutive tackles-for-loss to end the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
No. 3 Ohio State 24, Wisconsin 10
Wisconsin opened the final quarter with a 16-yard pass play for a first down to the Badger 18. The drive continued to the Ohio State 48 before the Buckeyes forced a punt.
Ohio State started its next drive from its 14 after a 34-yard Wisconsin punt.
Henderson got the Buckeyes some breathing room after a 30-yard rush on a pitch over the left side to the OSU44.
After another intentional grounding call, the Buckeyes had to punt. Mirco delivered a 43-yard effort to the UW9.
Wisconsin could not muster a drive before punting it back to the Buckeyes. After a 34-yard punt, the Buckeyes got the ball on the UW45 after a fair catch.
Henderson then put the Buckeyes up by two scores with a 33-yard touchdown run over the left side to make it 24-10 Ohio State with 5:15 left to play.
Forced to go to the air, the Badgers moved to the 50-yard line before turning over on downs back to the Buckeyes.
Ohio State punted it back to Wisconsin but the Badgers again turned it over on downs at their 27.
The Buckeyes then ran out the clock for the win.
