Five Things: Buckeyes Come From Behind in Camp Randall to Clip Badgers in Overtime

After starting in a 10-point hole thanks to a dreadful performance in the 1st half, Ohio State outscored Wisconsin 24-7 in the 2nd half and overtime to escape Madison with an anxiety-riddled 30-23 win, remaining undefeated through the midway point of the regular season slate. 

The win improved Urban Meyer to 14-3 against ranked teams during his tenure at Ohio State and the Buckeyes stayed perfect on the road with Meyer at the helm improving to a ridiculous 20-0. 

Oh, and Meyer improved his career record to 7-0 in overtime games. 

As for the players, J.T. Barrett once again rose to the occasion after a so-so start rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another after halftime, setting another new school record in the process. 

Considering that as a site we have straight blanketed the game with coverage, here are Five Other Things that stood out during Ohio State's come from behind win in Camp Randall. 

SWEEP THE LEG

In my ongoing effort to recognize some of the unsung special teams heroes, I've typically reserved such talk for Cameron Johnston, Ohio State's legendary punter with the golden leg. 

Today however, the leg-love segment must pay homage to placekicker Tyler Durbin. 

Taking over the field goal kicking duties from Sean Nuernberger after his bout with injury followed by what feels like a more mysterious reason for his long-term disappearance, Durbin has been nothing short of spectacular. 

Entering last night's game a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal tries, Durbin was again clutch last night nailing all three of his attempts. 

The first was a fairly benign 25-yard try in the 1st quarter getting OSU on the board and cutting Wisconsin's lead to 10-3. His second came via a career-long 40-yarder midway through the 2nd quarter trimming the Badger lead to 10-6. That sounds simple but 40-yarders in the era of #CollegeKickers is no joke. 

Finally, with less than four minutes to play and Ohio State trailing 23-20 on the road at night in a hostile environment, Durbin calmly buried a 31-yarder to force overtime. 

With Durbin's clutch effort not only did he remain perfect on field goals for the season but also increased his total points to a team-leading 62 which is 26 points more than the next Buckeye on the scoring list (Barrett, Samuel, Brown all with 36). 

What really makes Durbin's efforts special is the fact this is just his second season of competitive football after walking on to the squad in the spring of 2015 with a soccer background. Throw in the reality he was not really supposed to be the starting placekicker on the No. 2 team in the country and with Nuernberger going ghost, Durbin's contributions this far can't be understated. 

BACKING THE LINE

First let me give some quick love to a defensive line that came on strong after the first half led by Dre'mont Jones (8 stops), Sam Hubbard (6 tkls, 2 TFL, 1 sack), Jalyn Holmes (2 TFL, 1 sack), Tyquan Lewis (2 tkls, 1 sack) and Nick Bosa (2 tkls, 1 sack). 

With the hat tip to those guys complete, how about linebackers Jerome Baker and Chris Worley last night? 

Baker racked up a career-high 13 stops including eight solos with 1.5 TFL while Chris Worley added seven tackles and forced a fumble on a long Corey Clement run that was inches away from being a game-changer. 

Baker wasn't all that great in the 1st half, sharing the blame as Wisconsin rushers repeatedly got to the edge and had little trouble turning up field for sizable gainers. The 2nd half was a different story however as Baker and company mostly shut down the Badger rushing attack especially on 1st down (3.5 ypc) after getting carved up on 1st down runs (11.7 ypc) in the opening half. 

With Baker's big day combined with just three tackles from Raekwon McMillan, he is now Ohio State's team-leader in tackles with 39 after starting the season as a reserve. He is also tied for 4th on the team with 5.0 TFL. 

Worley, while not as eye catching as Baker in part due to his positional responsibilities, has also been steady and really stood out last night in run support with those seven stops which brought his season tally to 30, good for 3rd on the team. 

IT RAINED FOR ONE FREAKING PLAY

What the hell was the deal with the skies deciding to open for exactly ONE FREAKING PLAY which just so happened to be a gigantic play for Ohio State's offense?

Trailing 16-6 with a tinge of momentum after the defense forced a quick Badger punt, Ohio State's offense started its first possession of the 2nd half from its own 36 yard line. 

The Buckeyes promptly marched to the Wisconsin 14 yard line in six plays, chewing up 51 yards mostly via Barrett runs/scrambles and a nice sliding catch by Parris Campbell. 

Then, just as Ohio State's offense was looking like a competent machine for the first time all night, a biblical downpour erupted as Barrett lined the Buckeyes up for a crucial 2nd and 9 play. 

Electing to stick with the play call (?), Barrett rolled left and had James Clark open inside the 5 yard line but the slick ball wobbled out of his hand on the throw, sailing over Clark's head and into the diving arms of Wisconsin's D'Cota Dixon for what could have been a crippling turnover. 

Dixon's pick was so close to hitting the ground that a replay review was in order and, of course, during that short delay, the rain stopped completely. Again, I ask WTH? 

Thankfully for Ohio State, the defense stood on its head the next series forcing a 3-and-out and the offense seized its next opportunity – which came with zero precipitation – driving 47 yards on 13 plays capped by a short Barrett touchdown run to make it 16-13 bad guys. 

ZONE 6 – AS IN SIXTH-BEST POSITIONAL UNIT

Disclaimer: I'm probably grading on a slighty unfair curve because I think Zach Smith has a tendency to put OSU in a negative light far too often via social media and such but for all the bluster about Zone 6, the group, despite improvements here and there, remains the weakest link on the squad. 

Barrett has taken a beating the last few weeks for the lack of a passing game and yes he's the seasoned-guy and hasn't been perfect but now that Ohio State is six games in, the wide receivers need to more consistently step up. 

With Wisconsin daring the Buckeyes to throw in the 1st half, Ohio State's wide receivers couldn't gain much if any separation leading to just three completions to wideouts for 28 yards. 

Early in the 2nd half, Terry McLaurin who I get is still on the inexperienced side, dropped what should have been a 36-yard touchdown catch. 

For his part, Noah Brown stepped up with four catches for 48 yards including a nifty game-winning grab on a 7-yard out from Barrett in overtime after recording just three catches over the last two games. 

I'll also throw in the collective downfield blocking from Zone 6 appears to be a strength and I still feel like Parris Campbell or K.J. Hill can be a factor but consistency remains an issue. 

I'm not a coach so I'm not sure if Smith needs to finally trim down the rotation or if he feels he can't because the guys after Brown are so closely bunched together in terms of ability but if Ohio State wants to make a serious run at a national title, its going to need a wide receiver not named Brown to complement the work done by the hybrid guys (I see you Dontre on that sick 43-yard snag late in the game) on a more consistent basis. 

ON WISCONSIN

Straight up, Wisconsin is way better than I gave them credit for coming in. It wasn't just the Camp Randall juju that nearly knocked off the Buckeyes. 

Coming into the game ranked just 8th in the league in rushing at 166 yards per game, Corey Clement (25 rushes, 164 yards) and company did work amassing 236 rushing yards though only 66 of that came in the 2nd half. 

Props to Paul Chryst as a playcaller especially in the 1st half. The Badgers repeatedly gashed the Buckeye defense on the edges early with jet sweeps, and with plays designed to do so, Chryst's squad successfully picked on Ohio State's lesser coverage guys like Damon Arnette and Damon Webb despite having a meh quarterback. It definitely looked like Bucky took advantage of the bye week.

I was particularly impressed with Wisconsin's touchdown drive to go up 23-20 which saw the Badgers go 3-for-3 on 3rd downs via targeting Arnette in coverage for a 36-yard catch by Jazz Peavy on 3rd and 9, a well-timed shovel pass to tight end Troy Fumagalli for four yards on 3rd and 3, and finally a surprise fullback dive for a 4-yard touchdown on 3rd and 2. 

Defensively, Jack Cichy was all over the field with 15 tackles, 3.5 TFL, a sack and a forced fumble. 

So often, we as fans only focus on what Ohio State didn't do but the fact is the opponent often has good players and coaches rise to the occasion and while the Buckeyes didn't play great, some of that is absolutely attributed to the effort put forth by Wisconsin.