Darron Lee had quite the reaction when he found out his Ohio State team had posted the first shutout against Wisconsin since the 1997 season.
"Oh God, I was three," Lee said. "Wow."
It's certainly a jaw-dropping statistic.
The key for the Buckeyes, though, was obviously their ability to slow down Wisconsin's Heisman Trophy candidate running back Melvin Gordon.
Ohio State held Gordon in check as he only gained 76 yards on 26 carries. It was only the second time all season Gordon had been held under 100 yards and it was the very first time Gordon did not find the end zone.
It was total domination.
"We had a really solid game plan and we had a great week of practice. Everybody out here executed — our whole defense. I wish I could have everybody come up and talk to you because everybody played great."
Big Game Devin Smith
All Devin Smith does is catch touchdowns. It seems that way, anyway. In Saturday's 59-0 pasting of the Badgers, he had three.
Ohio State is now 21-0 when Smith catches a touchdown pass. All three of his against the Wisconsin were of the lengthy variety: 39, 44 and 42 yards.
"I wanted to score in this game period and just leave my mark a little bit," Smith said. "The way the defense was playing, we tried to expose them a little bit and stuck to the game plan. The game plan was to take shots when we can and we executed."
Offensive coordinator and Tom Herman called Smith "the best deep ball threat in America" after the game. It certainly looked like it against the Badgers.
Elliott Outplays Gordon
Coming into Saturday's game, all of the attention was on Gordon. But by the time it was all said and done, it was Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott who looked like the best bak on the field.
Elliott carried the ball 20 times for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 81-yard touchdown run in the first quarter put the Buckeyes ahead, 14-0.
"I had faith in my boys," Elliott said. "The line came out and played their asses off, Cardale came out and was pretty confident in the pocket because the line played so well. I'm just happy, I can't even describe these feelings right now."
Over the last five games, Elliott has run for 758 yards.
Ohio State's Place in the CFP
The four teams to qualify for the first-ever College Football Playoff will be announced at 12:30 p.m. today and all of Columbus will be on the edge of their seats.
So, are the Buckeyes worthy of being one of those four teams?
"Definitely," Elliott said.
Is there a message Ohio State wants to send to the committee?
"Watch the film. Watch the film of what we just did," senior defensive tackle Michael Bennett said. "I predict they're gonna say Wisconsin really wasn't that good of a team and I think that's bullcrap. I think Wisconsin was a great team. They didn't get to the Big Ten championship not being a great team and doing what they did."
"We just functioned on all cylinders tonight and when you see something like that happen you've got to take a step back and wonder who can't they beat when they're functioning on all cylinders and I personally think that we can beat anybody."
