Wisconsin averages 243 rushing yards a contest. The focal point of the offense, Jonathan Taylor, is the No. 3 leading rusher in the country. He averages more than 150 yards a game, leading Big Ten individual rushers by more than 50 yards a contest.
There was no confusing what Wisconsin was going to try to do on offense this game. It was just amazing that Ohio State's defensive line would have none of it. Wisconsin averages 243 rushing yards a game but was held to 60 on Saturday night.
More impressive than that, Ohio State's defensive line stonewalled Jonathan Taylor. The freshman running back sensation had by far his worst game this season.
It was jarring what Ohio State was able to do against Wisconsin. Only Northwestern's effort in a 33-24 Wisconsin win comes close to what Ohio State did. Even then, Ohio State held Taylor to half the yards and about 65% of the yards per carry.
It gets even more impressive at the team-level. Northwestern held Wisconsin to 109 rushing yards on 37 carries (2.95 ypc). Ohio State held the Badgers to almost half the rushing yards and 1.8 yards per carry.
J.K. Dobbins won game MVP honors, but let's be real about the offense on Saturday. It was situationally explosive but plagued with execution errors. That defensive line outright rejected Wisconsin's game plan in a way Paul Chryst and company did not anticipate and were ill-equipped to address.
Give a game ball to the run defense as well.
