Ohio State won just about every statistical category while crushing Wisconsin today.
One metric that maybe doesn't jump out but was critical to the win is Ohio State's dominance on both sides of the ball on third down.
Wisconsin brought the nation's No. 1 ranked third down defense to Columbus, allowing a conversion rate of just 16%. Meanwhile, Ohio State entered the came as the country's No. 1 ranked third down offense converting 56% of the time.
Today, Ohio State's offense bettered its average converting 9-of-14 third downs (64%). The Buckeyes moved the chains on 3-of-6 third downs of 9+ yards and were 3-for-3 on third downs of four yards or less.
Justin Fields was dominant completing 6-of-7 passes for 88 yards on third downs. He hit on a 20-yarder to J.K. Dobbins and a 7-yarder to Chris Olave before Ohio State's first points of the game via a 49-yard Blake Haubeil field goal.
On Ohio State's next possession, he hit Chris Olave for a 27-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-13 to put the Buckeyes in front, 10-0.
Early in the second half, Fields connected with Olave for 11 yards on 3rd-and-6 setting up his 10-yard run to make it 17-7 good guys.
Sitting on a 31-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Master Teague ripped off an 11-yard run on 3rd-and-4 before Fields hit Olave on 3rd-and-Goal for a 4-yard touchdown to provide the game's final margin.
Olave had four catches for 49 yards and two touchdowns on third down.
Defensively, Ohio State held the Badgers to four conversions in 13 tries. Wisconsin's 31% success rate was far below its average of 52%, which was good for sixth in the country, coming into the game.
Malik Harrison, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah were all stellar on third down. Young, lining up as basically a mike linebacker, stopped and early 3rd-and-8 for no gain and one of his four sacks also came on third down.
Wisconsin was just 3-of-8 on third downs of four yards or less and Jack Coan completed only 3-of-6 third down passes, two going for first downs.
