Ohio State Survives Another Four-Quarter Battle, Defeats Wisconsin 24-10 to Improve to 8-0

The theme of Ohio State’s 2023 season continued in Madison.

As has been the case in many games this year, Ohio State’s offense left points on the field and never got into a consistent rhythm, keeping the score tight into the final minutes. But the Buckeyes ultimately left Camp Randall Stadium with a 24-10 victory thanks to another stout defensive performance and big nights from Marvin Harrison Jr. and TreVeyon Henderson.

Harrison caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns while Henderson ran for 162 yards and a touchdown in his return from injury to lead the Buckeyes’ offensive efforts.

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
#3 Ohio State	3	7	7	7	24
WISCONSIN	0	3	7	0	10
OCT. 28, 2023 • Camp Randall STADIUM • Madison, Wi

Ohio State drove to Wisconsin’s 33-yard line on its opening drive of the game, but ended up giving the ball back to the Badgers at the 41-yard line after Kyle McCord was strip-sacked and fumbled the ball on a 4th-and-3 attempt. The Buckeyes got the ball back just two plays later when a fumble by Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen forced by Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers was recovered by Buckeye cornerback Davison Igbinosun.

The short field led to Ohio State’s first points of the night on a 27-yard Jayden Fielding field goal. Ohio State drove inside Wisconsin’s 10-yard line on a drive highlighted by a 30-yard catch by Henderson on a wheel route, but the Buckeyes had to settle for three points after a 3rd-and-4 Chip Trayanum run went for only two yards.

Wisconsin started its third possession of the game at Ohio State’s 36-yard line after a 35-yard punt return by Chimere Dike, but failed to take advantage of the short field, leaving without points after Nathanial Vakos missed short and left on a 54-yard field goal attempt. Ohio State drove to the 9-yard line on its ensuing possession but also left without points as McCord forced a pass intended for Carnell Tate into double coverage in the end zone, resulting in his second thrown interception of the year.

Ohio State broke through for the game’s first touchdown on its fifth possession of the night. Harrison scored his seventh touchdown of the season on a crossing route catch-and-run from 16 yards out to give the Buckeyes a 10-0 lead with 10:36 left to play in the second quarter.

Marvin Harrison Jr. extends the lead for @OhioStateFB!

: NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/ZK73Yp0cbT
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 29, 2023

OHIO STATE	METRIC	WISCONSIN
407	TOTAL YARDS	259
181	RUSHING YARDS	94
43	RUSHING ATTEMPTS	25
4.2	AVERAGE per RUSH	3.8
1	RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS	0
226	PASSING YARDS	165
17-26	COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS	18-39
13.3	AVERAGE per COMPLETION	9.2
2	PASSING TOUCHDOWNS	1
23	1st DOWNS	14
69	TOTAL PLAYS	64
5.9	YARDS PER PLAY	4.0
6-12	third down conv	6-16
6-25	PENALTIES	5-26
34:42	POSSESSION	26:10

McCord threw his second interception of the first half on Ohio State’s next possession as he was picked off by Wisconsin cornerback Ricardo Hallman on a throw intended for Harrison over the middle of the field.

Hallman returned the interception to Wisconsin’s 48-yard line, and the Badgers milked the final five minutes and nine seconds of the first-half clock with a drive to Ohio State’s 1-yard line. But the Badgers would settle for a field goal to end the half after failing to gain a yard on three straight plays from the 1-yard line, with Tommy Eichenberg making a crucial tackle on 3rd-and-goal to keep Allen out of the end zone.

Wisconsin started the second half with the ball and tied the game with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Locke capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Will Pauling after setting it up with a 29-yard run up the middle into the red zone.

Ohio State responded with a touchdown of its own on its opening drive of the third quarter with Harrison making a spectacular catch on the right side of the end zone from 19 yards out for his second score of the night.

He is just spectacular.@OhioStateFB | #BigTenSaturdayNight pic.twitter.com/WIklFYXWT5
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 29, 2023

The Buckeyes had a chance to take a two-score lead before the end of the third quarter with another drive into Wisconsin territory, but ended up punting the ball after an intentional grounding penalty against McCord backed the Buckeyes up to the 37-yard line. Ohio State’s next possession would also end with an intentional grounding penalty, keeping the Buckeyes’ lead at only seven points with 7:39 to play.

Ohio State finally made it a two-score game with 5:15 remaining on the clock when Henderson scampered to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown run, which would be the final points of the game.

TreVeyon Henderson!! @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/uh29QxMRVE
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 29, 2023

Ohio State will now take an 8-0 record into its final month of the regular season. The Buckeyes will look to improve to 9-0 next Saturday when they hit the road again to play Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey, where kickoff is set for noon with CBS televising.

Game Notes

Ohio State has now won 10 straight games against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes are 63-18-5 against the Badgers all-time.
Despite being listed as available, Emeka Egbuka did not play against Wisconsin. Xavier Johnson started in his place at slot receiver. Other unavailable players for the Buckeyes included backup quarterback Devin Brown and third-string running back Miyan Williams.
Julian Fleming left the game after he suffered an injury while attempting to catch a deep ball in the first quarter. He was able to return in the second half.
JT Tuimoloau left the game briefly in the second quarter after taking a shot to the side from Jack Sawyer’s helmet, but he was able to return to the game a few plays later.
Lathan Ransom left the game early in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury. He had to be helped into the medical tent, putting pressure on only one leg, and was carted back to the locker room. He was able to return to the sideline later in the fourth quarter but did not return to the game.
Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen did not return in the second half after he suffered a leg injury on the Badgers’ final offensive play of the first half.
Jordan Hancock made his second start in a row, this time at nickel as he got the start over Sonny Styles.
Marvin Harrison Jr. topped 100 receiving yards for the sixth time in seven games, bringing him to 13 100-yard games for his Ohio State career. His seventh multi-touchdown game of his Ohio State career brought him to 25 touchdown catches as a Buckeye, tying him with Santonio Holmes for the fifth-most in school history. He also moved into the top 10 in Ohio State history in receiving yards, surpassing Garrett Wilson on OSU’s all-time receiving yardage list.
TreVeyon Henderson had the second-most rushing yards of his career behind only his 270-yard game against Tulsa in 2021.
A sellout crowd of 76,453 attended the game.