Big Ten Champs! Second-Half Comeback Sends Ohio State to the Playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS — Led by 172 yards rushing from running back JK Dobbins and 299 yards passing from quarterback Justin Fields, No. 1 Ohio State (13-0, 9-0) outscored No. 8 Wisconsin (10-3, 7-2) 27-0 in the second half of their 34-21 win over the Badgers to secure their third-consecutive outright Big Ten Championship.

This is the first outright conference title threepeat for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s first lead didn’t come until the 2:23 mark of the third quarter when Fields found receiver KJ Hill standing alone inside the 10-yard, Hill then made a man miss and dove into the end zone to give Ohio State a 24-21 lead.

Hill now owns the OSU school record for career receptions, as his seven catches for 83 yards and two scores gives him 195 for his career.

While Ohio State may have scored the final 27 points of the game, it was the Badgers who scored the first 14.

Wisconsin won the toss and elected to receive the ball. The first play of the game was a 27-yard completion from quarterback Jack Coan to receiver Quintez Cephus. Three plays later, All-American running back Jonathan Taylor broke through the Ohio State defense and went 44 yards for the opening score.

The Buckeyes’ first drive ended on a failed fourth-and-7 attempt from the Wisconsin 34-yard line.

The Badgers went up 14-0 at the start of the second quarter thanks to a 14-play, 80-yard drive that lasted for over six minutes. The scoring play came on a Coan keeper on a read option where he went untouched from 14 yards out.

The Buckeyes came out on the next drive and were immediately set to go three-and-out from their own 26-yard line, but head coach Ryan Day dialed up a fake punt as punter Drue Chrisman completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Luke Farrell for the first down.

The play woke the crowd up and gave the Buckeyes some much-needed momentum. The next play was a 21-yard completion to receiver Binjimen Victor — from Fields, not Chrisman, which was then followed by a 24-yard run by Dobbins.

All of the momentum left Lucas Oil Stadium three plays later, however, when Fields fumbled the ball on a third-down rush inside the Wisconsin 10-yard line.

Ohio State finally got on the board on their next possession, as Fields converted a pair of third downs to receivers Garrett Wilson and then Chris Olave. Dobbins eventually finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7 with 42 seconds left in the half.

The Buckeyes had reclaimed momentum and were set to get the ball at the outset of the second half, but Jonathan Taylor had something to say about it first.

Looking to just run out the clock and get to the half, Taylor was given a hand-off and ended up picking up 45 yards down to the Ohio State 30-yard line. Two plays later, Coan hit Cephus for a 24-yard gain down to the OSU 1-yard line. Coan then punched it in with a quarterback sneak to make it 21-7 at the half.

The Buckeyes came out the half with a run for three yards and an incompletion, then on third down, Fields escaped pressure and went deep to Chris Olave who hauled in a 50-yard gain on the scramble drill. Two plays later, Fields hit tight end Jeremy Ruckert in the end zone. Ruckert made an outstanding one-handed catch for the touchdown, making it 21-14.

The Badgers went three-and-out on their next possession and on the punt attempt, punter Anthony Lotti dropped the snap and was tackled at the Wisconsin 20-yard line. The Buckeyes weren’t able to punch the turnover into the end zone, but the 27-yard field goal from Blake Haubeil made it 21-17 Badgers early in the third quarter.

Wisconsin missed a 48-yard field goal on their ensuing possession. Ohio State then took the lead on the aforementioned KJ Hill touchdown catch from 16-yards out.

That was not the end of Hill’s night, however.

On second-and-8 early in the fourth quarter from the Badgers’ 13-yard line, Fields rolled left, then pointed at Hill to turn back towards the middle of the field, which he did, and Fields then hit him for a touchdown to make it 31-21 Buckeyes.

Haubeil added a 24-yard field goal on Ohio State’s next possession to get them to the 34-21 final score.

Jonathan Taylor became the first player to rush for over 100 yards against the Buckeyes this season, finishing with 148 yards on 20 carries, scoring once. He was again outrushed by Dobbins, who tallied 172 yards on 33 carries.

Fields finished 19-of-31 passing for 299 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked five times.

The Buckeyes will find out their next opponent and venue Sunday at 12:00 pm.