By: Bill Blanton (BuckeyeCountry.net) –

On a day where the Badgers controlled the time of possession 42:47 to 17:13, it was the Buckeye defense and special teams that stole the show in a lopsided win.

Kurt Coleman and Jermale Hines returned interceptions for touchdowns and Ray Small returned a kick-off 96-yards in the third quarter to lead the Buckeyes past Wisconsin 31-13.

“Well, it was obviously a different type football game,” said Coach Jim Tressel. “Our defense came after them and they’re good on offense, but our defense just kept coming and when you get two defensive touchdowns and then a kickoff return touchdown, that’s more than you could ever wish for.”

Kurt Coleman welcomed himself back after a one game suspension with an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave OSU a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Coleman was quick to give the credit to his defensive teammates, “The interception, it really started with the D line, I knew they had a great rush which is why they kind of forced the high throw on the wide receiver and for the pick, it was just an easy pick for me. I just was standing right there, happened to be in the right spot and I had great blockers. My team led me all the way down the field.”

The Badgers would tie the game at 7 on a fake field goal, with holder Chris Maragos running around the left end and stretching the ball out with his right arm to touch the pylon on a 9-yard TD run midway through the second quarter. The scoring opportunity was set up when Terrelle Pryor was intercepted by Culmer St. Jean at the OSU 25 yard line. St. Jean returned the ball to the 12 yard line.

After forcing a punt, the Badgers returned to their ground game as they fed the Silver Bullets a steady dose of John Clay between the tackles moving the ball from their own 22 to the Ohio State 33. Welch’s 50-yard field goal gave the Badgers their first and only lead of the game 10-7.

Though the Buckeyes had just 36 yards of total offense on their first five possessions, the offense finally came to life in the last 2 minutes in the first half. An 88-yard scoring drive before the half ended was capped with a 32-yard touchdown from Pryor to Posey to give OSU the lead 14-10.

Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) trailed 14-10 early in the third quarter. The Buckeyes (5-1, 3-0) padded their lead when Hines tipped a pass, pulled it in and followed a group of Buckeyes on a 32-yard return to open the lead to 21-10.

The Badgers would counter a Phillip Welch 46-yard field goal after a 5 play 40 yard drive stalled at the Ohio State 29 yard line.

Ray Small would deliver the knockout blow to the Badgers when he brought back the flowing kick-off for a touchdown.

Wisconsin dominated the statistics, leading in first downs 22-8 and total offense 368-184. But the Buckeye defense and special teams’ three big returns spelled the difference in the game.

Scott Tolzien completed 27 of 45 passes for 250 yards but threw the two costly picks. The Wisconsin quarterback was pressured by the Buckeye defense that registered six sacks on the day.

Jim Tressel has to be concerned about the Ohio State’s offense. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor was erratic and thoroughly confused at best.

Tressel was asked if it creates difficulty to evaluate the offense when Wisconsin had twice as many plays due to returns for touchdowns that limited the offense.

“You evaluate every play, so I think we had 40 plays and typically you might have 70, but you evaluate those 40 plays and what occurred within each of them and I think you do it within the confines of what was going on in the game and probably the last 15 plays were ones that you there were going to be nine guys up there and we knew we weren’t going to stop the clock by throwing it and we had a three-score lead, but you look at every play individually.”

Pryor finished 5 of 13 passing for 87 yards with one interception and looked completely lost by the schemes Wisconsin’s defense was throwing at the Buckeye offense.

Buckeye defense fast fact

The last time Ohio State returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a game was a 28-6 win over Penn State on Sept. 23, 2006, when Malcolm Jenkins went 61 yards and Antonio Smith came back 55.

Did you know?

The Buckeyes’ last kickoff return for a score came in a game they’re still trying to forget. Ted Ginn Jr. went 93 yards with the opening kickoff in the 2007 Bowl Championship Series title game, a 41-14 loss to Florida.

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