J.K. Dobbins rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns, Chase Young was nearly unblockable with four sacks and No. 3 Ohio State routed No. 13 Wisconsin 38-7 today.
Dobbins slashed Wisconsin’s top-ranked defense for long gains in the second half, including scoring runs of 9 and 14 yards in a game played from beginning to end in the driving rain.
He outperformed Badgers Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor, who could muster only 52 yards rushing against the Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) after averaging almost 137 per game coming in.
Young looked like the Heisman contender on his day, tying a school record for sacks in a game, including two strip sacks that led to fumbles recovered each time by linebacker Pete Werner.
“Big time players step up in big time games,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
“Chase Young is the best college football player in America,” said Fox analyst Brady Quinn. “Ohio State, right now, is the best team in country.”
Justin Fields was harassed and sacked five times but — as he has been all season — was masterful at extending plays at critical times for the Buckeyes. He finished 12 for 22 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for a score.
Chris Olave caught two touchdowns passes and had seven catches for 93 yards.
Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2) scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Coan to A.J. Taylor early in the second half after the Badgers blocked an Ohio State punt and started with a short field. That made it 10-7, but Ohio State immediately answered with a touchdown drive and was never threatened again.
“It’s a really good defense,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. “The things we had to do to try to help ourselves, we didn’t do them well enough.”
Ohio State has outscored opponents 386-63 and hasn’t played a close game yet.
The big win should quiet critics who said Ohio State was getting fat at the expense of bad opponents.
The Buckeyes engaged in a first-half battle of the nation’s top two defenses and smashed through in the second half on the way to a rout.
A convincing win in the Buckeyes’ biggest test of the season could bump them up a notch to #2.
Ohio State heads to an off week, and will next host Maryland on Nov. 9.