What They're Saying: Ohio State- Wisconsin Aftermath

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers - Recap - October 16, 2010 - ESPN
Ohio State is one and done as No. 1, after Wisconsin bullied the Buckeyes all over the field then celebrated by jumping around on it with a few thousand friends. John Clay ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns and James White darted in for the clinching score in the fourth quarter as No. 18 Wisconsin took down top-ranked Ohio State 31-18 Saturday night.

Wisconsin 31, Ohio State 18: Clay is first to rush for more than 100 yards against Ohio State since 2008 | BuckeyeXtra
Wisconsin didn't merely deflate Ohio State's national title hopes last night - it jackhammered them. Led by their vaunted running game, the Badgers jumped to a 21-0 lead and then bulled their way to a clinching fourth-quarter score to crush an OSU comeback attempt and send the top-ranked Buckeyes to a 31-18 loss in raucous-as-usual Camp Randall Stadium. In cheese country, No. 18 Wisconsin (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) made the once-proud OSU defense look like warm Velveeta. Running back John Clay (104 yards, two touchdowns) became the first player to rush for 100 yards against the Buckeyes (6-1, 2-1) in 30 games, dating back to September 2008.

Another rocky game on the road for Pryor | BuckeyeXtra
Terrelle Pryor said he went into a game last night at Wisconsin with the same mind-set he takes into every game - make plays - and he hoped it rubbed off on his teammates. It did, but only after Wisconsin had jumped to a 21-0 lead before the offense and Pryor ever really made a sound. He led a rally that cut the difference to 21-18 with 11:38 to play, but when the Badgers drove to a touchdown on their next possession, the Buckeyes were scrambling again, and they couldn't get it done. "We had a chance - 21-18, we had a chance," Pryor said. "We just couldn't get it done as a team."

OSU notebook: Off to a bad start | BuckeyeXtra
Ohio State fought back to make it respectable last night, but it had no other option but to play from behind after giving up a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Wisconsin's David Gilreath on the game's opening play. That set the stage for the Badgers' 31-18 upset of the top-ranked Buckeyes. Gilreath's return was one for the record books. Coupled with an 88-yard return by the University of Miami during OSU's 36-24 win in the second game of the year, it marked the first time Ohio State has given up two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same season, a team spokesman said.

One and done: Ohio State's national title dreams bludgeoned by Wisconsin, 31-18 | cleveland.com
An Ohio State game hadn't felt like this since "41-14," since the undefeated No. 1 Buckeyes were dismantled by the Florida Gators in a national championship loss after the 2006 season that created a numeric shorthand for OSU pain. Saturday night at Wisconsin, at least undefeated No. 1 Ohio State fought back. The final score wasn't so lopsided. But in the way that the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers struck at the heart of the Buckeyes with a game-opening special teams touchdown and then rolled all over them behind a devastating offensive line, this 31-18 loss at Camp Randall Stadium will sting the OSU football program almost as much.

Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor: "This loss doesn't define us" | cleveland.com
"This is definitely an eye opener," Pryor said after the loss. "I thought our eyes were opened against Illinois when they gave us a tight game, but this loss is hard for us because we thought we had a real, real good team. And we still do have a great team, but we let this one really slip by us. "I'm disappointed in myself and disappointed in general that we lost this game. We've got to go about this as men. We can't sit here and act like a kid and let this loss define us because this loss doesn't define us at all. They played a great game, their fans were jumping all around. We had a chance. Down 21-18, we had a chance. We just couldn't get it done as a team."

A stunning dose of domination stuns the Buckeyes: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com
Ohio State came into Camp Randall Stadium Saturday night, the joint that's always jumping, and put bounce in the Wisconsin Badgers' step quicker than you could say "Gone, Wisconsin!" 9Share 27 Comments The Buckeyes' special teams have been awful all season. Twelve seconds into the biggest test since Miami game, they achieved awfulness again.

OSU-Wisconsin notables | BuckeyeXtra
Tightening up Since 1980, Ohio State is only 8-6-1 against Wisconsin, and last night's loss snapped a three-game winning streak against the Badgers. Topping 100 John Clay of Wisconsin became the first player to rush for 100 yards against OSU since USC's Joe McKnight in September 2008, a span of 29 games.

Opposite sideline | BuckeyeXtra
Facts of the matter All week at Wisconsin, the focus was on the Badgers' failures against more worthy opponents under fourth-year coach Bret Bielema. They were 4-8 against ranked teams under Bielema and have lost their past six games against ranked Big Ten opponents. Bielema was 0-3 against Ohio State. But with recruits in the stands and watching on national television, the Badgers beat a No.1 team for the first time since 1981.

Badgers pass at right time | BuckeyeXtra
Ohio State finally had the run-first Wisconsin offense right where it wanted it last night, facing third-and-3 in the fourth quarter after the Buckeyes had cut the lead to 21-18. Then, Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien did something he couldn't do last year in a loss in Ohio Stadium. He drifted right and hit Nick Toon on a 20-yard deep out past cornerback Chimdi Chekwa. It set in motion the Badgers' drive to the clinching touchdown - a 12-yard run by James White

Bob Hunter commentary: Badgers take page out of Woody's playbook | BuckeyeXtra
Had Woody Hayes lived to 100, never gotten up close and personal with Clemson's Charlie Bauman and pulled off a Joe Paterno-style campout in the Ohio State job, chances are the Buckeyes would look a lot like Wisconsin does now. The Badgers run first and make no apologies for it. They aren't afraid to pass - if Hayes were still coaching, he, too, would have to become better friends with the aerial game - but the Badgers leave no doubt where their preferences lie. There's no sissy stuff here. Wisconsin worships at the altar of physicality.

The Badgers want to beat you up in the trenches. They pass occasionally, but given their preference, they would like to ram the ball down your throat. These days, Woody might be more comfortable on the Wisconsin sideline than on the Ohio State side. It seems almost like the Badgers have kidnapped the Buckeyes' football tradition and made it part of their own.

Wisconsin's upset of No. 1 Ohio State shakes up title race - ESPN
As we await the first BCS standings Sunday, this is your two-week scorecard in what is looking like a progressively wilder season in college football: Alabama lost 35-21 to South Carolina -- which reverted to true form Saturday by losing to Kentucky for the first time in the Steve Spurrier era. Now the Buckeyes have been ushered out of realistic national championship contention with a 31-18 bruising from Bucky Badger. Two top-ranked teams whipped. Two double-digit margins of defeat. Two No. 1s that combined to trail for more than 113 of a possible 120 minutes. Two field stormings. "We just blew it as a team," a visibly depressed Terrelle Pryor said.