Dayne's Explosions Helps Badgers Roll Over Buckeyes
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Well, for those optimistic fans, the season opening loss to Miami was only a small road block on the way to a National Championship. If the Buckeyes won out the rest of the games and they got a few upsets, they could find themselves in the Sugar Bowl. Just look at Tennesse last year. But those plans and dreams were run over by a Heisman trophy candidate named Ron Dayne and the Wisconsin Badgers. Dayne and the Badgers ran over the Buckeyes 42-17. It was the worst home loss in 32 years. They last time was when Purdue beat the Buckeyes 41-6. The Buckeyes had an early 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. But then the Buckeyes put on the cruise control. They must have figured that Wisconsin really was one dimensional like everybody was saying. Of course, it turned out that they weren't. So now instead if the National Championship game, the Buckeyes will have to do some work just to make it to the Rose Bowl. The loss couldn't have come at a worse time. #3 Flordia and #6 Texas A&M were both upset. With their losses, OSU could have moved up further in the polls. They will now probably drop nearer to twenty. |
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In the past weeks, OSU had had trouble getting started. This week they got rolling quickly. They gave the Buckeyes defense a lead to hold. And then in the second half, the Buckeyes offense disappeared. It vanished. POOF! Gone. The offense had 227 passing yards, and 124 on the ground. They had a total of 351 for the game. Most of the yardage came in the first half. The Buckeyes failed to get passed the Wisconsin 32 in the second half. Bellisari was 10 of 24 for 210 yards a one touchdown. He also tossed one interception. Reggie Germany had 3 catches for 81 yards, including a 40 yard touchdown reception. Ken-Yon Rambo also had 3 catches for 66 yards. Many people might point the finger at Michael Wiley who had only 9 carries for 36 yards. He had one touchdown, but fumbled another and also lost the opening kick off in the second half. Of course, it's not Michael's fault that the Buckeyes lost. |
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Ron Dayne was not a factor in the first half. In fact, he was hardly even noticed. And then in the second half, he exploded. He scored 4 touchdowns in the second half. He ended the game with 161 yards on the ground. The defense was banged up, missing Gary Berry. But for some reason, they too disappeared along with the offense. Jason Ott had 15 tackles. Donnie Nickey and Na'il Diggs added 14 tackles. Percy King had 11, and Courtland Bullard added 10. Return to Buckeye Central |
