COLUMBUS, Ohio – In addition to providing the usual video sessions and strategy discussions to prepare his team to meet the nation’s No. 1 defensive team, Ohio State coach Ryan Day challenged his players like he never had before.
“Big-time players,” he said more than once, “step up in big games.”
Ohio State players said Day’s message was in their heads Saturday during the No. 4 Buckeyes’ 38-7 win against No. 13 Wisconsin in a game that was played in miserable, rainy conditions.
“I think all of the big-time players on the team definitely stepped up and made great plays,” said quarterback Justin Fields who threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.
The Buckeyes moved to 8-0 thanks a collection of impressive performances by their top players, including defensive end Chase Young who tied a school record with four sacks and five tackles for loss. J.K. Dobbins also rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Olave registered a pair of touchdown catches.
“In all honesty, I think we could have put up 50,” Fields said. “I think if the weather was different I think we could have thrown the ball more and put up more points.”
It’s difficult to believe the Buckeyes could be playing at higher level than they are now. They totaled 431 yards against a Wisconsin team that was giving up an average of 193 yards per games.
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The Buckeyes haven’t scored fewer than 34 points in a game this season, and their slimmest margin of victory is 24 points. Their personnel are the envy of most of the teams in the country.
“J.K. ran with an edge all day,” Day said. “I think he’s the best running back in the country.”
After surpassing 1,000 yards in the season, Dobbins is now the first running back in Ohio State history to reach that mark in each of his first three seasons. He’s a hard-nosed runner, with the quickness to bounce outside and the moves to elude tacklers.
Ohio State players teased Dobbins in practice this week because Wisconsin boasted Jonathan Taylor who was leading Dobbins by 10 yards in the Big Ten rushing statistics.
“We were messing with J.K. the whole week about the best Big Ten running back is coming to the Shoe,” Fields said.
Dobbins responded by averaging 8.1 yards per carry. Taylor had 61 on the ground with a 2.6 yards per carry average. The Buckeyes are 15-0 when Dobbins rushes for 100 or more yards.
Meanwhile, Young played like he super powers powers against Wisconsin. He now has 13.5 sacks this season and 15.5 tackles for losses.
"The best I’ve been around,” Day said. “I had a chance to see Nick Bosa last year and I coached in the NFL and saw some really good players."
Fields sees Young in practice and he says he “feels bad” for the quarterbacks who have to face him. “He can get back there pretty much whenever he wants,” Fields said.
Young is projected to be a top pick in the 2020 NFL draft. As a former quarterback, Day said he can imagine how difficult it is to face young charging toward the pocket.
“You start to feel ghosts and see ghosts, especially when he’s on your backside,” Day said. “Are you getting the ball quick enough? The other part if a lot of times they have to put an extra guy in protection. If they go seven men on protection, only three guys on the route. So his impact is felt throughout the game schematically.”
The Buckeyes seem to have so many talented players that it is challenging to scheme against all of them.
“We have so many weapons on the offense and defense, but there’s only one ball that goes around,” Olave said. “I had the big game today, but maybe in two weeks it could be K.J. Hill and won’t have any catches. We try to be unselfish about it.”
Day said the strong performance in rainy conditions showed “how tough and gritty we can play.”
He added that it shows “we have the capability to play with anybody in the country.
Fields was knocked around often by the rugged Badgers defense. "It may not show it statistically, but he had as gritty of a game as anybody on our team," Day said.
It didn’t go unnoticed that the Buckeyes’ impressive performance came with former Ohio State coaching legend Urban Meyer in the house, working as a television analyst. He interviewed Day after the game.
"Boy, it’s hard to follow up a guy who is one of the best college football coaches in the history of the game,” Day said. “It just is.”
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