COLUMBUS, OHIO - The scene looked familiar.
Holding a 17-10 advantage with 6:53 left to play in the third quarter, the No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers seemed poised to claim their fourth consecutive victory at Ohio Stadium.
After the Buckeyes had controlled the game for much of the first half, all of the momentum was on the Badger sideline.
UW Senior quarterback Tyler Donovan threw touchdown passes to junior tight end Travis Beckum and junior fullback Chris Pressley on UW's first two possessions of the second half.
The defense also did its part, holding Ohio State to a three and out the first time it had the ball in the second half.
It felt good because we were playing well,"" UW sophomore safety Aubrey Pleasant said. ""But we all knew that we had to finish. It doesn't matter if you're up. It matters who's up at the end of the fourth quarter.""
The Badgers did not ""finish"" off the Buckeyes, and in less than a quarter, the UW lead and any thoughts of upsetting the No. 1 team in the country evaporated as Ohio State (6-0 Big Ten, 10-0 overall) scored 28 straight points and cruised to a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin (3-3, 7-3) Saturday.
The loss marked the Badgers' first defeat at the ""Horseshoe"" since 1996.
After the game, senior wide out Paul Hubbard noted how Ohio State elevated its play when the Badgers took the lead.
""They hit it in another gear,"" Hubbard said. ""We kind of stayed in fifth instead of switching to sixth.""
Sophomore tailback Chris ""Beanie"" Wells cued the Ohio State comeback, rushing for touchdowns of 31, 30 and 23 yards in the second half.
Although a leg injury to junior defensive tackle Jason Chapman forced an already thin defensive line into playing more minutes, senior lineman Nick Hayden did not blame fatigue for UW's lack of execution down the stretch.
""We just missed some assignments and didn't do some of our responsibilities and that's what hurt us more than anything else,"" Hayden said.
The Wisconsin defense contained Wells in the first half, holding him to only 26 yards rushing. But Wells would finish with an average of eight yards per carry after running for 143 yards in the second half.
""We had a lot of fire on our side,"" Hayden said. ""We thought we were going to win the game. We just let it slip away from us.""
While OSU gained yards in chunks in the late third and early in the fourth quarter, the UW offense self destructed. After a three and out on its third possession of the half, Wisconsin ended its next drive with a botched fake punt.
Ohio State took advantage of the mistake as junior quarterback Todd Boeckman tossed an eight-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Brian Robiskie.
UW senior quarterback Tyler Donovan and freshman running back Zach Brown fumbled a handoff exchange on the first play of the Badgers' ensuing drive, giving OSU great field position yet again. Another Wisconsin fumble later in the game set up Wells' final touchdown.
All totaled in the Badgers five drives after they took a 17-10 lead, they gained 13 yards in 20 plays.
Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said playing the No. 1 team on the road did not intimidate his team, but also added the Badgers did not make the key plays it needed to at the end of the game.
""I'll give credit to Ohio State,"" Bielema said. ""They persevered and were able to be strong in the fourth quarter which obviously won the game. I think the disappointing thing is if anybody looks at that scoreboard and they didn't see the game, they don't realize how much of a game this was.""
Beckum shines again
This poor finish overshadowed another stellar performance by Beckum. The junior tight end caught nine passes for 140 yards including a diving catch in the back of the end zone to tie the score at 10-10 early in the second half.
""Travis loves to compete,"" Bielema said. ""He thrives in environments like this. He knew Ohio State had a lot of great defensive players and he [took] it as a personal challenge.""
Adding injury to insult
Several Badger players went down with injuries Saturday. Chapman and junior cornerback Allen Langford both sustained leg injuries. Bielema called them ""significant injuries"" but said he would have to wait for the medical reports to come in before he could comment further.
Junior right tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel also appeared to injure his leg and was replaced by sophomore Jack Bscherer in the second half.
Sophomore running back P.J. Hill did not suit up for Saturday's game after injuring his leg against Indiana.
