\Those three pass plays were the story of the game,"" UW Head Coach Barry Alvarez stated in the post game interview.
Alvarez was speaking of Ohio State's junior quarterback Craig Krenzel's three strikes to junior wideout Michael Jenkins and sophomore receiver Chris Gamble, in which the Buckeyes got 140 yards and a touchdown, also setting up two more scores on their way to beating the Wisconsin Badgers 19-14 at Camp Randall Saturday.
""We got beat by a very good football team today, in what I thought was a very good football game,"" Alvarez said.
""We played better today than in the past few weeks and we have to build on that."" Alvarez said.
The defense had a good game against Ohio State's run, but could not get the Buckeye passing game under control. On their heels after Ohio State's first drive moved the ball 65 yards in three plays to score, the Badger defense did not have a rhythym the rest of the day.
Ohio State freshman tailback Maurice Clarett was held in check most of the game. Although Clarett did gain 133 yards on the ground, the talented frosh was contained by the defensive line for most of the day.
The Badger D-line was also effective at keeping OSU's quarterback Craig Krenzel under pressure throughout the game.
Krenzel was sacked twice Saturday and pressured in the pocket a number of times. However, the pressure on Krenzel was not enough because, the Badger secondary was picked apart again for deep bombs.
Ohio State's wide receivers Michael Jenkins had five receptions for 114 yards (a 22.8 yard-per-catch-average) and a touchdown, and Chris Gamble had three catches for 65 yards (a 21.7 yard-per-catch-average), giving the Buckeyes 179 of their 204 passing yards for the day.
The play of the day was Krenzel's 45 yard pass to Jenkins on a third and six. Sophomore safety Brett Bell and senior cornerback B.J. Tucker were both right next to Jenkins when he caught the ball, with Bell laying a hit on Jenkins when he caught the ball, but Jenkins held on, and the Buckeyes kept the drive alive and drove for a score.
""We had two guys there,"" defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said. ""Somebody has to make the play.""
The Wisconsin defense never took the ball from the Buckeye offense, the first time all year that the Badgers did not get any turnovers from the defense. The Badger offense gave up an interception and a fumble. The Wisconsin pass was picked off by Ohio State's Gamble who was playing double duty as a cornerback and as a wideout.
""Coach Alvarez said he wanted his team back [and] his defense back,"" junior linebacker Broderick Williams said. ""That was our focus, to get his team [and] his defense back. We just came up short.\
