Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

MADISON, WI — Close but no cigar.
The No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes rallied from a first half deficit and beat the No. 8-ranked Wisconsin Badgers 30-23 in overtime Saturday night in a Big Ten game.
Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) got the ball first in overtime and quarterback J.T. Barrett hit Noah Brown with a 7-yard touchdown pass for a 30-23 lead.
Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook hit Robert Wheelwright with a 21-yard pass to the 4, but Corey Clement was stopped for no gain twice and Hornibrook threw two incompletions as Ohio State escaped with its 20th straight road win.
Wisconsin (4-2, 1-2) stymied the Buckeyes’ running game in the first half to just 91 yards. Barrett ran eight times for 38 yards and was 6-of-14 passing for 81 yards.
Wisconsin racked up 313 total yards in the first half with 170 coming on the ground. Hornibrook was 9-of-15 for 143 yards and a touchdown and Clement ran 12 times for 110 yards.
But the Buckeyes strong second half left them with 401 total yards and Barrett was 17-of-29 for 226 yards. He ran 21 times for 92 yards.
Wisconsin had only 137 yards in the second half. The Badgers had 236 rushing and 214 passing. Clement ran 25 times for 164 yards and Hornibrook was 16-of-28 with an interception.
The Badgers went 52 yards in seven plays before the drive stalled and forced Andrew Endicott to kick a 46-yard field goal and give Wisconsin a 3-0 lead at the 9:09 mark of the first quarter.
A 7-yard sack by Nick Bosa of Hornibrook killed the drive at the OSU 28.
But the Badgers were able to put together a successful scoring drive with 6:17 left in the first quarter as they drove 95 yards in four plays and took just 1:08 off the clock.
Hornibrook hit Jazz Peavy with a 24-yard touchdown pass and Ohio State was starring at its biggest deficit of the season at 10-0.
The key play in the drive was Clement’s 68-yard run — the longest run allowed by the Ohio State defense this season. The previous longest run was 35 yards against Oklahoma.
Clement moved into 14th place on the Wisconsin all-time rushing list.
Ohio State came right back with its own scoring drive but it only ended in a 25-yard Tyler Durbin field goal.
The Buckeyes sent 67 yards in 11 plays as they bogged down on the Badgers’ 4-yard line.
Ohio State tried to get going again as Barrett completed two clutch passes that saw Parris Campbell make an acrobatic catch for 7 yards to the Wisconsin 43 and then Curtis Samuel gained 25 yards on a third-and-13 to the 28.
But again the drive hit a snag and Durbin came on to kick a 32-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 8:48 left in the half.
Wisconsin answered with another scoring drive as Endicott kicked a 40-yard field goal.
Hornibrook hit Tony Fumagalli with a 30-yard pass to the Ohio State 10-yard line and set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Clement.
However the play was called back on a holding call forcing the Badgers to kick the field goal and a 13-6 lead with 2:52 left in the half.
Wisconsin forced a three-and-out and used a 15-yard run by Peavy and a 15-yard pass to Robert Wheelwright to quickly reach the Ohio State 34.
An 18-yard pass play to Clement got the ball to the 5-yard line. But two incomplete passes and a 1-yard gain by Dare Ogunbowlale left the Badgers with a fourth down and Endicott came on again to kick a 22-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the half and a 16-6 lead.
The Buckeyes problem continued to begin the second half when D’Cota Dixon intercepted a Barrett pass at the Badgers’ 13-yard line to end a scoring threat.
Wisconsin went three-and-out and the Buckeyes were in business at the Badgers’ 47.
Ohio State went the 47 years in 13 plays capped by Barrett’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:52 on the clock and it was 16-13.
The first half Ohio State struggles shifted to Wisconsin as Hornibrook was intercepted by Gareon Conley at the Badgers’ 29.
Faced with a third-and-6 at the 8, Barrett avoided a blitz and ran for the touchdown to give Ohio State its first lead at 20-16 with 14:09 to play.
The lead was short-lived as the Badgers drove 78 yards in 11 plays — eight on the ground — capped by Austin Ramesh 4-yard run on third-and-2 with 7:54 to go and it was 23-20.
It was the first rushing touchdown against the Buckeyes this season.
The scoring continued as the Buckeyes came right back to tie the game on a 31-yard field goal by Durbin at the 4:01 mark. It took Ohio State seven plays to reach the Badgers’ 16 but Barrett gained just 2 yards on a third-and-5.
Wisconsin came back with the possible go-ahead drive by going from its own 25 to the Ohio state 45.
Conley appeared to have intercepted Hornibrook with 1:02 left but the replay overturned the play and Wisconsin was forced to punt and the game went into overtime.
Ohio State    0    6    7    10    7    =    30
Wisconsin    10    6    0    7    0    =    23
First Quarter
Wis — Andrew Endicott 46 field goal 9:09
Wis — Jazz Peavy 24 pass from Alex Hornibrook (Endicott kick) 6:17
OSU — Tyler Durbin 25 field goal 2:50
Second Quarter
OSU — Tyler Durbin 40 field goal 8:48
Wis — Andrew Endicott 32 field goal 2:52
Third Quarter
OSU — J.T. Barrett 1 run (Tyler Durbin kick) 2:52
Fourth Quarter
OSU — J.T. Barrett 8 run (Tyler Durbin kick) 14:09
Wis — Austin Ramesh 4 run (Andrew Endicott kick) 7:54
Overtime
OSU — Noah Brown 7 pass from J.T. Barrett (Tyler Durbin kick)
OSU    Wis
First downs    23    22
Rushes-yards    45-185    46-236
Passing yards    226    214
Total yards    401    450
Cmp-Att-Int    17-29-1    16-28-1
Fumbles-lost    2-0    1-0
Penalties-yards    4-40    4-35
Punts-average    4-53.8    5-35.6
Individual Leaders
RUSHING—Ohio State: Curtis Samuel 12-46, Mike Weber 11-46, J.T. Barrett 21-92 2-TD, Dontre Wilson 1-1; Wisconsin: Corey Clement 25-164, Jazz Peavy 6-70, Dare Ogunbowale 7-23, Austin Ramesh 2-7, Bradrick Shaw 1-5, Alex Hornibrook 5-minus 34.
PASSING—Ohio State: J.T. Barrett 17-29-1 226 TD; Wisconsin: Alex Hornibrook 16-28-1 214 TD.
RECEIVING—Ohio State: Curtis Samuel 6-58, Noah Brown 4-48 TD, Dontre Wilson 1-43, Marcus Baugh 1-29, Parris Campbell 2-18, James Clark 1-12, K.J. Hill 1-10, Terry McLaurin 1-8; Wisconsin: Tony Fumagalli 7-84, Jazz Peavy 4-76 TD, Robert Wheelwright 2-36, Corey Clement 1-19, Dare Ogunbowale 2-0.