Baggot: Five things to know - Showdown with No. 3 Ohio State
October 26, 2023 | Football
Wisconsin hosts No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday night at Camp Randall
Ohio State entered the 1987 college football season in a good place. The Buckeyes were fresh off winning a share of the Big Ten Conference title and thumping Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. They were ranked fifth in the initial Associated Press poll and had the wherewithal to contend for a national title.
But Ohio State labored to a 6-4-1 record overall, 4-4 in league play and didn’t appear in a bowl game. The Buckeyes knocked off bitter rival Michigan on the road, but one of their conference losses was shocking when held up to the light of history.
Last-place Wisconsin, with first-year coach Don Morton calling the shots, came away with a 26-24 victory at Camp Randall Stadium that represented its only conference win of the season.
To this day, Morton remains the only UW coach in the modern era (since 1946) to experience victory in his first encounter with the Buckeyes.
That’s the club Luke Fickell will attempt to join Saturday night when the Badgers (5-2, 3-1) host third-ranked Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) at 6:30 p.m. at Camp Randall.
Morton spent three seasons in Madison – he was 6-27 overall, 3-21 in the Big Ten – before he was fired and Hall of Famer Barry Alvarez took over in 1990.
Wisconsin is 18-62-5 all-time against the Buckeyes going back to 1913. Alvarez has the most wins in the series with five (1992, ’99, 2001, ’03, ’04) followed by Dave McClain (1981, ’82, ’84, ’85).
Here are five more things to know:
ONE
UW is 17-2 (.895) in games that junior running back Braelon Allen rushes for at least 100 yards. That’s the second-best record among backs that started for the Badgers as true freshmen and have at least one 1,000-yard season on their college resumes. Wisconsin was 17-1 (.944) when James White did it from 2010 to ’13. They were 29-5 (.853) when Ron Dayne did it from 1996 to ’99. They were 26-6 (.813) when Jonathan Taylor did it from 2017 to ’19. One of Allen’s losses came vs. Ohio State in 2022.
TWO
After rallying the Badgers to a 25-21 triumph at Illinois, redshirt freshman Braedyn Locke is now on a short list of UW quarterbacks to make their starting debut with a victory on the road. Since 1968, only Locke, Curt Phillips (2012), Tyler Donovan (2006), Brooks Bollinger (1999) and Anthony Dudley (1977) managed the feat. All did it vs. Big Ten opponents: Phillips (Indiana), Donovan (Iowa), Bollinger (Ohio State) and Dudley (Indiana).
THREE
Fickell, born and raised in Columbus, is trying to become the third Ohio-born UW coach to knock off the Buckeyes. McClain (Upper Sandusky) and Harry Stuhldreher (Massillon) are the others.
FOUR
This is the 28th time the Badgers have faced a top-five club from Ohio State. UW has won four times (1942, ’85, 2003, ’10) and tied once (1993).
FIVE
Wisconsin is 2-2 vs. the Buckeyes in night games at Camp Randall. History tells us it will be a taut affair. The Badgers lost 30-23 in overtime in 2016 and 20-17 in ’08. UW produced a 17-10 triumph in 2003 and a 31-18 victory in 2010.
