Inside Ohio State's defensive adjustments at halftime

MADISON, Wis. — It took Ohio State’s defense quite some time to figure out how to stop Wisconsin’s surprisingly potent offense. Those jet sweeps, in particular, were proving problematic.

By the half, Wisconsin had accumulated 313 total yards — this, an offense that had averaged 360 yards of offense a game entering Saturday. Head coach Urban Meyer went into the locker room “ready to tear into people,” he admitted after the game, but then he saw “a bunch of professionals going about their business.”

That included his defensive coaches, and the players, too.

Part of the struggle on that side of the ball was in preparation and the kind of game plan Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst had orchestrated — which included jet sweeps for big chunks of yardage.

“We prepared for a power team,” defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones said. “When they put a little finesse, I will say, it kind of threw us off. The guy getting the ball was fast, was quick. Most of the times, he ran right past me. I didn’t see him. …

“What they gave us on film was totally different than what they gave us out here,” Jones said. “On film, we saw a power team, a big, strong team. We saw more of a pro-style offense. Out here, they gave us more of a different look. On film, I saw a lot of double teams. In this game, I saw very few double teams. They switched things up on us. We just weren’t expecting that.”

Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said that, as a whole, Wisconsin runs a lot better and faster than people think. He credited his unit for listening at halftime to adjustments that needed to be made, and executing them in the second half.

The results were immediate. Wisconsin’s three drives in the third quarter resulted a net gain of 11 total yards, two punts and an interception.

And the lasting image of the 30-23 overtime win will be the four-Buckeye sack of Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook on fourth down and the game on the line. That sack kept Ohio State undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the nation.

“This is a growing moment for us,” Fickell said. “We’ll get a lot better because of this. … This does nothing but help us. I don’t think there’s a guy out there who thought he played the best game he could have. But they know they fought together, and they realized they need each other.”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 7