Ohio State walked into Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, and though it was closer than most might have imagined going in, the Buckeyes still came away with a 24-10 win over the Badgers to move to 8-0 on the season.
Here are our picks from the Buckeye Sports Bulletin staff members for players worthy of receiving Buckeye Leaves.
Patrick Engels: My Buckeye Leaf goes to Marvin Harrison Jr., who once again proved why he is the unquestioned best wide receiver in college football Saturday night against the Badgers. Other than Henderson on the ground, Harrison seemed to be the only thing working for the Buckeyes’ offense. McCord found him on a number of key catches, none more significant than the two touchdowns he corralled in the second and third quarters.
Harrison’s toe-tapping second touchdown was his most impressive, and it completely turned the momentum of the game back in Ohio State’s favor. All in all, he finished with six catches for 123 yards (a 20.5-yard average) and two touchdowns. It was a big-time performance from a big-time player in primetime.
Braden Moles: Ohio State welcomed back cornerback Denzel Burke, but the biggest standout in the secondary was cornerback Jordan Hancock, who started at slot cornerback for the Buckeyes.
He finished with four tackles, a forced fumble and a pivotal 10-yard sack in the second quarter, eventually leading to a Wisconsin field goal. All told, he helped the secondary limited the Badgers’ passing attack to just 165 yards on the evening while quarterback Braedyn Locke completed just 46.2 percent of his passes.
Greg Wilson: TreVeyon Henderson hasn’t played in a game since Sept 23 when the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14, and that five week of rest was extremely useful for him, finishing with 162 yards rushing with a late touchdown to put the game out of reach for the Badgers. He also had four catches and 45 receiving yards.
He started the game off with a 9-yard rush on the first play, foreshadowing what the rest of the game would look like. He was able to break off a few big runs, for 25 yards in the third quarter and 30 yards in the fourth, to go along with his touchdown run of 33 yards with 5:15 left in the game.
Ryan Day said this week that Henderson was going to be a full-go, and with 28 touches total for 207 scrimmage yards, it was obvious that he meant it. Other than the game at Purdue when Dallan Hayden looked pretty good, the backfield has lacked explosiveness and elusiveness, both of which Henderson had in this game consistently.
