Camp Randall Stadium, site of this weekend’s clash between sixth-ranked Ohio State and Wisconsin, has long been a House of Horrors for the Buckeyes.
Dating back to World War II, many a championship-contending team has journeyed to Madison only to come away with their hopes dashed.
With the Buckeyes sporting an unblemished 10-0 record as they travel to Madison, we thought it fitting to relive five of the most maddening defeats ever suffered by Ohio State on Wisconsin’s home turf.
No. 5—1984
Earle Bruce’s Buckeyes were 6-1 and ranked seventh in the nation when visiting the 4-3 Badgers on a rainy day in Madison.
The Buckeyes were averaging more than 31 points per game, so the Badgers elected to run a ball-control offense designed to keep the prolific OSU offense on the sideline.
The plan worked perfectly as Wisconsin ran 20 more plays than Ohio State, earned 25 first downs to OSU’s 14 and rolled up 461 yards of offense on its way to a 16-14 win.
Ironically 203 of those yards came from Columbus Eastmoor running back Marck Harrison, who was making his first start of the season.
Wisconsin led 10-0 at the half, but the Buckeyes closed to 16-14 with 3:04 left before falling.
No. 4—1987
Quite possibly the defeat the greased the skids for Earle Bruce’s departure came in 1987′s trip to Madison.
The 5-2-1 Buckeyes were 18-point favorites over the Badgers, who had lost five consecutive games including a 49-14 shellacking at the hands of a very mediocre Purdue team the week before.
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football
