Wisconsin at Ohio State: What to know about Saturday night’s game

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

TV/Radio: ABC/1410

Series history: Ohio State leads 61-18-5, and the Buckeyes have won eight in a row against the Badgers after a 4-4 stretch.

Last meeting: Ohio State rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit to beat the Badgers 34-21 in the 2019 Big Ten Championship Game. Justin Fields threw for 299 yards and J.K. Dobbins ran for 172 for the Buckeyes.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 37-4 in three seasons, including 23–1 in the Big Ten. Paul Chryst is 67-24 in eight seasons at Wisconsin and 86-43 overall in 11 seasons as a head coach.

Ohio State notes: Through three games the Buckeyes have allowed half as many points (43) and less than half as many third down conversions (12 vs. 25) as they had through three games last season… Ohio State will wear an alternate uniform (this time all black) for the 33rd time since 2009 on Saturday night. The Buckeyes are 25-7 in those games… Day’s Ohio State teams are 33-0 when scoring at least 30 points but just 4-4 when being held below 30… Ohio State led the nation in total offense last season… Ohio State is 70-28 in night games, including 20-5 at Ohio Stadium… Ohio State leads the nation in red zone offense with a perfect conversion rate.

Wisconsin notes: The Badgers have allowed only 24 points in three games and rank 11th in total defense at 246 yards allowed per game… QB Graham Mertz is completing 71 percent of his passes (44 for 62) for 697 yards and six touchdowns… SO RB Braelon Allen is averaging 110.7 yards per game and SR Chez Mellusi is adding 54.3 yards per game… LB Nick Herbig is tied for fifth in the country with four sacks… Markus Allen, a redshirt freshman receiver from Northmont High School, is one of six Ohio natives on the Wisconsin roster… The Badgers are tied for 10th in the nation with 10 takeaways, and they have an interception in eight straight games… Wisconsin led the nation in total defense last season… The Badgers are 50-17 (.746) in conference play over the last 8 seasons (2014-21), second only to Ohio State (61-5, .938).

Quoted: Chryst on what he learned about his team during nonconference play: “I would hope and want to believe that there is lessons that we experienced in the first three games, that if we can truly learn from them, what things allowed us to be successful, and build on that. And the truth is, time will tell. Do we truly learn those lessons? I appreciate the way they’ve gone through it, but we have certainly not arrived.”

Next week: Ohio State will play Rutgers at home at 3:30 next Saturday afternoon. Wisconsin is set to play host to Illinois.

Prediction: Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 17