October 11, 2003
Ohio State at Wisconsin
The 3rd ranked, 5-0 Ohio State Buckeyes with coach Jim Tressel made their first road trip as Belt Champion to Camp Randall Stadium to meet the 23rd ranked, 5-1 Wisconsin Badgers of coach Barry Alvarez. The Buckeyes had shown little offense throughout the season except for a 44-point explosion in a triple overtime games against North Carolina State & it would surely cost them a game at some point. Wisconsin would be the team to take advantage of that when a single mistake by All-Big Ten CB Chris Gamble cost the Buckeyes their Belt Championship in a 17-10 Wisconsin win. In a driving rain storm, Wisconsin held the Buckeyes to 69 yards rushing & 3 of 12 on third down conversions while keeping the Buckeyes out of the end zone until the 4th quarter. The Badgers took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the 2nd quarter when RB Booker Stanley scored on a 2-yard run. Late in the half, Ohio State’s PK Mike Nugent connected on a 24-yard field goal attempt making the score Wisconsin 7 Ohio State 3. Late in the 3rd quarter, the Badgers pushed their lead to 7 points as PK Mike Allen kicked a 38-yard field goal. With 6:09 to play in the game, Buckeyes’ QB Craig Krenzel hit WR Michael Jenkins on a 6-yard touchdown that tied to score at 10-10 & it looked the Ohio State might pull out this game they way they had so many in the past 2 seasons but a single mistake would put Wisconsin in the driver’s seat. Late in the 3rd quarter, Badgers’ QB Jim Sorgi was knocked out of the game when Buckeyes’ LB Robert Reynolds shoved his fingers into his throat causing Sorgi breathing problems. The play was not flagged but it cost Wisconsin their starting quarterback. Back-up QB Matt Schabert had been unable to move the Badgers against the Ohio State defense & after the Buckeyes tied the score at 10-10 it seemed just another three & out by the Ohio State defense would give the Belt holders what they needed for a win. With 5:30 left & Wisconsin facing a 2 & 9 from their own 21-yard line, Schabert dropped to pass as All-Big Ten WR Lee Evans ran an out pattern. As Gamble tried to jump the out route, Evans turned up field & Schabert hit him in stride for his only catch of the day; a 79-yard touchdown giving the Badgers a 17-10 lead. Wisconsin forced the Buckeyes to punt on their last possession & then ran out the clock to claim their second Belt Championship & first since 1981. Krenzel finished with 202 yards passing with a touchdown, an interception, & was sacked 3 times. Sorgi threw for 54 yards with an interception before leaving with the injury, Schabert completed 2 of his 3 pass attempts for 104 yards with a touchdown, & Stanley had 125 yards with a touchdown for the Badgers. The Buckeyes finished the season 11-2; ranked 4th nationally while the Badgers finished 7-6. Ohio State would play for The Belt again in 6 weeks.
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