Buckeyes stay calm, bust past Badgers

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With its perfect record hanging in the balance, Ohio State finally decided to play like a No. 1 team.

The Buckeyes' defense stiffened and Chris Wells ran for 3 second-half scores to help Ohio State overcome a third-quarter deficit and beat Wisconsin 38-17 on Saturday.

There were more than a few jittery moments in the second half, however.

"The season was on the line," offensive tackle Kirk Barton said of the mood on the sideline when the Buckeyes trailed by a touchdown late in the third quarter. "We've already had a 1-loss season, last year. We don't want another one. We just kind of looked at each other and said, 'Hey, we don't want to feel like we did last year. We want to win them all if we're going to be remembered around here as a special team.' "

The Buckeyes were No. 1 all last season until they were pounded 41-14 by No. 2 Florida in the Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale, Ariz.

Just like last year, the Buckeyes are off to a 10-0 start (6-0 in the Big Ten).

Wells (21 carries, 169 yards) capped a methodical 80-yard drive by cutting back to his left on a run up the middle for a 31-yard score to tie the game 17-17 late in the third quarter.

"There was no panic on our part," Wells said.

After a punt by Wisconsin (7-3, 3-3) gave the ball back near midfield, Wells did it again on an almost identical run. Slashing up the middle, he cut back to his left and was untouched, again, as he raced 30 yards to the left corner of the end zone for a 24-17 lead.

Then the Badgers imploded. Down by a touchdown with more than 12 minutes left, a miscommunication led to their second fake punt of the game. Punter Ken DeBauche, who completed a pass for 31 yards and a first down to set up a field goal in the first quarter, lost 2 yards when tackled by All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis on fourth-and-3 at the Wisconsin 27.

"My job is to kind of dump people as they come up," said Laurinaitis, who had 19 tackles. "I saw him take off and knew it was a short-yardage kind of situation and I tried to be aggressive and get him down."

Coach Bret Bielema said everybody in the Wisconsin huddle thought it was a punt except DeBauche.

"I didn't get a signal that it was on or off," he said. "So I thought it was still on."