Badgers have won three straight at Ohio State, go for fourth today

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No dancing on the O.

After Wisconsin beat Ohio State 24-13 three years ago, a Badgers linebacker danced on the big Block O that straddles the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium, touching off a bunch of pushing, taunting and shoving between the teams.

Buckeyes fans were aghast.

Ohio State has not forgotten. Neither, apparently, has Wisconsin.

"We had a little postgame situation because Dontez (Sanders) felt the need to dance around on the O," said Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema, who was the Badgers' defensive coordinator in '03. "We obviously discourage that behavior.

"Tez called me this (week) and he wanted, I think, 32 tickets. He's now a high school coach in Ohio. So we'll keep Tez away from our guys."

Bielema laughed long and hard. Sanders' action might have angered Ohio State, but it underscores how Wisconsin has owned the Buckeyes on their home turf. The Badgers have won their last three games at the Horseshoe.

Ohio State and Wisconsin meet again Saturday, with the Buckeyes No. 1 in the nation and the Badgers trying to groom themselves for bowl representatives.

Maybe it's because Ohio State has won its last 19 Big Ten games, tying the record. Maybe it's because the Buckeyes haven't had many close games this season. For whatever reason, they've latched onto Sanders' defiant act for motivation and vowed to avenge it.

"My freshman year they came in here, danced on the Block O a little bit, got out with a victory," Ohio State captain and fullback Dionte Johnson said. "You kind of want to get back at them for that."

To put the Badgers' recent domination -- 3-0 in Columbus since 1999 -- into perspective, Minnesota has won three games in Ohio Stadium in the last 67 years. You'd have to go back 60 years to find three Indiana wins, 48 for Iowa, 44 for Penn State and even 14 years for Michigan's last three wins at the old concrete structure on the banks of the Olentangy.

No one knows exactly why the Badgers seem to have the Buckeyes' number at home.

"A good team is a nemesis," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "It's tough to beat good teams."

-- In 1999, Ohio State led 17-0 and then watched as Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne rumbled for four second-half touchdowns in the Badgers' stunning 42-17 upset of the 12th-ranked Buckeyes.

"Guys, it's been a long time since we've been physically whipped like that in a game," Ohio State coach John Cooper said back then.

-- In 2001, Wisconsin spotted No. 21 Ohio State a 17-0 lead again, and then came back to win 20-17 on Mark Neuser's 33-yard field goal with 2:13 remaining.

-- Finally in 2004, the 18th-ranked Buckeyes held a 10-0 lead and appeared headed for their 19th straight home victory before Anthony Davis slashed for 168 yards and a touchdown to lead No. 15 Wisconsin to a 24-13 win.

No opponent has won four in a row at Ohio Stadium since Illinois did it from 1988-94.

This year, the Badgers are coming off wins over Northern Illinois and Indiana by a combined score of 77-6 -- "their best football collectively," Bielema said of his charges.

The big question mark is tailback P.J. Hill, who has rushed for 1,066 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. But he has been hobbled all week by a bruise atop the plate which was surgically put into his broken left leg when he was a freshman two years ago.

If Hill cannot play, the Badgers will go with third-stringer Zach Brown because the backup, Lance Smith, is not permitted to go to road games after a domestic dispute last summer.

The Buckeyes are coming off perhaps their most impressive win of the season, 37-17 at No. 24 Penn State last week. Tressel didn't allow much time to enjoy it.

"In the locker room he made sure that we remembered that we had lost to them (the Badgers) the last three times," linebacker Marcus Freeman said.

Tressel has turned all of the Buckeyes into history majors.

"The facts for this week are that they have beaten us in the past and they have beaten us at home," tight end Rory Nichol said. "Losing is a disgusting thing. No one wants to lose. Just saying that, 'Hey, they've had our number at home' is enough."

Apparently not everyone is dwelling on that, though.

Wisconsin linebacker Jonathan Casillas was asked if the Badgers were psyching themselves out because of how good Ohio State is.

"Oh no, not at all. I mean, they're in the same conference that we are," he said. "I think the last time we played there, we beat them at their house -- I don't even know if that's correct."

Told that the Badgers had actually won the last three trips to Ohio Stadium, he broke up laughing and said, "Oh, there you go then!"