Second-ranked Ohio State kept its quest for a College Football Playoff berth on track as the Buckeyes defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 30-23 in an overtime thriller and earned College Football Game of the Week honors from the United States Sports Academy.
In overtime at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc., Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett connected with Noah Brown for a 7-yard touchdown strike to give the Buckeyes a 30-23 lead. On Wisconsin’s overtime possession, the Buckeyes sacked Badger quarterback Alex Hornibrook for an 11-yard loss on fourth-and-goal to secure the win.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) had to come from behind twice against the eighth-ranked Badgers (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten).
Ohio State trailed 16-6 at the half but Barrett’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:52 left in the third quarter pulled the Buckeyes within three points at 16-13. Barrett rushed for another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Buckeyes the lead at 20-16.
Wisconsin regained the lead at 23-20 behind a 4-yard touchdown run from Austin Ramesh. Then, with 3:57 left in regulation, Ohio State’s Tyler Durbin hit his third field goal of the night to tie the score at 23 and send the game to overtime.
Barrett completed 17 of 29 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception and rushed 21 times for 92 yards and two scores. Hornibrook completed 16 of 28 passes for 214 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
A blue ribbon panel of 17 members consisting of former college football coaches and athletic directors and including Academy faculty selects the weekly winner of the Academy’s College Football Game of the Week Award by ballot. The committee is chaired by former U.S. Naval Academy athletic director Jack Lengyel. At the conclusion of the college football season, the panel selects the Academy’s College Football Game of the Year.
The College Football Game of the Year Award is part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport series, a function of the American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA), which was established as “a tribute to the artist and the athlete.”
Each year at the conclusion of the college football season painter Daniel Moore, the ASAMA 2005 Sport Artist of the Year, is commissioned by the Academy to render a painting depicting a memorable and pivotal moment to commemorate the selected College Football Game of the Year. In addition, the Academy contributes $5,000 to the winning university’s scholarship fund.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Academy’s Game of the Year process and compare their selected games of the week to the committee’s selection.
Based in Daphne, Ala., the United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research, and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. For more information about the Academy, call (251) 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu .
Founded in 1984, ASAMA is dedicated to the preservation of sports art, history, and literature. The ASAMA collection is composed of nearly 2,000 works of sport art across a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, assemblages, prints and photographs. The museum is open free to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. For more information, go to www.asama.org.
By Eric Mann
Eric Mann is the Communications Assistant at the United States Sports Academy.