The College Football BeltThe CFB Belt
Belt / 2019 season / Reign #306 · Game 1,556 of 1,643
December 7, 2019 Week 15 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 34–21, at a neutral site over Wisconsin.

Home · Challenger
WisconsinAP No. 10 21
AT
Away · Defending Holder
Ohio StateAP No. 2 34

AP poll, week 15: Ohio State No. 2 at Wisconsin No. 10 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 392 days into reign #306, which began with a win over Michigan State, with 16 defenses already behind it; this was its 17th defense. It was the last defense: Clemson took the belt in the very next belt game, on December 28, 2019.

For Wisconsin this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 3 times before.

It was the 7th of 7 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 5–1; all-time Ohio State leads 6–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's defense proved stifling enough to preserve the belt despite Wisconsin's balanced offensive attack in Madison. The Badgers struck first with Jonathan Taylor's 44-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter, but Ohio State responded methodically, with Justin Fields orchestrating scoring drives that put the Buckeyes ahead. Wisconsin kept pace through the first half, with Jack Coan punching in a 1-yard score, but Ohio State's air attack took over in the second half as Fields found Jeremy Ruckert for a touchdown and later K.J. Hill twice to pull away. Though Wisconsin mounted a late drive reaching Ohio State's 10-yard line with 15 seconds left, it came too late as Ohio State's 34-21 victory kept the belt around Columbus.

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score
 WisconsinOhio State
Total yards432492
Rushing yards200172
Passing yards232320
First downs2328
3rd down conv.7/156/14
Turnovers01
Penalties–yards4–414–40
Time of possession28:1431:46

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play
WhenTeamYardsPlay
Q1 12:57Wisconsin+44 ydJonathan Taylor 44 Yd Run (Zach Hintze Kick)
Q1 14:57Wisconsin+27 ydJack Coan pass complete to Quintez Cephus for 27 yds to the Wisc 44 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:28Ohio State+34 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Austin Mack for 34 yds to the Wisc 44 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:41Wisconsin+14 ydJack Coan 14 Yd Run (Zach Hintze Kick)
Q2 7:03Ohio State+24 ydJ.K. Dobbins run for 24 yds to the Wisc 8 for a 1ST down
Q2 6:05Ohio State+3 ydJustin Fields run for 3 yds to the Wisc 4 Justin Fields fumbled, forced by Isaiahh Loudermilk, recovered by Wisc Matt Henningsen
Q2 7:36Ohio State+21 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 21 yds to the Wisc 32 for a 1ST down
Q2 8:04Ohio State+21 ydDrue Chrisman pass complete to Luke Farrell for 21 yds to the OhSt 47 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:42Ohio State+2 ydJ.K. Dobbins 2 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q2 1:38Ohio State+27 ydJustin Fields pass complete to K.J. Hill for 27 yds to the Wisc 3 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:10Wisconsin+1 ydJack Coan 1 Yd Run (Zach Hintze Kick)
Q2 0:23Wisconsin+24 ydJack Coan pass complete to Quintez Cephus for 24 yds to the OhSt 1 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:41Wisconsin+45 ydJonathan Taylor run for 45 yds to the OhSt 30 for a 1ST down
Q3 14:18Ohio State+50 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 50 yds to the Wisc 22 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:21Ohio State+16 ydJeremy Ruckert 16 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q3 11:56Wisconsin-4 ydAnthony Lotti run for a loss of 4 yards to the Wisc 16 Anthony Lotti fumbled, recovered by Wisc Anthony Lotti
Q3 10:45Ohio State+27 ydBlake Haubeil 27 Yd Field Goal
Q3 5:36Wisconsin+48 ydZach Hintze 48 yd FG MISSED
Q3 10:08Wisconsin+26 ydJack Coan pass complete to Danny Davis III for 11 yds to the WISCONSIN 48 for a 1ST down OHIO ST Penalty, Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Damon Arnette) to the OhSt 33 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:23Ohio State+16 ydK.J. Hill 16 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q4 13:34Ohio State+28 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 28 yds to the Wisc 34 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:09Ohio State+13 ydK.J. Hill 13 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q4 4:39Ohio State+24 ydBlake Haubeil 24 Yd Field Goal
Q4 0:15Wisconsin+24 ydJack Coan pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 24 yds to the OhSt 10 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Wisconsin

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINT
Jack Coan17/332327.000
Team0/100.000

Ohio State

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINT
Justin Fields19/312999.630
Drue Chrisman1/12121.000

Rushing

Wisconsin

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Jonathan Taylor201487.4145
Jack Coan8273.4214
Aron Cruickshank11717.0017
Danny Davis III155.005
Kendric Pryor252.504
Garrett Groshek420.503
Anthony Lotti1-4-4.000

Ohio State

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
J.K. Dobbins331725.2124
Justin Fields1210.1011
Team1-1-1.000

Receiving

Wisconsin

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Quintez Cephus712217.4027
Danny Davis III33812.7018
Jake Ferguson23316.5024
Kendric Pryor22211.0019
Garrett Groshek199.009
Jonathan Taylor284.006

Ohio State

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Chris Olave59418.8050
K.J. Hill78311.9227
Binjimen Victor35518.3028
Austin Mack13434.0034
Luke Farrell12121.0021
Garrett Wilson2178.5011
Jeremy Ruckert11616.0116
Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Wisconsin

PlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HURTD
Zack Baun9611000
Jack Sanborn9611000
Reggie Pearson9400000
Faion Hicks6400000
Eric Burrell5400000
Isaiahh Loudermilk5311000
Leo Chenal4300010
Caesar Williams3300000
Donte Burton3200000
Rachad Wildgoose3200100
Garrett Rand3100000
Mike Maskalunas2100000
Collin Wilder2100100
Christian Bell2100000
Matt Henningsen1111000
Keeanu Benton1111000
Tyler Johnson1100000
Seth Currens1100000
Adam Krumholz1100000
Chris Orr1000000
Noah Burks1000000
Madison Cone1000000
Semar Melvin1000000

Ohio State

PlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HURTD
Damon Arnette7700200
Malik Harrison6400100
Chase Young6401.5220
Tuf Borland6200000
Pete Werner5400000
Jeffrey Okudah4400100
Zach Harrison4211000
Jordan Fuller4200000
Jashon Cornell3211000
Cameron Brown3201000
Davon Hamilton3000.5000
Baron Browning2200010
Shaun Wade2201000
Tyreke Smith2101000
Justin Hilliard1100000
Josh Proctor1100000
Tommy Togiai1101000
Jameson Williams1100000
Robert Landers1000000
Tyler Friday0000010

Fumbles

Wisconsin

PlayerFUMLOSTREC
Matt Henningsen001
Anthony Lotti100

Ohio State

PlayerFUMLOSTREC
Justin Fields110

Kick Returns

Wisconsin

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Aron Cruickshank22814.0150

Ohio State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

Wisconsin

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Zach Hintze0/10.003/33

Ohio State

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Blake Haubeil2/2100.0274/410

Punt Returns

Wisconsin

No recorded stats in this category.

Ohio State

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Garrett Wilson111.010

Punting

Wisconsin

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Anthony Lotti416140.30144

Ohio State

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Drue Chrisman28643.01144

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401132983) · This game in the downloadable dataset