Head of the class

Best wave
As Todd Boeckman kneeled to run out the clock, the crowd in the end zone Ohio Stadium erupted. But it wasn't Boeckman the OSU fans were cheering. They were cheering for the wave Terrelle Pryor had given them.

The nation's No. 1 recruit, a quarterback from Jeannette, Pa., made his official visit to Columbus on Saturday and with the game in hand, he was greeted with a "Terrelle Pryor, Terrelle Pryor" chant from the stands and acknowledged the crowd.

"It was good," Terrelle Pryor said of the reception from the fans.

Not very enlightening, but Terrelle Pryor was certainly taking it all in while surrounded by nine of the 13 oral commitments from Ohio State's class of 2008. As the team sang "Carmen, Ohio" after the win, offensive line recruit Michael Brewster, who has been leading the charge to build the rest of the class, was mouthing the words. Terrelle Pryor shielded his eyes from the sun while trying to read the words to the song on the end zone videoboard, but when the song ended, and all the commits raised their arms for the "O-HI-O," Cincinnati receiver DeVier Posey gave Terrelle Pryor a smile while Terrelle Pryor kept his hands at his sides.

"I had to explain to him what it was," Posey said.

Terrelle Pryor has said several times he doesn't plan to announce his commitment for several months. But he did autograph an Ohio State mini-helmet after the game.

Defensive tackle Willie Mobley from Minnesota also made an official visit Saturday, and said he expects to announce his decision in a couple days.

Best goal
Before the season, Ohio State defensive tackle Vernon Gholston set a personal goal of 15 sacks this season. That would break the OSU record of 13 set by Mike Vrabel in 1995. Gholston made a lot of progress toward that goal against Wisconsin, tying the OSU single-game record held by Bobby Carpenter and Jason Simmons by sack ing Badgers quarterback Tyler Donovan four times.

He now has 10 for the season.

"A dream day would have been about seven," Gholston said. "If I got in the zone, I'd get a sack on every play. For me, it was part of just doing my job."

With Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill side lined, Gholston figured the Badgers would throw more and he'd have a chance to get after it.

"It was just get to the quarterback all you can," he said. "Sometimes I used club moves, sometimes I bull-rushed. Give me some time and I can get pressure, and I just took advantage of the situation."

Best broken tackle
Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum proved to be the matchup nightmare everyone expected, catching nine passes for 140 yards, his sixth career 100-yard game and third of the season. His biggest play was a 46-yard catch-and-run on third-and-16 from midfield that set up the Badgers' go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter.

He caught the ball at the first-down marker, but from there bounced off OSU cornerback Malcolm Jenkins and was off. Jenkins was screaming at himself after the play.

"Especially after a big gain like that," Jenkins said, "I put that drive on my shoulders."

Best reversal
Ohio State forced a fumble on a punt return in the second quarter when David Gilreath was tackled by Shane Lane and James Laurinaitis popped him high to force the ball loose. With just a 7-3 lead, the turnover would have given the Buckeyes great field position to add another score. But a booth review overturned the call, ruling that Gilreath's knee was down on Lane's tackle, which the replayed seemed to clearly show.

The Badgers didn't do anything with the break though, taking a third-down sack on a reverse to force a punt. The Buckeyes then drove 57 yards for a 27-yard Ryan Pretorius field goal to take a 10-3 lead with six seconds left in the half.

Best drive
Wisconsin's six-play, 92-yard drive to start the third quarter tied the game at 10 and was the longest drive allowed by the Ohio State defense this season. It included a 50-yard catch-and-run on a Paul Hubbard crossing route, and it finished with a beautiful 28-yard diving catch in the end zone by Travis Beckum after Tyler Donovan escaped pressure by rolling to his left.

"At times we did things very well," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "Our team played well overall but it was not enough."

- Doug Lesmerises

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