The last question of Ryan Day’s press conference echoed through the white walls of Wisconsin’s densely packed visitors’ press conference room.
It was about the run game. Day answered with the usual courtesy and clarity of thought he does for the questions posed by the Ohio State media. But at the conclusion of his response, he pivoted sharply to a new subject.
“I will say, we’ve been here for 15 minutes, we really haven’t talked much about the defense, who just shut the team out over there,” Day said. “So let’s talk about the defense real quick.”
Indeed, Ryan, let’s talk about the defense.
It took Wisconsin until the final drive of the game – against Ohio State’s second-teamers – to pass 100 total yards. Those Buckeye backups still stood tall for a fourth-down stop that secured the team’s first road shutout since 2017 in a 34-0 victory. It's the Silver Bullets’ second shutout of the season.
Heading into Ohio State’s second off week of the season with seven games completed, the Buckeyes are allowing 5.86 points per game. No defense has done that since 2000. Through 28 quarters of football, it hasn’t been just the best defense in college football – OSU is on a generational trajectory.
Ohio State is putting on the CLAMPS this season pic.twitter.com/iZ6zCLhvFZ
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) October 18, 2025
“Hats off to the defense again,” Day said. “Another shutout. I hope nobody's getting used to that because that doesn't just happen. This is a lot of hard work that gets put in. Give the defense a ton of credit. Give the staff a bunch of credit. Obviously, our guys on defense played their tails off.”
Ohio State forced a Wisconsin three-and-out on the Badgers’ first possession, then after Luke Fickell’s squad moved the sticks for its first first down of the game on its next drive, the Silver Bullets continued a trend from their performance at Illinois – creating turnovers.
Wisconsin quarterback Hunter Simmons zipped a throw to running back Cade Yacamelli on a second down, but it hit his chest and bounced high into the air. Linebacker Sonny Styles lurked behind the play and sprang on the opportunity, plucking the ball out of the air for his first career interception. It set Ohio State’s offense up at the Wisconsin 43-yard line. The Buckeyes paid it off with a field goal to go up 10-0 in the first quarter.
“Every week, we're trying to get the ball out. We're trying to cause havoc on defense,” defensive end Caden Curry said. “We want to make plays. We want to get good field position for our offense, and kind of just growing that habit now is definitely going to help us later down the road.”
Each of Wisconsin’s next six drives ended in punts, with four of them being three-and-outs. While the Badger offense has been anemic this season, Ohio State’s defense dominated it more thoroughly than any other before. Wisconsin finished with zero points, of course, but also with season lows in total yards (144) and passing yards (49).
Excluding the Badgers’ final drive against the Buckeye backups, they finished with a mere 40 rushing yards at a rate of 1.7 yards per carry. That ground game received a lot of attention from Ohio State’s defensive coaches throughout the week.
“Just watching their film, you see that they are a heavy run team,” Curry said. “They obviously are kind of notorious for the run game. I mean, they've always had great running backs here at Wisconsin. We've always kind of just seen them as a great run team and we wanted to kind of prove a point and stop their run.”
Now, Wisconsin did threaten to score and break the shutout on Ohio State’s final drive, running the ball eight times for 55 yards to more than double their rushing total against the aforementioned Silver Bullet second-stringers. But strong safety Faheem Delane made a tackle for a 1-yard loss on a 3rd-and-4 play.
Rather than attempt a 37-yard field goal to try and prevent the shutout, Fickell kept his offense on the field for 4th-and-5. Pressure arrived from three-technique defensive tackle Eddrick Houston, forcing a rushed throw behind the line of scrimmage by quarterback Danny O’Neil, and cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. put a loud stamp on the Ohio State shutout.
“One of my favorite parts of the game was the way that we ended,” Day said. “And that's when guys are on the sideline, and they want to hold to the shutout, and some of the depth guys are in there and everyone's screaming and yelling because it isn't about the score. It's not about the result. It's about the process. And that's it. The guys are playing for each other, and that's another good sign.”
BOOM.
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) October 18, 2025
Ohio State preserves the shutout with an exclamation point. pic.twitter.com/aHwR2BQ46R
There’s also a level of focus required for a defense playing its third road game in four weeks against an opponent with the most maligned offense in the Big Ten to maintain its standard and dominate so thoroughly. There weren’t particular standouts for the Silver Bullets; Caleb Downs had a team-high six tackles, Arvell Reese, Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. all had a sack, Styles had his pick. But Ohio State played amazing team defense once more and reminded itself that every opponent wants its pound of flesh from the nation’s No. 1 team.
“These teams out here, they're always hungry,” Curry said. “They always want to be the team that beats the number one defense. So you obviously got to always think, ‘It’s about us,’ and we're always trying to get better every week. If you play down to the level of your opponent, you're not going to get better. So, we're always trying to make ourselves improve, and as Coach Day says, we're trying to upgrade every week.”
Through seven weeks, Ohio State’s defense has been generational. It’ll be up to what the Silver Bullets do after their second bye to cement such a lofty legacy.
