Ohio State notes: Fields, offense overcome slow start on wet day

In the end, neither the rain nor the Badgers could prevent Fields from throwing two touchdown passes and throwing for another score in a 38-7 victory at Ohio Stadium.

“The weather affected us I think more in the first quarter,” Fields said. “We just had to get adjusted to that a little bit, but overall I think we handled it well towards the second quarter and the rest of the game. So that was kind of a big thing coach wanted to focus on: just playing through it because they had to play through it, too.”

» PHOTOS: Buckeyes vs. Badgers

Fields threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave in the final minute of the first half. It was the first touchdown of the game and gave the Buckeyes a 10-0 lead.

Then after Wisconsin responded by scoring a touchdown on its first drive of the second half, Fields answered with a 10-yard touchdown run. Ohio State dominated the rest of the half, scoring touchdowns on four straight possessions. Fields improved to 8-0 as a starter, completing 12 of 22 passes for 167 yards.

Fields has thrown 24 touchdown passes, the eighth-best single-season total in Ohio State history. He has produced 33 touchdowns (passing and rushing), which puts him two ahead of the pace set last season by Dwayne Haskins, who set the school record by being responsible for 54 touchdowns.

“I think the team definitely has more confidence now,” Fields said, “but we can’t get complacent at all. We have to keep working because we know there can be one week where we can slip up, and of course nobody wants that to happen. So we just keep on rolling and just keep on practicing.”

Opposing viewpoint: Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2) has lost back-to-back games for the first time since October 2016 and trails Minnesota (7-0, 4-0) in the Big Ten West. The Badgers play Iowa in in their next game Nov. 9 in Madison, Wis. They face Minnesota in the final week of the regular season Nov. 30 in Minneapolis.

“This group will rally,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. “That part I feel good about that. You’ve got to take all the things this team has gone through in the first eight games, and now we’ve got a bye. How do we approach and take advantage of the opportunities we get here in November. It’s four Big Ten West opponents, all four really big games.”

First score: Ohio State's Blake Haubeil kicked a 49-yard field goal to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead with 6:52 left in the second quarter. It was the second longest of his career. He made a 55-yard field goal against Northwestern.

Local connection: Springfield High School graduate Danny Davis, a junior at Wisconsin, caught one pass for 8 yards. He has 87 catches for 1,012 yards in his career.

Odds and ends: Ohio State has won six straight games against Wisconsin and 10 of the last 11. … Ohio State's K.J. Hill caught one pass for 11 yards. He has at least one catch in 42 straight games. He has 2,001 receiving yards in his career. He's the ninth Buckeye to reach that milestone.