Jeff Potrykus

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — A subdued Sojourn Shelton, who has experienced too many close losses during his three-plus seasons at Wisconsin, summarized his team’s plight in one sentence:

“To be where we want to be,” the senior cornerback said after UW’s 30-23 overtime loss to Ohio State, “we’ve got to win out.”

Shelton and his teammates want to return to the Big Ten title game after a one-year hiatus.

A trip to Indianapolis in December likely would give UW (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) a second chance at either the second-ranked Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0) or fourth-ranked Michigan (6-0, 3-0).

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“That is the mentality,” UW linebacker T.J. Watt said. “You always keep faith alive and know we’re going to do our job to get things done.”

UW plays its six West Division foes over the next six weeks.

The next two games, however, are huge.

First No. 10 UW faces host Iowa (5-2, 3-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Hawkeyes escaped Madison last season with a 10-6 victory. A loss Saturday to the Hawkeyes would all but eliminate UW from contention for the division title.

Tailback Corey Clement, who rushed 25 times for a season-high 164 yards, was asked when he would stop perseverating on the loss to the Buckeyes.

“As soon as I leave this room,” he said. “That’s when it ends and we turn the page. Now we look forward to Iowa and to try to win out to get to the Big Ten championship.”

Upon further review: OSU 30, UW 23 (OT)

Iowa has stunning home losses to North Dakota State and Northwestern, struggled to win at Rutgers and Minnesota and Saturday took advantage of Purdue’s porous run defense to rush 365 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-35 victory.

Akrum Wadley rushed 14 times for 170 yards and a touchdown and LeShun Daniels rushed 24 times for 156 yards and two scores to lead the Hawkeyes.

UW has won its last three games at Kinnick Stadium. A victory over Iowa Saturday would set up a showdown on Oct. 29 at Camp Randall Stadium against No. 9 Nebraska (6-0, 3-0).

The Cornhuskers held off host Indiana Saturday, 27-22. They needed a 21-point fourth-quarter outburst in their previous game to rally past Illinois. The Cornhuskers, 1-4 against UW since joining the Big Ten, likely won’t have to hold on late this week. They host Purdue (3-3, 1-2), which has given up 50, 31 and 49 points in its three league games.

Victories over Iowa and Nebraska would set up a stretch of four more winnable games — at Northwestern (3-3, 2-1), home against Illinois (2-4, 1-2), at Purdue and home against Minnesota (4-2, 1-2).

“We’ve got a ton to go forward with,” UW coach Paul Chryst said. “We’re at the halfway point in our season and we’ve got a lot of football ahead of us and some great opportunities.”

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UW’s defense was magnificent at times against the Buckeyes but in the end could not contain quarterback J.T. Barrett, who combined for 318 total yards and three touchdowns.

The offense was explosive — save for the third quarter and overtime. UW managed 11 yards on 11 plays in the third quarter and got nothing on four tries from the Buckeyes’ 4 in overtime.

UW finished with 236 rushing yards and 450 total yards but settled for field goals instead of touchdowns on two second-quarter drives that reached the Buckeyes’ 9- and 4-yard lines.

“It sucks, but we’ve got the 24-hour rule to think about it and let it sink in,” Watt said. “We’re playing a really tough team in Iowa. … There is no time to sulk.”

UW’s two losses have come against teams ranked in the top four of both major polls, by a combined 14 points.

Ohio State 30, UW 23, OT: Missed opportunities costly

Chryst was asked how close UW was to being considered among the elite programs in the country.

“Spend no time trying to think about that,” he said. “What this group wants to be is the best team it can be.

“And all those conversations … this our window. This is this year’s team’s window.

“The objective is to be the best we can be. … I think there is still room for growth and we’ve got to take those steps.”

UW in the polls: The Badgers stayed at No. 10 in the Amway coaches poll Sunday but dropped two spots to No. 10 in the Associated Press media poll, in which Nebraska jumped from No. 10 to No. 8.