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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Ron Dayne finally erupted against one of the Big Ten Conference's elite teams. Dayne rushed for 161 yards and tied a career high with four touchdowns, all in the second half, as unranked Wisconsin erupted for 42 unanswered points en route to a surprising 42-17 victory over No. 9 Ohio State. Coming off back-to-back losses, the Badgers (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) came out flat, falling behind 17-0 less than five minutes into the second quarter. But the Badgers awakened in time to perhaps save their season, scoring on their last eight possessions. "We challenged the guys to stiffen up," Badgers coach Barry Alvarez said. "The kids made plays and kept the ball away from Ohio State." Ohio State suffered its worst loss since a 63-14 pounding at Penn State on October 29, 1994 and its worst home setback since falling to Purdue, 41-6, on October 14, 1967. "This was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking. I am not a happy camper," Buckeyes coach John Cooper said. "I am embarrassed as to the way we played in the second half. We did not do anything right today. They kept the ball away from us in the second half, we could not stop them in the second half." Wisconsin won for just the third time at Ohio Stadium, cutting Ohio State's lead in the all-time series to 48-14-5. After pulling within 17-6 at the intermission, the Badgers put together six scoring drives in the second half, outscoring the Buckeyes, 36-0. Dayne continued his pattern of struggling against the top teams by rushing for just 88 yards in last week's 21-16 loss to No. 5 Michigan, including zero yards in the second half. But he made up for it with touchdown runs of three, 10, one and two yards and nearly added a fifth score as his 46-yard run set up Eddie Faulkner's one-yard TD plunge late in the fourth quarter. But the 27th 100-yard rushing game in Dayne's career propeled him into fourth place on the all-time list with 5,336 yards, ahead of Georgia's Herschel Walker. Michael Wiley's one-yard TD run and Steve Bellisari's 40-yard TD pass to Reggie Germany helped the Buckeyes grab a 17-0 lead before Vitaly Pisetsky kicked field goals of 40 and 25 yards to bring the Badgers within 17-6 by the intermission. Pisetsky's 25-yard kick capped a 17-play, 78-yard drive with only four seconds remaining in the half and turned the momentum in Wisconsin's favor. Wisconsin caught a huge break to start the second half when Bobby Myers recovered a fumble by Michael Wiley at the Ohio State 14 on the kickoff. Backup quarterback Brooks Bollinger ran 11 yards to set up Dayne's three-yard burst. Bollinger started in place of Scott Kavanagh, who had swelling in his throwing elbow. "Brooks Bollinger kept the drives alive," Cooper said. "We did not tackle him and he scrambled like Steve Bellisari did to them." After a three-and-out by the Buckeyes, the Badgers marched 44 yards, capped by Dayne's plowing 11-yard run through the middle that gave Wisconsin an 18-17 lead. The Badgers further took the life out of Ohio State with a 16-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 27-yard field goal by Pisetsky 83 seconds into the fourth quarter. Another three-and-out by the Buckeyes led to a 10-play, 65-yard drive, which Dayne ended with a plunge off left guard to make it 28-17. Dayne and Faulkner scored in a 28-second span of the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
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