Wisconsin @ Ohio State preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 28, 2013 ) Wisconsin 24, Ohio State 31

After an emotional week that included the death of one player, a season-ending injury to the starting quarterback and a win over its rival, Ohio State must focus on the task at hand. The sixth-ranked Buckeyes try to do just that when they meet No. 11 Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game Saturday in Indianapolis. Cardale Jones starts under center after J.T. Barrett broke an ankle in Ohio State's 42-28 defeat of Michigan, hoping to help his team impress a playoff committee that ranks the Buckeyes fifth.

Wisconsin, which won the Big Ten title game in 2011 and 2012, has been riding Melvin Gordon's incredible run through the course of a seven-game winning streak and is primed to give its star running back plenty of work, despite an ankle issue that popped up in last week's 34-24 triumph over Minnesota. "It's got me on high alert and the only thing I can do is listen to Melvin Gordon, because I know Melvin is going to tell me what his mindset is — and he will be 100 percent ready to roll on Saturday," head coach Gary Andersen told reporters this week. Gordon, who was limited to 74 yards in last season's encounter with Ohio State, first turned heads in the 2012 conference title game, producing 216 yards in a rout of Nebraska.

TV: 8:17 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Wisconsin -4

ABOUT WISCONSIN (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten): Gordon and the Big Ten's top defense gain the bulk of the headlines, but quarterback Joel Stave has quietly picked up his game after sitting out four games to start the season due to throwing issues. Stave, who threw for 2,494 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2013, completed just 48 percent of his passes and had three TDs versus three interceptions through his first four games but has a 66.7 percent completion rate with four TDs and one pick over the last four. "He is seeing the field very, very well," Andersen said after Stave threw for 215 yards and a pair of scores - including the clincher with 4:41 left - against the Golden Gophers.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (11-1, 8-0): Head coach Urban Meyer's lone loss in 25 games as a Big Ten coach came in last season's title game against Michigan State, and his resolve during a tough week has his team pointed in the right direction. "We believe in a very, extremely close team that leans on each other in tough times and someone usually steps up and makes a tremendous play or says something," said Meyer, whose team learned on Sunday that defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge had been found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Meanwhile, Jones - a sophomore who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 250 pounds - gives the Buckeyes plenty of athleticism at quarterback, having averaged 7.8 yards per carry on 43 rushes in his career.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Badgers RB Corey Clement, who has been nursing a shoulder injury, had 89 yards and a score against Minnesota.

2. Buckeyes RB Ezekiel Elliott is averaging 6.8 yards per carry over his last five games and 7.6 in his last two.

3. Ohio State ranks second in the Big Ten in punting with a net average of 40 yards while Wisconsin is 13th at 33 yards.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 28, Ohio State 24