INDIANAPOLIS — Cardale Jones threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns, Ezekiel Elliott ran for a career-high 220 yards and two scores and No. 5 Ohio State made an emphatic statement with a 59-0 rout over No. 13 Wisconsin in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.
Now the Buckeyes (12-1, 8-0 Big Ten, No. 6 AP) must wait to see if they’ve done enough to earn one of the four spots in this year’s inaugural playoff.
Ohio State has won 11 straight, this time with Jones, who started the season No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart. Jones finished 12-of-17 and led the Buckeyes to scores on five of their first six possessions, building a 38-0 halftime lead.
Melvin Gordon ran for 76 yards as the Badgers (10-3, 7-1, No. 11 AP) had a seven-game winning streak snapped. It was Wisconsin’s worst loss since 1979 and its first shutout since 1997.
