Ohio State Ties Up Wisconsin’s Road to Rose Bowl : Big Ten: Buckeyes control their destiny after blocked field-goal attempt allows them to escape with 14-14 draw.

On Wisconsin? Not now.

Not after Badger Coach Barry Alvarez decided to place his Rose Bowl chances on the left foot of a junior walk-on kicker who had only two career field goals to his name.

Not after the Badger defense gave up a four-play, 99-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of Saturday’s game against No. 3-ranked Ohio State at frosty Camp Randall Stadium.

And not after Wisconsin fumbled away two other scoring opportunities on botched quarterback snaps and ultimately settled for a 14-14 tie.

“We thought we should have won the game,” said Badger cornerback Scott Messenger, who had something to do with the final score. “It actually feels like a loss. We had the game . . . and gave it up.”

Messenger ought to look at the bright side: The tie meant no postgame celebration-gone-mad, such as the one that resulted in an estimated 69 injuries after last week’s victory over Michigan. This time Badger fans were on their best behavior--that is, if you don’t count them pelting the Buckeyes with obscenities or frozen marshmallows stuffed with coins.

Instead of contacting their travel agents regarding Pasadena air fares, the 15th-ranked Badgers returned to their locker room and consulted the nearest Big Ten Conference standings. The news wasn’t good. Only Ohio State (8-1 overall, 5-0-1 in the Big Ten) controls its Rose Bowl destiny. Wisconsin (7-1-1, 4-1-1) could have, but the tie put an end to that.

“You hate to walk away from a game that you have a chance to win and come away with a tie,” Alvarez said. “I thought it was a good football game, but we made some mistakes.”

Alvarez would know. He’s the one who chose to play it safe in the waning seconds. By doing so, he took a gamble that deserves second-guessing.

The situation:

With 3:48 to play and the score tied, 14-14, the Badgers got the ball at their 20-yard line. With surprising ease, they quickly moved to the Ohio State 23. There was 1:13 left--enough time for the Badgers to milk their three timeouts for all they were worth.

But Alvarez had other ideas. With the scoreboard clock ticking away, the Badger coaching staff ordered a first-down fullback run. Mark Montgomery gained two yards.

As the sellout crowd of 77,745 yelled for a timeout to be called, Montgomery was given the ball again. This time he gained six yards.

Wisconsin quarterback Darrell Bevell looked toward the sideline for instructions. He got them: Let the clock run down to seven seconds and then call time.

“I told Brad (Childress, the offensive coordinator) when we were at midfield that I wanted to be smart with it,” Alvarez said. “I wanted to get the ball to the 20-yard line and kick it or tie it.”

That done, walk-on kicker Rick Schnetzky was sent onto the field for a 32- yard attempt. There wasn’t too much pressure on him.

Wisconsin hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1962, which is also the last time the Badgers recorded eight victories in a season. The 10- to 15-m.p.h. winds were in Schnetzky’s face and the temperature had dipped well below the 30 degrees recorded hours earlier at kickoff. For all intents and purposes, Wisconsin’s Pasadena chances would be determined by someone whose name was barely mentioned in the Badger media guide, someone who shared a jersey number with another player.

Introducing Schnetzky, the former soccer player from Mequon, Wisc., who didn’t make his collegiate debut until a month ago against Northwestern.

As expected, Ohio State called a timeout in an attempt to rattle the Wisconsin kicker. Schnetzky returned to the sideline, where Alvarez put an arm around him and gave him a pep talk. Schnetzky didn’t need one.

“I dreamt about it last night,” Schnetzky told Alvarez.

And he did, too. Dreamt about the Buckeye timeout. The snap. The placement. The kick.

What he didn’t dream about was the sight of Ohio State’s Marlon Kerner slipping around the corner and blocking Schnetzky’s kick flush. The Buckeyes recovered the third-down attempt, tried a half-hearted desperation pass and then sprinted to their locker room with the tie and the inside track to the Rose Bowl.

“We’re fortunate to get out of here with a tie,” said Ohio State Coach John Cooper, whose team needs to beat Indiana next week at Columbus and then Michigan at Ann Arbor to clinch an invitation to Pasadena.

The Buckeyes caught three major breaks Saturday: Kerner’s free path to Schnetzky . . . a key injury to Badger free safety Scott Nelson . . . two crucial fumbles by Bevell inside the Ohio State 20.

Nelson, a senior starter who suffered broken ribs in the game, was replaced by Messenger. In Messenger’s place was backup cornerback Donny Brady. Brady recorded a fourth-quarter interception Saturday, but he also watched helplessly as Buckeye receiver Joey Galloway slipped past him twice on the same game-tying drive.

“We noticed (Nelson) coming out,” Cooper said. “If you’re gonna pick on somebody, you’re gonna pick on (Brady).”

So the Buckeyes did. Galloway caught a 47-yarder to move Ohio State to the Wisconsin 37. Brady was supposed to stay deep, but he got greedy and guessed that Galloway might run an out pattern. And it was Brady who was badly beaten on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Bret Powers to Galloway with 3:48 left. “I didn’t play the coverage the way I was supposed to play it,” Brady said. “It killed us.”

There is still hope for the Badgers. Ohio State could stumble. The run for the roses could resume again.

But for now, Wisconsin was left wondering about what might have been.