Travis Beckum was on the field in the first quarter.

Honestly, he was.

But the University of Wisconsin's standout senior tight end didn't see a pass thrown his way on the Badgers' first three series of Saturday night's 20-17 loss to No. 14 Ohio State at Camp Randall Stadium.

It wasn't until the Badgers' fourth drive of the night that senior quarterback Allan Evridge looked Beckum's way, finding him on a slant pattern for 9 yards to convert a third-and-5 from UW's 14-yard line early in the second quarter.

Beckum's playing status has been a hot topic of conversation for much of the season.

He missed the first two games, blowout wins over Akron and Marshall, with a hamstring injury suffered during fall camp.

Beckum returned for the Badgers' road game at Fresno State, catching four passes for 51 yards, but then aggravated the injury during UW's bye week.

He was medically cleared to play last Saturday at Michigan, but didn't enter the game until the Badgers' final two drives and caught two passes for 17 yards.

Beckum then caught what appeared to be a tying 2-point conversion in the waning seconds, but the play was nullified by a flag for ineligible receiver downfield

But Beckum practiced all week for the first time since the start of fall camp, and wasn't limited at all against the Buckeyes

"The hamstring is fine," he said. "… I'm a hundred percent."

After not being involved early, Beckum made four catches for 43 yards during the second quarter. Two of those catches

"It's great having somebody like Travis back," Evridge said. "He's a tremendous athlete and a tremendous competitor and he does a lot of good things for you."

Beckum also was particularly key on third downs. Three of his catches came on third down for UW, which converted just six of 19 third-down tries last week. This week, the Badgers went 8-for-15.

"He's a guy that brings energy," UW coach Bret Bielema said. "These are games that Travis loves to compete in and thought he made a couple great catches today."

Beckum and the offense may get some help next week

That would take some defensive attention away from Beckum, and might help him reclaim what he had hoped would be a banner senior season

"(One of) my goals, when deciding on coming back, (was) to win a Big Ten championship," Beckum said, "and losing these ballgames are kind of making that fade away."