In recent seasons, there are two venues in which the University of Wisconsin football team has been virtually unbeatable.

At home and at night.

The 18th-ranked Badgers had those powerful allies on their side during their Big Ten Conference showdown with 14th-ranked Ohio State, a particularly good development when your hopes, your dreams and your season are resting on the outcome.

Unfortunately, not even a 7 p.m. start in the friendly confines of Camp Randall Stadium could save the Badgers this time. Even with a raucous home crowd — minus the naughty marching band, of course — and the lights on, the Badgers fell to the Buckeyes 20-17 in a hard-fought, evenly matched game where the last team with the ball won.

UW welcomed the help it received from its surroundings against Ohio State, the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten. The Badgers, who were picked for second, were glad for the emotional boost after blowing a 19-0 halftime lead and losing at Michigan the week before.

The Badgers performed considerably better in the comfort zone of home, too, playing with emotion and effort. Still, it wasn't enough for UW, which saw its 16-game winning streak at home and its 11-game winning streak at night snapped simultaneously.

In the end, UW's fate against Ohio State rested less on the logistics of when and where than it did on the Badgers' ability to shore up their season-long weaknesses. An erratic passing game on offense and second-half breakdowns against the run on defense had been a consistent theme for the Badgers since their schedule toughened up with games at Fresno State and Michigan.

The Badgers were better in both areas against the Buckeyes, but they were still not as fundamentally sound and detail-oriented on either side of the ball as they needed to be to beat the three-time defending Big Ten champions.

"There were some things that were very, very positive, but on the same account we're not a good enough football team to survive some basic fundamental miscues ... and different tackling efforts," UW coach Bret Bielema said. "I'm by no means faulting anybody's effort or desire, it's just that we've got to be clean on what we ask those kids to do, otherwise we can't have success."

UW's defense was hard-hitting and opportunistic for the most part. However, it couldn't get off the field on third down — a season-long problem — during Ohio State's game-winning 80-yard drive that ended with heralded freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor finding a huge crease — another season-long problem — and scoring from 11 yards out on an option. The Badgers had contained Pryor up until then, but were confused trying to line up for the play and he scored virtually untouched.

The offense was generally improved, too, after struggling to control the ball with the run against stronger opponents and finding little consistency in the passing game. Some of that was due to the inconsistency of first-year starter Allen Evridge at quarterback and some was due to injuries at tight end and receivers that kept dropping balls.

After appearing to be out of sync with his receivers early, Evridge got into a strong rhythm at times against Ohio State. Tight end Travis Beckum, who missed most of the first four games with a hamstring injury, returned and immediately showed his value by giving UW some of the ball-control passing game it had been missing.