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How much heartburn can one team and one fan base take?

That's one of the lingering questions from Week 5 for Wisconsin, which dropped another close game Saturday in a 31-24 loss to Ohio State. That's 10 defeats by seven points or less since the start of 2011 for the Badgers, who have done this so much that we're starting to see reruns.

Prime example: Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller's 40-yard touchdown pass to Corey Brown with one second to go in the first half covered the same distance as Miller's game-winning heave in the last half Wisconsin played in the Horseshoe, back in 2011. This time, safety Dezmen Southward was late in providing help against Brown, making an inexcusable mistake by letting a receiver get free in the end zone on the half's final snap.

“It’s basically a play that shouldn’t ever happen,” Southward said afterward.

The Badgers also had two potential Ohio State turnovers negated by penalties, one on a face-mask call that didn't look like a face-mask violation on replay and the other on an illegal punt formation. Kicker Kyle French also missed a 32-yard field goal -- the same distance he was being set up for at Arizona State.

The late-game problems can't really be blamed on the head coach's late-game management. Gary Andersen had his team in position to win at Arizona State until the officials botched the final seconds. On Saturday, he elected to have his team punt on fourth-and-1 from its own 17 with under seven minutes left, while trailing by 14 points. At the time, that looked like a potential mistake. But Wisconsin got the ball right back and scored a touchdown with 2:05 left.

The Badgers then tried a pooch onside kick that Bradley Roby had to knock out of bounds. In retrospect, with all three timeouts remaining, Andersen could have just kicked off and potentially gotten better field position after his defense held for a three-and-out. But it was a totally understandable call to try to get the ball back on the road.

Meanwhile, every decision seems to continue working out for Urban Meyer in his 17-game winning streak. I thought Meyer was a little more conservative than normal on Saturday night. It was very surprising, for instance, to see him not go for it on fourth and 2 from the Wisconsin 45 in the first half, instead trying the lame "Let's-try-to-draw-them-offside" technique before punting. Ohio State also played it safe in the fourth quarter instead of going for the kill shot.

But the Buckeyes -- who scored only seven points in the second half -- again were not burned by any decisions. They have become the anti-Wisconsin, having won six games by seven or fewer points since the start of last season.

Badgers fans have to wonder when their heartburn will finally be soothed.

Take that and rewind it back …

Team of the week: Ohio State. The Buckeyes got their first major challenge of the season and pulled through in a tough game against Wisconsin. The environment in the Horseshoe was electric from start to finish and included a visit from LeBron James and this amazing halftime show by TBDBITL (try not to be impressed by the formation around the 4:30 mark). Seventeen in a row and counting.

Worst hangover: Minnesota. The Gophers thought they had made progress in getting ready for the rigors of Big Ten play and that this year's 4-0 start meant more than last year's. Instead, they got manhandled by Iowa in game No. 5 just like last season, leading to questions about what really has changed for this program.

Big Man on Campus (offense): We usually don't single out players from teams who lost for this honor, but the best effort we saw this past weekend came from Wisconsin receiver Jared Abbrederis. Ohio State thought it could slow down the Badgers' only notable receiving threat by putting All-America cornerback Roby on him. Not close. Abbrederis finished with 10 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown. His Twitter handle is @abbrecadabra, and how he keeps getting so open might just be magic.

Big Man on Campus (defense): Iowa linebacker James Morris had an outstanding game against Minnesota, recording eight tackles, a sack and an interception and leading the defensive effort that limited the Gophers to just 165 total yards. "He plays the way I expect him to,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He’s a complete football player. Nobody prepares any harder, works any harder. He does things you would hope anybody would do. And he backs it up every Saturday." Ohio State's Ryan Shazier and Wisconsin's Chris Borland also had standout games, but what else is new in this star-studded linebacker league?

Big Man on Campus (special teams): Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston placed all six of his punts inside the Wisconsin 20-yard line and five of those inside the 10, helping the Buckeyes maintain great field position most of the night. The Badgers managed just three return yards on punts. "Our punt team is solid, and that's probably the star of our special teams," Meyer said.

Fun with numbers (via ESPN Stats & Info): Ohio State’s Miller was 9-for-11 for 107 yards and had three of his four passing touchdowns off play-action Saturday. He has completed more passes off run fakes against Wisconsin (17) in his career than any other opponent. … Meanwhile, Badgers QB Joel Stave threw the ball 25 times without using play-action and completed just 13. It was only the third game in the last four seasons that a Wisconsin quarterback attempted at least 25 passes without a run fake; the Badgers have lost all three of them. … Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase has completed 21 passes that have gone for at least 20 yards. That's tops in the Big Ten and tied for eighth in the nation. … Remember how frustrating it was to watch Iowa continually come up short of the sticks on third down last season? That's not the case this year for the improved Hawkeyes. They're converting on 52.5 percent of their third-down tries, good for 13th best in the country. … Northwestern has scored 83 points off turnovers in four games, the most in the nation. … Purdue's opponents have committed just 12 penalties in five games, second fewest of any team in the FBS. The Boilers' penalty margin is the worst in the country, as they have committed 30 themselves for a minus-18 margin.