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Rapid Reaction: Penn State’s defense slams the door on Wisconsin
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Penn State put last week’s embarrassing 42-7 loss to Michigan in the rearview and focused all of its attention on Wisconsin this week. And for the defense, it paid off tremendously.
The Badgers limped into Happy Valley, battered and bruised from an unrelenting season on the injury front. The Nittany Lions made life even worse, slamming the door on Wisconsin Saturday, particularly in the passing attack. Penn State notched a 22-10 win at Beaver Stadium, thanks to four turnovers and the ability to get off the field on third down.
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor was his usual self, rushing for 185 yards on 20 carries, including a 71-yard sprint to the end zone early in the game to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead. After that, there wasn’t much happening offensively.
Backup quarterback Jack Coan completed just 9-of-20 passes for 60 yards with two interceptions. The Badgers finished the day with just 269 yards of total offense and converted only 4-of-15 third down opportunities.
After giving up that long run to Taylor early in the game, Penn State finished the first quarter with a 10-7 lead and never looked back. But, as usual, the Nittany Lions offense didn’t do itself any favors and kept the Badgers in the ballgame until the very end.
Failing to finish drives, missed field goals and a late turnover allowed Wisconsin to stay alive late. The defense stepped in, though, making up for all those offensive struggles. On the Badgers’ final three possessions, Penn State forced a fumble, got a stop on fourth down and sealed the game with a Nick Scott interception with under a minute to play.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but it was a nice bounce-back performance by the Nittany Lions.
While Penn State will close out the regular season without any significant wins, the goal of hitting the 10-win mark is still attainable. It would need wins over Rutgers and Maryland and a bowl game victory to hit double digits again.
Maybe it’s not what Penn State was hoping for, but it’s still an impressive feat nonetheless.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB