The Badgers suffered a tough loss to another top-five team in a winnable game on Saturday.
The Wisconsin Badgers dropped a disappointing 28-13 game to the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, falling to 5-3 on the season and 3-2 in the conference.
Wisconsin was coming off a strong three-week stretch, outscoring opponents 117-16 during their win streak, but things came to a halt on Saturday, as the Badgers couldn’t get through in the second half after going into halftime with the lead.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 28-13 loss to Penn State.
Passing game struggles
It was a rough night for Wisconsin’s passing attack, as quarterback Braedyn Locke completed just 22/42 passes for 217 yards and an interception in the loss.
After an early field goal drive, which was set up by an impromptu conversion on a fake punt from Atticus Bertrams, the Badgers troubles started on their second drive.
Facing a 2nd & 9 at their own 40-yard line, Braedyn Locke found Will Pauling coming across the middle with a ton of room ahead of him for a potential 20-yard gain. Instead, the slot wideout dropped the ball, giving Wisconsin a 3rd & Long. The Badgers did convert with Locke extending the play to find Trech Kekahuna, but a holding penalty killed the play and the drive.
With an opportunity to get into Penn State territory with the lead, the Badgers couldn’t capitalize.
On their next offensive drive, the Badgers had some momentum, picking up consecutive first downs. But, that stalled when Trech Kekahuna dropped a bubble screen on a 1st & 10, putting Wisconsin in an unfavorable situation over their next two downs, leading to a punt after Braedyn Locke threw short of the sticks on 3rd & 7. Kekahuna also had a catchable pass earlier in the drive on a tough play where Locke fit a pass in well between defenders up the seam, but the wideout couldn’t come down with it.
The troubles only started from there, as Pauling dropped his second pass coming over the middle yet again on the next drive, missing an opportunity with space ahead of him after a sweet move on his defender on first down. Braedyn Locke missed short on a comeback to C.J. Williams on third down, once again ending the drive.
Wisconsin got on the board on their next drive to end the half, though, putting together a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead into halftime.
Looking ahead to the second half, the turning point came when Braedyn Locke threw an ugly pick-six, looking to hit Tucker Ashcraft. With pressure coming, Locke was trying to lead Ashcraft, but somehow didn’t account for the zone safety who was right there to intercept the pass, leading to Penn State taking the lead. A punt would’ve been a better situation there, but the momentum was flipped and Wisconsin was playing from behind from there on.
Wisconsin got some momentum on their next drive, getting all the way to the Penn State 17-yard line on 3rd & 9. However, the Badgers designed up a play for Locke to find Vinny Anthony on a two-yard slant, with the ball thrown well short of the sticks and the Nittany Lions preparing well for it, forcing a field goal.
That field goal was matched by a Penn State touchdown, putting Wisconsin in a tough situation with 10:01 left in the game down eight. Facing a 3rd & 7, Penn State defensive end Amin Vanover hit a sweet spin move on Riley Mahlman, leading to a rushed and errant throw from Braedyn Locke, forcing the punt that ultimately sealed the game for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State scored another touchdown on their next drive, leading to a 28-13 game on a day full of missed opportunities for the Badgers.
They had their chances, but the passing game had a brutal day, mixed with five drops and a number of missed throws from Braedyn Locke, including a costly pick-six. Locke also faced more pressure than he had in recent weeks, as Penn State’s front looked to make him uncomfortable with simulated pressures up the middle to take away the quarterback’s most favorable throwing lanes.
When you look at it, Wisconsin wanted to beat Penn State in their base package, leading to a number of first down throws. They had the chances there, but missed them, as I outlined in the article.
Now, it’s on to another tough defense with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Run game shut down
The Badgers had been a great run offense over the past few weeks, with Tawee Walker leading the charge. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to fruition on Saturday, with the lead back going for just 59 yards and a score on 22 carries, averaging 2.7 yards per rush.
This was a game in the trenches, and Penn State’s front dominated this battle, as Walker had just 1.02 yards before contact per rush, while having a long of 12 yards.
Without a consistent rushing attack, Wisconsin was backed up constantly, facing an average third-down distance of 8.1 yards, which was too much to overcome when factoring in the passing game struggles.
Wisconsin’s 81 rushing yards were propped up by the fact that punter Atticus Bertrams had a 15-yard rush on the fake, which coincidentally was the Badgers’ longest run of the game.
Darrion Dupree didn’t see much success either, going for just three yards on three carries, as Wisconsin was absolutely shut down on the ground.
On the other hand, Penn State found a way to go for 176 yards and a touchdown on 5.2 yards per carry, not including sacks. Kaytron Allen led the way with 86 yards on 11 carries, but the Badgers were able to limit Nick Singleton enough, with the back going for 49 yards on 12 carries.
It was a day to forget on the ground for the Badgers.
Defense holds up
When a top-three team comes into town, it’s usually a tall task to pull off the upset. But, Wisconsin had an opportunity to really pull away in this one, and that’s because of their defense.
Mike Tressel’s unit was stout in this one for the most part, as they limited Penn State to just one offensive touchdown through the first three quarters.
The Nittany Lions had an efficient aerial attack, throwing for 246 yards and two touchdowns on 25/31 passing. They also had the efficient rushing attack. Still, it only resulted in 21 offensive points, with 14 coming in the final quarter.
Wisconsin forced a turnover on downs on the opening drive for Penn State and later had a stretch of five straight punts from the Nittany Lions before the two touchdown drives sprung off at the end.
The Badgers weren’t really getting much pressure, but they were able to hold up well in the secondary, while the team just made timely enough plays to give the offense chances.
Unfortunately, the effort wasn’t good enough in the end, but the Badgers had their chances on Saturday and a big part of that was due to the defense.