Penn State's Defense Outlasts Wisconsin for Memorable 16-10 Victory
Penn State's defense allowed 27.7 points per game in 2020, the highest total under head coach James Franklin and a number the team vowed to correct. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry stressed accountability during the offseason. He got it Saturday against Wisconsin.
Safety Jaquan Brisker, a preseason All-America candidate who left the game three times with what he called cramps, intercepted a Graham Mertz pass at the goal line to Penn State's 16-10 victory over the No. 12 Badgers. The No. 19 Lions won a season-opening game against a ranked opponent for the first time since 1999 and began their climb back from last year's 4-5 record with their fifth consecutive win over Wisconsin.
"Our kids willed it to happen today," Penn State coach James Franklin told reporters in Madison after the game.
The Badgers controlled the game's interior tenor most of the day at Camp Randall, which hosted its first game with fans in nearly two years. They ran 95 plays, held the ball for more than 42 minutes and got 121 yards rushing from first-time starting back Chez Mellusi. But the Badgers struggled to translate that dominance into points. More specifically, the Lions turned away Wisconsin at several key moments.
To start, they forced a first-half field-goal attempt after the Badgers had 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Defensive end Arnold Ebiketie, a Temple transfer who played a huge game, blocked the attempt to keep the game scoreless.
Later, first-time starter Nick Tarburton recovered a fumbled exchange in the red zone between Mertz and Melllusi to stunt another scoring opportunity. And finally in the fourth quarter, Brisker landed the game's biggest defensive play, picking off Mertz for what appeared to be the game-winning play.
Wisconsin went 1 for 4 in the red zone, a statistic that stands out more than its dominance in first downs (29-11), rushing yards (180-50) and time of possession (42:24 to 17:35).
Nevertheless, Penn State came perilously close to re-living the nightmare of its season-opening loss last year to Indiana, when quarterback Michael Penix Jr. led a late touchdown drive to tie the game.
On Wisconsin's final drive, when benefitted from a personal-foul penalty on Penn State, Mertz had an open receiver in the end zone with 30 seconds left. But he overthrew Chimere Dike. Ebiketie followed with a sack, and safety Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted Mertz two plays later to clinch the victory for good.
Meanwhile, after grinding itself into the teeth of Wisconsin's defense for a half, Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich began the second half with a different strategy. He prodded quarterback Sean Clifford (18-33, 247 yards, one TD) to throw outside quickly, generating quick completions to Parker Washington, then loaded up Jahan Dotson downfield.
Penn State coach James Franklin told the Fox Sports crew at halftime that he wanted his offense to take more shots to Dotson, who led the Big Ten in receiving yards in 2020. Wisconsin obliged, blowing a secondary coverage that freed Dotson for a 49-yard touchdown that gave the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Dotson ran behind the Badgers' secondary several times, though Clifford didn't always hit him. The quarterback overthrew Dotson for a sure touchdown in the second half, a throw for which he mentally compensated on the Lions' second touchdown drive.
This time, Clifford made sure of the completion, underthrowing Dotson a bit for a 49-yard reception. That led to running back Noah Cain, mostly engulfed by Wisconsin's line, scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run that gave the Lions a 16-10 lead.
In the second half, the teams finally ended a defensive duel which produced the first scoreless half in a game between ranked teams since LSU-Alabama in 2016, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Wisconsin's defense overwhelmed Penn State, forcing five 3-and-out-series and holding the Lions to one first down.
Badgers linebacker Jack Sanborn compensated for missing teammate Leo Chenal (out because of a positive COVID-19 test) with a pair of tackles for loss. Wisconsin's pass rush and coverage confounded Clifford, who went 7 for 14 and was lucky not to be intercepted in the first quarter.
Penn State's defense, meanwhile, labored through the same scoreless first half by neutralizing Wisconsin in key situations. The Badgers bulled through Penn State on a 15-play series, setting up a 1st-and-goal at the Penn State 2-yard line.
But following a false start and two incompletions in the end zone, Wisconsin settled for a field-goal attempt. Ebiketie, an all-conference end at Temple last season, punctuated his rousing debut by blocking Collin Larsh's 25-yard attempt.
Ebiketie had seven tackles, two for loss. In the first half, he also drilled Mertz on a third-down rush, forcing an incompletion. Ebiketie left the game briefly in the second half but returned, an important development for a Penn State defense that lacks depth at defensive end.
Penn State's weary defense collected another red-zone stop in the second quarter, when defensive end Nick Tarburton recovered a botched handoff exchange at his team's 13-yard line. Despite being on the field for nearly 20 minutes in the first half, Penn State's defense managed an important shutout.
The 0-0 tie was Penn State's first since a noteworthy game. In 2011, Penn State and Illinois went to halftime scoreless. The Lions ultimately won 10-7, delivering the 409th and final victory of coach Joe Paterno's career. Penn State's Board of Trustees fired Paterno 10 days later.
