5 things to know about Penn State vs. Wisconsin

“So I mean, everyone’s locked into plays like that and you can make big plays with that, you know, it’s something special”. A win over Penn State doesn’t guarantee a selection, but an 11-2 Badgers team that can boast victories over LSU, Iowa and Nebraska along with narrow losses to Ohio State and MI has a resume that stacks up with the best teams in the nation.

However, the same holds true that a less-than-full strength Barkley could keep Wisconsin honest, especially if he breaks a big run or two early on. Everybody thought that Ohio State would run all over everybody.

Utilizing a big-play offense and a stout defense has put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard and kept opponents off of it. Penn State’s offense is averaging 36.6 points per game, but, if you take out the MI game, the Nittany Lions average 39 points per game. “They have a formula at Wisconsin”, Franklin said. Before the season it was all Iowa, all MI, all Ohio State.

“How long it was going to take us to get to one of these games, I did not have a number on it”, Franklin said.

A big part of the comeback was the passing offense and quarterback Trace McSorley’s ability to break the stingy Wisconsin defense deep.

But it’s been Clement that has been the guy at running back the final stretch of the regular season.

Penn State: RB Saquon Barkley.

Penn State (10-2, No. 7) is the surprise newcomer to championship weekend. So there’s cause for concern.

No matter where they started or how they got here, most of the talk about the Badgers and Nittany Lions revolves around the speculation of where the victor of this game should go. Penn State was thoroughly outplayed for the first 30 minutes of Saturday night’s game. He’s gone 184-327 for 2976 yards. Penn State’s offense is averaging 36.6 points per game. So, even if the Lions beat Wisconsin, too, since MI has already done that, I don’t see the committee all of a sudden jumping PSU over the Wolverines. They’re not going to have to do much of it, though.

You may remember Haley as the man who returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown to get the win over the Buckeyes. I’ve done well this year because I’ve gone more by instincts than logic.

Penn State fans already know that two of the program’s biggest wins over the past decade came against the Badgers. Wisconsin’s defense has been fantastic all season.

“I’m not sure about resumes, what resumes have to do with the Big Ten championship game”, Franklin said. Wisconsin has proven they can be the team that wins the Turnover battle because they have a Secondary that can Do a lot of Damage.

The one thing that could change that would be a blowout win over Wisconsin.

The Game is set.

But the most effusive praise of the day came a bit earlier during a small-group, lobby interview with ESPN analyst David Pollack. Don’t count on it. Wisconsin has faced five 1,000-yard rushers this season, and none even reached 50 yards. They have bounced back to become a Big 10 powerhouse. Wisconsin is also a very solid fundamental football team and I don’t expect them to make many mistakes in this game. But they would need a couple of things to happen.

Clemson was No. 3 in the last committee rankings and Washington was No. 4.

Now the East Division champs must wait to see if the selection committee rewards them with one of the four coveted playoff spots on Sunday.