Penn State Breaks Records in Big Ten Win Over Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers gave up a large lead and failed on a late rally to drop a heartbreaker in the Big Ten Championship to Penn St. 38-31.

Penn State continued its second-half wizardry Saturday night, erasing a 21-point deficit on its way to a 38-31 victory against Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title.

Penn State was down 28-7 at one point in the ballgame.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – As Penn State’s band played and Lucas Oil Stadium rocked, thousands of fans clad in their traditional white shirts chanted “We Are Penn State”. It couldn’t even get into the game Penn State won Saturday night.

“I would describe it as our guys would love to have been in the playoff but also excited in the opportunity to play in a big bowl game and continue our season”, coach James Franklin said on Sunday.

“I don’t think you can go past 15 games in college football”, said Swinney, whose did just that last season and lost to Alabama in the national championship game. The Badgers came out strong in the first quarter and set the tone early by scoring 14 unanswered points thanks to scores by Austin Ramesh and Corey Clement. “It’s on you now, committee”. Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt has said the margin between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes the last two weeks was not all that close. That would leave one spot up for grabs, and another Big Ten team that will finish the year without a conference championship, Michigan, is certainly still in the mix. We fans are delighted to give them a week in Southern California as a reward for their great season. Now in closing I am going to turn the question over to you.

It was certainly a moment worth savoring.

McSorley finished 22 of 31 for 384 yards and was named the game’s MVP.

12 – Yards on Wisconsin LB Ryan Connelly’s return of a bad Penn State snap for a second-quarter touchdown, the Badgers’ second fumble return for a score on the season.

If there’s one silver lining for McSorley, it’s that this wasn’t on him. McSorley found Saaed Blacknall for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

“First of all, I want to thank the Penn State nation that has been with us from the beginning until the end”, Franklin said on field after the game.

When Dare Ogunbowale scored on a 7-yard run with just over five minutes left in the first half, Wisconsin held a 28-7 lead and the Nittany Lions were having trouble handling the Badgers’ pass rush and linebackers.

“I thought the kids put it out there and played but obviously, didn’t make enough plays to win the game”, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. It’s taking home the trophy and winning the title. One week earlier, Navy rolled up 480 rushing yards in a rout of East Carolina. Mike Gesicki, DaeSean Hamilton, even standout running back Saquon Barkley made jaw-dropping catches as Penn State ran Wisconsin’s vaunted defense right off the field.

Franklin arrived at Penn State in 2014 and took over a program heavily sanctioned by the NCAA for the university’s role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Despite a head-to-head win against No. 2 Ohio State, the Big Ten title and a run fueled by one of the country’s most explosive offenses, Penn State was ranked fifth by the selection committee.

Two teams finished with 8-1 records this year in the Big Ten: Ohio State and Penn State.

Wild card: If Oklahoma, now eighth, is especially impressive against Oklahoma State in a de facto Big 12 title game Saturday in Norman and the Big Ten title game is a slog maybe — just maybe — the committee goes a different direction. Will it be enough? With a defense like the Badgers have and the wins they have totaled, Wisconsin has a case to be in the top four.

If that happens, it costs the Tide a short trip to Atlanta for the semifinal and instead sends Alabama to Arizona.