Blue White Illustrated

Wisconsin Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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aside from the opening drive, we played really good." The Badgers were shorthanded, as quarterback Alex Hornibrook didn't make the trip due to concussion symp- toms, and Taylor le> in the second half with what appeared to be an ankle injury. With inexperienced sophomore quarter- back Jack Coan running the offense, Wisconsin wasn't able to work the ball downfield quickly late in the fourth quarter when it needed points. Penn State helped the Badgers in that regard by snapping the ball into the leg of Miles Sanders while trying to run out the clock. Wisconsin recovered the fumble at Penn State's 30-yard line, but the de- fense held again, as Nick Scott inter- cepted Coan on fourth-and-goal. The Lions improved to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten and stayed in con- tention for a 10-win season. The Badg- ers, who had gone into the season with College Football Playoff aspirations, fell to 6-4 and 4-3. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • Wisconsin has one of the country's best offensive lines, but it couldn't deal with Yetur Gross-Matos and Shareef Miller. The two defensive ends combined for four tackles for loss and three sacks. Gross-Matos shut down two first-quarter Wisconsin drives – the first by recovering a bobbled snap, the second by stopping Taiwan Deal for a no gain on third-and-2. Not to be outdone, defensive tackle Robert Windsor had two sacks himself. The redshirt junior is a Wisconsin native and was a defensive captain this week. "We knew this game was going to be im- portant to him," Franklin said. "Rob played extremely well today, did some really good things." • Miles Sanders finished with 159 yards on 23 carries and has now surpassed 1,000 yards for the season. A>er spotting the Badgers 79 yards on their very first possession, the Lions nearly came back to outrush them for the game. Wisconsin finished with 209 yards on the ground, while Penn State had 183. "We felt like we would have some op- portunities today in the running game based on our plan," Franklin said. "We were able to take advantage of that. Miles rushing for basically 160 yards and a touchdown was great. It gave our offen- sive line some confidence, and it also helps our line when we're able to beat people up on first and second down." • It's amazing the difference a clean pocket can make. McSorley had time to throw against Wisconsin, which has the fewest sacks in the Big Ten, and was able to complete 19 of 25 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. McSorley did get hit a few times and was knocked out of the game briefly a>er being slammed into the turf from behind in the second quar- ter. The hit aggravated the right knee in- jury that he had initially suffered against Iowa two weeks earlier, but he returned in the second half. "Obviously, he's gotten banged up this year in the second half of the year and he's missed some plays," Franklin said. "But he's been able to come back and play at a pretty high level." • Of Penn State's 19 catches against Wisconsin, 12 were by players with freshman eligibility. K.J. Hamler had five catches for 35 yards to lead the way, while Jahan Dotson had two for 39 yards. Much-anticipated freshman Justin Shorter got in the game briefly and caught one pass for 3 yards. • Penn State's defense had been spend- ing way too much time on the field, as the Lions ranked last in the Big Ten in time of possession going into the game. But against Wisconsin, they controlled the ball for just under 34 minutes. The Lions were 6 of 15 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth down, including a fake punt that kept the chains moving and kept Taylor off the field. Said Franklin, "Obviously, against that opponent, that was important." • Freshman Jake Pinegar continued his upswing with a season-best 49-yard field goal in the first quarter. He finished the game with three makes in five at- tempts, although he did miss a PAT for the first time this season. THE BAD • A>er taking a two-score lead into the final minutes, Penn State gave Wisconsin some opportunities to rally – opportuni- ties that a more offensively proficient op- ponent might have been able to exploit. The Lions could have had a three-score lead, but they had to settle for a 23-yard Pinegar field goal a>er stalling at the Wisconsin 6-yard line. And even that was a fortunate outcome, as Sanders fumbled on first-and-goal. Wisconsin was awarded possession a>er recovering the loose ball, but the ruling on the field was overturned when replays showed that his knee had touched the ground be- fore he lost control. But the biggest miscue was the late fum- SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 11:04 WIS Taylor, J. 71-yard run (Gaglianone, R. kick) 3 plays, 79 yards, TOP 1:27...........................................................7-0 7:41 PSU Thompkins, D. 14-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Pinegar, Jake kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:23.......................................................... 7-7 1:53 PSU Pinegar, Jake 49-yard field goal 9 plays, 21 yards, TOP 3:41......................................................... 7-10 2ND 8:09 PSU Sanders, Miles 1-yard run (Pinegar, Jake kick failed) 7 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:40....................................................... 7-16 3RD 9:45 WIS Gaglianone, R. 28-yard field goal 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:15.................................................... 10-16 4:07 PSU Pinegar, Jake 42-yard field goal 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 5:33................................................... 10-19 4TH 7:23 PSU Pinegar, Jake 23-yard field goal 13 plays, 49 yards, TOP 6:40.................................................. 10-22 N O V E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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