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KEY MATCHUPS P E N N   S T A T E   V S .   W I S C O N S I N | B Y P H I L G R O S Z W H E N P E N N S T A T E H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME 178.7 YPG, 4.5 YPC // WISCONSIN RUN DEFENSE100.8 YPG, 3.3 YPC THE LOWDOWNThe big question regarding Penn State's running game is the health of Saquon Barkley. The Big Ten's second-leading rusher with 1,219 yards and a league-best 15 touchdowns, Barkley was removed from Penn State's game against Michigan State late in the third quarter with what appeared to be an injured right ankle. He said earlier this week that he expects to play against the Badgers, but the coaching staff might not know until the weekend how much of his normal workload he will be able to handle. If he's hindered in any way, the Nittany Lions will turn to backups Andre Robinson, Mark Allen and Miles Sanders. Sanders is the team's fourth-leading rusher behind Barkley and quarterbacks Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens with 184 yards on 25 carries and one rush- ing TD. Wisconsin has the best rushing defense in the Big Ten and will present Penn State with its biggest challenge of the season. The Badgers use an unorthodox 3-4 defensive setup that has produced 67 tackles for loss. Their lead- ing tackler is sophomore ILB T.J. Edwards with 75 total stops, including 8.5 tackles for loss. Senior FS Leo Musso is next with 59 total tackles. Redshirt junior OLB T.J. Watt is fourth with 55 tackles and leads the team with 13 tack- les for loss. FiBeen players have been credited with at least one TFL. // KEY MATCHUP Penn State guards Connor McGovern and Steven Gonzalez will face Edwards and OLB Ryan Connelly, while tackles Ryan Bates and Chasz Wright will try to hold off Watt and fellow OLB Vince Biegel. // EDGE Wisconsin PENN STATE PASSING GAME 251.0 YPG, 16.2 YPC // WISCONSIN PASS DEFENSE 191.3 YPG, 12.0 YPC THE LOWDOWN This will be strength vs. strength. The Nittany Lions rank third in the Big Ten in passing offense, while Wisconsin ranks fiBh in pass defense. The Badgers are particularly adept at forcing turnovers, having totaled 21 interceptions to lead the Football Bowl Subdivision. They'll be challenged by McSorley, whose impressive sopho- more season has included a touchdown-interception ratio of 21-5. His completion rate of 56.3 percent doesn't rank among the league's best, but that's partly because he takes a lot of deep shots, as evidenced by his 2,976 passing yards and his average of 16.2 yards per completion. Chris Godwin is the Lions' leading receiver with 47 catches for 762 yards and nine TDs. TE Mike Gesicki is having a breakout season with 44 catches for 610 yards and three TDs. In addition to ranking second on the team in tackles, Musso leads Wisconsin's secondary with five interceptions. Senior CB Sojourn Shelton is the Badgers' best cover man, ranking second with four picks and leading the team with 11 pass break-ups and 14 passes defended. Junior SS D'Cota Dixon also has four interceptions. Watt leads the Badgers with 9.5 sacks. Wisconsin has 31 sacks to rank third in the Big Ten. // KEY MATCHUP Wright will try to keep Watt out of the backfield, while Godwin will go up against Shelton. // EDGE Penn State PENN STATE PASSING GAME VS. WISCONSIN PASS DEFENSE WISCONSIN RUNNING GAME 201.5 YPG, 4.2 YPC // PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE146.2 YPG, 3.8 YPC THE LOWDOWN The Badgers enter this game with the fourth-best running game in the Big Ten, an attack led by sen- ior RB Corey Clement, who ranks second in the league with an average of 103.6 yards per game. Clement has rushed for 1,130 yards on 271 carries with 13 rushing touchdowns and has topped 100 yards in each of Wisconsin's past six games. Fellow senior Dare Ogunbowale is the Badgers' second-leading rusher with 438 yards and three TDs on 80 carries. In addition, redshirt junior WR Jazz Peavy has been effective running the jet sweep, having to- taled 263 yards on 17 attempts. Penn State ranks seventh in the Big Ten against the run. The Lions' leading tackler is FS Marcus Allen with 90 stops, while OLB Brandon Bell is second with 74, even though he missed four full games with a hamstring injury. SS Malik Golden is Penn State's third-leading tackler with 62 stops. OLB Manny Bowen may be Penn State's best open-field tackler, having totaled 62 stops, including eight tackles for loss. DE Garrett Sickels leads Penn State's defense with 12.5 tackles for loss. As a team, the Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten with 104 TFL. // KEY MATCHUP Wisconsin junior LT Ryan Ramczyk will face Sickels, guards Jon Dietzen and Beau Ben- zschawel will take on Bell and MLB Jason Cabinda. // EDGE Wisconsin WISCONSIN RUNNING GAME VS. PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE WISCONSIN PASSING GAME VS. PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE W H E N W I S C O N S I N H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME VS. WISCONSIN RUN DEFENSE N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 WISCONSIN PASSING GAME 179.6 YPG, 12.5 YPC // PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE200.5 YPG, 9.9 YPC THE LOWDOWNRanked ninth in the Big Ten, the Badgers' passing game has struggled at times this season, with red- shirt freshman Alex Hornibrook and fiBh-year senior Bart Houston sharing the quarterback position. Horni- brook has completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 1,243 yards, with eight TD passes and seven interceptions. Houston has completed 63.9 percent for 912 yards, with five TD passes and three interceptions. During the second half of the regular season, Houston would come on in relief once the game was under way, but he may have to go the

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