Penn State Football: Nittany Lions shut down Wisconsin

It was a cold and windy day, but Penn State football got back on track at home against Wisconsin

Penn State football has had to deal with some nasty weather over the last two games at Beaver Stadium. After enduring a monsoon two weeks ago against Iowa, the Nittany Linos squared off with the Wisconsin on a day that featured cold temperatures and wind gusts upwards of 40 mph. Penn State embraced the tough conditions and used a balanced attack on offense to put away the Badgers, 22-10.

It was an ominous start for the Nittany Lions, as they took the opening kickoff and saw a promising drive suddenly stall. Wisconsin took over after a punt and used three runs by star running back Jonathan Taylor, including a 71-yard touchdown run to put points on the board first.

Fortunately, Penn State answered back with an eight-play scoring drive that culminated with a pass from Trace McSorley to De’Andre Thompkins. That drive got the Nittany Lions going, as they went on to score 16 unanswered points to lead 16-7 at the half.

In the second half, Penn State had some drives on offense stall, but was able to use field goals by Jake Pinegar to conintue to extend the lead.

McSorley, banged up for the last few weeks, once again left the game with an injury, but eventually returned. He didn’t put up stellar stats, but finished with 160 passing yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t much of a factor in the run game, rushing 11 times for just nine yards.

Penn State’s offense was passed by a huge day from running back Miles Sanders. He surpassed 1,000 yards for the season by rushing 23 times for 159 yards and a score.

While the offense showed a bit of inconsistency, but did enough to win, the defense had a very solid game. Despite the rushing yards, earned by Taylor, the Nittany Lions shut down the rest of the Wisconsin offense.

Taylor finished with 185 of Wisconsin’s 269 total yards. Quarterback Jack Coan was held to just 60 yards passing.

The Nittany Lions racked up five sacks and forced three turnovers by the Badgers.

True freshman linebacker Micah Parsons led the way for the Nittany Lions with seven total tackles. Defensive ends Shareef Miller and Yetur Gross-Matos were unstoppable agaisnt the Badgers. Miller had two sacks and a fumble recovery, while Gross-Matos had a sack, five total tackles, and two for a loss.

Penn State will be back in action next Saturday on the road against Rutgers.