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Wisconsin runs through Penn State, 30-23    

State College, PA - The Wisconsin Badgers (5-1, 2-0) running game pounded the ball through the Penn State (2-4, 0-2) mid-section and took advantage of turnovers  to hold off Penn State in a 30-23 Big Ten victory.  Special team plays made a big difference on this day.  Penn State gave Wisconsin great opportunities on turnovers, and the Badgers obligingly took advantage.

     After both teams exchanged fumbles to begin the game on their first possessions, PSU PK Robbie Gould kicked a FG from 35 yards away to give the Lions a brief lead, 3-0.  The Badgers came back immediately with an 80 yard scoring drive as QB Jim Sorgi connected with All-America WR Lee Evans on a 30-yard scoring strike.  The first quarter ended with Wisconsin leading 7-3, but a PSU drive was thriving due to a roughing the kicker call against the Badgers on a PSU punt. 

    A 30-yard pass play from QB Michael Robinson to sure-handed TE Matt Kranchick at the eight set up FB Sean McHugh’s 1-yard TD two plays later.  The snap for the extra point was mishandled during the cold, wet first half, and the Lions led by two, 9-7.  Guest game analyst Steve Ciesla (Montclair State) was expecting snow at the altitude of row 87 on the east side of Beaver Stadium where we sat.  A 55-yard return by Brandon Williams got the Badgers to the PSU 45.  Wisconsin took the lead back on a 46-yard FG by Mike Allen, 10-9.  On the ensuing kickoff, Penn State gave the ball right back to Wisconsin as Brandon White recovered returner Calvin Lowry’s fumble on the State 26.  The Nittany Lion defense toughened up though to force Allen to attempt a 43-yard FG.  The ball bounced off the left upright and PSU took over once again.  With 2:06 remaining in the half, Robbie Gould missed a 48-yard FG attempt on the other end of the field.  PSU forced the Badgers to punt again on their next possession, and this time, Calvin Lowry coughed up the ball a second time on his own 23 with 35 seconds left in the balance of Q2.  On third and eighteen, Sorgi hit Brandon Williams for a 20-yard TD pass to extend the UW lead, 17-9, to end the half.  The wet field conditions forced the host Blue Band and the Alumni Band, at the game for Homecoming festivities, to perform from the stands at halftime, as a grounds crew seemed to replace small divots throughout the playing surface.  The second half would be played under partly sunny skies, but still in colder air felt for the first time on a Saturday afternoon this fall.

     Wisconsin fired the first shot in Q3 as Jim Leonhard fielded a PSU punt, side-stepped some would-be tacklers, and veered to his left for a 65-yard TD jaunt.  The point after was missed, but the Badgers seemed to take command, which sent some of the Penn State “faithful” finding their ways back out into the hilly parking lots to finish tailgating, folding up their tents and heading home.  After a couple of second half series with no yardage gained, however, Penn State’s offense covered 80 yards in two plays the next time they had the ball as Robinson connected with his big TE Matt Kranchick over the middle for a 73-yard TD pass.  Guest game analyst, John Massimilla (PSU), was ecstatic but bewildered why the Lions hadn’t looked for Kranchick more often.  He catches everything in his vicinity and runs well, too.  The coaching staff hopefully noted a major offensive cog to be utilized for the rest of the Lions’ season.

     Wisconsin went into its ball-control mode on the next series as they dominated the Lions up front, opening up critical holes for third string TB Booker Stanley who gained 119 yards on the day including six yards on a TD burst over the goal line to take a 30-16 lead.  More Beaver Stadium seats emptied with over nine minutes left to play!   But they of little faith, failed to see an old dog learn some new tricks as JoePa’s boys went to the no-huddle offense and made it work.  Within 55 seconds, the Lions covered 70 yards on four plays culminating in a 5-yard TD pass from Michael Robinson (379 yards, 2nd best all-time at PSU) to WR Gerald Smith.  With 8:43 left in the game, it seemed that both teams would get more opportunities to score as the difference was now, 30-23, in favor of UW.  Wisconsin dominated the PSU defensive line to open holes and chew up time, while Penn State’s no-huddle kept Wisconsin off-balance for big plays.  Wisconsin fooled everyone including themselves, by throwing three consecutive incompletions on its next series leaving plenty of ticks on the clock.  Penn State’s no huddle worked though getting the Lions to the UW 25 on passes to WR Maurice Humphrey and TE Kranchick.  The usually reliable Robbie Gould, however, missed a 37-yard FG attempt to narrow the gap to four.  Still with 6:12 remaining, there was time for either team to score more.  The teams exchanged punts and with 5:17 remaining, the Badgers effectively ran the ball, converting on several third down attempts while PSU stopped the clock with all three remaining time outs.  The Lions took over at their own 15 with :55 left.  With its final attempt of the day, the Lions got to the Badger 15-yard line on a “Hail Mary” pass as time expired.  The Badgers would leave Beaver Stadium 5-1 and 2-0 in Big Ten play as they head back to Madison next week to host #2 and undefeated Ohio State.  PSU, 0-2 in conference play, goes on the road in Big Ten action for the first time this year when it faces 4-1 Purdue, another legitimate contender for the Big Ten title.  A win over OSU could have the badgers sensing Roses, while a loss to Purdue probably puts SPSU out of any bowl contention for the third time in four years. 

Extra points:    The 9 am vodka tonics were becoming too watered down by the morning showers in State College, so with a noon time start, CFF attended the PSU Homecoming “Tail-great” in the warmer confines of Bryce-Jordan Arena to watch the pre-game prep rally featuring the Blue Band, dance team, twirlers and cheerleaders.  Like the football talent, other “talents” at State College seem to be struggling as well, sorry to say.

     The alumni band was introduced with members standing for the decades they played in.  The last member to stand was from the class of ’43, the only member among a few hundred alumni representing the decade of the 1940s.  Other decades were pretty well dispersed.  The attendants throughout the arena are very friendly and helpful.

    Though the attendance was announced as 107,851 for the homecoming event, there were lots of empty seats, especially in the new section in the south end zone where the most expensive seats have backs and where there is an overhang.  The new, big money fans have a tough time braving the elements evidently to support the team.  What did they expect at Penn State games in the fall?

   John Massimilla, PSU alum, dad, husband and advisory board member of the PSU Mt. Alto branch campus, invited us to a post-game dinner buffet for all the advisory board members from throughout the state at the Agricultural Center near Beaver Stadium.  The food was great and they offered good, live entertainment that included PSU President Graham Spanier playing the washboard along with the band that played rock, blues and popular tunes.  The highlight was a student acappella group called the “Dreamers”, who sang some classics from the ’50 s.  About 16 kids who belong to a musical fraternity, some Blue Band members included, did a nice job.  The group started 15 years ago singing at a State College joint called “Babies”, which has been featured on Visa Card commercials.

GGA Steve Ciesla originally felt a little uncomfortable at the dinner since he’s not a PSU alum, but all anxiety went away when the PSU President arrived with guests from Wisconsin.  The dessert features were ice creams from the popular PSU Creamery that included “Peachy Paterno”.  We had to have that, but wondered if everything is really “peachy” with Paterno now.  JoePa may need some “boilermakers” of another kind before he heads to Purdue next week.

The new extension of Route 220 from the stadium to Route 80 east probably knocked a half hour off our usual trip home Saturday night. On the way home we kept getting and losing signals from various stations with baseball play-off games and college football games.  We got WABC from NYC in loud and clear with Army football versus TCU.  It was funny that even during halftime, they never announced Navy’s win over Air Force, 28-25.  Army lost it 17^th straight game.