For most of Saturday afternoon, Penn State looked like a team that was headed for 4-0. Then the game flipped hard.
The 13th-ranked Nittany Lions were in control for about 50 minutes at Beaver Stadium before the final stretch unraveled. Penn State’s offense went nowhere in the fourth quarter, putting up just 52 yards on 18 snaps. On the other side, Wisconsin closed with back-to-back touchdown drives of 75 and 86 yards over the final seven minutes and walked away with a 24-20 win.
A lot of the offensive frustration traces back to the absence of Koby Howard. The wide receiver is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury, and Penn State felt that loss in a big way.
Howard had 12 catches for 344 yards and two receiving touchdowns through the first three games, and he also scored on a 20-yard run against Buffalo. With him sidelined, the Nittany Lions simply didn’t have the same burst in the passing game.
That showed up in the explosive-play numbers, too. Penn State had generated 19 explosive plays over its first three games. Against Wisconsin, the Lions managed just one: a 22-yard catch by Chase Sowell.
The run game offered a different kind of bright spot. James Peoples, the Ohio State transfer, made his case for more work with 67 yards on 14 carries and finished as Penn State’s leading rusher.
He ran with power between the tackles and showed enough speed once he reached the second level of the Wisconsin defense to stand out from the rest of the backfield. With a Friday night trip to Northwestern next up, Peoples looks positioned for a bigger role.
Penn State also got a tough, encouraging effort from two players who were fighting to get on the field. Center Brock Riker and tight end Andrew Rappleyea were listed as game-time decisions on the final availability report after being tagged questionable the day before. Both had already missed most of the Lions’ win over Buffalo, so getting them on the field at all took some work.
Riker and Rappleyea were out there for Penn State’s final possession, which ended at the Wisconsin 33-yard line. Rappleyea was even targeted deep by quarterback Rocco Becht on that drive.
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Penn State Fans Have One Annoying Week 4 Viewing Problem
Week 4 is shaping up as one of the busiest Saturdays of the college football season, with five ranked-on-ranked matchups and three of them coming in the SEC alone. The marquee slate includes No. 1 Texas against No. 14 Tennessee, while No. 24 Mississippi State and No. 19 Missouri give the afternoon even more bite. For Penn State fans trying to keep tabs on the national picture, it is the kind of weekend where the TV remote gets as much work as the game watch party.
The wrinkle is that all of those appealing games come with a maze of streaming options, which is never exactly ideal when the schedule starts overlapping and the stakes climb. Add in names worth tracking beyond the rankings, like Kamario Taylor, who leads the nation in points responsible for, and it becomes one of those weeks where the football is easy to find but not always easy to follow. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces Early Big Ten Test With Key Roles Suddenly Changing
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Those injuries matter because this is the kind of conference opener where role changes can show up quickly, especially on defense and in the passing game. Coaches have already said they will adjust rotations and redistribute responsibilities to cover for the missing pieces, so the focus now is less on what Penn State has done through three games and more on how smoothly it can absorb the change when the schedule tightens up. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Big Ten Opener Suddenly Carries A Major Offensive Question
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If either one is unable to go, Penn State would have to lean on its depth in some key spots. Vaea Ikakoula is among the options at center, while Ben Brahmer and Gabe Burkle are in line to handle more work at tight end. The final word will come two hours before kickoff, leaving the Lions with at least one more nerve-wracking wait before the matchup is fully set. [Read more 🡒]