[media-credit name=’DOUG ZACKER/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Demoralized, humiliated and thoroughly beaten — those were the words to describe the way Saturday's game turned out for Wisconsin. "They just dominated us the whole night," cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu said.

With many questions surrounding how the Badgers would respond following its first loss in more than a year, answers were found out the hard way in the form of a 38-7 loss.

From the outset PSU outplayed UW, forcing a P.J. Hill fumble on the game's first play.

"It was a big turnover and was telling of how the game was going to go," right tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel said. "We tried to create a spark but we just never could."

For a defense that has failed to find consistency, whether it be tackling, reading plays and making plays, or closing running lanes, being forced to make a stop with a short field on its first series of the game was a tall order — one that the defense couldn't fulfill. Despite the unforgiving circumstance, linebacker DeAndre Levy didn't make any excuses for Penn State's opening touchdown.

"We have to do our job regardless," he said. "We can't always depend on the offense to win the game."

The offense didn't do its part either.

By comparison Wisconsin finished with 17 first downs while Penn State had 27. And the Badgers accumulated 331 yards of total offense to the Nittany Lions' 437.

When the offense wasn't turning the ball over — quarterback Tyler Donovan threw two interceptions for the third time in four games, in addition to Hill's fumble — it was being overwhelmed by the Penn State defensive front that put significant amounts of pressure on both Donovan and the running game. Donovan was sacked five times and the ground attack never found room to navigate. All of these mishaps culminated with a 24-7 halftime deficit and a sense of loss — one which ultimately led them to all but give up after the break.

"They had a good defense," freshman wide receiver Kyle Jefferson said. "They were very disciplined; they swarm to the ball — it was never just one person coming to get you — so their defense was on."

Couple that with the UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst's lack of play-calling creativity — the PSU linebackers knew exactly what to expect on several plays — and the Badgers were in for a long night.

"Their linebackers were all over the run plays," Vanden Heuvel said. "I know there was a couple times when they would read plays before they'd even happen. Kraig (Urbik) and I would be communicating the next play and the linebacker would come over and set up right where we didn't want them.

"We just tried the best we could, but they just seemed to have a jump on us."

Wisconsin finished with a barely edible 87 yards on 34 attempts (2.6 yards per carry). On the flipside, Penn State feasted, much in the same manner that Illinois did, on the Badger defense. It averaged nearly five yards per carry en route to a 221-yard day.

Although the Badgers significantly improved their tackling, managing to put some big hits on Nittany Lion ball carriers, gaping holes and well-designed plays shredded the defense.

"I think we tackled pretty well, but it was just misreading and misalignments, and they split us," Levy said.

"The big thing for us defensively is that we've lost the edge of our defense too much," Bielema added. "We had a few mental busts early on with our man coverage where our guys got their eyes off of their man and allowed him to run free."

After Saturday the quest to find answers to season-long problems continues for the Wisconsin defense. Only now the offense is there with them.