Saturday, it was about what could have been for the Wisconsin football team. At stake: a perfect 6-0 record, a huge win over a ranked team, national prestige and a big step forward in a tightly packed Big Ten.
It was not to be, however.
Brooks Bollinger and Dwayne Smith led a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but a number of key drops and miscues, combined with 436 yards of Penn State offense, were too much for the Badgers (5-1, 0-1 Big Ten) to overcome as they fell to the Nittany Lions 34-31.
Bollinger completed four passes in a late fourth-quarter drive capped by a 29-yard touchdown toss to Jonathan Orr, and Smith pounded the two-point conversion in to cut the PSU lead to 34-31 with 1:31 remaining.
UW attempted to catch Penn State (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) off-guard with a quick onside kick after the score, kicking the ball while the Wisconsin kick team was still preparing to line up and was milling around Scott Campbell. Campbell’s short kick went directly to Penn State, however, and Zack Mills only had to take a knee three times to wrap up the victory.
“It felt like we were defeated by an excellent football team today,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. “I didn’t feel as though we played particularly well on either side of the ball–made a lot of mistakes. When you make mistakes, it’s hard to win.”
After an uninspiring first half in which they gained only 107 yards and allowed 21 Penn State points, the Badgers looked to be one big Nittany Lion play away from defeat. Mills seemed able to find receivers Bryant and Tony Johnson for 15-yard gains whenever he pleased, and bruising tailback Larry Johnson was a force both on the ground and through the air, piling up 59 rushing yards and catching five passes for 41 yards in the first stanza.
Penn State seemed to have the game well in hand until B.J. Tucker picked off a Mills pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. As Mills dropped back to pass, unchecked linebacker Alex Lewis flew into the backfield, leveling Mills and forcing him to float his pass up high. Tucker stepped in front of tight end Casey Williams and outran E.Z. Smith, and Campbell hit the point after to put Wisconsin up 14-13.
“The receiver who was out there did like a little inside and I had to save him from my area,” Tucker said of his pick. “I don’t think the quarterback saw me, or he wouldn’t have tried to throw one out to the flat. He threw the ball up there kind of soft, and I just broke on it. I thought I was going to trip at first. After that, I didn’t want to look back. I just kept running.”
The interception was a huge boost for the offensively struggling Badgers, but the momentum was short-lived, as Penn State came out with a four-play touchdown drive capped by Larry Johnson’s 24-yard touchdown run on which three Badgers bounced off the rumbling Johnson. Mills again found Johnson for the two-point conversion, spotting PSU a 21-14 lead the Lions carried into the half.
“We got the momentum back when B.J. made a great play,” Jim Leonhard said. “It just never seemed that we could keep the momentum, whatever we did. We’d make a big play, then make a mistake after that.”
More mistakes followed in the second half. After forcing Penn State to punt for only the second time all game with 11:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, Jim Leonhard gave UW good field position at the Penn State 45 after a 13-yard punt return. With the score 28-23, Wisconsin desperately needed a score. Momentum was on the Badgers’ side, but mistakes followed again.
After Darrin Charles dropped a short Bollinger pass on second down, Bollinger threw a bullet to Orr past the first-down sticks, but the ball bounced off Orr’s hands and chest and fell incomplete, forcing a punt. Penn State drove and kicked a field goal that put the Lions up 31-23, and Wisconsin could never catch up.
“I really thought we were in good shape right there. If I’m not mistaken, it was second and eight and we dropped two balls,” Alvarez said. “We had all the momentum. If we were going to have a chance to win the football game, that’s when we had to do it. We’ve been making those plays. That’s what it comes down to; you have to make plays particularly at crunch time. That was huge.”
Despite failing to set the UW all-time record for most wins by a QB, Bollinger looked sharp throwing the football, hitting on 15 of 25 throws for 217 yards, and ran well when called upon, gaining 29 yards on one run. Tailback Anthony Davis struggled again, rushing for only 46 yards on 11 carries, and sat out the fourth quarter after he injured his ankle.
Smith filled in admirably for the injured Davis, piling up 42 yards on only six carries. Orr and Brandon Williams each had a touchdown catch from Bollinger, who also ran for a score.
After much speculation about his possible return, All-American flanker Lee Evans did not play against Penn State. Alvarez stated that Evans’ return was a possibility throughout the week, but some last-minute soreness kept him out of the lineup.
“That decision is made yesterday or today. He practices, he takes a day off. At the end of the week if it’s sore or swollen, he’s not going to play,” Alvarez said. “If he feels good, he’s going to play. I can’t tell you any more. The way he practiced on Tuesday, I thought he was going to play, but he had some soreness and it didn’t go away when he practiced again on Thursday. It didn’t clear up the way we wanted it to, and he didn’t feel comfortable with it, so that was it.”
