Senior Day wanted to end so badly, but Wisconsin was not yet having it as the Badgers’ fate became an undesirable, yet unsealed, one Saturday evening. Penn State took a 31-14 fourth quarter lead, but numerous seniors kept a flickering hope alive for a victory in their final game at Camp Randall. Eventually, Joel Stave’s Hail Mary heave found Nittany Lion safety Ryan Keiser waiting in the end zone, sealing the 31-24 Penn State victory and Wisconsin’s nine-win regular season.

The experienced, senior-laden Badgers were playing their final game at Camp Randall, with the emotions and memories of 4-6 years in the Big Ten culminating at the Madison stadium. They were dashed by a Penn State freshman.

Nittany Lion quarterback Christian Hackenberg diced the Badgers defense through the air for much of the game, piling up 277 yards and three scores through three quarters, building a 24-14 lead before Jump Around.

Senior Day was not going as planned, but optimism had not left the air. “House of Pain “had just played over the loud speakers, and Joel Stave found redshirt senior tight end Jacob Pedersen for a first down in Nittany Lion territory. The next play was headed for senior wide receiver Jared Abbrederis, but Stave’s throw came in a bit too high, grazing the fingertips of a very open Abbrederis and falling into the hands of Penn State corner Trevor Williams.

“It just sailed a little bit,” Stave said. “That can’t happen, not in that situation.”

If hopes weren’t dashed at that point, three plays later it was Hackenberg who — as Wisconsin redshirt senior linebacker Brendan Kelly dove for his ankles — lofted possibly his best throw of the game, a dart to streaking teammate Eugene Lewis for a 59-yard score, beating the coverage of redshirt sophomore quarterback Tanner McEvoy and redshirt junior cornerback Peniel Jean.

It was the third pass of 50-or-more yards by Hackenberg Saturday, the only three times Wisconsin’s defense allowed such a play all season long. Yet with less than 13 minutes remaining and owning a three-score deficit, Wisconsin’s Senior Day wouldn’t end.

The Badgers crept back into the game. A 13-play, 76-yard drive converted one of those scores, followed by a PSU three-and-out. Sophomore kicker Jack Russell’s 48-yard field goal couldn’t have floated another yard left or another yard short, but it was good enough to convert a second score.

Camp Randall was back in the game, and while Senior Day was at one point on life support, the Wisconsin defense forced a 3rd-and-9, trailing 31-24 with more than three minutes to go.

Whoever remained from the 78,064 that attended were at their loudest as Hackenberg took the snap from the shotgun for a draw play, which his running back Zach Zwinak took up the middle — where Wisconsin positioned no down linemen — for 61 yards, all but sealing the victory. Camp Randall’s decibels had been decimated.

“The draw wasn’t a surprise. The draw is a staple of their offense,” head coach Gary Andersen said. “They hit it. They blocked it up and did a tremendous job there. You can’t be in that position with [Penn State coach Bill O’Brien] and think that a draw’s not an option for them. They’re going to be smart and try to run the clock and get the first down.”

It was nonetheless a bold call that worked for O’Brien. Andersen praised him after the game for his own and his team’s preparation. It was O’Brien’s second time facing Wisconsin in his short career as head coach, but the second time his team has escaped the Badgers in a tight game.

“Their coaches on offense — they got us today,” Andersen said.

And though many coaching decisions don’t wield a distinct presence throughout a game, one of them caught Wisconsin far too off guard.

The Badgers were controlling the game late in the second quarter, leading 14-7, when a pass interference call on freshman corner Sojourn Shelton inched them closer to a tie game. Three plays later, Lewis was flanked left near the Wisconsin sideline, and the closest Badger to him was the sprinting Andersen, pleading for a timeout.

He didn’t get it.

Hackenberg took one step from center, turned his shoulders and fired likely the easiest touchdown of his life, a three-yard score he may have been able to do blindfolded.

“That was a play where our staff thought it was a different personnel, so we were geared up in a zero-blitz,” redshirt senior safety Dezmen Southward said. “We took a corner out of the game to get bigger guys in … and that was a complete surprise to everybody.”

The teams headed to halftime knotted at 14s, and the Badgers wouldn’t score for the next 22 minutes as Penn State used a pair of Stave’s three interceptions to keep Wisconsin off the scoreboard and put Hackenberg in good field position.

In the end, many players cited an overall lack of execution that kept Wisconsin, a 24-point favorite, from topping Penn State. The offense that averaged more than 36 points per game this season was held to just 14 through three quarters, while the running back duo of redshirt sophomore Melvin Gordon and senior James White were each held to less than 100 yards rushing for the first time since the September loss to Ohio State.

As Wisconsin held reasonable hopes for a BCS bowl entering the final regular season game, the postseason outlook has changed once again. The loss naturally left a somber mood among the fourth-, fifth- or even sixth-year Badgers exiting the stadium in a loss.

Kelly was one of them. When Senior Day had finally ended, he figured the disappointment seen at Camp Randall prompts a reflection period for the 26 Badgers honored in their final home game Saturday.

“I think we have to take an inventory of ourselves and look at us players and say ‘How can we make our team better’ and get ready for this bowl game.”