MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin had a Ball against visiting Penn State on Saturday — Montee Ball.
Junior Badger running back Montee Ball had 25 carries for 156 yards — with touchdown runs of 1, 2, 9 and 18 yards — to lead Wisconsin to a commanding 45-7 victory over Penn State.
And when Ball didn’t have the ball, quarterback Russell Wilson did. The Badger signal-caller completed 19 of 29 passes for 186 yards, with scoring passes of 4 yards to Nick Toon and 21 yards to Jared Abbrederis.
Wilson also ran seven times for 36 yards, completely befuddling the Penn State defense to the delight of a soggy Camp Randall Stadium crowd.
Wisconsin (10-2, 6-2) earns the Big Ten Conference’s Legends division title and will play Michigan State, the Legends division winner, next Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The winner advances to the Rose Bowl.
It remains to be seen if Penn State (9-3, 6-2) will finish its season with this contest or if they will go to a postseason bowl game.
Acting Penn State athletic director David Joyner said he wants the Nittany Lions to go a bowl game, while interim head coach Tom Bradley – coaching his third game (1-2) since Joe Paterno was fired on Nov. 9 in the wake of the Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal — has repeated the same sentiments.
Ball looked like he was ready for the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
Ball scored on a one-yard run three seconds into the second quarter to give the Badgers a 14-7 lead, then came back to score again on a 2-yarder with just 2:09 in the first half for a 21-7 lead.
In the second half, Ball scored again on a nine-yard run, as the Badgers first capitalized on a fumble by Penn State running back Silas Redd, and later added an 18-yard scoring run.
Ball’s scores give him a total of 34 total for the season, and he now has 18 consecutive games in which he’s scored at least two touchdowns. He needs just six touchdowns to pass Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State (39, 1988) for most TDs in a single season.
Wilson’s touchdown passes were also record-setters. Wilson, a transfer from North Carolina State in his final season of eligibility, has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 37 consecutive games, breaking the NCAA record of Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell.
Penn State committed four turnovers, and Wisconsin converted all four into scores. The first came when Matt McGloin was intercepted by Wisconsin’s Shelton Johnson in the first quarter
The second came late in the second quarter, set up when Wisconsin’s Philip Welch kicked off after the Badgers took a 21-7 lead. Penn State’s Michael Zordich took the short kickoff, ran six yards and fumbled after being hit by Wisconsin’s Conor O’Neil. Six plays and 31 yards later Wilson hit Toon for the 4-yard score and a 28-7 halftime lead.
The third was on Redd’s fumble, which came on Penn State’s first drive of the second half. And the third came in the fourth quarter when PSU’s Drew Astorino fumbled away a Wisconsin punt. Six plays later the Badgers’ Welch kicked a 44-yard field goal for a 45-7 Badger lead.
McGloin completed 9 of 17 passes for 97 yards, with a TD and athe interception. Backup Rob Bolden came on late in the game, completing 2 of 7 for 22 yards. Silas Redd led the Lions with 66 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Amazingly, Penn State scored first.
The Nittany Lions took the lead early in the first quarter, when McGloin hit a wide-open Curtis Drake near the goal line for a 44-yard touchdown. Anthony Fera’s PAT gave the Nittany Lions a 7-0 lead. The score capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive that was an aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on fourth down by Wisconsin.
From the beginning, Penn State’s defensive line was overwhelmed by the I-line of Wisconsin, as Lion tackle Devon Still was hindered by an injured back. The starting Badger offensive line weighs 330, 330, 320, 320 and 315. And the five interior linemen average 6-foot-5 inches tall.
That girth and size allowed Wisconsin to totally control the ball.
In the first half, Wisconsin had more first downs (18-4), third-down conversions (7 of 9 vs. 1 of 5) and total yards (278-11). The Badgers controlled the ball for 21 minutes and 54 minutes, compared to just 8:06 for Penn State.
After the Nittany Lions scored, their offense went dormant. Over their next four drives and 11 plays, they gained just 16 yards. Two of the drives ended in punts, another in McGloin’s interception and the fourth when time ran out in the first half.
Penn State’s offense almost completely came unglued, as evidenced by a two-play sequence in the second quarter when receiver Justin Brown was whistled for an illegal block, tight end Andrew Szczerba was offsides and McGloin drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for spiking the football after the play was whistled dead when Szczerba called for a penalty.
In the first half, McGloin completed 5 of 10 passes for 70 yards, with an interception, while Redd ran six times for 28 yards.
