UNIVERSITY PARK — Memo to teams playing football against Penn State: You are going to need at least 40.
And if you’ve built a 21-point lead and already put up 28 of those points by halftime, you are still not safe.
That last part was especially intended for the Wisconsin Badgers, who apparently did not receive the memo.
Or, they did get it and were well aware of Penn State’s prolific second half successes and tried to prepare accordingly.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
Trace McSorley led the Nittany Lions back from a three-touchdown deficit by throwing for 384 yards and four touchdowns in Penn State’s electric 38-31 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 3.
McSorley threw two touchdown passes to Saeed Blacknall of 70 and 40 yards, one to Mike Gesicki of 33 yards, and an 18-yarder to Saquon Barkley as the Lions took their fourth Big Ten championship overall and first since 2008, outscoring the Badgers 24-3 in the second half.
Barkley, who ran for 83 yards on 19 carries in the game, added a score on a 1-yard run and Tyler Davis kicked a 24-yard field goal for a Penn State team that won its ninth game in a row and moved its record to 11-2.
In that nine-game stretch, the Nittany Lions outscored their opponents 361-173 while McSorley was setting single-season passing records in yards (3,380) and touchdowns (25). Beside his two touchdowns, Barkley upped his season rushing total to 1,302 yards, and both Blacknall (155 yards receiving, a championship game record) and DaeSean Hamilton (118 yards) had career days receiving against Wisconsin.
In the end, it was a dramatic defensive stop by Grant Haley and Marcus Allen on fourth-down-and-1 that sealed the win for the Nittany Lions.
The victory gave Penn State its sixth 11-win season since it joined the Big Ten, and it was a record fourth time this year the Lions came from a double-digit deficit to win the game.
“I don’t like the fact that we don’t get started as quickly as I think we can,” Penn State coach James Franklin said, “but I do like the fact that I’m able to come in at halftime and say to our guys that we’re a second-half team.
“I think the last eight games of the year we averaged 27 points in the second half and only gave up six. So after telling the guys that and talking to the guys in the locker room, I felt like we left the locker room really confident.
“We’ve been in that situation a number of times and handled it well. And like I’ve said to the players: These guys, they believe in each other. I think they believe in us. We’ve got great chemistry. We’ve got really good relationships. We care about one another in the locker room.
“When you have that you can do a lot of really, really good things.”
Penn State’s victory put the national playoff committee in a difficult position. The stated criteria for choosing the four playoff teams is, first, to have the “best” four teams in the country be included.
But the committee was also supposed to heavily weigh conference champions and head-to-head winners in its deliberations.
Penn State had two losses, to Pitt and Michigan, but its last loss was on Sept. 24.
Since then the Lions ran the table, including beating No. 2 Ohio State, 24-21, at home. Penn State was the only team to beat the Buckeyes. After the win, Franklin said that he and his team would be appreciative for whatever bowl game the Lions played in.
“So I think we can make a great case for ourselves (for the playoff),” he said during the post-game press conference. “We’re going to be a part of that conversation. So we’re appreciative and blessed that we’re going to be a part of that conversation.
“But at the end of the day, whatever the powers that be tell us what our future is, we’re going to be really appreciative and we’re going to be really happy.”
Ultimately, the committee decided on Alabama as the No. 1 seed, followed by Clemson, Ohio State, and Washington. The Tide will play Washington in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31 in one semifinal and OSU will match up with Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl in the other.
Penn State was ranked No. 5, missing the playoff by one spot. Don’t feel too bad, though, because the Lions will be heading to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day to take on the Trojans from USC. After a 2-2 start, a close setback to Pitt, and a big loss at Michigan, not many people would have guessed that Penn State would achieve what it did and end up where it has.
Interviewed on the Playoff Selection Show, Franklin said that despite some disappointment in not being in the playoff, his players are still very proud of what they accomplished.
But they’re not done yet, he added. There is still another game to play.
