Penn State vs. Wisconsin: Highlights, instant reactions to Nittany Lions win

The Penn State Nittany Lions narrowly held on to defeat the Wisconsin Badgers to start off their season on a high note.

Last year, the Penn State Nittany Lions lost their first five games of the season, which was unprecedented in the program’s history. But in 2021, Penn State received its first win in a hurry.

On Saturday, the Nittany Lions defeated the Wisconsin Badgers by the score of 16-10. There was not much to write home about in the first half offensively, but there was much more excitement in the second half. Two interceptions by Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz clinched the victory for Penn State.

3 biggest takeaways from Penn State’s Week 1 victory over Wisconsin

3. Sean Clifford’s huge second half was enough for Penn State

As mentioned earlier, there was not much offense in the first half of the season-opener. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford had his fair share of struggles through the first two quarters, as he completed 7-of-14 pass attempts for a grand total of 41 yards.

But once the second half began, Clifford stepped up in a huge way. On the fourth play of their opening drive of the second half, the redshirt senior connected with wide receiver Jahan Dotson on a 49-yard touchdown pass to give Penn State a 7-0 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Clifford would once again hit Dotson for a huge 42-yard gain, paving the way for a two-yard rushing touchdown by Noah Cain, which just so happened to be the game-winning score.

To finish his day, Clifford completed 18-of-33 pass attempts for 247 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.

2. Graham Mertz red zone issues doomed Wisconsin

It is not an understatement when we say that the Badgers had extremely bad luck when entering the red zone.

The tone was set in the second quarter when Wisconsin hoped to capitalize on a 15-play drive with a field goal. Then, Collin Larsh saw his 25-yard attempt get blocked by Arnold Ebikete. On the following drive, Mertz fumbled the handoff to running back Chez Mellusi on Penn State’s eight-yard line, which was recovered by Nick Tarburton.

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With a little over two minutes remaining in regulation, Mertz threw a pass on fourth-and-goal that was intercepted by Jaquan Brisker to seemingly clinch the win for the Nittany Lions.

1. Penn State’s defense shines against Wisconsin

Perhaps the biggest takeaway of the entire game is that Penn State won thanks in part to their defense. As mentioned earlier, they took advantage of Wisconsin’s struggles inside the red zone, including Brisker’s interception. But they did step up once again when called upon.

On the very final drive of the game, Wisconsin appeared to be on the verge of scoring a game-winning touchdown, as they worked their way downfield. But after being pressured by Penn State’s defense, Mertz had no choice but to throw the ball away, giving him an intentional grounding penalty that left the team with 10-seconds of playing time remaining. 32-yards away from the end zone, Mertz threw a pass that was picked off by Ji’Ayir Brown to end the game.

The Nittany Lions defense tallied 76 total tackles (six for loss), four defended passes, two sacks, two interceptions and two quarterback hurries, per ESPN.

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