The stage was set, Penn State and Wisconsin in Indy for nothing less than the Big Ten crown.
Wisconsin got off to a hot start, but was Trace McSorley and the Penn State offense able to answer? The sophomore quarterback would answer, but the question was if he would be able to do enough to overcome a 21 point deficit and lead his team to their first conference championship since 2008. You better believe he was able to.
Replay
Wisconsin won the toss in the 2016 Big Ten Championship game and elected to defer to the second half.
Penn State’s first play was promising, as Barkley ran for 7 yards, but he came up gimpy and Robinson checked in. Penn State didn’t get anything on the next two plays and were forced to punt. Despite being available, Wisconsin did not start Alex Hornibrook at quarterback, they went with Bart Houston. Running back Corey Clement led the Badgers on a methodical 14 play, 80 yard, 8 minute drive that resulted in a one yard touchdown for Austin Ramesh. Penn State only gained three yards on their next drive and was forced to punt again. It only took the Badgers two plays to go up 14-0 as Corey Clement broke a 67 yard run to the house. Penn State would answer as Barkley broke a 22 yard run, and then McSorley and Hamilton linked up for 16. On the next play, McSorley threw a jump ball to the endzone for Mike Gesicki, and the tight end made an amazing back shoulder catch for the touchdown, 7-14. Penn State finally forced Wisconsin to punt and looked to even things up. Penn State faced a 3rd and 1 when Brian Gaia snapped the ball over McSorley’s head, Wisconsin recovered, and scored, 21-7 and it’s getting ugly. Penn State faced a 4th and 2 from their own 42 and McSorley was rushed and threw it away, the offensive line was getting bullied. Wisconsin quickly moved down the short field and Dare Ogunbowale punched it in from 7 yards out, 28-7 and things were not looking good midway through the second quarter. Penn State moved the ball to the Wisconsin 48 before they faced another 4th and short. This time, McSorley was sacked by T.J. Watt and fumbled. Luckily, the defense held and forced a punt to the 10 yard line with 2:25 left in the half, this is when Trace McSorley took over. McSorley completed a 12 yard pass to Saeed Blacknall, a few plays later he hit Hamilton for 18 before hitting Blacknall again for 12. On the next play, Trace hit Blacknall at the first down marker, he shook his defender and sprinted down the sideline for the 40 yard score. 28-14 Wisconsin at the half.
Penn State got a big momentum changer to start the second half as Wisconsin missed a 48 yard field, and Penn State, the second half team that they are, didn’t look back. It only took one play for McSorley to hit his new favorite target Blacknall in the middle of the field, Blacknall then broke away and took it 70 yards to the house, 28-21. Penn State’s defense rose to the occasion and forced another punt, Penn State looked to even the score. Penn State went 63 yards in 8 plays as Barkley started to get going. The star running back then punched it in from a yard out to tie things up at 28. Corey Clement and his Badgers finally had an answer as the running back was effective in the run and pass game leading his team to the PSU 5, but the Lions defense held tough again, only allowing a field goal, 31-18 Wisconsin. Penn State quickly answered as McSorley connected with Hamilton on back to back passes for 38 and 25 yards, then from the Wisconsin 18, Barkley ran the wheel route and McSorley placed it into Barkley’s arms in the endzone for the touchdown and Penn State’s first lead, 35-31. The Nittany Lions’ defense stood strong again, forcing another punt. Penn State again moved easily down the field, but facing a 3rd and 4 from the Wisconsin 9, McSorley’s pass to Hamilton came up a yard short of the first down, Franklin wisely opted to take the field goal and Penn State went up 38-31. Wisconsin started their drive looking to tie things up with around five minutes remaining. The Badgers moved to the Penn State 24 and faced a fourth and one. The Badgers called on their star running back, and Clement headed towards the frist down marker, but he was met by Grant Haley and Marcus Allen, the heroes of the Ohio State game, would be the heroes once again, stopping Clement and securing the Big Ten title for Penn State.
Final: Penn State 38 Wisconsin 31
Stats
McSorley: 22/34 384 yds 4 TDs 0 INTs
Barkley: 19 carries 83 yds 1 TD, 2 catches 20 yards 1 TD
Blacknall: 6 catches 155 yds 2 TDs
Hamilton: 8 catches 118 yds
Bell: 13 tackles
Allen: 11 tackles
Team Stats
Total yards: PSU- 435 Wis- 415
Pass yards: PSU- 384 Wis- 174
Rush yards: PSU- 51 Wis- 241
Turnovers: PSU-2 Wis-0
Sacks: PSU- 2 Wis- 1
Last thoughts
Well, early on it looked like Wisconsin’s defense would dominate the game and Penn State would have problems moving the ball. Penn State couldn’t stop Wisconsin’s rushing attack and it looked like the Pitt game all over again. Then, it all clicked, McSorley became fearless, throwing the ball deep downfield against one of the best secondaries in the nation. Saeed Blacknall had the best game of his career and one of the best performance’s by a Penn State receiver in years. McSorley’s 384 yards and 4 TDs were both records for the Big Ten Championship game. Barkley, despite the injury, played pretty well considering the defense he faced and helped put his team in a position to win. Tight end Mike Gesicki continues to make highlight reel plays, he’s been the biggest X factor for this offense this season. The biggest thing for me offensively though, was the offensive line, early on in the game, McSorley was getting pounded and hurried on practically every drop back. The line adjusted mid way through the second quarter and that’s when McSorley went wild. Many people said Penn State wouldn’t score more than 14 points in this one, they ended up with 38.
On defense, it was back to the bend not break mind-set. Early on, Wisconsin’s offensive line was man handling Penn State’s front seven, but they started to get it together towards the end of the first quarter. In reality,the defense did not play as bad as the final score shows. The one touchdown was a direct result of a turnover and another was because Wisconsin had a very short field after Penn State could not convert on fourth down. The defense was able to forced a lot of fumbles, but they just couldn’t recover any, otherwise this game may have looked a lot different. The defense did what they had to do to win, and you can’t say enough about that fourth down stop to win the game. I was surprised we didn’t see Hornibrook at all, Franklin was preparing for him to start so I feel Wisconsin threw the curve ball and started Houston to catch Penn State off guard. It didn’t really work as Houston was pretty much a game manager and didn’t do too much damage in this one. The Badgers’ running game was very good, but once they fell behind they had to lean more on their passing game and that greatly worked to Lions favor as they were able to start to get pressure.
At the beginning of the season, nobody expected to see Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game, and the last thought on people’s minds was that they would win a conference that features Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. Once again, it was a strong second half that vaulted the Lions to victory. After being down 28-7 midway through the second quarter, Penn State went on to outscore the Badgers 31-3, that seems hard to believe with the way Wisconsin was running the ball and the way their defense was playing. This season has been full of impossible moments and Saturday was no different. Trace McSorley was named MVP of the game, and deservingly so, the young quarterback has come a long way since the start of the season and has his Nittany Lions playing at a very high level. James Franklin deserves a lot of credit as well, his team was once 2-2 before they rattled off nine straight victories, you have to give him a lot of credit for the job he’s done.
The 11-2 Nittany Lions will find out what their next task will be as the Playoff Selection show is slated for noon today.
Once again, your 2016 Penn State Nittany Lions are your 2016 Big Ten Conference Champs.
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