UW Tops Penn State For Sixth Straight Win
November 04, 2006 | Football
November 4, 2006
Madison, Wis. -- Wisconsin limited Penn State to 201 yards of total offense and got a 148-yard rushing performance from P.J. Hill in a 13-3 victory (its sixth straight) at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.
The 17th-ranked Badgers (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) improved to 6-0 at home this year and have won at least nine games for the third consecutive season. Wisconsin can finish no worse than third in the Big Ten with a game at Iowa next Saturday remaining on the conference portion of the schedule.
Penn State (6-4, 4-3) dropped to 0-4 against ranked opponents this season. UW is 5-0 all-time against Penn State when the Nittany Lions are unranked.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who will turn 80 next month, injured his left knee on the sidelines in the third quarter with his team trailing 10-3. He was later carted off the field and flew back to State College on a university plane. He will be x-rayed later this evening and will probably have an MRI either tomorrow or Monday.
UW defensive end DeAndre Levy rolled into the lower body of Paterno after making a tackle on Penn State running back Tony Hunt.
QB John Stocco, who threw for 172 yards and one touchdown, was injured near the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter with his team leading 13-3. He dropped back to pass, was hit by PSU linebacker Sean Lee and fumbled while pulling the football down to his chest. Tyler Donovan took over at quarterback on the following possession.
Stocco completed a nine-play, 68-yard drive at the end of the first half with a 14-yard touchdown strike to Paul Hubbard in the end zone. It was the third touchdown reception for Hubbard, who caught five passes for a game-high 77 yards. Wisconsin led 10-3 at halftime.
Taylor Mehlhaff made field goals of 37 and 20 yards for Wisconsin. Penn State kicker Kevin Kelly tied the game at 3-3 with a 39-yard field goal on the Nittany Lions first drive of the second quarter.
The UW defense limited Penn State to 36 yards rushing on 19 carries and didn''t allow a touchdown for the fourth time this season. P.J. Hill carried 31 times for 148 yards for Wisconsin, one week after sustaining an injury against Illinois.
The two teams combined for five turnovers and eight sacks. Lee had 13 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries. Levy had two sacks and now leads the Badgers with five this season.
Only one turnover led to points for the other team. After PSU safety Donnie Johnson dropped an interception, the Nittany Lions muffed the ensuing punt and Zach Hampton fell on the ball at the Penn State 20-yard line.
Hill carried to the 7-yard line on the next play, but was kept out of the end zone on three consecutive carries. Mehlhaff''s field goal made it 13-3 Wisconsin with 2:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Penn State managed three first downs over the final 18 minutes of the game. Quarterback Anthony Morelli finished 19-of-35 for 165 yards and an interception.
Linebacker Paul Posluszny became Penn State''s all-time leader in career tackles in the contest. The reigning Bednarik and Butkas Awards' winner ended the day with 14 tackles to push his career total to 349. Greg Buttle (1973-75) is second with 343.
Wisconsin vs. Penn State Game Notes
'Wisconsin team captain's are QB John Stocco, OL Joe Thomas, LB Mark Zalewswki and DB Joe Stellmacher.
'Penn State won the toss and deferred. Wisconsin chose to take the ball and defend the north goal.
'Kickoff was at 11:10 a.m. CST
'Game attendance was announced at 81,777, the 24th straight sellout at Camp Randall Stadium and the 77th in last 87 home games.
TEAM NOTES
'Wisconsin''s win was its ninth of the season. It is the third straight season (and 11th time in school history) UW has won at least nine games.
'UW is undefeated this season at Camp Randall Stadium (6-0) and 17-1 in home games since the start of the 2004 season.
'The Badgers improved to 28-7 in games started by quarterback John Stocco. Stocco' 's 28 wins are second-best in school history. Brooks Bollinger started 30 UW victories in his career.
'For the fourth time this season, Wisconsin''s defense did not allow a touchdown.
'UW''s defense allowed just 36 rushing yards today, the fourth time a team failed to crack the 100-yard rushing mark against the Badgers this season.
'With today''s touchdown with 23 second left in the first half, Wisconsin has scored points within the last two minutes of the first half in seven of its 10 games (five touchdowns and two field goals).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
'Taylor Mehlhaff''s 37-yard field goal in the first quarter was his eighth consecutive successful field-goal attempt. That is the longest streak of his career. Mehlhaff then missed a 47-yarder in the second quarter. Mehlhaff, a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, is 13-of-16 on field goals this season. All three of his misses this year are from at least 47 yards.
'Quarterback John Stocco has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 18 of the last 19 games. 'Paul Hubbard''s 14-yard touchdown catch was his third of the season and third of his career. 'Running back P.J. Hill rushed for 148 yards, his eighth 100-yard rushing effort of the season. He now has 1,370 yards on the season, 12th-best among freshmen in NCAA history. 'Backup quarterback Tyler Donovan''s two-yard pass to Hubbard was his first completion since the Indiana game (Sept. 30).
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema Post-Game Quotes
Opening Comments: 'All week long we talked to our kids about how this was going to be a four-quarter ball game. It was going to be a game of field position. We needed to be effective in all phases--'offense, defense and special teams 'to be able to execute and get a victory. Penn State is a very good football team. Over the course of time they have been able to establish themselves as one of the premier programs in college football. I think our guys really felt this was a challenge they were ready to step up to. I can''t say enough about my players and coaches, the way they were able to prepare over the course of the week and then be able to handle the game as it unfolded. I thought collectively it was a team effort from all the players that contributed on the field, as well as at the end of the game when John (Stocco) went down and Tyler (Donovan) came in.
'Just because I know what the first question is going to be, I have no information on John Stocco. He obviously hurt his right shoulder but it is nothing that [we were]overly concerned at the time. Basically we didn''t want to put him back in the game. We will get him reevaluated [and] be able to move on throughout the course of the week.'
On Penn State''s 'exotic' plays: 'Defensively, one thing you always talk about is being able to take care of your responsibilities. Every defense you design, you always say, 'Is this defense sound against the cutback, boot and reverse,' which are the principles of trick plays and gadgetry.' It is a great example of a well-coached defense. No matter what they throw, there is always an answer. Guys that are in coverage need to stay on their guys and that is why we are able to execute.'
On Penn State''s running game: 'We knew coming in that (Tony) Hunt was a guy that, in my opinion, was very patient with his blockers. He is able to understand exactly where he is supposed to be on each play. As the game unfolded, because our defense is playing so well against certain things they were trying to do, that is why they decided to go more to the passing game.'
On the Roderick Rogers'' interception: 'That is a classic example of that it''s not so much what happens over the course of the game, it''s how you react to it. Our defensive players were not on the field for that turnover (Stocco sacked and lost fumble) but they definitely have a say in what happens, the response mechanism. For them to go out there and do that on two different occasions speaks volumes about how they think and what their abilities are.'
On kickoff coverage at the end of the first half: 'It was just another opportunity. We want to make sure that we always handle and manage the clock effectively. That was an opportunity for us to do so. I can''t say enough about Taylor (Mehlhaff) and his ability to kick the football on those three different kicks.
'As a head coach it is my responsibility to know the rules and how they are interpreted. We had actually been in the same situation before in the Bowling Green game. It is something that our kids were aware of. We wanted to put ourselves in position to have the maximum coverage that we could.'
Penn State Post-Game Quotes
PENN STATE STATEMENT ON HEAD COACH JOE PATERNO
He injured his left knee on the play on the sideline. He is en route back to State College on a university plane. The Director of Athletic Medicine is on the plane with Coach Paterno along with some others from the university party. When he gets back to State College he will be x-rayed later this evening and we anticipate it probably will be a MRI either tomorrow or on Monday. So that''s about all we know on his condition at this point.
ASSISTANT COACH TOM BRADLEY
On Head Coach Joe Paterno''s injury: 'I did get to talk to coach. I saw it happen. I knew he got rolled over on and I told him he''s not playing those low blocks like he used to, he couldn''t get out of the way. He was on the bench and I said, `look I''m going to relay some things to you back and forth as the game goes on if you want to do something.'' And we were OK with that but then when he went inside, tried to communicate with head sets and it''s illegal to do that. You can''t have a head coach inside and we had to try and get the head set back and bring it back on the field. But all that I know is probably what you guys know about the leg. They''ve immobilized it, he''s on a plane right now heading back to State College where (team physicians) will X-ray and do all those things and then they''ll go from there. So that''s all we know at this time. '
On play calling in the third quarter: 'The play calling process was (assistant coaches) Galen (Hall) and Jay (Paterno) called the offensive plays from upstairs and on defense, I still called the defensive plays but I called the time outs and made the decisions 'and there were things if I could have talked to coach I would have asked him but at that point he was inside so I couldn''t ask him. When he was on the bench, it would have been the same thing. He told me to have Galen and Jay do the play calling and then I said 'well coach I''ll check with you if want something done.' Once they took him in there was no communication so on the fourth and one, it was my fault to go for it.'
On whether or not he persuaded Paterno to avoid the play: 'I''ve seen him get hit a couple times and he''s a wirey old rascal. He''s not going anywhere, he''s pretty tough. I know not to ask him (if he''s OK) because he''s just going to wave me off that''s for sure. 'When he gets knocked out, I just stay away because I know he gets mad if you help him.'
On whether Coach Paterno was in pain: 'I can''t really say if he was in pain or not because I''ve been around coach a long time and I know the one thing he doesn''t want to hear from me is, `are you OK?''' He just wants to hear about the football game. He wanted to talk about the plays, how we were going to communicate, that''s all he wanted to talk about. If I were to ask him, `how are you feeling?''' I think he might have punched me.'
On how Paterno''s injuries affected the team: 'We didn''t do some things we wanted to do today. We give Wisconsin credit. They played a good football game. Speaking just defensively, I thought we hung in there tough, we didn''t tackle as well as I wanted us to. We needed to come up with another turnover.'
Wisconsin Player Post-Game Quotes
Defensive Lineman Joe Monty
On the key to stopping the run today: 'Being physical. Getting penetration and not getting out of our gaps.'
On what the defensive zeroed: 'We really zeroed in on the running back. We wanted to. We wanted to get under him and get in his head and I think we were able to accomplish that.'
On the difference in facing running back Tony Hunt this year: 'The difference between then is they had Michael Robinson. They had the double threat in the backfield. They don''t have that this year.'
Defensive back Allen Langford
On Roderick Rogers'' interception: 'Real big play, real big play coming off a change of game. Our offensive just gave the ball up and we go out their and gave it right back to them. That was a big time play we really needed and we were all over that. '
On successfully defending the deep ball: 'We actually beat them up there, challenged their receivers. Last year we didn''t do a good job of challenging their receivers. We went up there with a lot of press, put our hands on the receivers and tried to disrupt them at the line of scrimmage. That slows them down.'
On the defense''s tough play: 'That is our motto every Big Ten game. Because every Big Ten team is physical. Penn State is probably one of the most physical teams we''ve played against and that is the main thing we have to instill in our heads. We need to be the most physical team out there.'
Wide Receiver Luke Swan
On Iowa being fired up next week after their loss to Northwestern: 'They are definitely going to come ready to play next week. But it''s not really about them, it''s about us and how we prepare and how we play and it''s really in our hands.'
On what Tyler Donovan brings to the table: 'He brings athleticism. He is going to go in their and get the job done. He''s going to be consistent with handing the ball off and he is going to go through his reads and he can throw the ball.'
On his clutch third down catches: 'It''s definitely something we practice every week. The way it''s happened I''ve got some opportunities on third downs but it''s not necessarily planned that I''m the third down guy. It just kind of happens that way.'
Tight End Travis Beckum
On playing a tough Penn State team: 'A lot of people said that we couldn' 't beat teams with a winning record. I think we came out here and made a statement, and showed that we can move the ball, and our defense played well.'
On [John] Stocco''s injury: 'It''s frustrating. He goes down, somebody else has to step up, but that''s the thing about football. Everybody is one ankle sprain away from playing. After he went down, TD [Tyler Donovan] stepped in and did a good job.'
On P.J. Hill''s performance: 'I don''t know if P.J. is 100 percent right now, and he did well today. He moved the ball for us.'
Linebacker DeAndre Levy
On putting in a solid performance: 'I think everybody all week wanted to take it upon themselves to do that, especially myself. I''m always hearing about linebacker U over there, they get all the recognition. We just wanted to come out and show that we can play.'
On the feeling after the game: 'It feels great. A team like them, they have a lot of history. A lot of people talk about Penn State all the time. It feels good to come out and dominate them like this.'
On the importance of next week''s game: 'We definitely have something to play for. Nobody on our team has beat Iowa, so that''s the next emphasis. '
Defensive Back Jack Ikegwuonu
On UW''s payback to Penn State for last year''s loss: 'We owed them one. They didn''t make us look like a good ball club last year, and I think we did a good job today.'
On Taylor Mehlhaff''s kickoffs: 'Other teams haven''t had too many opportunities to return the ball on us. It really helps us on defense a lot. Eighty-yard drives are not easy, and with a young quarterback and them not being able to get the run game going, 80 yards seems like 160.'
