Sequence of penalties helps derail UW’s offense
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Wisconsin’s inability to sustain any offensive momentum against Penn State was captured during an ugly four-play sequence in the second half:
A false start, a 7-yard run, a snap infraction and another false start.
“We’ve got to be able to eliminate the presnap penalties,” left guard Michael Deiter said after UW’s 22-10 loss Saturday. “Not being able to protect – giving up sacks, hurries – and then false starts, they kill you.
“If you’re not on – with a bunch of bonehead stuff like that – it’s going to be hard to beat good teams on the road. It’s going to be hard to win at all.”
Trailing, 19-10, UW took over at its 27 after a Penn State punt.
Eleven seconds remained in the third quarter, so the Badgers were in striking distance despite doing little after Jonathan Taylor’s 71-yard touchdown run 4 minutes 56 seconds into the game.
Guard Beau Benzschawel moved befrom fore the snap and turned first and 10 into first and 15 from the 22.
Then after Taylor picked up 8 yards to the 30 to set up a manageable second and 7, center Tyler Biadasz was called for a snap infraction.
That left UW facing second and 12 from its 25.
Right tackle David Edwards moved early on the next play. That wiped out what could have been a completion from Jack Coan to A.J. Taylor and left UW facing second and 17 from the 20.
Coan hit Jake Ferguson for 7 yards but then threw incomplete on third down.
Series over.
UW coach Paul Chryst was asked whether that sequence offered a picture of an ill-prepared team.
“No, it’s the guys that jump,” he said.
Third-down blues
Penn State entered the day last in the Big Ten in time of possession at 27 minutes 34 seconds.
They had lost the time of possession battle in each of their previous three games – by 7:56, 10:36 and 15:22.
Yet on Saturday the Nittany Lions converted 6 of 15 third-down chances and held the ball for 33:59 for an edge of 7:58.
“That is one of the things we’ve got to do better, stopping them and giving the ball back to our offense,” senior linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel said. “We can’t allow them to continue to get first down after first down.”
UW’s offense continued its recent struggles by converting just 4 of 15 chances.
Beginning with the loss at Michigan, UW has converted 2 of 11, 3 of 8 against Illinois, 4 of 12 at Northwestern, 8 of 12 against Rutgers and 4 of 15 Saturday. That is a combined 21 of 58, or 36.2%. “In the end, for an offense to get rhythm you have to get first downs and we didn’t do that,” Chryst said.
Big day for Fond du Lac standout
Penn State defensive tackle Robert Windsor, who committed to the Nittany Lions when Gary Andersen was UW’s coach and stood firm despite a late push Chryst, recorded two sacks and six tackles.
He got up and celebrated after his second sack and appeared to imitate Aaron Rodgers’ championship belt move.
“Obviously, it was unique to me because being from Wisconsin, being 45 minutes from the university,” Windsor said. “I have friends on that team. So it made it more fun for me. …
“I made the right decision to come here. This is our second time beating them now, once in the Big Ten championship and now.”
Extra points
Taylor pushed his season rushing total to 1,548 yards to become the fourth UW player to put together consecutive 1,500-yard seasons. He joins Doak Walker Award winners Ron Dayne (1998-’99), Montee Ball (2011-’12) and Melvin Gordon (2013-’14). …
Deiter made his 51st start at UW, matching cornerback Sojourn Shelton (2013-’16) for the most in school history. Deiter has never missed a start at UW.