Wisconsin defense holds off surging rival Northwestern

No. 4 Penn State rolls over Indiana

NO. 10 WISCONSIN 33, NORTHWESTERN 24

MADISON, Wis. — What looked like another second-half runaway turned into nail-biting final few minutes for No. 10 Wisconsin.

The defense caught its breath and came up with one more big play.

Jonathan Taylor ran for two touchdowns to help the offense overcome a sluggish start and the Badgers swarmed Northwestern before holding on for a 33-24 win on Saturday.

“We knew it was going to be a hard one,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. “There (are) a lot of lessons to be learned in this one.”

Alex Hornibrook threw for 197 yards and a touchdown, settling down after two interceptions on deep balls in the first half. Garrett Dooley had three of Wisconsin’s eight sacks.

Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) stood up the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) late to seal the win in each team’s conference opener.

The Badgers led 31-10 with 9:54 to go on safety Natrell Jamerson’s 36-yard interception return for a touchdown.

It looked good for Wisconsin then since its defense hadn’t allowed any second-half points all season.

But Northwestern finally got its offense going, scoring two quick touchdowns to close the gap to 31-24. Wisconsin then went three-and-out, but Anthony Lotti’s perfect pooch punt was downed by Jamerson at the 2.

Two plays later, quarterback Clayton Thorson couldn’t find a receiver out of his own end zone and was sacked by D’Cota Dixon for a safety with 58 seconds left.

“I was a little shocked,” Dixon said about how long Thorson held on to the ball.

The mobile Thorson was outside the pocket, where he

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — DaeSean Hamilton caught 9 passes for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns and became Penn State’s career receptions leader in the No. 4 Nittany Lions’ 45-14 victory over Indiana in Big Ten Conference play on Saturday.

Hamilton teamed with quarterback Trace McSorley on the first two scoring passes and caught the third from running back Saquon Barkley to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter. Hamilton hauled in his 180th career catch midway through the fourth quarter to break the record set by Deon Butler in 2008.

Barkley returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and finished with 221 yards to pad his Heisman Trophy resume. Penn State (5-0, 2-0) turned two first-quarter turnovers into touchdowns to spark the rout. McSorley added a rushing touchdown, Nick Scott scored on a fumble return, and Tyler Davis added a pair of field goals for Penn State.

The Hoosiers (2-2, 0-2) turned the ball over on their second play of the game when Morgan Ellison coughed it up to linebacker Jason Cabinda after an 18-yard gain. McSorley capped an ensuing six-play, 39-yard drive with a

can do damage. Unfortunately, he was working from his own end zone.

“There [are] no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Thorson said. “I’ve got to throw it away.”

Northwestern’s fourthquarter flurry overshadowed what was an otherwise dominating day for Wisconsin’s defense.

Jamerson finished with two interceptions. The front seven applied withering pressure most of the afternoon. Northwestern running back Justin Jackson was held to 25 yards on nine carries.

Things looked good for the Wildcats at halftime, up 10-7 on a Wisconsin team having trouble holding on to the ball. 1-yard touchdown run.

Indiana fumbled it away again when Irvin Charles ripped the ball out of punt returner J-Shun Harris’ hands. Scott scooped it up and returned it 13 yards to put Penn State up 21-0 less than 10 minutes in.

On his team’s next possession, Barkley made a one-handed catch well behind the line of scrimmage that he turned into a 36-yard gain. It set up McSorley’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Hamilton, who made a nice adjustment on the catch over a defender four plays later.

But Penn State, wearing white cleats and throwback jerseys that blended design elements from past teams, went quiet in the second quarter.

The Hoosiers found some momentum with a quarterback change. Peyton Ramsey relieved an ineffective Richard Lagow and led two scoring drives.

Ricky Brookins scored on a 2-yard run late and Simmie Cobbs caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Ramsey to cut Penn State’s lead to 28-14 before halftime.

Ramsey was 8 of 17 for 78 yards with an interception and added 53 yards on 12 carries. Momentum changed in the third quarter. The offensive line couldn’t pick up Wisconsin’s pressures. The running game was bottled up in the third for minus-10 yards on seven carries. And the defense got burned by big plays. At least Northwestern mounted a late but futile comeback on the road, two games after a blowout defeat at Duke in Week 2.

“These [are] two losses where we have the same recipe, an inability to pick up third downs,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “Today, obviously, it was a combination of our protection. It was a combination of our throwing. It was a combination of our calls. … Credit Wisconsin, they did a nice job.”