With Penn State’s football season now officially in the books, now is a good time to start putting the whole season into perspective. Although the season ended with the Nittany Lions coming up just short of playing for a national championship, there were a lot of good moments to reflect on positively from the 2024 season that ended with a final record of 13-3. The shortcomings are well documented, but the highlights of the year should not be forgotten.
Penn State faced some tricky road games during the 2024 season, and they passed each one for an unblemished road record during the regular season. Perhaps the most challenging portion of the schedule saw Penn State play back-to-back games on the road at USC and Wisconsin in the middle of the season just before hosting the game of the year against Ohio State. For Penn State to get through those two games without a loss was critical to Penn State’s hopes of making the College Football Playoff, as most anticipated a loss to Ohio State for one conference loss. But Penn State needed a strong second-half performance on the road in each to remain undefeated.
A week after an exhilarating road win at USC, Penn State had a slow start against an aggressive Wisconsin defense. The Badgers led the Nittany Lions 3-0 after the first quarter and took a 10-7 lead into halftime thanks to a late touchdown with a little over a minute to play in the first half. Quarterback [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] went to the locker room a little early to have his left knee checked out and he did not return to the game despite coming out with a brace on after halftime. Allar remained on the sideline and the offense was put in the hands of [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag].
With the offense still having a tough time getting things moving consistently, the Penn State defense came to the rescue in the third quarter. [autotag]Jaylen Reed[/autotag] had a 19-yard pick-six midway through the third quarter off of Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke, who was passing from his own end zone and third-and-14.
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Wisconsin did respond with a field goal drive on the ensuing possession to bring things to a one-point game, where it stood going into the fourth quarter. That is when Penn State took firm control of the game for good.
Penn State went on a 13-play drive spanning 81 yards and using up 7:35 ofthe game clock (starting in the third quarter) and extended its lead with a short pass from Pribula to [autotag]Khalil Dinkins[/autotag]. The touchdown put Penn State up 21-13, and the defense forced a quick three-and-out on Wisconsin’s next possession, holding the Badgers to just three yards. [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] put the game on ice with a 24-yard touchdown run on Penn State’s next possession, capping a 76-yard drive.
Wisconsin’s last chance to put points on the scoreboard had some promise as the Badgers put together a 15-play drive but a fourth down pass from the Penn State 15-yard line fell incomplete and Penn State ran off the remainder of the clock with a couple of runs by Allen to seal the win.
The win improved Penn State to 7-0 and the Nittany Lions picked up key road wins at West Virginia, USC, and Wisconsin along the way. The win set Penn State up for a great spot in the looming College Football Playoff picture, and helped keep them in the hunt for a spot in the Big Ten championship game down the line as they began preparing for a massive home game against Ohio State.
To come away with a road win at Wisconsin with a backup quarterback playing in the second half was a testament to how good this team really was. The defense put the clamps down and the running game helped lock up a win in a tricky environment to do so. This may not have been one of the best seasons for Wisconsin, but any time you can come away with a win in Madison is significant.
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