STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ It took Penn State a while to get meaningful contributions from its offense, defense and special teams all in the same game, and the combination Saturday led the 20th-ranked Nittany Lions to a 22-10 victory over Wisconsin on a cold, blustery day at Beaver Stadium.
The Lions (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) used a ball-control offense to their advantage. Junior Miles Sanders reached the 1,000-yard mark for the season, picking up 159 yards on 23 carries and scoring a touchdown.
Trace McSorley, who appeared to have re-injured his right knee on a sack in the second quarter but returned to the game at the start of the third quarter, completed 19 of 25 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown pass to DeAndre Thompkins.
Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor carried 20 times for 185 yards including a 71-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter, but the Nittany Lions held the Badgers (6-4, 4-3) to just a single field goal after that. The defense sacked quarterback Jack Coan five times and claimed four turnovers.
And on special teams, Jake Pinegar kicked field goals of 49, 42 and 23 yards, the final two coming in the second half for Penn State's only points after the Nittany Lions had taken a 16-7 halftime lead.
The Nittany Lions ran 72 plays to 57 for Wisconsin and held the ball for nearly eight more minutes.
Coan played at quarterback in place of Alex Hornibrook, who did not make the trip after suffering a concussion last week against Rutgers. Coan completed 9 of 20 passes for 60 yards.
McSorley appeared to re-injure his right knee on a second-quarter sack. Linebacker Zach Baun had the initial hit on the Lions quarterback and when linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel came in for the assist as McSorley was hitting the ground, he bent McSorley's leg up.
McSorley sat out the rest of the half but returned on Penn State's first possession of the third quarter.
Taylor made his mark on Wisconsin's third play from scrimmage, breaking through a tightly bunched Penn State defense on a third-and-2 and racing 71 yards for a touchdown, giving the Badgers a 7-0 lead less than 4 minutes in.
The Nittany Lions responded with a 75-yard, eight-play drive that was kept alive by a pass interference penalty against Wisconsin on a third-down play. McSorley completed passes on the last three snaps _ 10 yards to K.J. Hamler and 16 yards to Pat Freiermuth before he found Thompkins on a post-corner route from 14 yards out for the score.
The Lions regained possession after Coan fumbled the snap and defensive end Yetor Gross-Matos recovered at the Penn State 48. A holding penalty against the Lions basically stopped the drive but Pinegar drilled a 49-yard field goal, matching his career high, for a 10-7 lead.
Sanders, who did not touch the ball on the Lions' first eight snaps of the game, got a chance to showcase his talents on a 60-yard touchdown drive, carrying the ball four times for 43 yards, including gains of 17 and 23 yards that set up his 1-yard TD run. Pinegar missed the extra point, and it was 16-7 with 8:09 to play in the half.
The Penn State defense held the Badgers to 22 yards in the second quarter, a total reduced thanks to two sacks by defensive end Shareef Miller.
The two teams exchanged field goals on their initial possessions of the third quarter, with Rafael Gaglianone putting a kick through from 28 yards for the Badgers, answered by Pinegar's successful 42-yard kick.
Pinegar closed the scoring with a 23-yard field goal with 7 minutes, 23 seconds to play. The Lions got a break when Sanders apparently fumbled the ball at the Wisconsin 7 and the Badgers recovered, but Sanders was ruled down on an official review and Penn State retained possession.
