UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 3/3 Penn State makes its return to action after a resilient 33-30 overtime win against USC on Oct. 12 was followed by the second bye week of the 2024 season. The Nittany Lions are set to face off against Wisconsin for the first time in three years at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 on NBC.
The all-time series between Penn State and Wisconsin dates back to the first matchup in 1953 as the two teams will battle for the 21st time in their illustrious histories. The Nittany Lions are 6-0 for the second consecutive year and are the only FBS team to record such a start in each of the last two seasons.
The Badgers barrel into the contest with the Nittany Lions on a three game win streak and toppled Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern by a combined score of 117-16 in that stretch. Wisconsin is 5-2 with losses coming to Alabama and USC but allowed no more than seven points in its last three wins.
Wisconsin is coming off a dominant performance over Northwestern with a pair of blocks on special teams, a forced safety and a strip-sack. The Badgers have recovered six fumbles on the season and have two field goal blocks during the last three games.
The Badgers strong play defensively and on special teams has been paired with the consistency found by redshirt sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke who’s thrown for 1,064 yards and seven touchdowns in six games. Locke is paired with senior running back Tawee Walker who is third in the Big Ten with nine rushing touchdowns and averages 94.2 rushing yards per game.
“I think really the last three weeks, they've played their best football,” Franklin said. “They're really coming on right now. Just watching them on tape how clean they're playing, how hard they're playing, it's impressive to watch.”
A marquee matchup defensively will feature the clash of two premiere secondaries that have silenced the aerial attack of opponents consistently this season. The Badgers and Nittany Lions rank seventh and 14th in passing defense, respectively, as the former has allowed just 155.9 passing yards per game.
This contrasts with a Penn State offense that has averaged 34.2 points per game on 270 passing yards per game which is ranked 29th nationally. The Nittany Lions offense is 10th in the country with 471.2 yards per contest behind the strong quarterback play of junior Drew Allar who’s thrown for 1,492 yards and 11 touchdowns for a 87.1 QBR rating.
The Badgers defense is headlined by redshirt senior linebacker Jaheim Thomas who leads the team with 43 tackles and redshirt senior safety Preston Zachman who has two interceptions and 2.5 tackles for loss. It’ll be players like these that’ll have their focus centered around senior tight end Tyler Warren who had a record-breaking performance against USC.
Warren was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list on Wednesday which is given to the best receiver in the country. Warren tied the FBS tight end record with 17 receptions for 224 yards and a touchdown against the Trojans.
Franklin knows there will be heightened coverage around Warren because of his versatility and reliability as a pass catcher but shared it could open up other dimensions of the Penn State offense because of that attention.
“Most teams are going to go into the game with something that they are adamant about that they're not going to give up,” Franklin said. “Whether it's, we are going to double-team 44 [Tyler Warren] or whether it's going to load the box to stop the run, most people are going to kind of have a plan and say, ‘We are going to stop this, and if they're going to beat us, they're going to beat us doing these things.’”