A blown 17-0 lead against the Badgers crushed the Nittany Lions' playoff dreams, sparking fierce criticism of Matt Campbell’s transfer-heavy roster and their inability to finish games.
The Penn State Nittany Lions were critically punished for losing to Wisconsin on Saturday.
PSU dropped out of the rankings after blowing a 17-0 lead on Wisconsin to fall 24-20 at Beaver Stadium. The loss was unfortunate for Penn State for a few reasons, but the reason why they lost the game might be the worst of all.
The Nittany Lions had an outside chance to make the College Football Playoff in head coach Matt Campbell's first year thanks to a favorable schedule. However, PSU lost to a Wisconsin program that has been a punchline in the Big Ten the last two seasons.
The big question coming into the season was whether Campbell's 24 transfers from Big 12 program Iowa State would play well in the Big Ten. Things didn't look that way in the last 30 minutes of Saturday's game.
During "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, the host argued that Penn State lost because they got "lazy" when sporting a lead over a non-elite team, much like what happened to Michigan Wolverines when they lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes on the last second.
Now, Pate did not say that he was higher on Wisconsin this season than many around college football were. The Badgers got buried in the headlines when they were blown out by Notre Dame in the second half of Week 1.
With that being said, Penn State absolutely should have closed the door on Wisconsin. But the Nittany Lions continue to struggle with running the ball. It hurt them when they needed to bleed the clock against Wisconsin.
The offensive line played poorly in both the rushing attack and to help quarterback Rocco Becht pass the ball. Becht didn't play a great game, but his offensive line was atrocious on Saturday. The defense made a couple of key mistakes in the fourth quarter.
Maybe the Nittany Lions defense was winded from the poor play on the offensive side of the ball.
Regardless, Penn State could be in for an underwhelming season in a year when they don't play Oregon, Indiana, or Ohio State.
Campbell said before the season that he wants to build his culture this season. Part of that winning culture should include being able to finish games against teams Penn State is supposed to beat. Just slam the door shut.
The Nittany Lions have plenty of lessons to be learned from losing to Wisconsin.
