Penn State vs. Wisconsin Match-Up: Season Stats and Prediction

This weekend, a highly anticipated match-up will be taking place in Madison, Wisc.  The No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions will be taking on the No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers in prime time on Saturday night.

(The rankings are according to the Coaches' poll as of the end of Week 6).

Wisconsin (3-2) suffered its first loss when Michigan came back from 19-0 and took a 27-19 lead.  Wisconsin scored, but failed to convert the two-point conversion, and Wisconsin lost 27-25. 

Last weekend, Wisconsin played Ohio State, and Terrelle Pryor led the Buckeyes down the field and ran it in for a touchdown with just over a minute left, as Ohio State won in a thriller, 20-17.

Penn State (6-0) has been unscathed this season, and their most competitive game was a 38-24 win over the formerly ranked No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini. 

Penn State played their worst game against Purdue last weekend, but managed to win 20-6, in what was possibly a look-ahead game to this weekend at Wisconsin.

Penn State has the most explosive offense in the Big 10, while Wisconsin is a physical team that will push you around on offense and defense. 

One of the keys to this game is if a very powerful Penn State team, on both offense and defense, can go back to their usually physical ways and still be explosive at the same time.

Penn State has a great rushing game, and possibly a greater passing game, and will need both to keep Wisconsin's stingy defense guessing. One problem for Wisconsin is its mediocre passing game.

Here are the stats for each team:

Wisconsin Passing

Alan Evridge: 69-of-122 for 899 yards, 5 TDs and 4 INTs.  The longest pass of the season is 42 yards, which is a problem if you can't create big plays in the passing game.

Dustin Sherer: 2-of-2 for 28 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions.  Just a backup who gets no playing time.

Wisconsin Rushing

Longest rushing play is 46 yards.

P.J. Hill: 108 rushes for 512 yards, which is 4.7 ypc. He has 5 TDs. The only rusher who averages over 100 yards per game.

John Clay: 39 rushes for 260 yards, totaling to 6.7 ypc.   He has 4 TDs.

Zach Brown: 34 rushes for 174 yards, which comes to 5.1  ypc. He has 2 TDs.

The rest of the Wisconsin rushers have less than 100 total yards, and will take up too much space to mention, but a backup named Bradie Ewing also has a TD.

Wisconsin Receiving

Once again, I am only going to mention the receivers who have 100 yards or more.

David Gilreath: 14 receptions for 167 yards and 1 TD.

Kyle Jefferson: 11 receptions for 159 yards.

Garrett Graham: 11 receptions for 154 yards and 3 TDs.

Lance Kendricks: 5 receptions for 131 yards.

Travis Beckum: 12 receptions for 128 yards.

Mickey Turner also has a receiving TD, but only three catches on the season.

Wisconsin Defense

For defense, I'm just going to name the categories, such as PPG allowed, for each team.

Points Per Game Allowed: 17.6

Yards Per Game Allowed

Passing: 186.2

Rushing: 123.6

Total: 309.8

Interceptions

Niles Brinkley: 2 interceptions, with 17 total yards after INT.

DeAndre Levy: 1 interception returned for 1 yard. 

Jonathan Casillas: 1 interception returned for 49 yards. 

Shane Carter: 2 interceptions, with 44 total yards after INT.

Allen Langford: 1 interception returned for 0 yards.

Fumble Recoveries: Six fumble recoveries, not including the fumble recovery at Fresno State that was blown by the refs.

Penn State Passing

Longest passing play is 55 yards.

Daryll Clark: 80 for 124 with 1,116 yards, 9 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Pat Devlin: 18 for 35 with 260 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Paul Cianciolo: 5 for 8 with 82 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions.

Penn State Rushing

Longest rushing play is 69 yards.

Evan Royster: 84 rushes for 659 yards, and 8 touchdowns.

Stephfon Green: 53 rushes for 368 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Daryll Clark: 32 rushes for 133 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Brent Carter: 22 rushes for 129 yards.

Brandon Beachum: 21 carries for 94 yards (I know its not 100, but it's so close so I had to include him), and 1 touchdown.

Derrick Williams has 17 rushes for close to 100 yards and a touchdown, Chaz Powell has 6 rushes and 2 touchdowns, and Dan Lawlor also has a rushing touchdown.

Penn State Receiving

Longest receiving play is 55 yards.

Jordan Norwood: 18 receptions for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Deon Butler: 19 receptions for 311 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Derrick Williams: 19 receptions for 240 yards and 1 touchdown.

Andrew Quarless: 9 receptions for 95 yards and 1 touchdown.

Brett Brackett: 7 receptions for 94 yards and 1 touchdown.

Evan Royster has nearly 100 yards receiving, and Graham Zugg, Derek Moye, and Mickey Shuler each have 1 receiving touchdown.

Derrick Williams also has 2 kickoff return TDs.

Penn State Defense

Points Per Game Allowed: 11.7

Yards Per Game Allowed

Passing: 170.2

Rushing: 80.2

Total: 250.4

Interceptions

Knowledge Timmons: 1 interception returned for 36 yards.

Bani Gbadyu: 1 interception returned for 2 yards.

Drew Astorino: 2 interceptions returned for a total of 29 yards.

Navarro Bowman: 1 interception returned for 29 yards.

Josh Hull: 1 interception returned for 14 yards.

Tony Davis: 1 interception returned for 7 yards.

Anthony Scirrotto: 1 interception returned for 0 yards.

Mark Rubin: 1 interception returned for 0 yards.

Fumble Recoveries: Penn State has recovered two fumbles, one by Navarro Bowman, and the other one I do not have the info on who recovered it.

Matchup

Rushing: Penn State has one of the most experienced and best lines in the nation, and they have a whole bunch of great backs.  Wisconsin is very physical, and has three pretty good backs, but running is the basis of Wisconsin's offense, while PSU has a balance.  It is a tie.

Passing: I am still unsure about how good Evridge is, and his stats are not good.  Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin are arguably the two best QBs in the Big 10, and their stats shows it.  I give the advantage to Penn State.

Receiving: Penn State has a very experienced and talented receiving corps.  They have their trio of game changing threats, along with a talented group of backups that have been getting receptions and touchdowns throughout the season. 

Wisconsin has Travis Beckum, and a few other pretty good receivers.  The only player on Wisconsin, or any other Big 10 team, that is ahead of our three receivers is Beckum.  Still, three receivers in the Big 10 Top 5 beats one, so the advantage goes to Penn State.

Rush Defense: Penn State easily has one of the best rush defenses in the nation.  Wisconsin has a pretty good rush defense, too, but PSU's is just dominant, and they are able to hold even the best running backs to minimal yardage.  The advantage goes to Penn State.

Pass Defense: Penn State's clearly looks better with all the interceptions they have, but that is probably because the other team is forced to pass because they have no success on the ground.  Penn State plays a soft zone, which usually allows for easy receptions, yards, and touchdowns.  Neither pass defense is great, but the advantage goes to Wisconsin.

Turnovers: Both teams are in the positives by a good margin, so this is a tie.

Homefield: Wisconsin has the advantage.

Explosiveness: The Badgers don't make many explosive plays, while the Nittany Lions have been making them all season.  The advantage goes to Penn State.

Talent: Penn State...Wisconsin has talent, but PSU has too much.

Depth: Penn State. With many returning from injuries and suspensions recently, the depth is better than ever, and it will be hard for many teams to keep up with them.

The Wisconsin Band Returning: The advantage goes to...I don't know.  It really doesn't benefit anyone to have a bunch of troublemakers making noise in the stands.

Prediction: Penn State and Wisconsin are two very good teams.  Penn State has more things going for them now, but the Badgers will be seeking a win and will take out all their fury on us after two straight heart-breaking losses.

An away game in prime time doesn't help Penn State, but PSU is just too good.  My prediction: PSU 27, Wisconsin 16.

I'll be back on Sunday morning or Saturday night to give a full recap of the game.