ALTOONA, Pa. -- Here are my 10 takeaways from No. 19 Penn State's huge 16-10 win at No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday, in a game that was ugly to watch but ended with a scoreboard that somehow showed good news at the end.
1. This is a tremendous confidence boost for the Nittany Lions
Last season started off with such a monumental kick in the teeth for Penn State, with a ridiculous ending on what I will always believe was a bad call on a 2-point conversion in a 36-35 overtime loss at Indiana. You have to remember, we're talking about college kids who were going through a crazy pandemic -- wondering if they were even going to play football -- and just like that, after one insane finish, their confidence had to be shattered after that defeat.
The Nittany Lions then had to face Ohio State the next week. No one thought they would win that game, and they didn't. So, the joy of just being able to play football seemed to be gone for some of the players, who uncharacteristically looked listless and uninterested the following week in a humiliating loss to Maryland, and it snowballed into an embarrassing 0-5 start.
Fast forward to Saturday, and this very important, tone-setting victory will have the complete opposite effect for this group of Lions. They are going to be sky high, with Ball State coming to town this week, then a whiteout showdown against Auburn.
The goals all really disappeared after the loss at Indiana last year.
Now, the lofty goals for this year all just became more attainable, because winning at Wisconsin -- even when you don't play all that well in key areas -- will always be a really good win.
"I'm just super happy for our guys, the whole program. It's a big win," James Franklin said on the FOX broadcast after the game.
Oh, and since we're going with the theme of how different this opener was for Penn State this year, we also should look at Indiana's opener Saturday. The Hoosiers were crushed at Iowa, 34-6, so they will be in the opposite boat of last season, when they got a big confidence boost after stealing the win against Penn State.
2. Brent Pry and the defense can take a bow
I have a whole lot to say about the offense, and I'll get to it in shortly. But in a nutshell, the offense failed to come close to expectations, so the defense had to save the day.
And boy, did the defense ever save the day.
Just like Penn State of old.
The Lions shut out the Badgers in the first half, getting some help as Wisconsin shot itself in the foot to end two good scoring drives.
That theme played out all day, with the Badgers moving the ball well before either making a bad play or having the Penn State defense come up with a big stop.
Arnold Ebiketie blocked a field goal early. Jaquan Brisker had a big interception on fourth down with a couple of minutes to go. And Ji'Ayir Brown sealed the deal with an interception to run out the clock.
Wisconsin finished with 29 first downs and 365 yards (180 rushing), so it's not like Penn State's defense dominated. But it did enough. And made enough big plays to hold the Badgers to only 10 points in their home opener.
It was a classic bend but don't break effort by the PSU defense, and coordinator Brent Pry gets a lot of credit for making good decisions and personnel moves in some tough spots after key guys got banged up.
3. Deep throws did the trick for offense
Regardless of anything else, the Lions made the Badgers pay with some deep throws. Sean Clifford hit Jahan Dotson for a 49-yard TD, then later connected with Dotson for 42 yards to help set up the winning touchdown. Clifford actually underthrew the second ball and would have had a TD if he hit Dotson in stride, but it was still a big play. Clifford also had a 52-yard pass to Keandre Lambert-Smith and 24-yarder to Parker Washington.
Those pass plays were the bulk of the offense, save for a 34-yard run by Noah Cain. But what those pass plays will do -- and we knew this coming in with Mike Yurcich's system -- is make defenses have to be wary at all times about taking deep shots down the field.
Penn State did that a lot with Joe Moorhead and Ricky Rahne, but it was missing last season with Kirk Ciarrocca. Yurcich put opposing defenses on warning that, even if nothing else is working in the offense, they had better be ready to defend down the field at all times. That, in turn, will open things up for the running game as the season goes along.
4. Overall, the offense was a letdown
Look, maybe we're expecting miracles from Mike Yurcich. Maybe Clifford will never be the kind of guy who can light up defenses all day, and if that's the case, then opposing teams will just key on the running game.
Still, Penn State was shut out in the first half of Yurcich's first game and managed only one first down. The offense ran 22 plays and gained 43 yards in the first half.
It was lousy.
Things were much better right off the bat in the second half, as the Lions went 86 yards in only four plays and got the long TD pass to Dotson. Wisconsin completely blew the coverage, as Dotson had no defender within 10 yards. I don't know how a team just totally forgets to cover one of the best receivers in the Big Ten.
Penn State finished with just 50 yards rushing and 247 passing, most of those coming on Clifford's four long throws.
Wisconsin has an outstanding defense, so you do tip your cap to the Badgers. This was a very difficult assignment, as the TV broadcast showed that Wisconsin has been the third-best defense in the nation over the past 15 years.
Regardless, the offense put too much pressure on the defense, which had to be on the field for 95 plays. It's incredible, to say the least, that PSU's defense held up the way it did all day.
5. Dotson and Cain are able … to take over games
Dotson is an outstanding receiver and will greatly benefit from this Yurcich system. He finished with five catches for 102 yards and one score.
Noah Cain had 48 yards rushing on eight carries, and while he was bottled up most of the day, he did have a big 34-yard run. He also caught a pass that went for 16 yards, and on both big plays he made a defender miss before picking up extra yardage.
Yurcich made a terrible call trying to run Cain straight up the gut on third-and-3 at the Wisconsin 8, so PSU had to settle for a field goal. If Penn State had lost, there would be a lot more attention on that very conservative play call.
Get Cain some space to run, and he is extremely dangerous. Same goes with Dotson.
6. Crazy day for Jaquan Brisker
Three different times Brisker found himself on the ground and slow to get up after getting banged up. The second-team preseason All-American kept getting his body back in shape to play, though, and the defense definitely needed him out there.
Brisker wound up making an enormous play when he picked off Graham Mertz on fourth-and-goal from the 8 with 2 minutes left.
I'm not sure I've ever seen a player go down so many times in a game and keep getting back up to play. But Brisker did that, and the fact that he was on the field with the game on the line made a big difference.
7. Big debut day for AK
They call defensive end and Temple transfer Arnold Ebiketie "AK," and he was A-O-K for Penn State's defense. (Sorry, I couldn't refuse.)
Ebiketie drilled Mertz on an early sack, then came up with the blocked field goal to keep Wisconsin scoreless in the first half.
Ebiketie got banged up and had to go to the locker room for a bit. But just like with Brisker, he was able to return, and PSU's defense is a different animal with those two on the field.
Ebiketie finished with seven solo tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss. James Franklin and the PSU players expressed their excitment about him, and now we know why.
8. Not a Stout day for PSU's kicker
Jordan Stout had a rough day as place-kicker, and it could have cost the Lions the game. He missed one field goal, then after Penn State scored the go-ahead TD, he clanked the PAT off the left upright and missed to keep it 16-10.
That. Cannot. Happen.
Penn State lost a heartbreaking game last year at Indiana on the crazy 2-point conversion. Can you imagine how this team would be feeling if Wisconsin had scored a TD late and won, 17-16, because PSU missed an extra point.
There are very small margins in sports, and if the Lions had lost that way, yikes. It could have been a crushing blow that might have derailed a season yet again. You just never know. But good thing for Penn State that things didn't come down to that.
Franklin said after the game that Jake Pinegar, who handled the shorter field goals at PATs last year, was available. So Stout just beat out Pinegar, but it was hard to see why Saturday.
Stout did have a good day punting, drilling one 76 yards and averaging 53.9 yards on seven attempts.
9. Tough targeting call on Ellis Brooks
It was a close call, but the feeling here is the refs made the right call when they got linebacker Ellis Brooks for targeting late in the game. There was no flag immediately, and Wisconsin wisely called a timeout after the play, which gave the officials time to look at and think about the call.
Brooks was having a tremendous day, finishing with 11 tackles (8 solo) and one sack, and he looked like the best linebacker on the field. He now will have to sit out the first half next week against Ball State.
10. OK, enough of that already
Let's not have to sit through another game like this the rest of the season. A scoreless first half makes for an awful football game. I love offense, and that was brutal to watch.
It was the first scoreless first half in the Big Ten since 2014.
Let's hope it's the last scoreless first half we ever see again from Penn State.