Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20 | 5 immediate takeaways from Week 4 upset

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Wisconsin scored an epic comeback victory in Happy Valley.

The Badgers rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat No. 13 Penn State 24-20 on Sept. 26 at Beaver Stadium in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Colton Joseph overcame three interceptions, including a pick-6, to connect with tight end Jacob Harris for a 72-yard touchdown with 1 minute 13 seconds left to give the Badgers the lead. Gavin Lahm’s extra point gave UW a four-point lead and left Penn State in need of touchdown during the final minute to win the game.

Box score: Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20

The Nittany Lions didn’t get it, though they drove 42 yards to the Badgers 33 before Rocco Becht’s Hail Mary throw on the final play went out the back of the end zone.

Joseph completed 18 of 36 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. Harris caught five passes for 105 yards. Darrion Dupree led the team in rushing with 52 yards in eight attempts, getting most of his work after Abu Sama left the game in the second quarter with an upper body injury.

Wisconsin outgained Penn State 365 yards to 245 and put together touchdown drives of 75 and 85 yards on its final two possessions.

The first of those drives ended with an 11-yard touchdown from Joseph to Eugene Hilton with 3:31 to play that spurred the comeback.

Here are five takeaways from the win.

Major turnovers almost cost the Badgers

Before Wisconsin's comeback, the offense was dropping the ball against a ranked opponent for the second time this season.

The seeds of UW’s season-opening loss to Notre Dame was laid with a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown on the Badgers' first possession of the second half.

This time two interceptions of passes by Joseph in the second quarter nearly proved to be killers.

On the first, Joseph, distracted by pressure from Kopper Ebel, threw an easy pick-6 to Josiah Zayas that was returned 51 yards.

The second was another head-scratching pick, but there appeared to be some miscommunication with Hilton on a third-and-11 play before Daryus Dixson's interception. Hilton stopped his route short of the sideline, which ended up being the area Joseph delivered the ball.

That turnover set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Becht that pushed Penn State’s lead to 17-0.

Defense can’t get off the field on third down

It took an impressive effort for the UW defense to overcome the offense’s mistakes,

It missed a chance to gain a grasp of the game in a 13-play, 66-yard drive for Penn State that ended with a 37-yard field goal by Ryan Barker that pushed the Penn State edge to 20-10 with 3:53 to play in the third quarter.. The possession took 7 minutes off the clock.

The Badgers failed to prevent first down on three of the four third downs that possession. The killers were an 18-yard gain when there was 7 yards needed for the first and a 19-yard gain when Penn State needed 9 for the first down.

If Wisconsin gets off the field on either of those third and long situations, it would have been able to keep the game a one-possession affair.

BIG PERK pic.twitter.com/C79iNL4mDA

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) September 26, 2026

Badgers play complementary football for a while

The Badgers got the first possession of the second half but punted after gaining one first down. That left the UW defense to set the tone the first time it took the field after halftime.

Defensive tackle Hammond Russell deflected a throw by Rocco Becht that was intercepted by Charles Perkins. The turnover gave the Badgers a first down at the Penn State 16.

Wisconsin couldn’t get a first down out of the possession, but Gavin Lahm connected from 34 yards at the 10:53 mark to cut the Penn State lead to 17-10.

The sequence was the best example of the complementary football that proved so elusive for the Badgers for most of the game.

Offense fails to capitalize on early down success

The Badgers' first half was disappointing, in part, because the team was starting well. It averaged 7.9 yards on 12 first down plays in the half compared to 6.6 for Penn State.

Among those plays were back-to-back first down plays of 18 and 5 yards on the possession spoiled by Joseph’s pick-6 early in the second quarter.

UW also managed a 9-yard first down run by Sama later in the second quarter that amazingly did not lead to a first down.

When UW protects ball, good things happen

Despite trailing 17-7 at the half, the stats to that point in the game were almost even. Penn State owned a 126-124 edge in total yards. Both teams had seven first downs. UW averaged 4.4 yards per play compared to 4.1 for Penn State.

Seventy-five of those yards for the Badgers came on an 11-play, 5-minute possession that resulted in their only touchdown of the half. Considering the wave of momentum Penn State was riding, the possession was the Badgers most important of the day.

UW had one third-down conversion and one fourth-down conversion on the possession. The big plays of the were a 17-yard by Sama on third-and-7 from the Wisconsin 28 and a 22-yard strike from Joseph toHarris that gave the Badgers a first down on the 11.

It was the one time in the first half that the Badgers’ offense delivered when the team needed it.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20 | 5 immediate takeaways from Week 4 upset