Sunday, October 05, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State coach Joe Paterno said kickers are a lot like golfers. Sometimes they have to go back to the driving range to get into the groove.

	Wisconsin cornerback Scott Starks knocks a pass away from Penn State's Tony Johnson in the end zone. (John Beale, Post-Gazette) Related information Penn State Report: 10/5/03 ... a word from our columnist Bob Smizik: Robinson giving Lions hope for future

Judging from a performance yesterday against Wisconsin, the entire Penn State special teams might need to go back to qualifying school after a disastrous game at Beaver Stadium.

The Penn State special teams broke down in a big way and gift-wrapped a 30-23 victory for Wisconsin before 107,851 on homecoming. The Lions had a punt returned for a touchdown, fumbled a punt that led to a Wisconsin touchdown just before halftime and missed two field goals and an extra point.

"I don't know if that's as bad as we've ever had," Paterno said of his special teams. "Obviously, we weren't very good. That's what kills you. You talk about the mistakes we made on special teams and the missed opportunities. It's frustrating, but it's all part of it. When you're good, those things don't happen to you. We're not that good yet."

Penn State (2-4, 0-2 Big Ten) has a two-game road swing that starts this week at Purdue. It's the second time Penn State has lost its first two conference games in the past three years.

This latest loss was another in a long line of close defeats for Penn State the past two years. It was their ninth loss by eight points or fewer in the past 10 games.

"It's just frustrating," said sophomore Calvin Lowry, who was responsible for two of the special team gaffes. "We know we have so much potential. The potential is not coming through for us. It's a game of inches and mistakes, and we're making too many mistakes right now."

Lowry lost two fumbles on special teams, one on a kickoff return and the other on a punt return. The fumbled punt was a huge play in the game. Wisconsin led, 10-9, and was forced to punt with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter.

Lowry fumbled after being hit by Jeff Mack, and Matt Katula recovered at the 23 with 36 seconds left. On third-and-18 from the Penn State 20, Jim Sorgi threw a sideline pass to Brandon Williams, who got past cornerback Anwar Phillips and into the end zone for a 17-9 lead at the intermission.

"I feel 80 percent responsible for this loss," said a downtrodden Phillips after the game.

Phillips was beaten in single coverage twice for Wisconsin touchdowns. In the first quarter, Sorgi threw a 30-yard touchdown to Lee Evans, who got behind Phillips on a post pattern.

The next special teams mistake came late in the third quarter. Penn State went three-and-out on its first three possessions of the second half. On the third punt, Wisconsin's Jim Leonhard got a head of steam and zipped past Penn State defenders for a 65-yard punt return.

The Badgers (5-1, 2-0) led, 23-9, and appeared to be in control.

But that's when things started to get interesting. In the next 8:34, both teams accounted for 21 points. Penn State scored on a 73-yard pass from Michael Robinson to tight end Matt Kranchick to cut the lead to 23-16.

Wisconsin answered with a 13-play drive, all running plays, and led 30-16 with 9:42 remaining after a Booker Stanley touchdown run. Then Penn State answered, going 70 yards in 55 seconds. Gerald Smith completed the four-play drive, all pass plays, with a 5-yard catch that made it 30-23.

After The Penn State defense forced a three-and-out and the Lions had a chance to tie the score. After two passes set the Lions up at the Wisconsin 25, Robinson ran a play-action pass and had Tony Johnson open in the end zone, but he overthrew him. That was the first of three consecutive incomplete passes.

The missed opportunity in the end zone would haunt Robinson, who otherwise had a super game, competing 22 of 43 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

"I put a lot on myself," Robinson said. "Guys were open. I made some bad passes and that's what I need to work on this week."

Robbie Gould came on to try a 42-yard field goal, but he missed his second attempt of the game. He also didn't get off a kick on an extra-point attempt in the first half because of a bad snap.

Gould was 1 for 3 on field goals yesterday, missing from 48 and 42 yards. He also missed a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter of a 20-14 loss to Minnesota last week.

"This was just one of those days that nothing was going my way," Gould said. "It's tough. It's a frustrating season for me right now. It's not one of the greatest feelings in the world for me, and it's definitely not fun."

Penn State's defense wasn't having much fun either in the second half. Wisconsin didn't possess the ball much in the first half and ran just 14 times for 67 yards. But the Badgers did what most other Penn State opponents have done in the second half. They pounded the ball at the Lions' weak rushing defense.

By game's end, they had 234 yards, 119 from third-stringer Stanley, who replaced injured first- and second-stringers Anthony Davis and Dwayne Smith in the second half. Wisconsin had the ball for almost 24 minutes in the second half.

On Wisconsin's 13-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, Stanley carried nine times and finished off the drive with a 6-yard run.

"Seems like a lot of teams line up, bring their big guys, their offensive line, tight end and fullback, and drive it down our throats," junior safety Andrew Guman said. "It's happened in a few games. We just can't shut teams down yet."

E-mail this story   Print this story