Wisconsin
Lion Tales: Wisconsin
The fun of this series is that I can throw out a “classic” Penn State football season and you’ll immediately remember a game or two that made that year.
I say 2016 and the blocked kick against Ohio State and the Big Ten title game rally against Wisconsin come right to mind.
Just last week, I wrote a lot about 1994 and you’ll remember the Michigan game or the Illinois rally or Ki-Jana’s run in the Rose Bowl.
Well, today I get to write about my personal favorite Penn State team ever: the 2005 edition.
From that year, of course you remember the thrilling last-second rally at Northwestern. Of course the game from that year was the defense-dominated 17-10 win against Ohio State in front of a huge Saturday night Beaver Stadium crowd. The lone loss, to Michigan on the last play of the game, is infamous in its own right, while the season was capped with a No. 3 ranking and an Orange Bowl win.
But on a warm November afternoon in Happy Valley, Penn State put itself in position for its second-ever Big Ten title with a 35-14 romp of Wisconsin that is today’s Lions Tale focus.
Both Penn State and Wisconsin entered November with a chance at the Big Ten title and both had single losses on their resumes. I’ve already mentioned the No. 10 Lions’ lone loss that came after 60:02 of hard-fought football. Meanwhile, No. 14 Wisconsin’s only blemish was a wild 51-48 loss to Northwestern in Evanston.
While Ohio State had a lone conference loss, the Penn State/Wisconsin matchup was going to decide who kept alive hopes of also finishing 7-1 in the league.
The 2005 Badgers didn’t have their typical stout defense and instead were relying on an offense that was averaging about 40 points per game.
Against Penn State, it simply never got going as Wisconsin didn’t dent the scoreboard until a few minutes into the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Michael Robinson was simply special in his Beaver Stadium finale. Less than two minutes into the game, he hit Deon Butler on a long touchdown strike to put Penn State up 7-0. He then engineered a pair of 80-plus yard scoring drives that were capped by Tony Hunt and BranDon Snow respectively. The Lions led 21-0 at the half and the celebration was on for much of the second half.
The first Wisconsin touchdown did cut it to 21-7 early in the fourth, but Robinson hit Butler for another long scoring strike and Penn State was safe again. Hunt added a second touchdown run late in the game.
Overall, Robinson played one of his best games of his special senior season, passing for 238 yards and rushing for 124 on just 17 attempts. Butler caught five passes for 125 yards and the two scores, while Hunt also had two touchdowns among his 24 carries for 151 yards.
Tamba Hali led that Lion defense with nine tackles and four sacks. Alan Zemaitis and Calvin Lowry each intercepted passes, too. All three were part of a special senior group that Joe Paterno lauded after the game.
“I was just glad to see them practice hard all week,” he said. “These guys have been through some stuff and they have stayed together.”
With an odd scheduling quirk, Penn State had its lone bye week of the year after the Wisconsin win and ahead of its game at Michigan State. The Lions ultimately won that one and climbed up to No. 3 in the nation ahead of its eventual bowl game against Florida State.
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
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