Wisconsin
Wisconsin Takes 10-7 Lead Over Unbeaten Penn State at Halftime
Penn State has been a third-quarter team this season and will need to be one again to hold off Wisconsin and remain unbeaten. The Badgers lead Penn State 10-7 at halftime at Camp Randall Stadium after putting the Nittany Lions under plenty of duress early.
No. 3 Penn State has outscored opponents 59-3 in its six third quarters this season, allowing only a field goal to USC two weeks ago. The Nittany Lions (6-0) began the game with two dynamic drives, the second of which produced a superb touchdown catch from running back Nicholas Singleton and the other ended in a turnover. After that, though, Penn State managed just 45 yards of offense and watched quarterback Drew Allar limp into the locker room early.
Penn State has 30 minutes to reach 7-0 before hosting Ohio State next week. A look at the first half.
A stressful ending for Penn State’s offense
The Nittany Lions’ first two drives were sharp in terms of playcalling and ball movement. But for a drop, the first could have produced a touchdown, which the second did. However, Wisconsin’s defense dialed up more pressure on quarterback Drew Allar after that, punctuating the half with a key sack that prompted the quarterback into a slight limp that sent him to the locker room early.
Allar, who completed nine of his first 10 passes, looked increasingly more frustrated as the second quarter wore on. And after a first-down sack, he got up with a slight limp and walked off gingerly after two ensuing incompletions. Allar began the third quarter on the sldeline, wearing a knee brace, and Beau Pribula took over at quarterback.
Braedyn Locke finds a groove
After a sluggish, 2-for-7 start, Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke sharpened his throws in the second quarter. He led a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, completing three consecutive passes, including a pair to Will Pauling, before Tawee Walker scored on a 1-yard run 1:23 before halftime. The scoring drive benefited from a critical Penn State mistake: The Nittany Lions had 12 defenders on the field on a third-down stop before Walker’s touchdown.
Nicholas Singleton’s acrobatic touchdown catch
Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton wasn’t the best receiver in his backfield last year. That was fellow tailback Kaytron Allen. But Singleton spent the offseason upgrading that part of his game, with superb results.
Singleton made a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter, corralling a pass Allar floated into tight coverage. The catch was his second of the half; Singleton ended the first quarter by taking an Allar outlet throw 27 yards to get into the red zone. The touchdown catch, though, was an elite receiving play.
WE SEE YOU NICHOLAS SINGLETON.@PennStateFball | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/FFdao323eA
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 27, 2024
Penn State’s run game starts silently
The Nittany Lions have not run the ball well for 2-and-a-half games. Singleton and Allen combined for 38 yards in the first half, continuing a theme that began with the doubleheader against the California schools. Penn State averaged more than 250 yards rushing through the first four weeks but combined for just 203 yards against UCLA and USC.
Dropped passes blunt offenses
Wisconsin receivers dropped four first-half passes to stall several drives, including a potential scoring opportunity in the first quarter. One came when Penn State freshman safety Dejuan Lane put a shoulder on Wisconsin’s Trech Kekahuna downfield.
Penn State also had a huge drop on its opening series from Julian Fleming, who had been so sure-handed on his last three catches. Fleming, whose fourth-down catches were vital at USC, began the game with a 3rd-and-five conversion. Later in the drive he was wide open with the ball on his fingertips and the end zone in his sight. Fleming turned his head too quickly, though, and dropped the potential touchdown pass. On fourth down, Allar couldn’t collect a quick Nick Dawkins snap, and Wisconsin recover the fumble at its 28-yard line.
Wisconsin’s quirky opening drive
Locke went 2-for-7 on Wisconsin’s first series but a strong throw on 3rd-and-15 to keep alive the drive. Then came one of the savviest plays you”ll see from a punter. Penn State’s Jalen Kimber had a free rush to the block, but Wisconsin’s Atticus Bertrans calmly tucked the ball, reset to punt again and saw uncovered field. He ran for 15 yards on 4th-and-9 for the improbable conversion.
That set up kicker Nathanial Vakos for a 50-yard field goal, giving the Badgers a 3-0 lead.
OH MY GOODNESS! 🤯
A shimmy from Wisconsin’s punter leads to a FIRST DOWN. #B1GFootball@BadgerFootball | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/3yVsntonnZ
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 26, 2024
More Penn State Football
Penn State’s Drew Allar is a “different quarterback” this season, NBC’s Todd Blackledge says
What’s next for Tyler Warren, Penn State’s “one of a kind” tight end?
A huge Gatorade ad featuring Nicholas Singleton debuted in State College this week. Columnist Ben Jones on what it means
Cornerback Jalen Kimber played at Georgia and Florida before transferring to Penn State. He did so intent on “upholding the tradition” of the Nittany Lions’ secondary
Wisconsin
Wisconsin a ‘school to watch’ for SEC transfer wide receiver
Wisconsin is an ‘early school to watch’ for Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Jayden Gibson, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. The Badgers were given that designation along with South Carolina.
Gibson will officially enter the portal when it opens on Jan. 2. The former four-star recruit left the Oklahoma program in October. He was then officially reported to be entering the portal earlier this month.
Gibson joined the Sooners as one of the top wideouts in the class of 2022, ranked specifically as the No. 27 at his position and No. 22 from his home state of Florida. He caught just one pass for 12 yards as a true freshman in 2022. The receiver’s breakout season came as a sophomore in 2023; He appeared in all 13 games, catching 14 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns.
The receiver could not continue that momentum in 2024, as he suffered a season-ending injury during training camp. He then did not see the field at the start of the 2025 campaign before leaving the program.
Wisconsin has a clear need at wide receiver entering 2026, with Eugene Hilton, Trech Kekahuna and Joseph Griffin Jr. all set to enter the portal. The team is looking to fix a passing offense that averaged just 136.4 yards per game in 2025, good for 132nd in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin Adds Robert Steeples to 2026 Coaching Staff
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has added Robert Steeples to its 2026 coaching staff, head coach Luke Fickell announced on Tuesday. Steeples will serve as cornerbacks coach for the Badgers, moving Paul Haynes to oversee the entire secondary.
“Bringing Robert Steeples to Wisconsin is a great addition to our coaching staff,” Fickell said in a statement. “He has seen the game at every level – Playing professionally, coaching at the high school and collegiate level. Our players and staff will love working with him and we’re excited to get him here.
“With the addition, we will be moving Paul Haynes to a role that will allow him to work with our entire secondary to strengthen our unit.”
Steeples spent the last two seasons at Iowa State as a defensive analyst. Prior to his two seasons with the Cyclones, Steeples coached cornerbacks at LSU from 2022-23. The St. Louis native played collegiately at Missouri and Memphis. He went undrafted in 2013, but spent four seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Dallas Cowboys.
“Wisconsin’s commitment to excellence and rugged style of play gives me the opportunity to work with the type of student-athletes that can benefit most from my style of coaching,” Steeples said in a statement. “The defensive structure and culture that Coach Fickell and Coach Tressel have implemented complements the guys on the island – the corners. The defensive staff is full of experience, great leaders, but most importantly great human beings – which makes for a fantastic environment for growth. I’m excited to get into the trenches with the guys and do my part. The opportunity ahead is a blessing.”
Steeples will inherit a Wisconsin cornerback room that currently returns two key performers from the 2025 season — redshirt freshman Omillio Agard and true freshman Cairo Skanes.
Steeples is the second off-season hire for the Badgers, joining offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who came over from Arkansas.
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The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2 and the insider rumblings are already heating up for Wisconsin! There’s not a better time to join the fastest-growing UW team site. New members can sign up and enjoy insider access for just $1!
Wisconsin
Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.
Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.
Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.
Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.
Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.
Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.
Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.
Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.
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