Wisconsin Football 2024 Preview: Penn State Nittany Lions

The schedule for the Wisconsin football team is a difficult one. The Badgers will face five teams that appear in the AP Poll's preseason top 25, including three teams ranked in the top ten.

One of those teams is the Penn State Nittany Lions, who will begin the season as the No. 8 team in the country.

Game Info

When: Saturday, October 26th
Where: Camp Randall Stadium - Madison, WI
TV: TBD
Radio: Badger Sports Network

History

The Badgers and Nittany Lions have 20 all-time meetings, with the Nittany Lions holding the edge in the series, 11-9. Wisconsin has lost the last five meetings against Penn State heading into this matchup.

The last meeting between the two teams came in 2021 when the Graham Mertz-led Badgers struggled to get into the endzone. On three different drives, the Wisconsin offense got inside the Penn State ten-yard line and failed to produce points. The No. 12 Badgers fell to the No. 19 Nittany Lions, opening the season 0-1.

Last Season

10-3 Overall; 7-2 in Big Ten
36.2 points per game (12th of 133)
13.3 opp. points per game (3rd of 133)
2023 SOS: 22nd of 133

Last year seemed to be more of the same thing for Penn State. As a part of the Big Ten East, the Nittany Lions often played third fiddle behind Ohio State and Michigan. Last year was no different. They suffered their only two regular-season losses to the Buckeyes and Wolverines.

Although they finished the season 12th nationally in scoring, that is a bit of a skewed stat. The Nittany Lions put up some pretty crooked numbers on some lower competition throughout the season. They scored 63 on UMass, 63 on Deleware, 51 on Maryland, and 42 on Michigan State.

In their two games against Ohio State and Michigan, they scored 12 and 15 points, respectively.

Head coach James Franklin fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich after the team lost to Michigan last season.

They lost to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, finishing their season with a 10-3 record.

2024 Preview

Penn State enters the season as the No. 8 team in the country, according to the AP preseason poll.

They hired Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for the same position. Kotelnicki helped guide the Kansas Jayhawk offense to being one of the most explosive offenses in the country, something the Nittany Lions needed desperately. They will have quarterback Drew Allars returning to man the offense along with All-Big Ten running back Nick Singleton.

They also went to the transfer portal to bring in receiver Julian Fleming, who spent came over from Ohio State, and former Wisconsin offensive lineman Nolan Rucci to improve their offense.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions will be without their leader in sacks, Adisa Isaac, who entered the 2024 NFL Draft. But their leading tackler Kevin Winston is returning. But their biggest returning defensive player is Abdul Carter. The junior edge player had 48 total tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2023.

The Nittany Lions are expected to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff this year with a favorable schedule. They will face Wisconsin and USC on the road and host Ohio State. Other than that, the Nittany Lions face Illinois, UCLA, Maryland, Washington, and Purdue in conference play.

The Nittany Lions should be a team fighting for a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

According to FanDuel, the Nittany Lions have a win total of 9.5 wins and are ninth in national championship odds at +2000.

Heading into their matchup, the Badgers are currently 6.5-point underdogs to the Nittany Lions, despite playing at home, according to ESPNBet .

Related: Wisconsin Football 2024 Preview: USC Trojans

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You can also follow Staff Writer Christian Borman at @ChristianBorman on X.