Penn State routed by Wisconsin

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis.

From the charges against Jerry Sandusky to the end of his father’s reign as head coach, Jay Paterno hasn’t had time to stop and digest everything that has happened over the past few weeks at Penn State.

With no game to prepare for in the immediate future, Paterno now expects those emotions to hit him all at once.

Penn State was routed 45-7 at Wisconsin on Saturday, costing the Nittany Lions a spot in the Big Ten title game.

With an entire program tarnished by the child sex abuse charges against Sandusky, the Nittany Lions (9-3, 6-2) face an uncertain bowl future — and interim coach Tom Bradley, Paterno and the rest of the team’s coaches await their long-term fate.

“Tomorrow I’ll get to spend some time with my kids and kind of deal with this,” said Paterno, a Nittany Lions assistant. “Because I haven’t had a chance really to deal with everything that’s happened.”

Bradley was frustrated by his team’s turnovers and poor tackling. But he insists that the scandal shouldn’t cost the players the chance to go to a bowl.

“They weren’t involved in this,” Bradley said. “They worked their tail off. Hey, they were 9-3, OK? They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do. You’ve got to give them credit for everything that’s gone on, they’ve hung tough, done a great job sticking together.”

Wisconsin’s Montee Ball scored four touchdowns and quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns, flustering the Nittany Lions’ defense by slipping away from tackling attempts all afternoon.

The Nittany Lions started strong, taking an early 7-0 lead.

The Nittany Lions don’t get to play next week, but getting a brief break might have an upside.

“It will give us a chance to rest up both emotionally and physically,” offensive tackle Quinn Barham said. “With everything that has been going on, it’s been a rough season. … With what’s been going on the past two weeks, it will be a nice break.”