Wisconsin Rallies Past No. 14 Penn State, Joining Rare Company in Program History
The short version
- Wisconsin beat No. 14 Penn State 24-20 on Sept. 26 after trailing 17-0 in its Big Ten opener.
- It was Wisconsin's seventh comeback of 17-plus points since comeback records began in 1946.
- The previous such rally came in 2006 against Illinois; the last on the road or vs. a ranked team was 2001 at Ohio State.
- The program's biggest recorded comeback was from 28-7 down at Missouri in 1984, winning 35-34.
The Badgers erased a 17-0 deficit to win 24-20 in their Big Ten opener, only the seventh comeback of that size since 1946.
Wisconsin pulled off a notable upset on Sept. 26, erasing a 17-0 deficit to defeat No. 14 Penn State 24-20 in University Park, Pennsylvania. The victory came in the Badgers' Big Ten opener and dropped a ranked opponent in a hostile road environment.
The win carries extra weight for fourth-year coach Luke Fickell, who called it a signature moment. "You couldn't write it any better," Fickell said after the game. Wisconsin entered the matchup unranked and had been struggling in recent outings.
Comebacks of that magnitude are rare for the Badgers. According to the Wisconsin record book, which tracks comeback wins only back to 1946, Saturday's rally was just the seventh time the program has overcome a deficit of 17 points or more in at least eight decades.
The most recent such comeback came nearly 20 years ago, on Oct. 28, 2006, when Wisconsin trailed Illinois 21-3 in the second quarter before winning 30-24 at Camp Randall Stadium. In both that game and the 2026 Penn State win, the opponent scored a first-half pick-six before Wisconsin's defense dominated after halftime.
Before this season, the last time Wisconsin rallied from 17 or more points down either on the road or against a ranked team was in 2001, when the Badgers trailed No. 13 Ohio State 17-0 at Ohio Stadium before scoring 20 unanswered points. That bright spot came during an otherwise difficult season.
The 1999 season produced a similar signature rally, with Wisconsin down 17-0 at No. 12 Ohio State before Ron Dayne scored four touchdowns to fuel 42 unanswered points in a 42-17 road win. That team went on to the Rose Bowl and had entered the game off back-to-back losses.
The largest recorded comeback in program history came in 1984 at Missouri, when Wisconsin faced a 28-7 deficit with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter before winning 35-34 in Columbia. It was the next-to-last season for coach Dave McClain.
Two earlier entries round out the list. In 1978, McClain's first season, Wisconsin climbed out of a 24-6 hole against Purdue with 18 unanswered points but settled for a 24-24 tie at Camp Randall Stadium. In 1969, after an 0-3 start, the Badgers trailed Iowa 17-0 late in the third quarter before scoring 23 straight points, taking the lead for good on a Neil Graff touchdown pass to Randall Marks with a little more than two minutes left.
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