Wisconsin Rallies Past No. 14 Penn State, Joining Short List in Program History
The short version
- Unranked Wisconsin beat No. 14 Penn State 24-20 on Sept. 26 after trailing 17-0 in the Big Ten opener.
- It was Wisconsin's seventh comeback win of 17-plus points since the program's records began in 1946.
- The last such comeback was a 21-3 deficit overcome against Illinois in a 30-24 win on Oct. 28, 2006.
- The largest recorded rally was from 28-7 down at Missouri in 1984, won 35-34.
The Badgers erased a 17-point deficit to win 24-20 in their Big Ten opener, something only six previous Wisconsin teams had done since 1946.
Unranked Wisconsin defeated No. 14 Penn State 24-20 on Sept. 26 in University Park, Pennsylvania, opening Big Ten play with a road victory built on a second-half surge. Head coach Luke Fickell, in his fourth season leading the program, called the result hard to script any better.
The Badgers entered the game facing a 17-0 deficit before mounting the rally that decided the contest. Trailing by that margin and winning is an accomplishment few Wisconsin teams have managed, regardless of opponent ranking or venue.
According to the program's own records, which only document comeback victories back to 1946, this was the seventh time a Badgers team has overcome a deficit of 17 points or more. That span covers roughly eight decades of Wisconsin football.
The most recent example before this season came on Oct. 28, 2006, when Wisconsin erased a 21-3 second-quarter deficit to beat Illinois 30-24 at Camp Randall Stadium. As happened in 2026, the opponent had scored on an interception return in the opening half before the Badgers defense dominated after the break.
Going back further, Wisconsin turned a 17-0 hole at Ohio Stadium into a 20-17 win over No. 13 Ohio State in 2001, one of the few bright spots of an otherwise difficult season. That remains the last time before 2026 that the Badgers completed a comeback of 17-plus points on the road or against a ranked opponent.
In 1999, a Wisconsin team that would go on to the Rose Bowl and had lost two straight games found itself down 17-0 to No. 12 Ohio State at the Horseshoe. Ron Dayne ran for four touchdowns as the Badgers ripped off 42 unanswered points to win 42-17.
The largest comeback in the program's recorded history came in 1984, in Dave McClain's next-to-last season as head coach. Wisconsin trailed Missouri 28-7 with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter in the Week 2 road game at Columbia before escaping with a 35-34 victory.
Not every large rally produced a win. In 1978, McClain's first season, the Badgers scored 18 unanswered points to recover from a 24-6 third-quarter deficit against Purdue at Camp Randall, but the game ended 24-24. In 1969, after an 0-3 start, Wisconsin 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 over two minutes left.
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