Penn State football suffered its first loss of the season, falling 24-20 to Wisconsin in Matt Campbell’s first Big Ten conference game as the Nittany Lions’ head coach. However, beyond the disappointing result, Campbell’s postgame comments also drew attention as he reflected on the missed opportunities that ultimately cost his team the game.
During the postgame press conference, Campbell pointed to one crucial play and explained how a missed assignment became symbolic of the Nittany Lions’ struggles throughout the second half.
“I think we had a guy slip off the broken play and, you know, one slip and again that play, that situation, it's kind of like the narrative of the second half, right?” Campbell said, according to Lexie Linderman of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I mean, we left it to chance, and we had so many opportunities to put the game away, and we just didn't take advantage of those opportunities.”
Article Continues BelowBefore the Wisconsin loss, Penn State had opened the season with a perfect 3-0 record. The program cruised through its early non-conference schedule with victories over Marshall, Temple, and a dominant 55-13 win over Buffalo.
The matchup against Wisconsin also appeared to be within Campbell’s control for much of the game. Penn State raced out to a commanding 17-0 advantage early, but the Nittany Lions struggled to maintain their momentum as Wisconsin mounted a late comeback.
Campbell is in his first season as Penn State’s head coach after spending a decade establishing a winning program at Iowa State. He accepted the Penn State job after leaving the Cyclones as the winningest coach in program history. Campbell replaced James Franklin, who was fired in late 2025.
Franklin had faced criticism during his Penn State tenure for failing to consistently win some of the program’s biggest games before his departure. However, Campbell now faces an early setback against Wisconsin, a team Franklin never lost to during his tenure with the Nittany Lions.