Matt Campbell still looked visibly stunned at his post-game press conference after Wisconsin knocked off his Penn State Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium. The Badgers stormed their way to an incredible comeback and sealed the victory with a 70-yard touchdown by tight end Jacob Harris. Maybe Campbell was just baffled, frustrated, or at a loss for words. Or, so focused on his team's problems, his post-game press conference featured zero credit to Wisconsin.
Campbell spent eight minutes after losing to Wisconsin talking and answering questions. At no point did he say the word "Wisconsin" or "Badgers." Instead, it was always "they" or some version of that. All the blame for the loss was squarely on Penn State. He didn't have any credit to give Wisconsin.
To be fair to Campbell, he didn't bad-mouth Wisconsin, but he basically stayed focused on Penn State as the reason Wisconsin won. It wasn't that the Badgers outplayed Penn State; it was that the Nittany Lions failed. Which is certainly one way to see the game.
Matt Campbell's post game quotes were solely focused on Penn State's problems
Related: The 3 best PFF grades for Wisconsin Badgers after the Penn State upset
We had a lot of play opportunities to be made," Campbell told reporters. "We just didn't make some of the plays that we had the opportunity to make.” This was basically his take throughout the entire press conference, even doubling down on it when he talked about the Jacob Harris touchdown that gave Wisconsin the lead. "We had so many opportunities to put the game away, and we just didn't take advantage of those opportunities.”
How did Campbell see that play? "We had a guy slip," he said. Well, that's better than the trolls on the internet who were crying for offensive pass interference on Harris. At least Campbell is ready to say that his player slipped and left Harris wide open.
Once again, though, Campbell isn't ready to give Harris credit, Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph credit, Luke Fickell, Jeff Grimes, the offensive line, nobody. Instead, it was more of the same: “We didn't take advantage of it as a team when we had the opportunity to do that.” Campbell says the loss is squarely on the backs of Penn State as a team.
In some ways, this is normal for a coach, but it almost seemed intentional. It probably wasn't, but there was no normal coach-speak: "Those guys played a heck of a game." Or maybe even, "Credit to Wisconsin for hanging in there and fighting to the end."
Campbell said none of that. He continued to beat the same drum, “Defensively, I thought we played a tremendous football game. We gave ourselves every opportunity to win the football game.” What happened then, Campbell? Why did Penn State lose? Well, according to the stunned head coach, "We just didn't make the plays."
Wisconsin doesn't care if Penn State won't give them credit for the win; they know what they did. They know they still have a lot to prove, and hopefully, this momentum carries them through the rest of the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google