Paul Chryst, Wisconsin players offer thoughts on Penn State Nittany Lions

Wisconsin tight ends coach Mickey Turner likes to start his work early.

Jake Ferguson, an All-Big Ten selection at the tight end position for the Badgers last fall, said Turner already had Wisconsin's tight ends tuned into some film on Penn State's defense this spring.

"Coach Turner likes to jump the gun a little bit," Turner said with a laugh.

"They're a great team," Turner continued. "They're physical on the line, physical on the front-seven. The secondary is really good at covering. We've just got to try to find those little holes and try to exploit them."

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For both programs, the season opener taking place between these two teams on September 4 in Madison will represent the continuation of a strange phenomenon.

After all Big Ten schools played a conference-only schedule last season — thus starting their seasons against Big Ten opposition — Penn State and Wisconsin will do so again this year.

This one, though, will certainly have a different feel.

"It's going to be crazy," Wisconsin cornerback Faion Hicks said. "And the fact that our fans couldn't come for a whole year, it's going to be even more crazy. I'm looking forward to it, especially having the fans back. It's going to be wild."

There's always an element of guesswork going on within coaching staffs as they try to prepare for their opponents early in the season, but there's an added layer to that this year from the Wisconsin perspective.

Penn State has a new offensive coordinator in Mike Yurcich, meaning that head coach Paul Chryst and his staff expanded their horizons in search of information on Penn State's offense.

"You try to hit the proper balance, preparing for what they could do," Chryst said. "You're going to know less about your oponent the first game of the year, a little bit more in your second game of the year, plus I think in fall camp, you're preparing for your season. You have to cover a lot of things."

"I think they're going to be a talented team," Wisconsin linebacker Jack Sanborn said. "They've got a good running back room. Their offensive coordinator wasn't there last year, so we've got to watch a lot of game film from other teams and also a lot of Penn State."

All three players in Wisconsin's delegation at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis this weekend said they'd seen enough of the Nittany Lions to offer some early impressions as the seasons draws closer.

Hicks, for example, could see plenty of Penn State wide receiever Jahan Dotson, who led the Big Ten in receiving yards last season.

"I think he's a great talent," Hicks said. "So I look forward to that. I've been watching him a lot this summer. I think it's going to be a really good matchup."

Sanborn — who also found a place on the All-Big Ten team last season as a third-team selection by the coaches — called the prospect of playing the Nittany Lions so early in the season "exciting."

"That first weekend of college football coming back, and it's the first weekend with fans at full capacity in a year-and-a-half, waiting for this moment, this big profile game, two prestigious football teams going against each other," Sanborn said. "I think it's great for the sport."

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