MADISON, WIS. -- Wisconsin finds itself needing to rebound after a Week 1 loss, something that the program has not had to do since Paul Chryst's first season in 2015.

The No. 12 Badgers fell to the No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday inside Camp Randall Stadium. BadgerBlitz.com breaks down key takeaways from Wisconsin's rare season-opening defeat.

Wisconsin still held Penn State to 16 points and 297 total yards -- 50 of which were rushing -- but all of the scoring and the chunk of that yardage came later in the game. The UW defense looked like a dominating unit in the first 30 minutes of game play.

It held the Big Ten East foe to 43 total yards -- just two yards rushing -- and thwarted the Nittany Lions in converting just one of seven on third-down opportunities. Jim Leonhard's group also forced five three-and-outs in the first half.

The final two quarters told a different story, and credit to Penn State and new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich for making adjustments in accumulating 254 yards in that time frame. Four drives in the second half resulted in at least 61 yards -- three of which ended in points.

The Badgers allowed three passes of 42 or more yards in that second half, including the 49-yard touchdown pass from Sean Clifford to Jahan Dotson to open the scoring for the afternoon.

Cornerback Caesar Williams believed Penn State "definitely switched it up, trying to play with our eyes and play with our rules," according to the sixth-year senior, in the second half.

"You know, a lot of teams are going to try to play with our rules because I think if they don't play with our rules, they know they don't have a good chance of beating us," Williams said. "A lot of under and outs, over and just things that beat our defense mentally, I think is what they tried to do. And not just, 'OK this guy is better than him so let's get him the ball.'

"I think they did a lot of hiding players and putting them in positions they weren't used to being in and us having to key that. I tried to look at the whole formation before the play starts. If it's three-by-one, two-by-two, and what I could possibly get out of these formations. And then once the snap hits, I just play ball."

Safety Scott Nelson did not think Penn State did anything differently in the final two quarters compared to what they saw in the first half.

"They took more shots," Nelson said. "They were trying to get on the edges a little more. But we weren't like surprised by it, weren't taken aback. We were prepared for it. We just didn't execute."

Wisconsin kept pressure on Clifford the entire game and ended with eight tackles for loss, but just two sacks.

Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda.

Wisconsin outgained Penn State 365-297 on Saturday, but of course, what's on the scoreboard decides the win-loss column. The Badgers moved the ball down the field -- registering drives of 46 or more yards five times on Saturday and generating four red zone opportunities -- but they could not capitalize on three of those drives that went inside the 20-yard line.

"I think the biggest thing was a lot of self-inflicted wounds down there," quarterback Graham Mertz said on Saturday. "Obviously, balls on the ground, you can't do that as a quarterback, as an offense. So for us, it's just we got to get down there and execute.

"A great chance for us to learn and do that next week and the weeks following that. A good learning opportunity."

You can argue Penn State should have tallied at least 10 more points (maybe 11) -- a missed field goal and a doinked extra point, along with a Clifford overthrow with Dotson beating Faion Hicks that could have been a touchdown -- but Wisconsin missed three huge chances in the red zone to come away with points.

UW drove into the red zone twice in the first half -- even getting as close to the two-yard line in the second quarter -- only to come away with no points. The resulting plays in that series where the offense went inside the five-yard line ended with the following: a false start to back it up to the seven-yard-line, a no gain on a Chez Mellusi rush, and two incompletions that set up a 25-yard field goal attempt. Collin Larsh's chip shot eventually was blocked by Arnold Ebiketie.

The Badgers next possession started off promising -- getting down to the Penn State eight-yard line before a mixed exchange between Mertz and Mellusi led to a fumble. Defensive lineman Nick Tarburton fell on it to complete the turnover.

A 10-play, 75-yard drive found pay dirt in the third quarter with a Mellusi touchdown run, but that was the only red zone score of the day for Wisconsin.

There would be another prime opportunity though late in the contest. Down six points in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin eventually drove down to the PSU one-yard line with a 1st-and-Goal opportunity to at least tie or potentially take the lead with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining.

More implosion occurred, as a Mertz fumble led to UW being backed up to the PSU 7. Isaac Guerendo's run lost a yard the snap thereafter, while Mertz's third-down throw to Jack Dunn was broken up by cornerback Joey Porter, Jr.

On fourth down, Mertz tried for tight end Jake Ferguson, but safety Jaquan Brisker read the play perfectly and intercepted the pass then.

"Obviously, Ferg's my guy," Mertz said. "In a situation like that, you know pressure's coming. Just try to put it up and let him make a play. DB read my eyes and just flew over there and picked it out, but gotta [have] better location on that one."

UW listed Mellusi as the No. 1 tailback on this week's game notes, though I felt we would see a decent amount of Jalen Berger with the talent he possesses. However, the bulk of the carries went to the former, a Clemson transfer, on Saturday.

Mellusi ran for 131 yards on 31 carries and one touchdown. He averaged only 3.9 yards per attempt, but he reeled off six 10-plus yards.

"Chez is a dog," Mertz said. "He's going to go out there and ball. He's going to keep doing that, and I love that kid to death. Happy he's on our team."

Chryst believed Mellusi "ran hard."

"It's hard kind of from where you're at, is he staying true to everything, but I thought he played," Chryst said. "Just looked like he was out there and played. Ran through some, made some yards on his own. I thought [he] took advantage of some yards [that] were there, and so it was fun to see him though. He gave a lot, and I like the way he approaches the game, too."

Isaac Guerendo ran the ball well on the limited attempts he received on Saturday (13 carries for 56 yards). For the most part, however, it was Mellusi-mania in Camp Randall Stadium.

Chryst was asked after the game why Berger did not play.

"I think that the big thing was Chez obviously got the start, and Isaac was next back in," Chryst said. "Kind of knew that going into the game, and I thought Chez did a lot of really good, and so same with Isaac, and so I think it got to be how they were playing. I felt Chez got a decent amount of carries, but you know, Isaac still we thought had more in him, too. So I think that's probably what, in the end, it's because of what Chez and Isaac were doing."

Wisconsin's offensive line started with, from left tackle to right tackle: Tyler Beach, Josh Seltzner, Joe Tippmann, Jack Nelson and Logan Bruss.

That combination of five received the most snaps. However, there were times where we saw the interior of the line change as Cormac Sampson, Kayden Lyles and Michael Furtney worked at left guard, center and right guard, respectively.

"Yeah, we kind of knew going in. You had two first-time starters in 'Tipp' and 'Nelly,'" Chryst said. "Also with 'Seltz,' who kind of in the past, 'Seltz' has also been one to kind of rotate with. So combination of that and thought we had another group of guys that deserve the right to play. Kind of knew going into the game that we wanted to get them some snaps."