The score of yesterday's Badger football game against Penn State severely underplays what an important game it was.

So much happened and you'd assume it was a pretty boring game from the 13-3 score.

But the fallout from yesterday's game is rather huge.

The foremost issue on everyone else's mind is the injury to Joe Pa, but we'll come back to that.

The biggest topic on my mind (besides whether or not Stocco will be able to play vs. Iowa, which we'll also get to further down) is the brilliant play-calling to end the half.

Wisconsin scored a TD with under a minute left to go in the half. After the extra point, there was about :30 second left on the clock.

New clock rules in college football this year say that the clock starts when the ball is kicked, not when it is caught, as had previously been the rule.

Bielema had his entire team lineup and take off before the ball was kicked, which incurs an offside penalty. Of course, the play is run to it's conclusion, first, meaning the clock runs. In theory, the receiving team could run it back and decline the penalty. But when you get that much of a head start on the punt, they really have no chance to return it.

We did this twice! The clock ran down to under :10, at which time we punted as normal and the half ended without Penn State being allowed to put together a last minute drive.

Joe Pa was furious! And the guys in the booth were a bit confused. Finally, one of the announcers caught on to what we were doing, explained it to everyone else and they all started laughing and pronounced Bielema as brilliant.

I'm sure this loophole will be addressed in the off-season, but major props to Bielema for his obvious attention to detail and straight up intelligence. I know Joe Pa was angry, and I'm sure if it had happened against us, I would be too. But you have to see the inherent intelligence Bielema showed here. And I say good for him!

Now, back to Joe Pa and Stocco...

Early in the second half a Penn State tight end, Andrew Quarless made a catch on right at the sideline. As the tackle was being made, a Badger player's helmet collided with Paterno's left leg. The slow motion replay is still giving me chills, as it looked like Joe Pa's knee hyperextended backwards.

Word today is that there is a fracture at the top of his shinbone and there is some ligament damage. School officials and doctors are saying surgery isn't out of the question, though apparently Joe Pa is going about his day as though it were any other Sunday.

An ESPN article is also reporting that the statue of Joe Pa near Happy Valley is already sporting a bandage about it's knee and get well wishes.

However, that injury is second in Badger fans' heads to the one that knocked Jon Stocco out of the game. Two separate hits seem to have combined to force Stocco to the benches. Thus far the coaching staff is mum, saying we won't know for a few days whether or not he'll be ready to play this weekend against Iowa.

While the injury doesn't appear to be season ending and while the next two week's games are negligible, since we're already assured of second place in the Big Ten, we're actually still being named in the discussion about who will receive at-large BCS bids. It's a long shot - but a big showing at Iowa would definitely help our case.

I'm torn on this, since I feel like the BCS bid really isn't crucial or an issue and Stocco is in his last year. I don't think it would be so bad for backup Tyler Donovan to get some big game experience. At the same time, we have a transfer QB who becomes eligible for next season, likely leaving Donovan as backup again - in which case I don't care what kind of experience he has!