MADISON, Wis. -- They struggled to find the right words to express their frustration, much the same way they struggled to find the big plays it would have taken to beat a fine Wisconsin team in its formidable home surroundings Saturday.
  "It's real hard," said Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli. "I don't even know what to say right now. Things don't go our way, and that's all there is to it. I don't know what to say. I'm just speechless right now. We're just having some rough times this year."
  Rough patches both familiar and unforeseen haunted the Nittany Lions in Camp Randall Stadium, where they fell 13-3 to the No. 17 Badgers before a boisterous crowd of 81,777.
  Penn State (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) turned the ball over three times and totaled just 201 yards of offense, failing to capitalize on the few opportunities it had to erase a late 10-point deficit.
  The Lions played the final quarter without head coach Joe Paterno, who injured his left knee in a sideline collision with a Wisconsin player and was carted off the field in the final minute of the third quarter. After the game, Paterno flew home to State College, where he was scheduled to receive an X-ray, according to team spokesman Jeff Nelson. An MRI exam is tentatively scheduled for today or Monday.
  The knock on Wisconsin (9-1, 6-1) was that first-year coach Bret Bielema and the Badgers hadn't been tested by many quality opponents. Senior quarterback John Stocco, freshman tailback P.J. Hill and an aggressive Badger defense passed every test Saturday.
  "Their offensive line was tough, P.J. Hill was a tough runner, all the way around I thought they were an all-around tough team, well-coached," said Penn State linebacker Sean Lee. "They came out there and tried to establish being tough."
  Hill rushed for 148 yards on 31 carries, wearing down Penn State's stubborn defense in the second half. Stocco, under heavy pressure from Lion blitzes, completed 15 of 25 passes for 172 yards and the game's only touchdown -- a 14-yard strike to Paul Hubbard -- before a savage hit from Lee knocked him out of the game early in the fourth quarter.
  The Badgers owned the stat sheet, out-rushing Penn State 167-36 and enjoying better than a 15-minute edge in time of possession, but couldn't translate that domination to the scoreboard. A series of plays in both the second and third quarters was the difference.
  After Wisconsin's Zach Hampton recovered his own fumble of a Jeremy Kapinos punt, the Badgers drove deep into Penn State territory on the strength of four straight completions by Stocco.
  On third-and-5 at the Penn State 37, Paul Posluszny stopped Travis Beckum a yard shy of the first down with his record-breaking 344th career tackle, but the Badgers went for it on 4th-and-1. Hill's carry and the officials' spot gave Wisconsin the first down by an inch, and four plays later Stocco drilled a strike to Hubbard on a slant route, putting Wisconsin up 10-3 with 23 seconds left in the half.
  On the Badgers' first drive of the second half, a third-down pass from Stocco to tight end Andy Crooks was broken up by Penn State safety Donnie Johnson, who nearly intercepted the pass for what might have been six points. Instead, Ken DeBauche's punt bounced off Penn State blocker Lydell Sargeant and was recovered by Hampton at the Penn State 20-yard line. The Lions kept the Badgers out of the end zone but Taylor Mehlhaff's 19-yard field goal made it 13-3 with 2:42 left in the third.
  "We had to play a little differently once they got up by 10," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said.
  For the defense, that meant trying to slow Hill, who motored his 242-pound frame for 80 yards in the second half. Penn State's struggling offense, after a 50-yard drive to open the second half, went three plays and out on four straight possessions.