Most players walked toward midfield to share postgame congratulatory handshakes, but Terrell Golden and Deon Butler stood together on the sideline, their backs to that scene, while Golden took a moment to point to his parents in the crowd.

"It took me all game to find them. Usually I know where they are," Golden said, looking up to the stands behind the Penn State bench, as he eventually made his way to the locker room.

But given the career-day their son had Saturday, Golden's parents must have noticed him much earlier, right?

"They might have," Golden said. "They might have."

Most likely earlier than Wisconsin's defense, too.

Penn State's first three offensive possessions began with completed passes to Golden, who finished with five catches for 83 yards, both career highs for the fifth-year senior captain.

Often overshadowed by the Nittany Lions' more talked-about pass catchers, Golden was left uncovered by Wisconsin defensive backs, especially on early play-action passes from quarterback Anthony Morelli.

"It's almost like [they thought] Terrell wasn't on our team," Morelli said.

"They just kept leaving him wide open. They weren't showing him any respect. Anytime I come out of a play-action fake and he's that wide-open in the flats, I just dump it to him and let him do his thing."

The Lions' first possessions went like this: 1) Following P.J. Hill's fumble on the Badgers' first play, Morelli passed to Golden for nine yards.

2) With Penn State ahead 7-0, Morelli hit Golden for 20 yards.

3) Up 10-7, Morelli found Golden for 17 yards to start another touchdown drive.

Golden wasn't defended at the snap on any of the plays.

He added another catch during Penn State's second drive and gathered 64 receiving yards in the first quarter.

"There were other guys open, but Anthony was saying, 'I saw you guys, but Terrell is just so open in front of me with nobody around him,' " Butler said.

"No one's within 20 yards of Terrell. I would throw it to him, too. We just kept throwing that until they started to guard it."

And then, Butler got involved.

He caught Morelli's first and only touchdown on a 29-yard slant-and-go in the second quarter.
Morelli pump faked to his left, freezing Wisconsin cornerback Allen Langford, who left an open Butler streaking toward the right front of the end zone.

"It was either me or nobody catching that ball," Butler said.

Butler and Golden caught all but four of Morelli's 16 completions.

Butler finished the game with seven catches for 93 yards, bettering Golden by two catches and 10 yards.

Tight end Mickey Shuler, who played most of the game after Andrew Quarless was pulled following a dropped second-quarter pass, was next closest with two catches.

Jordan Norwood had a quiet performance with only a 12-yard reception.

"Our timing is getting better so guys are able to make some moves after the catch. Jordan wasn't the only guy making people miss today," Butler said.

Early on, it was all Golden. Sometimes, he didn't need to make any moves, and his final numbers weren't astounding.

But for him, it was a career-best performance.

"The coaches had talked about doing a lot of different things," Golden said, "and it just so happened that today was my day."