Continued from “We Are Penn State Football – Part I”
Michigan. As I’ve said before, when I see that word I instantly think scUM. It seems every season since Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993, scUM referees really like to have fun with Penn State coaches, players and fans. Penn State vs. Michigan, as young as the rivalry is, may turn into one of College Football’s most fierce rivalries in the coming seasons. It’s too bad it hasn’t turned into a major rivalry all around the College Football world already. Because of the size of the Big Ten, every season a few teams don’t end up playing each other. There is one team that a Big Ten team is locked into playing every season, in Penn State’s case it is Michigan State, for the very last game of every season. Mix in the recent bad years of Penn State with that and the PSU vs. scUM rivalry really just hasn’t blown up yet like it may very well.
If there is ever one coach, besides Paul “Bear” Bryant, Joe Paterno just can’t figure out, it very well may be Lloyd Carr. Coming into this season, Carr already possessed a 7-2 lifetime record vs. the Nittany Lions and looked to continue his success back home. Carr had Joe’s number and both coaches and teams knew it. At the time however, Michigan was at its lowest point of the season. Having started the season #3 in the country, scUM had just fallen out of the AP and coaches Top 25 after losing three of their first six games. Penn State came into the “Big House” a favorite as Michigan had just lost to Minnesota at home and hoped to prevent the first ever two-game home losing streak in Ann Arbor, EVER. The Wolverines were down, yes, but not even they could predict what was about to unfold in front of their very own eyes.
I had just eaten my lunch at Applebee’s and returned to my hotel in time for the game. The first half of the game is well, just something I’d like to forget and never have to watch again. It wasn’t even that bad of a first half, but there were two distinctive drives that Penn State squandered. The first was the opening drive, where Michael Robinson led a fierce drive all the way down the field before being shut down inside the scUM 30 yard line. I was honestly really surprised it came down to a field goal attempt because Penn State moved the ball so well that first drive it looked like they were ready to shove the game right down the throats of the Wolverines from the start.
Freshman Kevin Kelly came into the game having had been such a pleasant fill in for graduate Robbie Gould, who really had his kicking problems while at Penn State. As Kelly came set to kick the ball it didn’t even come to mind that he may miss the field goal. After all, he was only just a true freshman in his first really pressured-packed situation away from Beaver Stadium. But as his kick went up, it turned out to be just plain ugly. It had no shot of going in at all; way far left on the goal post. I’m sure when Kelly kicked it he instantly put his head down in shame because it was THAT BAD. I remember falling back onto my hotel bed in shame for him but it was only one three-point field goal miss right?
That’s what I thought.
I was wrong.
Penn State made some more strong drives before being halted by the scUM defense close or near the red-zone numerous times. Kelly came on to attempt another field goal early in the second quarter. As the kick went into the air I thought it may have a chance. The ball hooked wide right this time and again the Nittany Lions had wasted another golden opportunity to put valuable points on the board.
scUM also had kicking problems of its own. Junior kicker Garrett Rivas did have the advantage of being at home but surprised everyone by missing on his first attempt. He quickly re-deemed himself by nailing a field goal to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead and after all the missed kicks/opportunities by both teams I was satisfied with only being down by 3 points at halftime.
Of course, Penn State’s defense came to play and either team had very much success during the entire first half. Team leaders for both squads on offense got things done on the ground with Robinson taking the honors for the Nittany Lions and RB Mike Hart for the Wolverines. Hart was really having a great game especially after being injured on-and-off the first couple of weeks of the season. An extra missed tackle or broken tackle here-or-there and Hart may have run for three or four touchdowns by himself. But just as Penn State’s offense would stall at a sudden moment, so would the Wolverines and they’d be forced to punt or attempt a field goal.
As bad as I felt for Kelly and the fact that we had wasted at least six points, I still had all the confidence in the world in my Nittany Lions. We had just beaten Ohio State and shown the world Penn State was back, how could we lose to unranked Michigan was my thinking?
The referees that I have complained about numerous times already were not that big of a problem during the first half of the game. They didn’t really blow one big call the entire half but that was partly because of the limited action. I knew in my heart that if things started cooking, especially late, I would probably be seeing a lot of JoePa yelling and a lot of refs trying to get him off their case.
I knew if the game was close late, things would go more for the Wolverines than for the Nittany Lions, and I didn’t have a good feeling about that particular situation going into the start of the second half.
I really thought Penn State would come out storming in the second half.
Copyright ©2005 Colin Cerniglia. All Rights Reserved.