Continued from “We Are Penn State Football – Part II – PSU vs. scUM Part I of II”
One second remaining on the clock. The Penn State defense gets set at the line, as does the Wolverine offense. 4th and 4 from the Penn State ten yard line but that doesn’t matter. Michigan needs to score here or the game is over. Henne drops back; stays in the pocket, looks, now finds a receiver down the middle into the end-zone…Finally the second half started but things just weren’t going Penn State’s way at the time. Michigan opened the second half with a 70 yard, ten play drive that culminated in a two-yard touchdown run by Mike Hart. scUM now carried a 10-0 lead and the teams exchanged punts before Penn State went onto a most auspicious roll.
It all started with a 25 yard field goal by Kevin Kelly at the end of the 3rd quarter and the game was then tied up on a delay run by Michael Robinson early in the 4th. Tony Hunt set up the run by going 61 yards on a Reggie Bush type run before Robinson capped off the drive. CB Alan Zemaitis then literally stripped the ball right out of Henne’s hand and took the ball 35 yards. Things were going so well for the Nittany Lions that after a botched extra point attempt, Kelly was able to run the ball into the end-zone for a two point conversion giving the Nittany Lions a 18-10 lead.
By this point in the game I was really into it. My mom, back home in Syracuse, wasn’t able to watch the game because of the regional broadcast in that area. So every time something good would happen for Penn State, my brother or I would call her and give her the good news. I had the liberty of calling her after Zemaitis’ fumble recovery and I was screaming so loud I had to tell her four times before she could understand that Penn State now had a 18-10 lead.
Something started to happen from then on that was a worry of Joe Paterno’s all week long. All season long star freshman Derrick Williams and Justin King were used as if they were like big locomotives and would never run out of steam. Things finally started to catch up with the true freshmen. King would become the first to have a breakdown.
After taking the 18-10 lead Penn State had scUM set up on a long 3rd down. King was covering a true freshman on the other side by the name of Mario Manningham. “Super Mario” as he is better known, cut right by King on his left, near the five yard line before making a basket catch for a touchdown. Hart then dove into the end-zone for the two point conversion and the game was again tied at 18 all.
The game as a whole had been playing out more like a ping-pong match then a College Football game. The score was tied yes, but I wasn’t happy with the referees at all by this point during the game. Many, many, many times throughout the game Penn State’s defense would stop scUM short of a first down, clearly short and the refs would give them a great spot and the Wolverines all of a sudden had a first down. The best part was how every time ABC realized there was a blown call they never showed an instant replay. It was that obvious calls were being blown and it really pissed me off to think that Penn State could be well in control of this game had it not been for these horrible calls. There was even a play on a drive that resulted in a scUM field goal where Hart fumbles and even the broadcasters were able to see it the first time without replay. I honestly think broadcasters are worse than refs so for me to be on their side was something unusual.
It was now 21-18, scUM, and Penn State had the ball with plenty of time, about two minutes left till the end of regulation. It seemed like Robinson was so eager to get down field that he almost threw away the opportunity and Penn State’s season all in one. After a big first down completion, Robinson seemed to settle down and seemed to realize he had plenty of time to lead his team to victory.
Robinson did just that, literally. He accounted for all 81 yards, including 61 through the air on the series and capped the drive with a three yard run on a draw for the go-ahead score.
I jumped so high in the air that when I came down I felt as if my ankles were about to give out and I had to take a seat just as quick as I had gotten up to celebrate. Finally Penn State had done it. The game was over. scUM coaches, players and fans were shocked; Penn Staters rejoiced. The crowd at the Big House was completely silent and I never had a doubt in my mind that Penn State would be headed to Illinois anything less then 8-0.
That confidence soon quickly faded away. The Penn State lead was about to be in danger, yet again.
When a kick returner has proven himself time after time to be dangerous, doesn’t it make sense NOT to kick the ball to him?
Sure seems like a pretty logically solution to me.
So what does Penn State do? Kelly kicks the ball to Steve Breaston and he takes the ensuing kickoff 41 yards and gives the Wolverines in great field position. 41yards. I couldn’t believe it. Breaston even made Special Team great Ethan Kilmer miss a tackle.
There was still 53 seconds on the clock, plenty of time for a scUM score of their own. But Penn State had the Big Ten’s #1 ranked defense; they wouldn’t give in now would they?
With about 30 seconds left in the game Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr came storming out at a referee demanding for two seconds to be put back on the clock. The refs, almost too willingly, gave him his two seconds back.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!
It’s a four point game with 30 seconds remaining and these scUM refs are giving away two of the most valuable seconds time has to offer. Through everything, I still remained true to my Nittany Lions and scUM was now driving and facing a 3rd and 4 at the Penn State ten yard line with 7 seconds remaining.
As Henne took the snap it looked as though for a moment a scUM wide receiver was wide open near the 5 yard line. Out of no where came a Penn State defender and he swatted the ball away, leaving 1 second on the ABC scoreboard. In reality, the Penn State defender might have been better off letting him catch the ball and then tackling him to end the game.
Michigan had no time-outs left.
Robinson held his hand with one finger up high in the air and Penn State players joined on the side line as did scUM players because this was the last play of the game, no matter what.
Calvin Lowry, my favorite player, had played exceptional during his senior campaign at Penn State, playing both Safety and Punt Return. He was instrumental in Penn State’s win over Ohio State; snagging a Troy Smith pass and brining it back to the Penn State 2 yard line before the Nittany Lions scored. But on this one particular play, Lowry blew his coverage. Lowry blew it so bad that unless you knew he was supposed to be covering Manningham, you wouldn’t even have known the difference and just thought he was wide open.
Wide open he was; touchdown Michigan.
Zemaitis tried desperately to cover for Lowry but was one step too late and Manningham brought in the game winning touchdown and ended Penn State’s perfect season; all in 1 second.
How did that just happen?
Well I can tell you why. Because Lloyd Carr always gets what he wants and those two seconds he cried for won him the game. Joe Paterno made his case plenty of times, but to no prevail. Between all the bad spots Penn State’s defense had to deal with after stopping a scUM drive and those extra 2 seconds, it has become apparent the refs were the reason Penn State lost to scUM, not because Penn State gave up and was outplayed; that’s as far away from the truth as one can get.
The most hardly fought battle from Penn State away from home was taken away and Penn State players, fans, and coaches would have to deal with the scrutiny for a whole week before being able to let some steam off.
I sure took a hit from my friends back home, as they were more than happy to see Penn State finally lose. It’s just too bad Syracuse Football couldn’t win more then one game this year is what I had to keep reminding them.
Lost in the chaos was Derrick Williams. Williams again proved to be a big time player but on a kick return that resulted in a Penn State touchdown late in the game, Williams broke his arm. He was now out for the season. A fixture in the offense having only played 7 games, questions were now being asked already as to how Penn State would handle the blow along with the crushing loss.
More than half of the season was over and Penn State had as many wins as they had its previous two seasons combined. The scUM loss just crushed my spirits and none of that mattered anymore.
I wanted that undefeated season. I wanted the Rose Bowl. I wanted another National Championship. Not just for myself, but for Joe Paterno. I was so upset that he probably would not get the chance he well deserved to win another title that the anger stayed with me long into the next week.
I was so confident in Penn State; I never would have thought they could lose a game like this.
I literally didn’t talk after the game for an hour. Not once. Even when my Dad attempted to make the situation better, nothing seemed to help. I had to tell my Mom that Penn State had lost and I didn’t want to hear anymore of it, especially after USC had just come back to defeat Notre Dame and continue their winning ways. It was a day I hope to never have to revisit, in any way, shape or form.
A great lesson would be taught to me from this heartbreaking loss. Penn State headed now to Illinois with questions hanging over them about how they would respond. Their response would teach me the final lesson in my quest to becoming a true Penn State fan. After years and years of work, lessons taught at the “Becoming a Penn State Football Fan School” were just about to end, for good.
Copyright ©2005 Colin Cerniglia. All Rights Reserved.