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closeMemories of 2005 still fuel Penn State
Jeff Rice
- jrice@centredaily.comThis Saturday, the last links to the 2005 Penn State team, the dozen or so fifth-year seniors who had front-row seats for the most remarkable turnaround season in program history, will have a chance to be a part of the first Nittany Lion team to win in Michigan Stadium in 13 years.
AP
Michigan Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson (12) breaks away from Michigan defensive tackle Alan Branch (80) for a four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Robinson rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns in their 27-25 loss to Michigan. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
But they’ll never forget, as hard as they might try, the game there four years ago.
Michigan’s 27-25 win over eighth-ranked Penn State had everything — two ties, four lead changes, 39 fourth-quarter points, two mystifying officiating calls and, of course, a game-winning touchdown pass on the night’s final play. It would be the loss that kept Joe Paterno from his sixth unbeaten season and swiftly erased any hopes of his third national championship.
Sean Lee, one of just two current Nittany Lions who made the trip to Ann Arbor that year, remembers chasing after the kickoff that Paterno still tells himself he never should have ordered, the one Steve Breaston returned 41 yards to set up the final scoring drive. The other, Jerome Hayes, had a hard time talking about the loss this week — and he didn’t even play.
Daryll Clark, back home in State College, watched on television as his mentor, Michael Robinson, led the Nittany Lions 81 yards in 13 plays and scored from three yards out to give his team a 25-21 lead with 53 seconds to play.
“It was an exciting drive by Mike,” Clark said Wednesday. “I really thought that was going to be it.”
It wasn’t. After Breaston wound his way to the Michigan 47-yard line, Chad Henne threw a dart to Jason Avant, who caught the pass for a 17-yard gain. Replays would show that Avant’s heel had come down out-of-bounds, but the Wolverines got the next play off before the call could be reviewed.
Carl Tabb caught a pass from Henne for four yards and was tackled by Justin King before he could get out-of-bounds, and Michigan took its second time out with 28 seconds left. After some deliberation, the officials put two fateful seconds back on the clock, offering no public explanation nor one to a bewildered Paterno.
Five plays and 29 seconds later, with the ball at Penn State’s 10-yard line, Henne dropped back and fired a slant to the end zone to Mario Manningham. The wideout had split defenders Calvin Lowry and Alan Zemaitis, who were on two different pages of coverage.
Said Hayes: “It was one of those things where 10 guys on the defense got a call and the other guy didn’t.”
Back home, Clark, who was still trying to figure out where the extra two seconds had come from, was stunned.
“My jaw dropped,” Clark said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
It was the seventh straight loss to the Wolverines for the Nittany Lions and the fourth straight in Michigan Stadium. Penn State responded with a 63-10 win at Illinois the following week and finished 11-1 after a triple-overtime victory over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
“We kind of bounced back and won out,” Lee said. “That just showed you the type of character that team had.”
Hayes and Lee were both on the field during the return trip to Ann Arbor in 2007, when freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett and tailback Mike Hart led the injury-depleted Wolverines to a 14-9 upset of the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions. Both were sidelined with injuries when Penn State snapped the nine-game losing streak with a 46-17 win in Beaver Stadium last October and are eager to play larger roles in a win when the teams square off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I still felt part of it,” Lee said. “But obviously any time you play Michigan, there’s some extra motivation.”
The Wolverines’ recent mastery of the Nittany Lions on their home turf is tough to explain but hard to ignore. Michigan has won the last three games there by a total of 10 points but was the underdog in two of those games.
“I think we’ve been really close plenty of times,” Lee said. “We haven’t made that play to win it. They’ve made the play and we haven’t.”
The leaders of this Penn State team might not have had as much invested as Robinson or Zemaitis that day. But the game left a lasting impression that should carry them into Saturday’s game.
“At the Big House, you can’t beat yourself,” Clark said. “You have to go out and play your best game in order to win.”
GAMEDAY
No. 13 Penn State at Michigan
When:3:30, Saturday
Where: Michigan Stadium
TV: ABC (Comcast channel 5)
Radio: WQWK 1450, WBUS 93.7
In Print
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