We Own Penn State: A Retrospective

2007 – I Guess Something Happened Or Something

Part one; part two in a day or two.

THE SETUP: Unranked Michigan is 1-2 after the Horror and all that. Penn State is 3-0 but has played FIU, Buffalo, and that year's Notre Dame squad. Chad Henne, however, isn't around.

WHAT WENT DOWN: Very little. Michigan ground Mike Hart into the line almost 40 times and protected Mallett at all costs; Anthony Morelli did his Anthony Morelli thing, fumbling and missing a wide open slant for a touchdown and generally flailing as much or more than the Snap Fumbler.

(Wolverine Historian video.)

IN THE AFTERMATH, PENN STATE FANS WHINE ABOUT: Joe Paterno.

2006 – Pit Bull

THE SETUP: Undefeated and #4 Michigan rolls into Penn State (unranked and 4-2) with a dominant defense. Penn State has Anthony Morelli.

WHAT WENT DOWN: The aforementioned Anthony Morelli:

Michigan, minus Mario Manningham, struggled to move the ball consistently but completely throttled the Penn State offense until a late screen cut the lead to 17-10. By that point, however, both Morelli and then-backup Darryl Clark were on the sidelines asking for pudding, leaving that Italian near-walkon who has been Penn State's third string quarterback since 1965 to the job. Four straight incompletions later, it was game over.

(Wolverine Historian video.)

IN THE AFTERMATH, PENN STATE FANS WHINE ABOUT: The fact that Alan Branch wasn't tried and executed for his perfectly legal hit on Morelli.

2005 – Joe Paterno's Two Seconds

THE SETUP: Michigan kind of sucks, ya, entering the Penn State game 3-3 and facing off against an undefeated PSU team that would end up winning the league and beating a meh Florida State team in the Orange Bowl.

WHAT WENT DOWN: After a brutally boring first half sees four field goal attempts, one of which is successful, Michigan takes a 3-0 lead to the locker room. Michigan punches in their opening drive of the third quarter, at which point all hell breaks loose: Penn State rolls up ten straight points with both of Michigan's starting safeties watching. On the ensuing Michigan drive, Chad Henne scrambles out of the pocket and is stripped by Allen Zemitas, who returns the fumble for a touchdown. Penn State gets a two point conversion after botching the PAT snap, and if "momentum" was a real thing instead of housewife-pleasing blather Michigan is D-E-D dead.

It is not. Instead, Mario Manningham runs around Justin King like so…

…which ties the game when coupled with a two-point conversion. Michigan then boots a go-ahead field goal, and we get a Herrmann special as Michael Robinson & company roll downfield, punching in a touchdown with under a minute left.

Then they kicked to Steve Breaston.

Right. Your bad. Then this happened set this up:

Woo! The New Math!

(Full Wolverine Historian highlights.)

IN THE AFTERMATH, PENN STATE FANS WHINE ABOUT: On Michigan's last drive, they call timeout. The clock continues to run after said timeout. Carr points this out, and the referees put two seconds back on the clock. Since Mario Manningham's winning touchdown came with one second left on the clock, OMG Michigan stole it. No matter that:

1. It was the right call, and
2. Joe Paterno had done the exact same thing and gotten the exact same two seconds back on Penn State's final drive.

2003 & 2004 – You Lucky Bastards

Michigan misses the two worst Penn State teams since Joe Paterno took over.

2002 – Overtime

THE SETUP: #10 Michigan, in the weird Perry-Askew year, met #17 Penn State.

WHAT WENT DOWN: A close game throughout with Michigan usually trailing by a touchdown. A short fade to Braylon Edwards puts Michigan up 14-13; Penn State responds. John Navarre carves Penn State up on a 64-yard touchdown drive, finally finding Edwards crossing in the back of the endzone after an excruciating five seconds in the pocket. Tied at 21, the game goes to overtime. Michigan holds Penn State inside the five, then punches it in for the win in the first overtime game at Michigan Stadium.

(Wolverine Historian video.)

IN THE AFTERMATH, PENN STATE FANS WHINE ABOUT: Hey, we've got a real live whine of recent vintage on this one:

Tony Johnson's feet were in bounds. Both of them. We should have had an easy field goal to win the game. But it was stolen from us and we lost in overtime.

This was a long pass on Penn State's final drive that would have put Penn State in makeable field goal range. That whine ignores the obvious incompletion the refs screwed up to even give them that opportunity:

Oops.