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.
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.
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:
- It was the right call, and
- 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.
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.
This is really a new low for you guys. Michigan puts up a decent first half, then gives up 39 straight points in a blowout, and all you can do is childishly remind eveyone about the Wolverines' dominance before this year. Clutching onto past glories is for losers and Notre Dame fans. You're better than this.
Enjoy your nostalgia and 4-8 season while PSU plays in a BCS bowl game.
Hey if this blog's intention was to make you happy it wouldn't be very good, would it? Go back to The Black Shoe Diaries, that's a fine blog in it's own right. Bye bye.
No question, Jim.
I never assumed anything about this blog's intentions, and it's a fine site, too.
But if you guys wonder why so many people are thoroughly enjoying Michigan's demise this year, your "We Own Penn State" retrospective is a good place to start.
Nope, I don't wonder about that. Do you have any idea how entertaining Notre Dame 2007 was??? Great entertainment.
Michigan made PSU it's bitch for 12 years, live it up. Congrats. WOOOO. Not to mention total pwnership of most of the Big Ten (11) save OSU...of course everyone loves it. If OSU had a year like this I would laugh and laugh and laugh.
Enjoy the win, we're hoping for a strong finish and a great 2009. See ya in Ann Arbor next year Nits.
No question, Jim.
I never assumed anything about this blog's intentions -- and for the record, it's a fine blog, too.
But if you guys ever wonder why so many people are thoroughly enjoying Michigan's demise this year, the smug "We Own Penn State" retrospective is a good place to start.
Brian,
You sound like you've got a little sand in your vagina. Hmmm?? You got a
little sand in the vag? So sorry that MU couldn't even put up a fight in
this one. Your team is worthless, and your alumni are pathetic.
It's about time the maize and arrogant fall. I'd think about getting cozy
down there with Indiana if I were you...it's gonna be a while before your team
is even worth thinking about again. Enjoy the rest of the season, loser!
Also, WTF is MU?
A google search led me to Micron Technology: http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:MU
They're a fairly poor marketer of semiconductors. They haven't done well in the last couple of years, so I guess you could say they haven't "put up a fight" but I fail to see how this relates to college football.
No question, Jim.
Nice one! Gotta say, a humorous reply to my subtle jab. Really got a kick out of that...unlike the response that I got from uber-vag, yvgeni. "Keep em coming...come back for more awesomeness!"? He's like the middle schooler who can't think of anything on the fly, so his only response is akin to "no, you're an idiot".
seriously, this made me laugh out loud. I love this stuff. Because somewhere, this guy is sitting behind his computer thinking:
"MAN, i'm really clever because of all the clever ways I can use "vag". I bet these guys are really pissed off now, because I e-taunted them. Vag!!"
Dude, I'm not kidding. Please keep posting.
-yvgeni
http://nothingisilluminated.com
Hmmm...point well taken. I could refer to you as a salad-tossing dick sucker. Would that make you feel better? Seems approrpriate for someone so turned off by the word "vag".
I believe you have the wrong URL. Let me help you, please find your home here.
No question, Jim.
Alright man, you have to be a Spartan fan. "uber-vag"? Only a true Sparty Brah would come up with that.
No question, Jim.
keep em coming. you might be wasting your time, but we get a good chuckle out of it. we, as michigan fans might get riled up about the Buckeyes and our record against them, we might get defensive about ruining our bowl streak or losing more than 4 games in a season, but one thing we DONT give 2 shits about is losing one game every 12 years to Penn State. You are no more relevant than Minnesota or Indiana at this point. But thanks for trying and come back anytime for more awesomness!
-yvgeni
http://nothingisilluminated.com
#3 is not relevant?
MSU fan?
No question, Jim.
You guys just got destroyed, and both programs are heading in the opposite direction this year. After we smack you in November are you going to write an article on Tressel domination over michigan. Should we start calling you little brother?
Retrospective: Remember when you lost to Appalachian State and then Toledo the next year.
I thought it was funny that JoePa was in the box. Was he sick? I seriously think the Michigan games began to haunt him more and more with each loss. Maybe I'm wrong there. Maybe he's imitating Dave Wannstedt or thought it would help. When I saw him in the pressbox I just thought, I don't think he can even bare to watch.
Dude, he's 81, injured his hip, and can't walk without assistance. He has been "coaching" from the box for 4 weeks straight.
81? Wow. If he quits coaching he may pass quick. Well, at least I know why he was there.
46-17. Get over it, crybaby.
...Also, can we talk about the ridiculous music they pump through the PA system? Every Michigan third down, an artificial heartbeat resonated through the stadium.
Every other play, they played one of, like, 8 songs. I can only take so much Zombie Nation, Seven Nation Army, and that Gladiator song. They brag about how great their band is, but don't give them any opportunity to play.
It made me appreciate the Big House that much more. No corporate sponsors, no stupid music. On the other hand, Beaver Stadium is an incredibly difficult place to play.
"Joe Paterno had done the exact same thing and gotten the exact same two seconds back on Penn State's final drive. "
YOU DOPE! Paterno was verifying with the referee that he had two timeouts left. NOT begging for two more seconds.
The last gasp of a dying program.
Talk about PSU whining about 2 seconds, when the majority of UM fans still whine about the MSU clock operator @ the 2001 MSU-UM game. Your own shirt remembers this game as a Michigan win. Hypocritical if you ask me.
1. MSU called a timeout on the final drive before realizing that a flag was down on the play. The TO was never credited back to MSU.
2. Jeremy LeSeur kept the drive alive by dropping an MSU receiver (nowhere near the ball) on an incomplete 4th down pass that would have ended the game with MSU around midfield.
But I'm sure you'll go over this next week when you publish a "We Own MSU retrospective" to make yourself feel better.
1.Its not Michigan's fault that Bobby Williams never asked for the TO back, we can't be blamed for Sparty, No! moments.
2. Yep
they will pass you by .... glory days .... in the wink of a young girl's eye .... glory days, glory days.
Ripping PSU for whining about 2 seconds....
How about your own T-Shirt that claims that the '01 MSU win over UM never happened? And how the 1 second should have never been there, but neglecting to mention:
* MSU was charged a Timeout that they called before realizing that a flag was down. This was never given back.
* Jeremy LeSeur basically dropped an MSU receiver away from the ball after a blown 4th down - that would have ended the game with MSU still near midfield.
Funny when the shoe is on the other foot. Hyprocritical if you ask me.
Wasn't 2002 also the year that PSU whined about the grass? I seem to remember my friends complaining about the kicker never being able to get his footing...
The grass was awesome!!! So awesome in fact they ripped it out and replaced it with artificial turf to keep it safe!
I uploaded a video clip of the 2002 Johnson x2 sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZPWSCtKGiA
No Penn State fan I have ever met will admit that Bryant Johnson caught the ball on 3rd and 12. They only point to Tony Johnson's feet being in bounds.
you knucklehead!
Go Blue
thanks for pointing that out. I stayed the full time for MSU in 2004 and Wisc. this year. I don't leave early, no matter how bad it gets.
This is a "so what" post.
I wish I didn't have 5 exams the week following the 2005 PSU game and decided to sell my ticket to study. I didn't even study, I watched the game on TV