The '05 Michigan-Penn State "conspiracy"
Thought the board would get a kick out of this: According to an except from the about-to-be-released Paterno book, the BSD conspiracy theorists who are still outraged over the ending of the '05 Michigan-Penn State game had some company from their favorite coach (link):
“Following PSU’s controversial 27-25 last-second loss at Michigan in 2005, the Lions’ only blemish on an 11-1 season, Paterno was furious that officials put a few seconds back on the clock, possibly allowing Wolverines QB Chad Henne enough time to throw the game-winning TD pass on the final play. According to Posnanski, Paterno told friends he was considering pulling the Lions out of the Big Ten as a result.”
It was all the Big Ten's fault, apparently. Or Michigan's fault. Or something.
Either way, the delusion wasn't limited to fans. Too bad Paterno didn't follow through with that threat.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:53 AM ^
According to Posnanski, Paterno told friends he was considering pulling the Lions out of the Big Ten as a result.
Would have been potentially the biggest overreaction of all time.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:55 AM ^
The man was a competitor, which leads to overreacting sometimes...The greatest competitor of them all: Bo
August 19th, 2012 at 12:56 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 12:56 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 1:05 AM ^
Never let the WR get inside at the goal line.
Touchdown. Manningham.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:06 AM ^
Or is this just bluster and paranoia on the part of Paterno?
August 19th, 2012 at 1:09 AM ^
Paterno was pretty powerful but probably didn't have the authority to just say, "THAT'S IT, WE'RE OUTTA HERE" considering the impact that would have on the school and athletic department (especially in terms of revenue) as a whole.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^
Given what we now know...yeah at that time he may have had that power...
August 19th, 2012 at 2:13 PM ^
...or he at least thought he had enough power.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:17 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 1:37 AM ^
And put the blame on himself for not coaching his cornerback to cover #86
August 19th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^
Everyone forgets (Paterno included) that Paterno also argued for, and received, two seconds added back on Penn State's last drive.
PSU conspiracy theorists conveniently leave that part out.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:22 AM ^
Hm. Another thing that Paterno didn't follow through with.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:26 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 1:27 AM ^
Yuuuuuuuuup. This has always driven me nuts about their whininess in relation to that game.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:33 AM ^
I guess this is further proof that JoePa had gone senile long before the rest of the world took notice.
Paterno argued AND got time back on the clock before Penn State's last touchdown in that exact same game. (I was there. I saw the whole thing in person). The ref gave him 2 seconds back.
Lloyd later argued to get time back on the clock with about 30 seconds left. Watch the tape and you'll see that we should have got at least 3 seconds back. But the ref gave Lloyd 1. Just enough for PSU nation to come back and cry later.
Why was it O.K. for JoePa to do it but not for Lloyd to do the exact same thing?
August 19th, 2012 at 1:33 AM ^
Wellllllll Lloyd wasn't raping kids so did he really ____deserve____ an extra :02???
August 19th, 2012 at 1:45 AM ^
I laugh because I'm drunk
August 19th, 2012 at 2:34 AM ^
For some reason, I read that in George Takei's voice.
August 19th, 2012 at 3:10 AM ^
I was at that game. I vividly remember Lloyd arguing for the extra seconds and thinking, 'just play, it's not like we're going to win it with 2 extra seconds'. In my defense, it had been a pretty boring game up to that point - the halftime score was 3-0.
August 19th, 2012 at 6:41 AM ^
I was at the game as well and distinctly remember thinking the same thing.
August 19th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^
You didn't think it was a big deal the clock ticked down from 33 to 28 seconds while we were trying to call timeout, in a game we trailed by four points?
Are you sure you're remembering the right game? The first half of that game was indeed pretty dull, but the second half was wild.
August 19th, 2012 at 1:42 AM ^
I somehow ended up with front row tickets, right in the endzone (We had tickets in the section, students had fall break, and that year a small student section was started in that endzone, so it was easy to sneak down).
I remember watching as Manningham caught the ball 15 feet in front of me. That day, I entered the stadium a big Michigan fan, and left absolutely fanatical, and I still am.
I know, I know...cool story bro
August 19th, 2012 at 1:49 AM ^
I was in the other end zone. Had to watch the crowd reaction to know whether Manningham had caught the ball.
August 19th, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^
My tickets were in the small student section behind the goalposts in that endzone.
That was the one game I decided to sit with friends in the main student section.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^
You couldn't have been in the student section if it happened right in front of you, because the game-winning TD took place in the south endzone.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^
He's talking about the overflow student section which was put in the opposite end zone from the regular student section.
August 20th, 2012 at 1:56 PM ^
Is that Dave Brandon hugging Lloyd at the 10:44 mark?
August 19th, 2012 at 1:51 AM ^
Now that's a man who had his priorities in order.
August 19th, 2012 at 9:09 AM ^
At first, I could see a old feeble Joe Pa, not really able to grasp what McQuery saw in the showers, and not sure what the right legal proceedure handing it off to the AD.
But now it seems Joe may have known about 1998 (based on the Freeh report - even though we don't know the specifics, and the DA dropped the case).
Perhaps it was just CYA, but it would have been manageable from a PR standpoint for PSU to come out and say he was reported to the authorities and investigated in 1998 and the case was dropped.
So mayby I have a tinfoil hat, but it sure seems to me that Sandusky had to have some sort of leverage over Joe, the AD, and the finance guy (who also headed campus poiice).
August 19th, 2012 at 5:08 AM ^
More bluster from the King of Narcissistic Hubristic Despots.
Paterno should have retired gracefully 15 years ago, but no...he was too fucked in the head to allow himself that luxury and release the school from being held hostage by his legacy.
August 19th, 2012 at 6:02 AM ^
was the game that got me into football, i still remember it like it was yesterday. Lloyd Carr pulled a great move in that game though to get the two seconds back, JoePa was just bitter. It established Chad Henne to Mario Manningham, the only qb-reciever combo of that level I've seen for Michigan. Heres hoping Shane Morris and Darboh or Treadwell changes that. I was excited about switching to such a running quarterback, but the beauty of an excellent passing game has been lost.
August 19th, 2012 at 10:38 AM ^
I can't list them all out because it all blends to gether over time, but since I can remember Michigan has always had an awesome QB-Reciever combo. (with the exception of a three-year period I don't talk about.)
Wangler-Anthony Carter
Grbac-Desmond Howard
Grbac-Derrick Alexander
Collins-Derrick Alexander
Collins-Toomer
Griese/Brady-Streets
Brady-David Terrell
Navarre-Braylon Edwards
Navarre-Jason Avant
August 19th, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
the only one I saw. I came in right after the Braylon Edwards era.
August 19th, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^
We remember the year poorly, but in 2001 Navarre-to-Marquise Walker was, I believe, the most productive combination in a single year in Michigan history. Walker caught 86 passes, three times as many as any other Wolverine that season.
Henson's combination with Terrell was even better than Brady's, too.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:12 PM ^
Lloyd Carr pulled a great move in that game though to get the two seconds back,Carr really didn't do anything out of the ordinary there. Coaches ask for time to be put on the clock all the time in last-minute situations, because there's always a lag in reaction from the official signaling a timeout to the timekeeper. PSU did the exact same thing on their final drive. The only reason this is even remembered is because PSU was absolutely desperate to beat us (they hadn't done so since 1996) and it absolutely killed them to lose on the final play, when they thought they'd finally ended the streak.
August 19th, 2012 at 6:23 AM ^
Who's this conspiracy include? The Big Ten? If so, how was Michigan winning that game better for the conference? It cost the conference a Championship game team.
August 19th, 2012 at 7:28 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 8:25 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 7:19 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 7:23 AM ^
In situations like the end of that game, with ball, little time left, behind by less than a td, and timeouts to burn, Carr would have certainly relayed to the refs that if the clock doesn't stop at the end of the play, he wanted an immediate timeout. Nothing unusual about that at all. For all the great success Michigan has had through the years, 0ne of, if not the main reason OSU and PSU fans hate Michigan is because even when we've not had the best years, we've spoiled their seasons when they were otherwise undefeated. Of course some of the fans are delusional about conspiracies against their team. It's sad when the coach is the head delusionist.
August 19th, 2012 at 7:56 AM ^
I was supposed to meet her for dinner and I was listening to it on the car radio. She sat in the restaurant for me just a little too long. Worth it.
August 19th, 2012 at 9:13 AM ^
set the precendent early so she can't claim later she didn't know what she was getting into.
August 19th, 2012 at 8:08 AM ^
Given the way the supposed management at Penn State stacked up, since Paterno had a say in the hire of his own former superior in the athletic department, and indeed, serve as the director himself while coaching football back in the 1980s for a time, then I wouldn't have been shocked that, if he really had wanted to do it, he could have pulled Penn State somehow, or convinced the school it was a good idea. After all, they listen to him apparently now that he is dead.
Having said that, I am pretty sure these are the words of the competitive side of Joe Paterno. He must have wanted to eject State College from the face of the Earth in 2003 when they only beat Temple, Kent State and Indiana (and now, of course, only unofficially - it's a sad day when you have to vacate wins against these fine football programs). Again, in retrospect, it's a shame that didn't happen.
Like others, I was at the 2005 game, within sight distance of Manningham's catch. If Paterno wanted to leave the conference at that moment, I wouldn't have given a you-know-what. I was too busy cheering.
August 19th, 2012 at 8:34 AM ^
August 19th, 2012 at 8:09 AM ^
WE ARE
taking our balls and going HOME!
August 19th, 2012 at 9:01 AM ^
Recalling the play, a UM player went out of bounds and the clock continued to run - 5 or 6 seconds should have been added, not just 2!
August 19th, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
I don't think the player went out of bounds, but we signaled for a timeout right when the play ended and the clock kept on ticking anyway.
August 19th, 2012 at 8:44 AM ^
That year I had "roving" season tickets, with tickets to all the games except Minnesota for Homecoming but always in different seats. We had four kids from PSU sitting right in front of my son and me and they were really good sports. Not sure if my recollection is completely correct, but I thought when PSU went ahead on their TD at the end of the game they had been trailing most, if not all, of the game to that point. Even though they had sat there the entire game and listened to us cheering, they didn't go overboard in celebrating or trash talk anyone. Then, when UM won, they shook a lot of hands and congratulated a lot of UM fans on a great win as they tried to make their way out. Good kids.
It was also the first time I went to a game and the stadium stayed full for so long after the game was over. I think the next time I experienced something like that was the ND game under the lights last year.
That was a terrific game - would love to see it on BTN again.