College Sports

psu football

September 24, 2007

Nittany Lions take loss hard notebook

Seniors realize they will end their careers without ever beating Michigan.

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There was anger in the faces of a few players walking up the tunnel. Walking up the same incline as jubilant Michigan players as both squads headed to their locker rooms, there was bound to some of that.

But mostly there was resignation.

Coach Joe Paterno was dejected talking about the Nittany Lions’ ninth consecutive loss in the series. The seniors may have been worse.

It was most evident in the face and body language of Dan Connor, just one in the latest line of Penn State classes that never beat the Wolverines.

The senior linebacker left the last of his energy on the fake Michigan Stadium grass as he sat hunched over, forced to recollect on a third and final loss to Michigan in his otherwise successful career.

“It’s a tough way to go out, never having beat Michigan,” Connor said. “They’re a great team, great tradition, you can’t really say much about it.”

At the very least, Connor could have a reasonably clear conscience about it.

The Penn State defense, despite being on the field for nearly 10 minutes longer than its maize-and-blue counterpart, held Michigan to just 14 points — half of which were essentially gift-wrapped by an Anthony Morelli fumble at his own 10-yard line early in the first quarter.

Cornerback Justin King summed it up as best he could.

“I feel like we did a lot of what we were supposed to do,” he said. “Held them to 14 points, contained them pretty well. Just didn’t turn our way at the end.”

King is just a junior, but he too may have played his final game against the Wolverines, as he will soon graduate early and likely eye April’s NFL draft.

Morelli will finish his career with an 0-2 mark against Michigan as a starter, though he admits he doesn’t remember all of last year’s physical beating after being knocked out of the game with a concussion.

This year he wasn’t so lucky — he’ll remember this loss for years.

Even fifth-year tailback Rodney Kinlaw, who spent most of three losses to the Wolverines on the bench until the second half on Saturday, took it hard.

“I’m just down,” Kinlaw said. “We haven’t beaten Michigan since I’ve been here. I just thought this was really the time.”

Wounded pride

This group of Lions on defense paid the price for trying to stand up to a bruising Michigan run game, powered by relentless tailback Mike Hart and superhuman left tackle Jake Long.

The attrition built up over the course of the game, the first time this season the defense was forced to stay on the field for an extended period of time in all four quarters.

Players ached and cramped and were forced to the sideline for shifts. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said King had to get an IV at one point, and others like Sean Lee and Tony Davis missed their share of plays.

On offense, senior guard John Shaw sat out his second straight game because of a right knee injury. Junior Mike Lucian again took his place at right guard, but unlike the previous week against Buffalo, he did not rotate with true freshman Stefen Wisniewski.

Rave reviews

While Penn State’s senior quarterback struggled, Michigan’s true freshman quarterback shined.

Making his second career start in place of an injured Chad Henne, Ryan Mallett threw for just 170 yards, but had the imagination to turn a broken play into a 10-yard TD run in the first quarter following Morelli’s fumble on a first quarter sack.

More critically, he converted two big third downs to wind the clock down late in the fourth quarter after Penn State pulled within 14-9.

Facing a third-and-11, the Penn State rush forced the 6-foot-7 Mallett out of the pocket. He scrambled to his right and bought enough time to hit Greg Mathews for a 12-yard gain and a first down.

“Aw, he made some big plays, real big plays,” Paterno said. “A couple of those third-down plays I thought we had them stopped. They did a good job with him. They protected him and overall he did a good job.”

on the web

For more Penn State coverage, read Derek Levarse’s blog at www.timesleader.com

Derek Levarse, a Times Leader sports writer, can be reached at 970-7329.

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