The Big House at University of Michigan seats up to 115,000. Courtesy | Live
The clock reads “:35” in the fourth quarter. The Penn State Nittany Lions are trailing the Michigan Wolverines 34-27, but quarterback Christian Hackenberg is 37 yards from the endzone.
He takes the snap shotgun. He drops back four steps, stands tall in the pocket, and lofts a high throw to junior wide receiver Allen Robinson at the goal line. Michigan cornerback Channing Stribling leaps for the ball, and so does Robinson — the Detroit-area native who would be drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars six months later.
For a moment, both players hang mid-air in front of 107,884 fans in State College, Pennsylvania.
One-hundred-and-fifty miles south in his Virginia living room, a nine-year-old Thomas watches Hackenberg’s throw go up. This was the night I became a Penn State fan for life — and why I’ll be rooting for the Nittany Lions this weekend.
The No. 10 ranked Penn State is set to take on the No. 3 ranked University of Michigan at home in front of a dependably raucous Happy Valley crowd on Saturday. Vegas favors the Wolverines by five points, but we don’t choose who to cheer for because of the odds.
On Oct. 12, 2013, my older brother and I were rooting for Penn State for family reasons. Both our parents had graduated from the school — they met during their first week on campus.
An unranked Penn State team entered Beaver Stadium to face No. 18 Michigan under unusual circumstances. A recent sexual assault scandal and the ensuing coverup had roiled the team and its fanbase. I was too young to understand, but I knew our head coach of 45 years, Joe Paterno, was not on the field. In his place, former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was coaching the team for a second season.
The team was no longer bowl eligible and had been stripped of a quarter of its scholarships — a crippling punishment for a DI football team. My parents’ alma mater needed a win in more ways than one.
Despite conditions off the field, a sea of 107,884 fans dressed in white — creating the blanketing White Out effect — stood on a chilly October night to cheer on the Nittany Lions and throw the opposing players off their game.
“You couldn’t hear the guy six inches next to you,” said former Michigan center Jack Miller, who was on the 2013 team. “It was piercing loud, I think that’s the best way to describe it.”
The Nittany Lions were led by an 18-year-old freshman quarterback, Hackenberg. Before sanctions dropped on the team post-scandal broke, he had only verbally committed to the school. But he stuck with the team.
“I really can’t explain it,” Hackenberg said, after a visit to State College. “It just felt like home to me.”
Now, he was driving down the field with 35 seconds remaining down by seven points. He takes the shotgun snap and steps up to throw to the left sideline.
“Here’s Hackenberg,” said the broadcaster, Joe Tessitore. “He’s gonna go for it right here.”
Stribling and Robinson leap for the ball, but Stribling jumps a split second too early. He gets only one hand on the ball as Robinson reaches over his head with arms outstretched.
“And Robinson comes down with it,” Tessitore shouts.
Robinson catches the ball and falls in bounds a half-yard from the goal line. Hackenberg drives through the pile on the next play, and the Nittany Lions tie the game.
In the ensuing three overtimes, both teams missed field goals that could have won them the game. In the fourth overtime segment, Penn State is 16 yards from a winning touchdown, but it’s fourth down with one yard to go.
Junior Bill Belton pushes ahead for three yards, and three plays later scores a touchdown.
The upset at home — the trophy of O’Brien’s stint as head coach as a whole — stabilized a Penn State team and fanbase still reeling from scandal.
One decade after the longest game in Penn State’s history, the teams will face off in Happy Valley again. Penn State, with an 8-1 record, is once again led by a young quarterback, sophomore Drew Allar. The team is also the underdog again, facing an undefeated, higher-ranked Michigan squad that has been trouncing teams, in and out of conference.
The Wolverine offense, led by 5-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy, has averaged 424 yards and 40 points per game, according to ESPN. Penn State will play two weeks after a loss to Ohio State.
All this comes back to a timeless question: why do we pick teams to root for?
Everyone’s reason is different. But, this Saturday, I will be rooting for Penn State, because a decade ago the world of a nine-year-old kid hung on a football as it soared through the chill October air against the backdrop of a Happy Valley White Out. And Allen Robinson caught it.
