Penn State Breaks the Curse of Michigan

After the first quarter of the Penn State-Michigan game, I felt like shooting myself.

Penn State was the Penn State that turned up for THOSE Michigan Wolverines last year—ineffective, un-thrilling, and mentally not even close to their hated rivals. 

Michigan played like the team that was unbeaten and looking to go 8-0, while Penn State played throwback football, to the years of Zach Mills or latterly, Anthony Morelli.

The defense just couldn't stop Brandon Minor or Steven Threet, and Michigan's offensive line looked as though they were loving life against a suddenly lightweight looking Penn State defense.

With Michigan up 17-7, things looked pretty sucky to say the least.



Then, with only a few minutes left in the first half, it was Michigan that made the errors. A stupid personal foul after a punt gave the Nittany Lions an extra 15 yards.

With just under a minute to go at the end of the second quarter, Michigan's pass defense seemed to be reading the paper as Darryl Clark—who was fairly dreadful in the first half—found Jordan Norwood in acres of space in the end zone, and suddenly the 'White Out' in the end-zone, which is STILL the coolest thing in college football, went absolutely crazy.

Michigan was now up 17-14...but the hope was with Penn State.

In the second half, it was ALL Nittany Lions.

The stupid personal foul at the end of the first half by the Wolverine had awoken the Lion, and all hell broke loose.



Kevin Kelly—who had missed a field goal in the first half—equalized for PSU with a 42-yarder to make the score a tie at 17.

The offense wasn't awake, but the momentum was still swinging.

  Rich Rodriguez—for some inexplicable reason other than Threet's elbow was playing up or he had a concussion—then brought in Nick Sheridan, a man who had thrown for one touchdown and five interceptions before this game. Sheridan did nothing except collapse in the end zone and was ruled to have given away a safety, which made the score 19-17.

Penn State then went back up the field and Clark pushed over to make it 26-17.

While the Michigan Wolverines of old may have found a way to come back from this mess, the Michigan Wolverines of 2008 collapsed.

After Kelly added another field goal, Clark again shoved himself over to make it 39-17.



And to cap it all off, Pat Devlin—who came on with Clark celebrating on the sideline—then hit Stephfon Green in traffic and he went 80 yards for the score.

Now, the curse is over.

Penn State has at last gotten its revenge on Michigan, a team who it hasn't beaten since 1996. This 30-year-old writer was still in high school in 1996.

And now for another curse: Ohio State on the road in Columbus. Penn State hasn't won there either in its years in the Big Ten.

 Will 2008 be the year?

If they play as badly as they did for a vast majority of the first half, then no. But if the Nittany Lions play as well as they did in the second half, then you never know.