The Lion in Autumn (32 page)

“It has nothing to do with Joe Paterno unless Joe Paterno feels he can't get the job done. I think about it, but I really feel comfortable as long as I can go to practice and have some enthusiasm. I think the squad responds to some things that we challenged them with. I don't see any reason to say, ‘I'm going to get out of here this year, next year,
or whatever year.' I don't mean that to be cocky, stubborn, or anything like that. I'm just trying to do what is right.”

The drumbeat for Morelli got louder in the days leading up to Indiana.

It wasn't unusual for fans of a losing football team to clamor for another quarterback, particularly at the end of a season. And besides, what else did Penn State fans have to look forward to?

The ballyhooed quarterback's continued inactivity baffled fans. Paterno wasn't hesitant about playing the linebacker Dan Connor, another freshman who was by now a solid starter. Why did he stall with Morelli? Certainly, with the way Mills and Robinson had performed, he deserved a shot.

Conflicting loyalties may have helped explain Paterno's indecision. He felt that he had an obligation to stick with a veteran player like Mills, especially now that the quarterback had become the boobirds' favorite target. But he also also felt he had a duty to get Morelli some work.

“I haven't been hesitant because of Anthony,” he explained. “I've been hesitant because I have an obligation to Zack Mills. Zack has worked through some things and Zack is a good quarterback. . . . Is Anthony Morelli better than Zack Mills? No, not now. He might be. I was going to play him last week. I kept telling him, ‘Warm up, Anthony.' He is the most warmed-up quarterback that never played a play in the history of football. I have to make my mind up that we are going to play him a certain time in the football game and give him a shot. I think I owe it to the kid. I owe it to Zack not to give in to what some people think is the right thing to do, because I don't think it is the right thing to do. Yet, for the good of the future of the team we should take a look at what Morelli can do.”

All that raised another significant question for Penn State's future. If Morelli, whose redshirt year was gone, were going to get some playing time, did that mean he'd be the quarterback next season, when Robinson would be a fifth-year senior? That certainly was the preference among Nittany Lions fans.

“I don't think that the permanent position for Michael Robinson
is wideout,” said Paterno when asked about his plans for ‘05. “Right now he is a wideout because I want Zack to end up his career as best we can do and I want to give Anthony Morelli a chance to show us what he can do. Michael Robinson in the long run may end up being the best quarterback of the entire group we have, because he can do some things that the other kids can't do. It depends, again, on whether we can recruit some skill people.”

To many Penn State supporters, it seemed like he just kept talking in circles. It was maddeningly frustrating.

If you parsed his words carefully, Paterno appeared to be implying that Morelli might not be as good as everyone had anticipated.

“I see the pimples,” Paterno explained. “You don't see the pimples. I know when they [freshmen] are good, when they are bad, and what they can do. You have to evaluate that as to whether they are better than the people you are playing. If they are better than the people you are playing, obviously, at times we have used freshmen because we think they are better,” he explained. “However, I have to be loyal to my people. I have to be loyal to my coaches and I have to be loyal to my team. Unless I am sure that the guy who is younger will help our football team more than the guy that has paid all the dues and has worked hard, I am very reluctant to change. We have had a lot of good years with that philosophy. . . . I don't think it's fair that some guy comes in here and you guys all read about him and he is so-and-so this, and so-and-so that. But that doesn't mean he's that good. It just doesn't mean he's that good.”

Until the basketball coach left Bloomington in disgrace, Bobby Knight and Paterno, both admirers of General George Patton's military strategy, occasionally got together when Penn State visited Indiana.

The bawdy Knight used to like to kid with Paterno. Watching the Nittany Lions coach walk away once, he yelled, “Joe, you know what I never noticed about you before?” Knight said. “You've got no ass.”

And before there was a Paterno statue at Beaver Stadium, the famously volatile Knight once advised him on how to earn bronze immortality. “Throw a chair across the field, Joe,” he said. “They'll build a fucking statue of you.”

Knight was gone now, but basketball remained the sport of choice on Indiana's campus. The Hoosiers' football program could never get off the ground. Gerry DiNardo, now in his third (and last) year as Indiana's coach, had an 8–25 record. Indiana had won one Big Ten cochampionship in the last fifty-eight years. That came in 1967. Since then, the Hoosiers' conference record was 97–194.

So it said something about the state of Penn State football when the Nittany Lions (2–7, 0–6) came into this game in sole possession of last place in the Big Ten. Indiana, which had never beaten Penn State in nine tries, had a 3–6 record that included one conference victory, a 30–21 upset at Minnesota.

The Big Ten standings weren't the only grim reminder of Penn State's fall that day. It was here in Bloomington where Penn State had squandered—needlessly, in the minds of many—its last shot at a national title in 1994.

On this crisp and windy Saturday, Senior Day for the Hoosiers, the game attracted a tiny crowd to Memorial Stadium, just about half of what the 1994 game drew. The Nittany Lions' sudden lack of appeal, coupled with the traditional end-of-season ennui produced by Indiana football, resulted in a crowd of 24,092. It was the tiniest gathering for a Penn State football game since November 13, 1976, when only 19,627 saw the Nittany Lions win, 21–7, in Miami.

The previous year's meeting with Indiana had been Penn State's last conference win, and homely Memorial Stadium was where the Lions got their last road victory, 58–25, on November 16, 2002, nearly two full years ago.

“Penn State should never be on the level of a Northwestern or an Indiana,” said Lions cornerback Zemaitis. “I don't care if any of those programs hear what I have to say. That should never happen. Every time we go against Northwestern and Indiana, it should be a constant ‘W.' ”

As had been their habit, the Nittany Lions immediately embarrassed themselves when the game began. Rodney Kinlaw fielded the opening kickoff in the end zone and then fumbled it. He retrieved the ball and appeared ready to kneel down for a touchback. But, his head swiveling from side to side in search of guidance, he froze. Finally,
with Indiana defenders bearing down on him, Kinlaw attempted to run. He got only as far as the 5-yard line.

“The kid just got a little nervous,” said Paterno.

Two series later, Mills threw another interception, his eleventh (against seven touchdowns) of the season. That turned into a quick Indiana score when, on the Hoosiers' second play, wide receiver Courtney Roby took an option pitch from quarterback Matt LoVecchio and raced 26 yards for a touchdown. With 8:41 left in the opening quarter, Penn State trailed 7–0.

That week Bradley had told friends that he was concerned about the mental state of his nationally ranked defense. They were performing superbly, but, largely because of the ineffective offense, Penn State was losing week after week. “We can't keep playing like this without seeing results,” he had said.

This time the offense responded. After the Penn State contingent in the stands cheered derisively when Hunt downed the next kickoff in the end zone, Mills led the Lions downfield. He ended the drive by completing a 33-yard pass to a sprawling Robinson in the corner of the end zone.

The officials initially ruled Robinson out of bounds, but an instant replay reversed the call and Penn State had tied the game at 7–7.

As Paterno often pointed out, it was the kind of play that Robinson, alone among his wide receivers, could make. The coach also was happy with the replay. And why not? Every replay ruling this season had gone in Penn State's favor.

“The replay is great,” he said after the game. “I mean that sincerely. Nobody would want to lose that football game because of bang-bang calls, including the officials. So I'm glad we have it and I hope we get it around the country.”

Finally, as the second quarter neared its conclusion, Paterno inserted Morelli into the game. It quickly became apparent why the freshman had not yet played any significant time. He looked unsure of himself.

His first pass went incomplete. His second was intercepted by Kyle Killian and returned 46 yards for a touchdown that, after the extra point was missed, left Indiana in front, 13–7.

Morelli threw two more incompletions on the next series and was sacked (injuring his ankle) before finally completing one to Hunt for 13 yards on a third-and-18. With just under five minutes to go in the half, Paterno reinserted Mills.

“I asked E. Z. [Smith] how Anthony was in the huddle, and he said he was a little slow getting things out and getting things processed,” Mills said after the game. “But that's to be expected with him. That is the first time he's been in there in a tight situation in the middle of the game.”

In the third quarter, Mills led the Lions on an eleven-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Penn State led, 14–13. Indiana regained the edge, 16–14, on a Bryan Robertson field goal early in the fourth. But Hunt scored on a two-yard run with five minutes left in the game to put Penn State ahead again. A two-point conversion pass was missed and the Lions' lead was 22–16.

Then came a series that both Paterno and his son predicted could one day be viewed as the moment when Penn State football was reborn.

A 29-yard Matt LoVecchio pass to Travis Haney moved the ball to Penn State's 42. After three running plays, the Hoosiers faced a second- and-9 at the Lions' 30. LoVecchio threw a sideline pass to Chris Taylor that cornerback Anwar Phillips read perfectly. The Penn State defender stepped inside the receiver and the pass hit him in the chest—and bounced to the grass.

“Here we go again,” said Paterno as he threw up his hands in disgust. “Holy God.”

His lack of faith was reaffirmed on the following play when LoVecchio and Haney successfully hooked up. Phillips, “using both hands and every breath,” managed to run down the receiver at Penn State's 1. With two minutes to play, Indiana had a first-and-goal.

Along the sideline, a fellow coach asked Bradley if he thought they ought to go to Paterno and ask him if wanted the defense to allow Indiana to score quickly, saving more time for a possible comeback drive. Bradley declined.

“You know what,” he said, “if I don't believe in them, then they're not going to believe in themselves.”

As the Penn State defenders waited at the line of scrimmage, they
could hear Indiana players buzzing excitedly in the huddle. “If you're a football player, you live for goal-line stands,” said Connor.

Tailback Taylor tried the middle of the line on first down but was stopped by lineman Ed Johnson for no gain. Indiana tried the same play on second down and this time Posluszny, who led the Lions with thirteen tackles that day, stopped him for a yard loss.

Now, after a Penn State time-out, Indiana took the snap, LoVecchio rolled right on an option. Had he pitched it to Taylor, the tailback likely would have scored, but the quarterback held on and Wake and Lowry stopped him near the 1. That set up fourth-and-goal.

Penn State called another time-out and as defenders huddled up deep in its end zone, Hali thumped his chest and yelled to his teammates, “It's in here! It's in here!”

Bradley wasn't sure which defense to call. “I've got four [defenses] ready to go and I'm thinking of all four calls. They came in with what we called the Hoosier formation, a stacked-I [three running backs]. So we were in a pretty good defense for the last play.”

The Lions substituted linebacker Shaw for cornerback Phillips and lined up. Taylor got the ball again and again tested the middle of the defense. Posluszny and Connor met him high and Chisley got him low before he could reach the end zone.

“At that point,” said Connor, “it's kind of like two rams smashing into each other. At that point, it's all about heart.”

The defense and the sideline erupted as if Penn State had just won another national title.

“It makes me feel good that, being two and seven, they still believe in themselves down there on that goal line,” Bradley said. “That tells me we've sold the kids on what we can become.”

Those defenders were operating under some pressure too. They realized that, with fifty-five seconds left, their offense wasn't likely to march the ball downfield for a go-ahead score.

“We weren't looking forward to the offense coming back on the field,” said Hali in a blunt assessment. “This was the last play to us. If we stop it we win. If we don't stop it, we don't have hope anymore.”

While the sense of relief was palpable in the stadium storage area that served as Penn State's postgame media room, there also was a feeling that a victory over the hapless Hoosiers was hardly a cause for celebration.