For Penn State on Saturday, Senior Day was not filled with many senior moments worth remembering.
And that begins with the final result, a 28-16 Michigan victory.
Yes, the Whiteout crowd of 107,418 in Beaver Stadium did their best to help keep the Nittany Lions in the game.
As did the Nittany Lions themselves, who trailed just 14-10 at halftime despite an offensive output that measured just 77 total yards and three first downs when Saquon Barkley’s 56-yard run and three Michigan penalties were factored out.
But, in the end, the #107k and the #NittanyLions came up short to defeat No. 15 Michigan, now 9-2, while Penn State dropped to 8-3.
Penn State, with its seniors and surrogate seniors – i.e., quarterback Christian Hackenberg and defensive tackle Austin Johnson, both expected to declare for the NFL Draft – playing battered and beaten and depleted, succumbed to not just Michigan, but a variety of other factors on Saturday.
Youth. Lack of depth. Injuries. Inept red zone performances. Special teams errors. Many of them seemed inevitable. Or, maybe, just the culmination of four years of stress and scandal and sanctions, which left little in the tank for a final hurrah – or the 30 minutes of extraordinary football needed to beat Michigan mad man Jim Harbaugh and his merry U-M band of 18 starting seniors.
“My heart hurts for these seniors,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin, “because this was the last time they were going to play in Beaver Stadium and they aren’t leaving in a positive note.”
Few of Penn State’s 19 seniors who were honored pre-game were major contributors on this or any game day, the group having just 128 starts in their Penn State careers. And of that number, safety Jordan Lucas had over a quarter of them, with 33.
That Lucas did not suit up speaks volumes. He was introduced before the game, his injured right arm covered under an over-sized varsity “S” jacket – that, come to think of it, also covered his over-sized heart.
Fifth-year senior defensive Carl Nassib did Lucas two better. Nassib not only suited up, but he also played. A little. After a few snaps to start the game against Michigan, he spent the rest of the day on the sidelines, still feeling the effects of an upper body injury suffered two weeks ago against Northwestern.
Nassib, the nation’s sacks leader in his first year as a starter at any level of organized football, was one of six Nittany Lions who actually played – or, at least, practiced – under Joe Paterno, in the late coach’s final season at Penn State, in 2011.
When the seniors were introduced before the game, one by one, Anthony Zettel’s name was announced last. But the cheers for Zettel were the loudest. Part MMA, part Comedy Central and part tree tackler, Zettel had the most challenging 2015 season. He spent part of the fall commuting back and forth to his home state of Michigan, to see his father, Terry, who was dying of cancer. Then, after father passed away a few weeks, the son kept playing, through all the tears and emotion. That included Saturday when Zettel faced off against his arch-rivals for his home state. Zettel was saved from ending his home career early, after being whistled for a targeting call that was subsequently reversed.
Then there was Matt Zanellato, a fifth-year wide receiver who caught his last pass in a game on Nov. 9 – as in Nov. 9, 2013. (A 15-yarder in Penn State’s 24-10 loss at Minnesota.) He honored his former head coach by wearing JVP on white tape on his left wrist and 409 on his right wrist.
For a long time, it looked as if the last time fifth-year senior linebacker Ben Kline was ever going to play for Penn State was in that same Minnesota game. Kline tore a pec muscle that day and did not return to the field for an actual game until the Army game this season, on Oct. 3. Kline didn’t register a single tackle on Saturday, but he’s moved the needle as a Rhodes Scholar candidate and the head of the Nittany Lions players’ charity group, Uplifting Athletes.
Fifth-year senior Kyle Carter is a survivor of sorts as the final member of the Supa Six, an uber-talented ghroup of players who entered Penn State in the fall of 2011. It included Allen Robinson and Donovan Smith and Adrian Amos and Deoin Barnes, all four in the NFL, as well as Bill Belton. After a season as a freshman All-American in 2012, when he caught 36 passes for 453 yards in only 12 games, Carter tailed off with just 46 receptions in his next 35 games. Including Saturday.
On Saturday, Carter caught one pass for five yards, although he was targeted for a few others. It’s been that kind of career for Carter.
Fifth-year offensive lineman Angelo Mangiro made career start No. 23 for Penn State against Michigan, most at center, some at guard, a few at tackle. Mangiro is the strong and unheralded leader of a unit that has persevered under the pressure of criticism and the responsibility of knowing that it had a hand in the 101 career sacks suffered by Hackenberg – four of them on Saturday.
For cornerback Trevor Williams, Saturday marked his 31st start as a Nittany Lion. He’s had the distinction of being an opening-day starter in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (along with Hackenberg, Lucas and Nyeem Wartman-White). His final quarter in Beaver Stadium was one of Williams’ toughest finishes. On the fourth-quarter drive that sealed the victory for the Wolverines, Williams was flagged on a pass interference call against Jehu Chesson on a deep third-and-6 play that featured Chesson’s hand on Williams’ face mask and Williams’ hands on Chesson. Two plays later, Michigan’s De’Veon Smith scored a touchdown and Michigan sealed the win.
“As far as I’m concerned, we both were competing,” Williams said. “He was grabbing my face mask and I was trying to get him off of me. We were just trying to play the ball, but the referees made the decision and it was final.
“We didn’t come out with a victory, so this one definitely hurts. It was disappointing. I hate to lose — ever. This was definitely a game I wanted to win. The outcome wasn’t what I wanted.”
