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| Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham catches the game-winning touchdown as time expires in Michigan's win over Penn State. |
But if you ask a Michigan Wolverines football fan about Manningham, probably the first thing that will come to their mind is his heroics against Penn State in the middle of the 2005 season.The Wolverines were having an up-and-down season as they entered the Penn State game as they had gone through the first six games winning one game, then losing another as they stood with a 3-3 record and coming off a 23-20 loss to Minnesota.
The season was already considered a disappointment, considering they had returning starting quarterback Chad Henne, running back Mike Hart, and wide receiver Steve Breaston from a team that had played in the last two Rose Bowls.
With a Big 10 championship and a third straight trip to the Rose Bowl looking pretty grim, head coach Lloyd Carr and his Wolverines were just hoping to get a berth in a good bowl game as they prepared to host the undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State was having a bit of a renaissance after having four losing seasons in the past five years as they traveled to the "Big House" entering the game with a 6-0 record their best start since 1999.
The Nittany Lions were led by legendary head coach Joe Paterno and a roster which featured senior Michael Robinson at quarterback and a defense which featured All-American defensive end Tamba Hali and eventual Butkus award winner Paul Posulszny at linebacker.
Even though the Nittany Lions were riding high and the Wolverines were struggling, Penn State was not taking this game for granted as they had not defeated Michigan since 1996 and had lost their last six meetings to the Wolverines(the two teams did not play in 2003 or 2004).
The Nittany Lions got the ball to start the game and drove from their 20-yard-line to the Michigan 30-yard-line in eight plays until they were faced with a 4th & 1 situation.
Instead of attempting a long field goal, Paterno had the Penn State offense go for the 1st down which they got after running back Tony Hunt picked up seven yards on the 4th down play.
Three plays later, the Nittany Lions were be faced with another 4th & 1 situation, this time at the Michigan 14-yard-line.
Paterno sent in the field goal unit but kicker Kevin Kelly's 32-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, giving the Wolverine the ball at their 20-yard-line midway through the first quarter.
The rest of the first quarter would be a punting contest as neither team would mount a serious scoring threat until early in the second quarter when the Nittany Lions drove from their five-yard-line to the Michigan 28-yard-line to set up a 45-yard field goal attempt by Kelly, which fell short to keep scoreless with 7:12 left to go before halftime.
Following Penn State's second missed field goal of the game, the Michigan offense put together it best drive of the game as a 23-yard run by Antonio Bass and a 21-yard pass from Henne to Jason Avant led to a 35-yard field goal by Garrett Rivas to give Michigan a 3-0 lead with 4:28 left in the second quarter.
The Nittany Lions would begin its ensuing possession at their own 23-yard-line but quickly drove to the Michigan 49-yard-line as Robinson completed three passes in a row for 28 yards.
But on the 4th play of the drive, Robinson lost the football after he was hit by Michigan linebacker Dave Harris, resulting in a fumble recovery by defensive back Brandon Harrison to give the Wolverines the football at their 39-yard-line with 2:31 left in the first half.
From there, the Wolverines would drive to the Penn State 18-yard-line until a sack by Hali for an nine-yard-loss forced the Wolverines to settle for a 45-yard field goal attempt by Rivas which fell short.
Robinson would take a knee to run out the clock as the Nittany Lions went into the halftime break down 3-0.
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| Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson threw for 239 yards on 19-of-34 passing and run for 67 yards on 17 carries. |
Michigan got the ball to start the second half and drove 72 yards in 10 plays, primarily on the legs of Hart, who would carry the ball four times for 32 yards on the drive, including a two-yard touchdown for the game's first touchdown to increase the Wolverines' lead to 10-0 with 11:10 left in the third quarter.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Nittany Lions got the ball at their 26-yard-line and only picked up five yards on the first two plays of the drive to set up a 3rd & 5 at their 31-yard-line when Robinson connected with Terrell Golden for 56 yards that became a 63-yard play after Michigan was called for roughing the passer to set up Penn State with a 1st & goal at the Michigan six-yard-line.
However, the Michigan defense would stiffen and force the Nittany Lions to settle for another Kelly field goal attempt, which this time he made from 25 yards out to put Penn State on the board down 10-3 with five seconds left in the third quarter.
The Penn State defense would force Michigan to punt on their next possession to give the Nittany Lions offense the ball at their 37-yard-line with 12:53 left in the 4th quarter.
That is when the fireworks began as the game turned from a defensive stalemate into a track meet.
It all began on the first play after the punt as Hunt would run for 63 yards to the Michigan two-yard-line, eventually leading to a four-yard touchdown run by Robinson that with Kelly's extra point tied the game at 10 with 11:56 left in regulation.
The Wolverines would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line for their next possession but on the first play from scrimmage, Henne would fumble the football at the end of a seven-yard-run as he was stripped of the football by Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis who then ran it back for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game at 16-10.
Chaos would ensue on the extra point as the Penn State holder botched the snap, only to have Kelly pick it up and run it in for a two-point conversion to increase the Nittany Lions' lead to 18-10 with 11:39 to go in the game.
After giving up 18 straight points, the Wolverines needed a spark and got it on the ensuing kickoff as Breaston's 39-yard return gave Michigan the ball at their 45-yard-line.
It would only take the Wolverines five plays to get in the end zone as Henne connected with Manningham for a 33-yard touchdown to bring Michigan to within two at 18-16.
The Wolverines went for the two-point conversion and after Hart ran it in the end zone for a succesful two-point conversion, the game was tied at 18 with 9:32 left in regulation.
The Michigan defense would force Penn State to punt on its ensuing possession, getting the ball back at their 43-yard-line after a 25-yard return by Breaston.
From there, the Wolverines would drive 28 yards in nine plays, culminating with a 47-yard field goal by Rivas to give Michigan a 21-18 lead with 3:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Then on the second play of the Nittany Lions' ensuing possession, Michigan cornerback Leon Hall picked off a Robinson pass intended and ran it back 14 yards to the Penn State 31-yard-line to give the Wolverines a chance to put the nail in the coffin with another score or just by running out the clock.
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| Michigan running back Mike Hart carried the ball 23 times for 108 yards and scored a touchdown while catching four passes for 40 yards. |
However a holding penalty on Hall's return pushed the Wolverines back to the Penn State 41-yard-line and after three plays netted seven yards, the Wolverines were faced with a 4th & 3 at the Nittany Lions' 34-yard-line with 2:53 to play.
Perhaps persuaded by the fact that Penn State had used all three of their timeouts, Carr decided to punt the ball and try to pin the Nittany Lions deep in their own territory.
But that did not work as Rivas' punt traveled only 15 yards giving Penn State the ball at their 19-yard-line with 2:46 left and a chance to at least tie the game with a field goal.
The drive began with a 10-yard pass from Robinson to Golden, which was followed by a 29-yard pass to Jordan Norwood to give Penn State a 1st down at the Michigan 42-yard-line.
Robinson would then hit Golden again for seven yards, then ran for six yards to give Penn State an apparent 1st down, only to have it called back because of a holding penalty setting up 2nd & 7 from the Michigan 39-yard-line.
After two straight incomplete passes, the Nittany Lions were faced with a do-or-die 4th & 7 when Robinson scrambled for eight yards and a 1st down at the Michigan 31-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Robinson hit tight end Isaac Smolko for 16 yards to give Penn State a 1st down at the Michgan 15-yard-line.
After two more incomplete passes, Penn State got a 1st & goal at the four-yard-line after Hall was called for pass interference.
That is when Robinson ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown with 53 seconds left to give Penn State a 25-21 lead.
The Wolverines would get the ball back with all three timeouts left and a chance to pull out the win if they could drive for a touchdown.
Their quest would begin with good field position as Breaston returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Michigan 46-yard-line, giving Henne 54 yards and 42 seconds to drive toward the end zone.
The drive began with a 17-yard pass to Avant to give Michigan a 1st down at the Penn State 36-yard-line which was followed by a four-yard pass to Carl Tabb as the Wolverines called timeout with 28 seconds left as they faced a 2nd & 6 situation.
Following the timeout, Henne hit tight end Tyler Ecker, who stepped out of bounds one yard short of the 1st down.
Then on 3rd & 1, the Wolverines surprised the Nittany Lions by handing the ball off to Hart, who picked up 11 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Penn State 16-yard-line with 18 seconds left.
From there, Henne fired an incomplete pass on 1st down, then found Manningham for six yards to set up 3rd & 4 at the Penn State 10-yard-line.
That is when Henne fired a pass intended for Breaston in the end zone, which fell incomplete and left one second on the clock, enough time for one more play.
Henne lined up behind center, dropped back, and fired a slant pass to Manningham in the back of the end zone for the touchdown to give Michigan the 27-25 upset and hand Penn State its first loss of the season.
But since the national championship game was being played at the Rose Bowl that season, the Nittany Lions had to travel to Miami to take on Florida State, whom they defeated 26-23 in triple overtime.
As for the Wolverines, the win over Penn State sparked a four-game winning streak which ended with a 25-21 loss to Ohio State, which was followed by a 32-28 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl as the Wolverines finished with a disappointing 7-5 record, but would bounce back the following year to finish 11-2.
As for Manningham, he would eventually became Michigan's leading receiver by his junior season in 2007 as he caught 72 passes for 1,174 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Manningham would forego his final season of eligibility and enter the 2008 NFL Draft where he was selected in the third round by the New York Giants.
Manningham's NFL career would only last seven seasons as he caught 211 passes for 2,849 yards and 19 touchdowns during his career, but he did etch his name in Super Bowl lore with his famous catch in Super Bowl XLVI.
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