Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Nittany Lions defeated Michigan State, 31-22, for the Big Ten crown.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Welcome to the BCS, JoePa.
Joe Paterno and No. 5 Penn State locked up their first Bowl Championship Series bid, defeating Michigan State 31-22 on Saturday to win the Big Ten for the first time in 11 years.
Michael Robinson ran for 90 yards and a touchdown and passed for another, and Alan Zemaitis had three interceptions for Penn State (10-1, 6-1).
Coming off a 4-7 season, Penn State tied Ohio State for the Big Ten lead but will get the league's automatic BCS bid because the Lions beat the Buckeyes in October.
Michigan State (5-6, 2-6), which began the season 4-0, finished it with six losses in seven games to post consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1991-92.
Celebration
When it was over, the Nittany Lions celebrated on the field but Paterno just ducked his head and ran into the tunnel, giving the Penn State section a wave on the way out.
"He deserves it," Robinson said. "He really does. He's worked so hard. He stayed with us. People told him to retire. Now look at him. Nobody's saying to retire and no more Joe must go Web sites. None of that. I'm just so happy for him."
Zemaitis' second pick came in third quarter, and he returned it 17 yards to the Michigan State 4. Robinson threw a 3-yard TD pass to Deon Butler moments later for a 24-7 third-quarter lead.
Paterno, pant-cuffs rolled and kept warm on a cold, windy night by a long, dark winter coat, barely reacted to the score, turning away to resume pacing the sideline as his players and coaches jumped for joy.
First title since 1994
Win No. 353 gave Paterno his first Big Ten title since 1994, when Kerry Collins and Ki-Jana Carter were piling up big numbers during Penn State's second year in the league.
Who would have believed then that Paterno's program would eventually drop to the Big Ten's second division, with four losing seasons in the past five years?
That Penn State completed its return to the top of the conference against Michigan State provided a bit of symmetry to the Nittany Lions' revival. Penn State completed last season with a 37-13 victory over the Spartans in Happy Valley that injected some optimism into the program heading into 2005.
Good offense, defense
With a new, dynamic offense -- directed by the versatile senior Robinson -- and the best defense Penn State has had since LaVar Arrington was a Nittany Lion, Paterno has been vindicated.
He said throughout the 2004 season that he felt the team was close to being a winner again -- and he was right.
"I feel wonderful," Zemaitis said. "It's something when you put your mind to it, battle all adversity and nobody giving us respect -- when you get what you wanted at the end, it makes it that much better."
Michigan State looked as if it might be the surprise team in the Big Ten after beating Notre Dame in September, but coach John L. Smith's Spartans lost consecutive heartbreakers to Michigan and Ohio State in October and never recovered.
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