Mills engineers stunning rally
Sunday, November 25, 2001
By David Jones
Of The Patriot-News
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- You had a feeling about the scenario of this one from the get-go.
The wacky history of the nine Michigan State-Penn State games in the Nittany Lions' Big Ten era mandates some sort of scoring shoot-out.
And admirable as his effort was in last week's win over Indiana, generic junior quarterback Matt Senneca didn't seem suited for this assignment.
You just knew this was a game designed for his freshman successor Zack Mills, back to about 90 percent of capacity after an ankle sprain two weeks ago at Illinois.
The problem was, Mills would probably have to herd his Penn State teammates into a life raft at hostile Spartan Stadium and reel them in from some sort of near-disaster.
Sure enough, PSU coach Joe Paterno started Senneca. And there was Mills, being inserted into the maelstrom of a 17-7 deficit that would become 24-7 before he gained control.
"I enjoy it," said Mills after a 42-37 win. "The pressure's off of you. You're already down 17 points. There's no reason to feel pressure.
"It's exciting. Every time they score on you, you want to come back and answer their call."
When does this kid ever feel pressure?
Mills threw for 240 yards and a score in less than three quarters of action in rescuing the Lions.
He led a comeback of 31 straight Penn State points that erased the 17-point deficit, a comeback reminiscent of Kerry Collins' leading the Lions back from a 37-17 hole here in 1993.
Not quite so thrilling to a haggard but happy Joe Paterno:
"I'll never be comfortable when you give up 37 points. That's really not my style."
But he's learning to live with the new realities of the college game, especially because he has a state-of-the-art QB.
"He's just a kid who has a lot of confidence in himself," said a smiling Paterno of Mills. "He adjusts to a situation well and he loves to play."
This situation was not easy. Manheim Central High product Jeff Smoker, the Spartans' own nouveau quarterback, had MSU on a roll with a 24-7 lead by the time Mills shook the rust off from a two-week layoff.
Smoker finished with 24 completions in 36 tries for 356 yards. Included were eight strikes for 191 yards to NFL-bound sophomore wideout Charles Rogers, a 6-4 specimen who's good enough to play on Sundays now.
But after a three-and-out on his first series, early in the second quarter, Mills led the Lions on five consecutive scoring drives spanning the second and third quarters and drove them to a 42-31 lead.
The Lions then hung on through some ultra-conservative play-calling in the fourth quarter, asking a battered defense to save the game.
With the score 42-37 and MSU brandishing an attack that would finish with 542 net yards, the Lions fought off thrusts to their 21 and 14 in the final seven minutes of the game to pull it out.
Crazily enough, this 79-point game of pinball climaxed in a defensive play, a great stick of a tackle by smallish soph linebacker Deryck Toles.
Faced with a fourth-and-7 from the Penn State 14 with only one timeout remaining, the Spartans had to get a first down to survive.
They ran Rogers underneath a cleared-out zone between the hashes. But they had him break off his route and cross the field two yards short of the needed yardage.
The rationale was he'd have a clear look at Smoker's toss and use his long legs and speed to run for the first down.
"It was kind of shallow," said Toles, who called the subsequent hit on Rogers the biggest of his life. "They try to run everyone deep and then break him underneath. It's designed to go in front of the sticks.
"We'd been planning on that route all week. I saw it coming around, so I just sat there and waited on it."
Toles, just 6-0 and 208, stuck and hung on, bringing the 6-4, 202-pound Rogers down at the 9 to turn the ball over.
One PSU third-down conversion later -- Mick Blosser's 4-yard gain on third-and-2 from the 17 -- and the Lions were in bowl position.
Crazy but true. If Penn State (5-5, 4-4) can win Saturday in their finale at Virginia, a game postponed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they will finish with a winning record after an 0-4 start. And be bowl-eligible.
And a Penn State team eligible for a bowl is a Penn State team in a bowl.
Considering yesterday's Big Ten developments, the Lions at 6-5 would be odds-on for the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. And an invitation to the Outback Bowl in Tampa is not out of the question.
What's known: Illinois is the Big Ten champion and will get the automatic BCS Bowl bid -- probably the Fiesta Bowl. Michigan is second and will go to the Citrus Bowl.
The next choice is up to the Outback. Ohio State (7-4, 5-3) is the choice on merit.
But the Buckeyes were in the Outback last year; they have never been to San Antonio.
"We liked our last trip to San Antonio [in 1999]," said Paterno. "If that's the way it breaks, fine. But we have another game to win first."
Purdue (6-4, 4-4), Iowa (6-5, 4-4) and Michigan State (5-5, 3-5 with Missouri next week), all of which lost yesterday, simply do not look like valid competition against the Lions for an Alamo Bowl bid.
A bowl seemed a far-fetched proposition early on yesterday.
The Lions' defense was again TV-movie material in the first half, lamely diving at Spartan heels like extras going after Greg Brady.
Unlike Indiana a week ago, which ran almost expressly ground plays and couldn't punch it home, the Spartans ran anything they wanted and it all worked for scores.
The Spartans identified the Lions' underbelly along the front and pounded over their left side in the direction of outmatched end Bob Jones. T.J. Duckett rumbled for 94 yards in the half (he finished with 126), most of it over tackle Ulish Booker and guard Joe Tate.
The last three plays in a 64-yard drive early in the second all went over left tackle for 8, 10 and 9. Little John Flowers had the last 2 yards and the score for a 24-7 bulge with 10:24 still left in the half.
Paterno blew up at the defense on the sideline in the second quarter.
"He yelled a lot and said it was one of the worst defensive performances he'd ever seen," said DB Shawn Mayer. "Then Coach [Tom] Bradley got in on it."
Then, once Mills and his buddies, especially wideout Bryant Johnson, staked the Lions to their 42-31 lead, a button-down philosophy on the final two possessions almost cost them the game.
"It did," said Mills.
Would he have rather thrown than sit on the lead?
"Maybe. I'm not the coach; it's not my decision. But I did think we buttoned up as a team. Towards the end, I thought we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win."
DUH!!
But win they did anyway.
Which lately, is not so unusual.
David Jones may be reached at 255-8187 or djones@patriot-news.com.
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