SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
BY CHUCK CULPEPPERstate college, pa. — Football
made another of its occasional
and spiteful turns of menace
toward one of its devoted sub-
jects, Jim Harbaugh, on Saturday
night at Beaver Stadium. The
Michigan coach who has cruelly
lost a Super Bowl, two NFC cham-
pionship games, a game with
Michigan State on a fumbled
punt snap and a game with Ohio
State on a haunting spot by an
official, looked from the sideline
with two minutes left as his quar-
terback’s fourth-down pass waft-
ed into the end zone.
His five-season Michigan ten-
ure, so loud at the beginning but
so strangely muffled by now,
looked a s if it might have a shot at
the jewel it has lacked: a story-
book win to offset the storybook
losses. Then Shea Patterson’s p ass
found its way to Ronnie Bell’s g ut.
Then it found its way out of Bell’s
gut and onto the ground in the
end zone.
Then No. 16 Michigan had lost,
28-21, to No. 7 Penn State even
after the Wolverines outgained
the Nittany Lions 417-283, even
after Michigan had clambered
back after a 21-0 deficit, even
before 110,669 spectators on a
night of “White Out,” c ollege foot-
ball’s most notable homage to anantiquated office product.
Any drama at all turned up
because, after looking rather daz-
zling building its lead, the Penn
State offense slowed after half-
time. It ceased looking like a
reincarnation of the Saquon
Barkley-Trace McSorley days
around here. Its yards-per-play
went from a gaudy seven to right
around a somber two. Michigan
finally scored again with 1:05 left
in the third quarter on a 65-yard
drive full of pretty runs, the last of
which Zach Charbonnet took 12
yards just to the right of the
middle, giving him 45 yards on
the possession alone. The score
stood 21-14, and the stadium
seemed full of hmm.
When Michigan (5-2, 3-2)
quickly got a stop as a serious
rush helped cause a hopeless pass
on third and 11, things looked
even tighter, except that Michi-
gan cornerback Lavert Hill got a
holding call that looked worthy of
a tackling call, were there such a
penalty. Granted that escape,
Penn State (7-0, 4-0) ran another
three plays before Sean Clifford
saw KJ Hamler very lonely up the
field and lofted a 53-yard postpass that went squarely into
Hamler’s gut about a step from
the goal line.
Penn State led 28-14 with 13:14
left, and the crowd sang “Sweet
Caroline,” and it proved enough
cushion to withstand Michigan’s
nine-play, 75-yard drive that end-
ed in Patterson’s sneak touch-
down from the 1 on fourth down.
Another fourth down near that
goal line would come, of course —
so long and far from the outset of
the loud night.
The offenses trickled at first.
Michigan’s didn’t even trickle on
its first play, when the “White
Out” noise bamboozled the Wol-
verines into confusion followed
by that rare timeout with 15:00
remaining in the first quarter.
Three punts later, on an in-
nocuous second and nine near
midfield on Penn State’s second
possession, Clifford threw an art-
work of a ball up the left sideline
to Jahan Dotson, whose catch in
tight coverage was no slouch,
either. It went for 37 yards and
then, boom, the next play, C lifford
threw to his right into the end
zone, where tight end Pat Freier-
muth ran behind linebacker
Khaleke Hudson and eventually
underneath the football.
Penn State led 7-0 with six
minutes left in the first quarter,
and the stands shook.On the ensuing kickoff, Michi-
gan dropped the ball around a bit
and got mauled, but then took off
from its 14-yard line and took a
little trip, 50 yards in 11 plays,
Patterson’s expert 13-yard scram-
ble a highlight. That little bit of
fun croaked on a fourth and three
from the Penn State 36-yard line,
with cornerback John Reid hur-
tling over wide receiver Ta rik
Black for the breakup.
That stop didn’t necessarily
feed any snowballing effect, ex-
cept that by the next play, it had.
The middle of Penn State’s offen-
sive line presented a hole large
enough for a small herd of cattle
to pass, and running back Ricky
Slade took his 5-foot-9 and 198
pounds blasting through. He
gained 44 to the Michigan
20-yard line. Clifford gained 10
yards on a crafty run on third and
eight. The first quarter ended.
Clifford made a beautiful fake
and lunged into the end zone to
help christen the second.
Soon, Michigan tried a middle
screen that looked quite possibly
well-plotted but became a dud.
Patterson’s short throw went
wandering into a small crowd
where a cornerback, Ta riq Castro-
Fields, intercepted it at t he Michi-
gan 37. Penn State exulted, got
flagged for same and overcame
that with top-notch passes fromClifford to Hamler.
One covered 18 yards on sec-
ond and 11, and one covered the
final 25 yards when Clifford float-
ed it into the left side of the end
zone where the only suspense was
whether Hamler, having run past
Brad Hawkins, would get under
it.
He d id, and Penn State led 21-0,
and rerun mode was in. That
altered only slightly when Michi-
gan managed to go 75 yards in
eight plays to join the scoring.
That score appeared to come
weirdly, when Donovan Peoples-
Jones caught Patterson’s pass 10
yards from the end zone, then
took a pop from Jaquan Brisker,
loosing the ball until Michigan’s
Bell ran by and snatched it and
scored.
Michigan’s lack of airtightness
showed again then, because cen-
ter Cesar Ruiz had strayed too far
upfield as if bored with the close-
up blocking of the trenches. The
flag fell, but Michigan did over-
come it when Patterson faked
fantastically a throw to the left,
handing the ball to Charbonnet,
whose trip around the right edge
was unaccosted.
The score stood 21-7, as it would
for a good while, before it didn’t,
and football gave Harbaugh an-
other of its peculiar boots.
[email protected]For Harbaugh, a storybook win slips away again
BY TERRY TOWERYchampaign, ill. — The plan was
for Wisconsin to roll into a show-
down with Ohio State next week
unbeaten, with a defense putting
up historic numbers and a Heis-
man Trophy contender at running
back.
Illinois had other p lans.
James McCourt kicked a
39-yard field goal as time expired,
and the Fighting Illini pulled off
the biggest upset of the college
football season b y knocking off No.
6 Wisconsin, 24-23, on Saturday.
“Our program, we n eeded to g et
a signature win. I was just hoping
today was the day, and the day
came,” said Illini Coach Lovie
Smith, the former Chicago Bears
coach who entered the game 11-31
overall and 4-26 in the Big Te n
since taking over Illinois in 2016.
“A gainst the No. 6 team in the
country, we played them toe-to-
toe. We saw so much fight. We
learned an awful lot about our-
selves. We’re pumped up — one of
the b est wins we can p ossibly h ave
at t his stage in our program.”
To ny A dams picked off a pass b y
Jack Coan for the Illini ( 3-4, 1-3 Big
Te n), who were 30^1 / 2 -point under-
dogs, at midfield with 2:33 left to
set up the w inning drive.
Dre B rown’s t ackle-breaking 13-
yard run got Illinois (3-4, 1-3) to
the W isconsin 25-yard line with 34
seconds left, and then the Illini s et
up McCourt to attempt a winner.
The junior was down the middle
with the field goal to give Smith
the most significant victory for
Illinois in y ears.
“No matter if it’s an extra point
or a game-winner, you kind o f have
to take the approach that every
kick is the same, because if you
take a different approach, you
might g et t hrown o ff o r something
might be a little different,” said
McCourt, who missed a 40-yard
try in t he f irst q uarter.
Fans rushed the field when it
was over, and “Jump Around” —
the signature House of Pain song
at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Sta-
dium — blared through the speak-
ers a t Memorial Stadium.
“It was amazing,” Adams said.
“It was an amazing f eeling.”
After the first six weeks of the
season produced few surprises at
the top of the rankings, there have
now been major upsets in consec-
utive weeks. L ast week i t was then-
No. 3 Georgia losing at home to
South Carolina in double over-
time. Wisconsin becomes the sec-
ond-highest-ranked team to lose
to an u nranked foe this season. But
this was m ore stunning than Geor-
gia’s l oss.
— Associated Press
In stunner,
Illini jump
over No. 6
Badgers
college football
ILLINOIS 24,
WISCONSIN 23No. 15 Texas survives
nail-biter with Kansas
Cameron Dicker made a
33-yard field goal as time
expired, and No. 15 Te xas
survived Kansas’s desperate
upset bid, 50-48, after the teams
exchanged six touchdowns in the
fourth quarter Saturday night.
Kansas took a 48-47 lead on a
two-point conversion pass with
1:11 to play. Sam Ehlinger then
drove the Longhorns into field
goal range for Dicker, who
calmly drilled the winner.
Ehlinger completed two big
passes to Collin Johnson to keep
the drive going for Te xas (5-2, 3-1
Big 12).
No. 1 Alabama (6-0) vs.
Tennessee, late Quarterback Tua
Ta govailoa left in the first half
with an ankle injury. Sophomore
Mac Jones took his place and
started the second half.
No. 2 LSU (7-0) def. Mississippi
State, 36-13 Joe Burrow
completed 25 of 32 passes for 327
yards and four touchdowns for
the Tigers.
No. 2 Clemson (7-0) def.
Louisville, 45-10 Trevor
Lawrence threw three
touchdown passes, Travis
Etienne rushed for 192 yards,
and the visiting Tigers notched
their 22nd consecutive victory.
No. 4 Ohio State (7-0) def.
Northwestern, 52-3 (Friday)
Justin Fields completed 18 of 23
passes for 194 yards and four
touchdowns and J.K. Dobbins
rushed for 121 yards in the rout.No. 5 Oklahoma (7-0) def. West
Virginia, 52- 14 Jalen Hurts
passed for 316 yards and three
touchdowns and rushed for
75 yards and two more scores.No. 6 Wisconsin (6-1) lost at
Illinois, 24 -23 The Badgers,
favored by 30^1 / 2 p oints, lost on a
39-yard field goal by James
McCourt as time expired.No. 7 Penn State (7-0) def.
No. 16 Michigan, 28-21 Sean
Clifford threw three touchdown
passes and ran for a score as the
host Nittany Lions never trailed.No. 8 Notre Dame (5-1) did not
play The Irish got a rest before
next week’s game at Michigan.No. 9 Florida (7-1) def. South
Carolina, 38-27 Kyle Trask
threw a career-high four
touchdown passes, three in the
fourth quarter, on a soggy field.No. 10 Georgia (6-1) def.
Kentucky, 21-0 The Bulldogs
recovered from last week’s loss to
South Carolina by taking
advantage of their SEC-leading
ground game in the second half.No. 11 Auburn (6-1) def.
Arkansas, 51-10 Bo Nix passed
for 176 yards and three
touchdowns — two in a span of
22 seconds — for the Tigers.No. 12 Oregon (6-1) def. No. 25
Washington, 35-31 Justin
Herbert passed for 280 yards and
four touchdowns.No. 13 Utah (6-1) def. No. 17
Arizona State, 21-3 Zack Moss
broke the Utes’ career rushing
record and scored two
touchdowns.No. 14 Boise State (6-0) at BYU,
late Boise State is off next week,
so this was the last chance for an
impressive win before the firstCollege Football Playoff rankings
come out.No. 16 Michigan (5-2) lost to
No. 7 Penn State, 28-21 The
Wolverines battled back from a
21-7 halftime deficit and had a
chance to tie the score but
dropped a would-be touchdown.No. 17 Arizona State (5-2) lost
to No. 13 Utah, 21-3 The Sun
Devils’ modern-era-record streak
of 125 games with at least 10
points ended. The previous timethey were held under double
digits was a 28-0 loss to Southern
California in 2008.No. 18 Baylor (7-0) def.
Oklahoma State, 45-27 Charlie
Brewer threw for 312 yards and a
touchdown and ran for another
score as the Bears extended their
school-record winning streak to
nine games.No. 19 SMU (7-0) def. Temple,
45-21 Mustangs QB Shane
Buechele threw six touchdownpasses to go with 457 yards.No. 20 Minnesota (7-0) def.
Rutgers, 42-7 Austin Winfield
grabbed two interceptions,
returning one for a touchdown,
and Rodney Smith rushed for
111 yards and two scores.No. 21 Cincinnati (6-1) def.
Tulsa, 24 -13 After the Bearcats’
top running back was injured,
backup Gerrid Doaks ran for a
pair of touchdowns and turned a
short pass into a 28-yard score,
too.No. 22 Missouri (5-2) lost at
Vanderbilt, 21-14 Riley Neal
came off the bench and threw a
21-yard touchdown pass to Cam
Johnson with 8:57 left, and the
Tigers were upset by the stifling
Vanderbilt defense.No. 23 Iowa (5-2) def. Purdue,
26-20 The Hawkeyes needed a
touchdown with 2:16 left to end a
two-game skid.No. 24 Appalachian State (6-0)
def. Louisiana Monroe, 52-7
Zac Thomas threw for 214 yards
and three touchdowns and ran
for another score as the
Mountaineers extended the
nation’s third-longest winning
streak to 12 games.No. 25 Washington (5-3) lost to
No. 12 Oregon, 35-31 Jacob
Eason was 23 for 30 for 289 yards
and three touchdowns in the
loss.
— Associated PressNICK WAGNER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In a game that featured 50 points in the final quarter, Keaontay Ingram and Te xas avoided a massive upset.TOP 25BRETT CARLSEN/GETTY IMAGES
The Nittany Lions’ defense stops the Wolverines on a critical fourth-down play in the final minutes as wide receiver Ronnie Bell is unable to reel in a pass in the end zone.PENN STATE 28,
MICHIGAN 21