2005 Minnesota at Penn State (10 Minutes or Less)

Full post: http://www.linebacker-u.com/2010/10/10-minutes-or-less-2005-penn-state-vs.html :: Unranked Penn State hosted the No. 18 Minnesota Golden Gophers on a sun-splashed afternoon in 2005. The 4-0 Nittany Lions were coming off a shaky showing in its Big Ten opener, a 34-29 comeback win at Northwestern. The 4-0 Golden Gophers were nationally ranked, with a Heisman front runner in tailback Lawrence Maroney. Penn State went on to destroy Minnesota 44-14 on national television, and announce to all that the roar was restored to Happy Valley and the Blue and White.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Penn State Football
• Nittany Lions
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• 2005 College Season
• Michael Robinson
• Lawrence Maroney
• Paul Posluszny

[MrVelosh]

Where is the Minneosta Upset victory over Ped State in '99, I cant find it. Anyone, Anyone, Anyone know, anyone?

[schuber13]

3:49 YES

[BassAssassin9]

Again I am reminded how much of a beast Robinson was.

[gymman1031]

@MVillani1985 Yep! Glen Mason studied Penn State before that 1999 game. And he figured that Derek Fox was the player to exploit. Boy, was he right! That Minnesota QB had loads of passing yards.

[gymman1031]

@MVillani1985 Yep! You are right that the 1997 Penn State Football team looked much better before the Minnesota game than after it. And, while they went downhill in 1999 after the Minnesota loss, they weren't as impressive BEFORE that game as they were before the Minnesota game in 1997. Penn State was undefeated and #2 going into the Minnesota game in 1999. However, they seemed to have a glass jaw, had some ugly wins, and seemed to play with matches. The Pitt, Miami, and Purdue wins were ugly.

[MVillani1985]

@gymman1031 Well that, plus injuries to Aaron Harris and a few other key players helped set the tone of the rest of the season. Penn State before the Minnesota game was a much different team than after in 1997. And with 1999, that safety Derek Fox is probably my least favorite Penn State player of all time.

[gymman1031]

@MVillani1985 By the way, Glen Mason's most brilliant coaching moving in the 1999 game was figuring out that Penn State had a defensive back who had serious issues. He totally had his team exploit that, and, against a very good defense, they got lots and lots of yards.

[gymman1031]

@MVillani1985 Yep! That 1997 16-15 win, as you said, shook Penn State's confidence going into the Michigan game. Kudos to Penn State for making the comeback. But, there was one play that saved Penn State. Minnesota had a 3rd and short late and fumbled. Had they made the first down or even made a good punt, they very well might have won. Have I ever told you before that, class act JoePa went into the Gophers' locker room after the game. And, he said, for all to hear, "The better team lost today."

[MVillani1985]

@gymman1031 That's very true, Glen Mason had a way of keeping it close with Penn State. He also had a way of scrounging out close wins. The talent levels from 2006 to 2007 weren't much different, but the 6-7 2006 Gophers won a lot of tight games. The most dramatic example of Glen Mason's coaching job came in a loss. Penn State finished 9-3 (would have been 11-1 or 10-2 if Enis and Jurevicius hadn't been suspended) but only beat Minnesota (3-8) 16-15 after being down 15-3.

[gymman1031]

@gymman1031 27-17 was a lot closer than the talent differential between the two teams.