Michigan Stands Its Ground, 21-13 : Big Ten: Penn State is denied in four tries from inside the one and suffers first conference defeat.

Joe Paterno’s glasses are almost as thick as the distance that separated his Penn State team from a go-ahead touchdown against Michigan on Saturday.

All the Nittany Lions had to do was pinch an inch out of the Wolverine defense and a fourth-quarter lead would have been theirs. An inch, maybe two. Any closer and the nub of the ball would have kissed the end zone.

It didn’t happen. Somehow--and the people of Un-Happy Valley still are trying to find the black box for this goal-line disaster and the 21-13 defeat that came with it--Penn State couldn’t punch, squirm or power its way in.

Four snaps . . . four failed tries . . . one defeat, Penn State’s first of the season.

“I thought it was a sure thing,” Nittany Lion receiver Bobby Engram said of the expected touchdown.

Everyone did, including the 96,719 fans--a Penn State record--who squeezed into Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions would score, take a 17-14 lead and then hold on for the victory. Afterward, a gracious Paterno would compliment the Wolverines for their gallant effort and mumble something about beginner’s luck. After all, this is Penn State’s first season in the Big Ten Conference and their first game against Michigan.

Surprise. Not only couldn’t Penn State’s massive offensive line budge the Wolverines, but the Nittany Lions ended up losing yardage, to say nothing of the game.

“It was the turning point in the game,” Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins said.

It was more than that. For 18th-ranked Michigan (4-2), the victory served as vindication for last week’s upset at Michigan State. For seventh-ranked Penn State (5-1), it was an opportunity lost. Gone is an undefeated season and, at least for now, the inside track to the Big Ten championship.

The Rose Bowl pecking order now begins with Ohio State and Wisconsin, followed by Michigan State, Michigan and then the Nittany Lions. And according to the Wolverines, that’s the way it should be, with league rookie Penn State seen, but not heard.

“Hey, just like in high school: We’re the homecoming spoiler,” said Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley, who did his part by gaining 192 yards in 32 carries. It was the first time this season that a runner gained 100 or more yards against the Nittany Lions.

Of course, nobody keeps detailed records of goal-line stands, but a safe guess is that Penn State will remember this one. So will the Wolverines, who serenaded Michigan Coach Gary Moeller with an especially stirring but off-key postgame rendition of “The Victors.” It’s a tradition, just like Michigan’s knack of earning Big Ten titles. The Wolverines have won or shared the last five.

If Michigan manages to win another one this year, it can address its first thank-you note to the Wolverine defense. Penn State gained 361 yards Saturday, but when it counted most, the Nittany Lions couldn’t gain an inch.

Trailing by four points late in the third quarter, Penn State drove from its 20-yard line almost to the Michigan end zone. A touchdown seemed nothing more than a formality.

On first down, Collins took the snap and lunged forward. He went nowhere.

On second down, Collins took the snap and lunged forward. He went nowhere.

On third down, tailback Ki-Jana Carter, who finished the game with 127 yards in 19 carries, took the handoff and went--you guessed it--nowhere.

On fourth down, Carter again took the handoff and was met by linebacker Jarrett Irons and then nose tackle Tony Henderson. Then everything went black for Carter as he was pulled to the ground . . . far short of the end zone.

Paterno may be one of only three active Division I-A coaches with 200 or more career victories, but this wasn’t one of his finest play-calling moments.

“It was my decision, my call and I guessed that they would loop out, expecting something like a bootleg pass,” Paterno said of Michigan’s defensive scheme. “I thought we would run right at them.”

Paterno thought wrong. Collins is 6 feet 5, 235 pounds, but by the time he took the snap the Wolverines were all over him. And then to come back with the same play, well, the Michigan defenders couldn’t believe their eyes.

Neither could some of the Nittany Lions, who openly questioned the series of plays, including Carter’s final attempt.

“I wouldn’t have minded a pass,” Engram said.

And this from offensive tackle Marco Rivera: “We were all kind of ticked off in the huddle. We should not have run that play in the first place. It didn’t work three times, why run it again?”

The Nittany Lions kicked a 25-yard field goal with 8:51 remaining to close the gap to 14-13, but Michigan answered with a scoring drive of its own and, unlike Penn State, used a little imagination when faced with a first-and-goal situation.

With five yards to go for the score and 5:12 to play, quarterback Todd Collins floated a swing pass to fullback Che Foster, who trotted untouched into the end zone.

“Hopefully,” Moeller said, “we wanted to start this great rivalry in the right footsteps so that other Michigan men could follow.”