Such excruciating, bad memories.
The questionable fumble. The 92-yard touchdown return that followed it. Four interceptions. A bowl season spent at home.
All of this has been torturing the Penn State football team since its 20-14 loss to Virginia last season left it 5-6 and ineligible for a bowl game after it had resurrected itself from a 0-4 start. The Nittany Lions (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) will have a chance to put all of it out of their heads when they play the Cavaliers (6-3) at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow at Beaver Stadium.
The Lions are already bowl eligible this season, so this game won't be the do-or-die contest it was a year ago. However, the Lions are motivated to extract revenge on the guys who forced them to spend their second straight Christmas break at home.
"They knocked us out of bowl contention," cornerback Bryan Scott said. "If we don't come out fired up, there's something wrong with us."
For quarterback Zack Mills, this game is about redemption. Last season, Mills' rookie magic ran out against the Cavaliers, who often dropped eight men into coverage to take away his passing lanes. He threw three interceptions and lost that questionable fumble when the Lions were up 14-6 and facing a third-and-six play from the Cavaliers' 8-yard line.
He has struggled in his past two games as well, completing just 50 percent of his passes for a combined 206 yards against Ohio State and Illinois.
"I used [last year's game] as a motivator," Mills said. "Obviously when you don't have a very good game against a team, you want to come out and prove to them you aren't that bad. The bottom line is I just want to play this game."
Even Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has an added reason to want to win this game. It was originally scheduled for Sept. 7, but Virginia had a contract with South Carolina to play the same day and asked Paterno to move the game back.
As a result, the Cavaliers ended up with a bye week last week and had that time to prepare. Though Paterno was clearly not happy with the situation, he downplayed it in classic Paterno fashion.
"All I know is that I got a telephone call that Virginia had two games scheduled on the same date, and they wanted to get out of our game and play it later in the year," Paterno said. "I said, 'It is hard for me to believe that they would have a contract with two teams, but OK.' I let it go at that."
The Cavaliers are a much different team than the one that busted the Lions' bowl bubble last season. Tailback Antoine Womack, who rushed for 153 yards in last season's game, is gone, replaced by the one-two combination of freshman Wali Lundy and sophomore Alvin Pearman. Quarterback Matt Schaub, who split time with Bryson Spinner last season, has come into his own, passing for 2,093 yards and 20 touchdowns.
In all, the Cavaliers have five starters on offense returning and seven on defense. Even with much of the team changed, lining up against the blue and orange is expected to get the Lions going.
"It's going to be a little more fired-up atmosphere," Lions defensive end Michael Haynes said. "We're going to want to go out there and make some big plays."
