The third-string junior quarterback abruptly found himself at the helm of the Nittany Lions' offense in front of an unforgiving sea of red that included a hostile Camp Randall Stadium crowd and an even more ferocious Wisconsin defense.
It was a painful and depressing three hours for Ganter and the Lions (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten), who decisively lost a war of attrition to a No. 20 Badgers squad that did just enough offensively for a 16-3 win Saturday.
"I feel like I let everyone down," Ganter said. "I've been waiting to get in there for so long. All those guys in there on the offense are my good buddies and I was dying to get in there with them. And I finally got the chance and we just weren't able to make the big plays we needed."
It started out well enough for the Lions.
On the first play, Mills threw a deep ball down the left sideline to Robinson on a play-action fake that caught the Badgers (4-0, 1-0) off guard for a 49-yard gain.
But everything crumbled after that.
Wisconsin defensive end Erasmus James made Mills pay, hitting him just after releasing the ball and separating the signal caller's right, non-throwing shoulder. Mills threw an interception on the next play and Robinson took over.
James struck again with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter. Cutting around Lions guard Tyler Reed, James devastated Robinson on a sack when his helmet violently jarred Robinson's head back, leaving the quarterback unconscious.
Play stopped for an utterly still and tense 10 minutes as trainers, a stretcher and finally an ambulance were brought onto the field while Robinson lay motionless. He was taken to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and was reported to have movement in his extremities.
"Everyone was just praying and hoping for the best," linebacker Tim Shaw said. "Thinking, 'C'mon Mike, get up.' You know this sort of thing happens, but you don't want it to happen to your team. You just gotta put it in God's hands."
Robinson was held overnight for observation and was able to leave yesterday, walking out under his own power, according to Penn State sports information. He is doubtful for Saturday's game at Minnesota.
Ganter struggled on his second full drive, badly overthrowing Gerald Smith and putting the ball right into the hands of Badgers safety Jim Leonhard for an interception. Ganter, the son of longtime Lions offensive coordinator and current front office man Fran Ganter, would finish his first significant game time appearance completing just 6 of 23 attempts for 32 yards.
The offense faces an uncertain future with questions around its top two quarterbacks.
"Whatever we got, we got," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "We can play with what we have, we just have to keep hustling and something good will happen, and that's just the way it has to be. How bad Zack is, I can't tell you. But we've got two guys that can play in Christopher and Anthony [Morelli, a freshman] and we've just gotta do it."
