ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two years after spurning Penn State and taking his significant recruiting hype to Michigan, Wilson high school product Chad Henne stuck it to Penn State once again on Saturday afternoon, only this time the Nittany Lions didn't get a consolation prize like Anthony Morelli.
The sophomore quarterback stepped up with Saturday's game winding down and orchestrated a 53-yard drive with only 55 seconds left on the clock, and eventually buried the Lions with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Mario Manningham as time expired that gave the Wolverines a 27-25 victory.
"I was looking for it, and it veered open," Henne said of the gamewinner. "I just got it done."
After the game, an understandably jubilant Henne reinforced the decision he made during his recruitment by nearly every major college program in the country.
"It's great to be a Wolverine!" Henne said, helmet still on, at the 50-yard line of Michigan Stadium in the aftermath of the come-from-behind victory just before being mobbed by his teammates.
It hadn't been so great to be a Wolverine for Henne lately.
The quarterback has been one of the Wolverines who took the most heat for his team's disappointing 3-3 start to the season.
"Well, Chad Henne is a great quarterback, and anybody who knows anything about quarterback play would understand that," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who has also come under fire in recent weeks. "But there are a lot of people out there who don't know a quarterback from a first baseman."
Presumably in Carr's eyes, "a lot of people" includes the Michigan media contingent. Carr made it clear he thought some people around the program had hung Henne out to dry.
"Excuse me if I vent a little bit, but I think the way this kid has been treated is just unbelievable," Carr added, refusing to expound upon that statement any further.
Even on Saturday, the home fans booed Henne numerous times in the first half when he was repeatedly forced to throw the ball away to avoid Penn State pressure.
But there was nary a boo-bird to be found when he rebounded to throw for 135 yards and two touchdowns in the second half to lead his team back from the brink of its worst start to a season since 1967.
Even with the all the negativity surrounding him in recent weeks, Henne still managed to pick apart Penn State's secondary and outduel an inspired Michael Robinson for the victory.
"He's out there and he is in the eye of the storm, he knows the rush and he's got to make a decision like that," Carr said. "A bad throw, a deflection or an interception, and he loses the game. I thought he showed great poise. This kid is something else."
Henne ended up going 21-for-36 for 212 yards with two scores and no interceptions, showing off a considerable amount of touch to go with his arm strength, which is legendary among Pennsylvania high school football circles.
Other than the gamewinner, his most impressive throw of the day was a 33-yard floater to Mannigham in the fourth quarter that hit the freshman speedster perfectly in stride.
The touchdown came at a vital time, as Penn State had just stunned the Wolverines with 18 straight points in five minutes time and seemed to have grabbed all the momentum.
"They stopped us a couple times, but we knew once in a while that we were going to hit it," Henne said.
Whether or not the victory was enough to get Henne's detractors off of his back remains to be seen, but it was obvious that he took pleasure in beating a school that it was once assumed he would be attending.
"It's a great victory going against my home state, and I couldn't be prouder of my team," he said.
