He’s going to be embarrassed watching that replay.
At this rate, the Tampa Bay Rays might never lose a baseball game, and they’re leaving opponents dumbfounded in the process.
The Rays tied the modern MLB record on Thursday for the most consecutive wins to start a season, beating the Red Sox, 9-3, for a 13-0 start. An early arm injury to starter Jeffrey Springs forced the Rays to go with a bullpen game, and Kevin Kelly was up for the task.
Kelly’s sweeper and sinker both had some ridiculous movement in those 2.2 innings as he threw 31 pitches with at least 18 inches of horizontal break. But no pitch was more impressive (or more hilarious) than the 23-inch sweeper that he used to strike Reese McGuire out looking.
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The pitch was nasty enough, but McGuire’s reaction took it to another level. McGuire seemed adamant that home plate umpire Nic Lentz missed the call. Yet, the pitch was absolutely on the money and caught the outside corner.
That’s just the reaction of a player who didn’t think a pitch could move 23 inches like that. And to be fair, the ball probably looked outside before that aggressive movement towards the plate.
MLB fans were understandably impressed with that pitch. It was filthy.
Remembering Tamba Hali’s iconic strip-sack that clinched a signature win over Ohio State in 2005.
Penn State has off on this October 8, but today marks the anniversary of one of the most iconic regular-season victories in program history. It was on this day in 2005 when Beaver Stadium had one of its biggest nights as Penn State upset Ohio State to announce to the college football world that Penn State was back from the dead.
Penn State won five games in back-to-back seasons in 2000 and 2001 and then won three games in 2003 and just four games in 2004. It was the worst five-year stretch for Penn State under head coach [autotag]Joe Paterno[/autotag] of his career, leading to many wondering if the game had passed by Penn State and Paterno. But the 2005 season started with three straight wins in non-conference play and Big Ten play ignited with a wild comeback at Northwestern. Penn State then smashed No. 18 Minnesota at home, 44-14, to set the stage for a visit from College GameDay for a matchup between No. 16 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State. This was the game Penn State fans were waiting for as it presented the Nittany Lions a chance to make a loud statement about the status of the football program, and the students were all in with a student section whiteout, years before Penn State enacted stadium-wide whiteouts. Those who were at the game, including myself, may still say that was one of the loudest games ever witnessed in Beaver Stadium.
Penn State’s defense was impressive on that October night. Ohio State had just 230 yards of offense and turned the football over three times. The defense had to be that good, because Ohio State’s defense was also dominant all night long. Penn State managed just 195 yards of total offense.
[autotag]Michael Robinson[/autotag] completed 11 of 20 passes for just 78 yards, but he ran for 52 yards and a touchdown. [autotag]Tony Hunt[/autotag] led all players with 64 rushing yards, each one as difficult to gain as they would come on this night highlighted by the defenses.
Ohio State struck first with a field goal in the first quarter, but Penn State scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 14-3 lead with a [autotag]Derrick Williams[/autotag] touchdown run of 13 yards and Robinson’s one-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter. Ohio State would close the gap with their final score of the night with a Smith touchdown run from 10 yards out in the final minute of the first half.
The only scoring in the second half came on the leg of [autotag]Kevin Kelly[/autotag], a 41-yarder early in the third quarter. From there, the defenses for both teams took control. Ohio State’s best chance to score in the second half came in the form of a missed 50-yard field goal.
[autotag]Tamba Hali[/autotag] put the game on ice when he easily got around his blocker on the edge and raced toward an unsuspecting Troy Smith, who would go on to win a Heisman Trophy the following season. Smith lost the football on impact and Penn State recovered. And Hali simply walked off the field as composed as they can come, as if it was just another play. Business as usual for a player who would go on to make a living in the NFL doing this very thing.
After the game, Kirk Herbstreit credited the Penn State student section by proclaiming them to be the best student section in the country.
Penn State was upset the following weekend at Michigan on a last-second touchdown by the Wolverines when Chad Henne found Mario Manningham in the endzone as time expired in a wild fourth quarter in Ann Arbor. Penn State trailed Michigan 10-3 going into the fourth quarter and exploded for 22 points, but gave up 17 to come up on the wrong end of a 27-25 final score. But that was the only regular season loss for Penn State in the 2005 season.
Penn State went on to win the remainder of their games, including a 35-14 victory over No. 14 Wisconsin as Penn State went on to win the Big Ten championship and advance to the Orange Bowl. The Rose Bowl was being used to host that year’s BCS National Championship Game between USC and Texas, which turned out to be one of the most epic games in college football history. Penn State’s Orange Bowl was also quite a memorable game, at least for Penn State fans.
In a season otherwise dominated by USC and Texas, who would go on to play for the BCS National Championship, Penn State was one play away from at least having an argument to being considered for the national championship. But none of it would have even be possible if not for that one night in October.
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Penn State bowl history: Sean Lee’s defining moment and Tony Hunt running wild in the 2007 Outback Bowl
A season removed from a run to a Big Ten championship, Penn State made a return trip to the Outback Bowl at the end of the 2006 season. And up against a Tennessee team that was ranked and believed to be the favorite, it was the Penn State fundamentals of a strong defense and dominant running game that led the Nittany Lions to pulling away for a double-digit victory against the favored Vols.
Head coach Joe Paterno watched the game from the press box as he was recovering from a broken leg suffered in a sideline collision earlier in the season.
Heading into the game, the popular suggestion was that Tennessee had better athleticism across its roster, and that would lift the Vols to a victory over Penn State. But Tony Hunt proved that sometimes it just pays to be bigger and stronger on the ground. Hunt rushed for 158 yards on 31 rushing attempts to pave the path to a 20-10 victory.
But this Penn State team was still very much reliant on its defensive successes. Against the Vols, Penn State forced three turnovers and Tennessee was held to a season-low 10 points in the game. After the game, Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer noted Penn State played the exact kind of style you should expect against a team coached by Paterno.
“You play against Joe Paterno’s football teams, they’re going to be tough, they’re going to disciplined, they’re going to be able to run the football,” Fulmer said. “I knew that, having been there before. I learned some great lessons from him the last time. If we take care of the football better, at least it’s a more interesting game there at the end.”
For three quarters, it was a tight contest between the Nittany Lions and Vols. Tennessee opened the scoring with a field goal in the first quarter, and Kevin Kelly responded early in the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3-. Penn State took a 10-3 lead later in the second quarter when Anthony Morelli completed a short touchdown pass to tight end Andrew Quarless to cap a 92-yard drive.
Penn State’s lead did not make it to halftime, however. Out-muscling future NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Sean Lee, LaMarcus Coker sprung loose for a 42-yard touchdown run with a little over a minute before halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Tennessee was marching into position for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, but Tony Davis returned a Tennessee fumble, which was forced by Lee, 88 yards for a defensive touchdown to put the Nittany Lions in front for good. Kelly would later add a field goal to extend Penn State’s lead to 20-10 to seal the deal against the SEC opponent.
“I didn’t want to let our seniors down, and I felt like I was letting the whole team down playing like that,” Lee said after the game, reflecting on his forced fumble. “I knew I had to come out in the second half and make a big play. I had to make up for that play.”
With the win, Penn State improved to 3-0 all-time in the Outback Bowl. But their next trip, four years later, would not go as well. But this was Paterno’s 22nd all-time career bowl victory, extending his lead in the all-time bowl coaching victories list.
