Who else has this past game as the hardest regular season loss they ever had to take?

[GuStHeCaT]

It cracks the top 10 but I'd put others ahead of it. Obviously Minnesota 99, Michigan 05 and Iowa 08 in recent memory, all last-second losses which killed perfect seasons. I'd put Temple 15 (mega gut punch), Iowa 04 (program rock bottom) and OSU 14 (B1G outright theft leading to natty) up there too.

Also the two national championship hangover games in 1983, the infamous kickoff classic with Nebraska and the home loss to Cincinnati the next week. Never seen a PSU team as lost on the field as that game with Nebraska..

 

[anon_1eeb2b426hv3y]

08 Iowa was worse between quality of opponent and what it ultimately cost the team. No big ten championship game or playoff. Would have put us directly into the bcs championship game. Team would have matched up better with Florida or Oklahoma than usc.

This one was disappointing, not heartbreaking. It wasn't 97 or '05 UM, 99 Minny, or 04 or 08 Iowa.

The two to UM are worst for me, followed by 08 Iowa. 97 UM was the first domino in a disappointing season-end. 05 UM was probably tougher, losing Derrick Williams and the game the way we did.

 

[Nashville Lion]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

The 2005 Michigan was way worse to me!!! I literally cried after that game. I was fine after the one in two minutes.

 

[nits74]

Tough question, but after giving it much thought I have to agree with the OP. Four reasons: Blew a huge lead; The opponent with a fan base I despise; What potentially was at stake; And a hangover from all the shit we've had to listen to over the last six years.
This would have been a great statement win and it was thrown away.

 

[Spydersgirl]

Michigan '05 and OSU '14. Glad to see I wasn't the only one that literally cried over the Michigan game. I was on the phone with my husband in the final moments (2 seconds...ugh) of the game ...he offered to come home early seeing how upset I was. Since that day, I save my vitriol for the maize and blue. This year was sweet .

 

[aquapong]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

The 2005 Michigan was way worse to me!!! I literally cried after that game. I was fine after the one in two minutes.

That 2005 Michigan game is one of a long string of games with horrendous calls by officials that went for Michigan...Avant’s “catch” on the sideline continued that game winning drive and then there’s the added 2 seconds that allowed the last play to begin with. This, the pass interference call in 99 that Brady sailed 10 feet over the wr’s head in the end zone on 4th down right in front of me, Tony Johnson’s inexplicable noncatch despite being an entire 12 inches in bounds in 2002 that would have had us in game winning fg range, among others lead me to believe Michigan had to be paying the officials. I know it’s a tough job, but when so many horrible game critical calls go one team’s way so consistently for so long and three teams lodge complaints with the Big Ten over it...you start to run out of reasonable explanations. These weren’t bang bang plays. They were routinely obvious plays where the officials dictated the outcome of the game.

/threadjack

 

[jbuffone]

Honestly don’t remember the earlier kickoffs, but actually the final kickoff in that game was a great kickoff, inside the five yd line and in the corner of the field, only a few steps from the boundary. Just very poor coverage.

I just re-watched that kickoff on YouTube and you are correct that it was to about the 5 towards the sideline, but Steve Breaston was an elite kick returner. I remember saying at the time you have two choices there. Kick it into the end zone (which wasn't likely) or squib it.

Oh well, we'll never know what coulda been...

 

[jbuffone]

That 2005 Michigan game is one of a long string of games with horrendous calls by officials that went for Michigan...Avant’s “catch” on the sideline continued that game winning drive and then there’s the added 2 seconds that allowed the last play to begin with. This, the pass interference call in 99 that Brady sailed 10 feet over the wr’s head in the end zone on 4th down right in front of me, Tony Johnson’s inexplicable noncatch despite being an entire 12 inches in bounds in 2002 that would have had us in game winning fg range, among others lead me to believe Michigan had to be paying the officials. I know it’s a tough job, but when so many horrible game critical calls go one team’s way so consistently for so long and three teams lodge complaints with the Big Ten over it...you start to run out of reasonable explanations. These weren’t bang bang plays. They were routinely obvious plays where the officials dictated the outcome of the game.

/threadjack

I remember in the 05 Michigan game a ref running in from the sideline to mark a spot on a downed Michigan running back, and as he trotted on he drifted further and further upfield adding just enough to get a first down. It's obscure but it always stuck in my mind. I remember yelling out at the TV. I'll try to find it and post the time in the full video from YouTube. It was really baffling.

 

[PSU Dave]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

For me it's Macho Grande. I don't think I'll ever get over Macho Grande.

 

[jbuffone]

I remember in the 05 Michigan game a ref running in from the sideline to mark a spot on a downed Michigan running back, and as he trotted on he drifted further and further upfield adding just enough to get a first down. It's obscure but it always stuck in my mind. I remember yelling out at the TV. I'll try to find it and post the time in the full video from YouTube. It was really baffling.

Found the "crooked walk" spot and also another egregious one. Wow it's amazing what the refs got away with.



The first one is at 1:29:10 and the crooked walk is at 1:41:50. It's absolutely unbelievable. I hate conspiracies but how can it be explained any other way...you know it's bad when even the announcer commented on it....both times!

 

[nittany119]

Minny ‘99 was tough, but Paterno passed up a FG and instead punted, meaning Minny only needed a FG to win. We gave Minny a chance and through a lucky bounce they got the FG opportunity and converted.

Iowa ‘08 was ours until the absolutely awful interception by Clark gave Iowa one last chance. A totally bogus PI call helped Iowa down the field.

For me, other than Sat, ‘Bama ‘89 was the worst. Thomas ran the ball down the field, down ‘Bama’s throat. But our sideline had no sense of urgency, no clock management and we ended up calling our last timeout on the one yd line on the right hash mark. Tough angle, ‘Bama stacked the angle and one hand was the difference between the W and the L. A fake FG would have been a walk-in TD. Sat in Beaver Stadium for close to 30 minutes without moving. Worst loss I’ve ever been to in person.

Sat was brutal.....doing nothing after the fumble recovery.....getting a punt blocked because of a blown assignment.....playing for the FG.....giving up two 5-play TD drives.....and doing nothing after getting great field position on the squib kick.....yeah, this is gonna brutalize me for the rest of my life.

They are all brutal. Sugar Bowl 79 was no peach either. Still haunts me.

 

[nittany119]

The 05 UM loss was terrible but that game was also robbed from us by the referines.

Poor coaching by Joe didn't help. All we had to do was kick it deep on the kickoff and game was over. But he chose to short kick it and they got great field position, with just enough time and help to win it. We gave that one away bigtime.

 

[NewYC]

The 05 UM loss was terrible but that game was also robbed from us by the referines.

Yeah. That’s why it was so hard to deal with. I was depressed about that for awhile and is really at the root of my absolute hatred of all things Michigan.

 

[michnittlion]

1999 Minnesota, nothing else is close.

We were #2 but I always thought it was an uneasy #2. The rumblings that we were an elite-level B1G team from 1993-early 1997 but stopped being in an elite-level B1G team in late 1997 first started to emerge on Judgment Day. The Minnesota loss more than anything confirmed those rumblings. And was a harbinger of even tougher times ahead. Which all occurred.

The other losses are more meh. Saturday's loss to Ohio State especially so. A close loss on the road to Ohio State - it was a bummer, but OSU was a top-notch foe and we were punching with them most of the way. Such things happen. Felt like a considerably different loss than 1999 Minnesota.

The rest of 2017: I still think we're going to finish 11-1. Maybe that makes the playoffs, maybe it doesn't. That's out of our control. But confident that we have a bright future ahead for both the rest of 2017 and for future years. We won't fall off as much in 2018, 2019, etc as some folk think we will. I think upcoming years are shaping up quite like most of the 1990s: we'll be an elite-level B1G team that bats about .500 against each of OSU & U-M.

The JoePa era --- both in terms of him as the coach and in terms of the sanctions that resulted from his era --- that era is OVER.

As I see it, our short- and long-term future looks very good. Something I didn't feel at all in November 1999.

 

[pandaczar12]

Yeah. That’s why it was so hard to deal with. I was depressed about that for awhile and is really at the root of my absolute hatred of all things Michigan.

Being there made it even worse. I sat in the endzone where Manningham caught the "game winning" catch.

 

[NewYC]

Being there made it even worse. I sat in the endzone where Manningham caught the "game winning" catch.

Oh man, I can’t imagine! the screaming um fans must’ve made it unbearable.

 

[JosephNit]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

Heartbreak is exactly the word, bro. It’s Wednesday, and I’m still reliving the damn game.

The only regular season game that comes close in my mind is Minny in 1999. Because we were a lot better than the Gophers, we were heading for a possible national championship, we lost because of not one but two Hail Mary’s plus bad coaching decisions, and our entire season collapsed immediately afterward.

Michigan in 2005, yeah, but the crooked refs took that one away. A bitter, bitter loss but you had the feeling it was taken out of our hands.

Last Saturday we were underdogs, playing what is, honestly, a better team at their place. With a 15-point lead in the 4th quarter nonetheless. It was a huge game and a game that, against the odds, was ours to win. But we did not.

I guess it will come down to what happens next. Do we fold our tents like after Minny in 1999? Or do we come out fighting against a very good Spartan team and close the season strong – keeping hopes alive for a playoff spot?

If the latter, then next week or next month this might be just a very bad memory. But if we collapse as was the case in 1999, then we’ll look back on this as the same kind of disaster.

I guess we’ll find out soon.

 

[showmeyournits]

6-4

 

[PSU Mike]

Not remotely close.

 

[PSUcup1]

Imo this is up near top because of blowing such a big lead.

Iowa 08 was bad because we could have beat Florida IMO (USC was by far the best team in the country that year)

 

[PSUcup1]

Found the "crooked walk" spot and also another egregious one. Wow it's amazing what the refs got away with.

View embedded media

The first one is at 1:29:10 and the crooked walk is at 1:41:50. It's absolutely unbelievable. I hate conspiracies but how can it be explained any other way...you know it's bad when even the announcer commented on it....both times!

The first one you mentioned they gave him literally a yard and a half lol. Unreal

 

[ShinerTexas]

Weirdly I felt better when it was over. From about the 2nd Quarter on I felt sick as I could tell we were just hanging on (despite the leads) and OSU was having their way with us and would eventually pull it out.

As much as it looks like we 'blew' the game, OSU was actually the better team. So, for me, it was an easier loss. A fluky loss on a last second FG or a PS turnover to set up a last minute score to lose is much harder to take than this loss.

The Rose Bowl loss was worse as we threw the last minute INT and USC hit a FG as time expired. (On a personal note I was at the Rose Bowl game and also lost $$ as I bet on PS while in Vegas before the game which also made it worse)

 

[FightOnState]

Kentucky at home, 1977. Could have been in the mix for the MNC with a better team than we had the following year.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

99 Minnesota
99 Michigan
02 Iowa
02 Michigan
03 Ohio State
05 Michigan
07 Michigan
07 Illinois
08 Iowa
09 Iowa
12 Ohio

All worse

 

[kgilbert78]

Kentucky at home, 1977. Could have been in the mix for the MNC with a better team than we had the following year.

Yea--my first year at UP. Left at the half as I was soaked and freezing--took me 30 min in the shower to warm up.

 

[kgilbert78]

1999 Minnesota, nothing else is close.

We were #2 but I always thought it was an uneasy #2. The rumblings that we were an elite-level B1G team from 1993-early 1997 but stopped being in an elite-level B1G team in late 1997 first started to emerge on Judgment Day. The Minnesota loss more than anything confirmed those rumblings. And was a harbinger of even tougher times ahead. Which all occurred.

The other losses are more meh. Saturday's loss to Ohio State especially so. A close loss on the road to Ohio State - it was a bummer, but OSU was a top-notch foe and we were punching with them most of the way. Such things happen. Felt like a considerably different loss than 1999 Minnesota.

The rest of 2017: I still think we're going to finish 11-1. Maybe that makes the playoffs, maybe it doesn't. That's out of our control. But confident that we have a bright future ahead for both the rest of 2017 and for future years. We won't fall off as much in 2018, 2019, etc as some folk think we will. I think upcoming years are shaping up quite like most of the 1990s: we'll be an elite-level B1G team that bats about .500 against each of OSU & U-M.

The JoePa era --- both in terms of him as the coach and in terms of the sanctions that resulted from his era --- that era is OVER.

As I see it, our short- and long-term future looks very good. Something I didn't feel at all in November 1999.

I'll disagree slightly here. I think we are still feeling the effects of the sanctions, albeit not as strong. Our classes are still a bit unbalanced, and we didn't have the type and quality of junior and senior redshirts that make a difference on the O-line--which came into play Saturday. Our offense disguises the line issues to some extent--but they are there. One thing tOSU had was more depth. Other than that? I agree. Bright future.

 

[trz103]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

Tough one to swallow but let’s be realistic here. They went into the “shoe” against an offensive juggernaut and lost by 1. The last 2 trips there PSU was outscored by a combined 101-24. The sky is not falling.

 

[getmyjive11]

05 Michigan and 08 Iowa were worse because I felt we were better than those teams. I generally don’t take losses hard where the other team was better. That was the case with OSU.

 

[dbsteel]

Even tougher than ‘99 Minny and ‘05 Michigan.

Still can’t stop thinking about this loss and the way it happened. As a fan I can’t even move on to the next game and I’m worried that some players won’t be able to.

Unreal heartbreak

99 was lousy. But not being able to move on, and unreal heartbreak, is a little much.

 

[bigbopper1985]

2005 Michigan is by far the worst I've felt after a loss
1999 Minnesota is close 2nd
1989 Alabama - I sat in the stadium stunned when the chip shot field goal got blocked
2008 Iowa
2000 Toledo - not only was that a terrible game it was 100 degrees
1997 Michigan State - they had 2 200 yard rushing rushers I think - just ran it down our throats
1995 Northwestern - broke our long winning streak on the way to their big 10 championship
1983 Cincinnati

I wouldn't put this weekend's loss to Ohio State in top 10 maybe top 20 losses.