Blue White Illustrated

COVER STORY GREAT EXPECTATIONS Allen Robinson is foiling DBs and threatening records, but he can't satisfy his toughest critic – himself | N early a week after Allen Robinson's leaping 36-yard near-touchdown reception against Michigan, fans were still congratulating Penn State's star junior wideout for making "the catch." The iconic moment in the Nittany Lions' 43-40 quadruple-overtime victory against the 18thranked Wolverines, Robinson's acrobatic catch, a stop, hop and gravity-defying ascent over cornerback Channing Stribling, certainly hasn't been forgotten, and it won't be anytime soon. For many of the 107,884 people who jammed into Beaver Stadium that night, the late-fourth-quarter reception is the play that will live on in their memories. Robinson, however, won't be one of those people. Rather than dwell on his triumphant moment, he was tormented after the game by his fumble on a reverse in overtime and two subsequent passes that he failed to catch in the end zone. In the aftermath of Penn State's rousing victory, those plays were likely forgotten by just about everyone, but not by Robinson and his father, Allen Sr. "Christian threw me a fade pass that I think I could have come down with," Robinson said, referring to the play that followed Bill Belton's clutch fourth-and-1 conversion during the decisive fourth overtime period. Thrown to the right rear corner of the end zone, Christian Hackenberg's perfectly placed ball could have ended the game right there. But it didn't, and Robinson felt as though he were at fault, saying, "I think I could have made that catch." Robinson wasn't alone in that belief. ESPN's col- John Beale

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