ALTOONA, Pa. -- It's one of the most important plays in Penn State football history over the past few decades, and it's a play that fans still come up and talk about with Mark Rubin.
Even if they don't quite know who he is at first.
Rubin, contacted Wednesday to look back on the historic play with Ohio State looming this week, tells a great story about meeting fans and getting reminded of the play.
"It definitely comes up," he said. "Kind of when I meet people and they know I played at Penn State, they'll ask what years I played. The next question is if I was on any Big Ten championship teams. Thankfully I was on two of them in 2005 and 2008.
"Once 2008 comes up, that rings a bell and they ask if I played in the Ohio State game. I said I played and I was kind of the 'Terrelle Pryor fumble guy.' I still meet people to this day who remember where they were watching that game -- at a bar or with family. I even see some people from Ohio on the opposite side of it who remember that play quite vividly."
Many Penn State fans remember the play quite vividly, as do I, having covered the game at the Horseshoe. The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 3 in the BCS, won in Columbus for the first time since 1978 as they downed the No. 9 Buckeyes, 13-6.
The win propelled Penn State to a Big Ten title and berth in the Rose Bowl against USC.
The Lions probably don't win that game at Ohio State without Rubin's forced fumble on Pryor. Penn State trailed, 6-3, when Ohio State faced a crucial third-and-1 at midfield with 11 minutes to go. Pryor, the heralded recruit from Jeannette who chose Ohio State over "that place is too country for me" Penn State, tried to run for a first down. He probably could have gotten the yard had he dove inside, but instead he bounced outside, a big mistake by the freshman.
Here's how Rubin recalled the play:
"I remember third-and-1, so I knew it was gonna be a short-yardage play. But what sticks out the most is how talented our defense was that year. To start, we had Sean Lee injured at the start of the season, and we still had three linebackers who all played in the NFL, and the defensive line and the secondary. So we literally had an NFL caliber defense at every position
"I'm a strong safety playing outside contain, so I don't need to try and cheat or do anything I'm not supposed to do because I trust my teammates. It's a lot easier to trust your teammates when they're NFL players. That's the thing with our defense is we all trusted each other to do our own assignment. We were in a cover 3, I had outside contain, there was no reason for me to go cheat inside. I didn't even think the play was gonna come to me, but I played my role and made the play to force the fumble."
Rubin popped the ball loose with his left hand, it bounced away, and linebacker Tyrell Sales made a heads-up play by batting the ball forward with his arm so that Ohio State wouldn't recover.
"(Running back) Beanie Wells was about to jump on it," Rubin said. "I think it ended up bouncing 15 yards back from where it was originally fumbled. It kind of seemed like slow motion, people jumping, and NaVorro Bowman eventually got on top of it."
Bowman said after the game: "We knew this game was going to decide our season. That forced fumble is something we needed."
Bowman recovered at the Ohio State 38 with 10:38 to go. Backup quarterback Pat Devlin came in for Daryll Clark, who had taken a hit to the head, and Devlin led the Lions to a go-ahead touchdown. He scored on third-and-goal from the 1 for a 10-6 lead with 6:25 to go.
As Rubin said, Penn State had a tremendous defense, and Ohio State couldn't rally as the Lions held on to win.
"That game just goes to show the talent of that team in general," Rubin said. "Daryll Clark was knocked out of the game, and we had Pat Devlin come in, our backup quarterback was an NFL caliber player. So it speaks to the depth of that team. Everyone stepped up when their time was called. It really was just a special team."
And that victory came in large part because of a special play that will always hold a special place in Penn State history.
What does the play mean to Rubin?
"To me personally, it was just kind of the honor of making a difference, making an impact on Penn State football," he said. "I came from a small school in Buffalo, always had the goal to come to Penn State to make a difference, to make an impact. And that was kind of the defining moment in my career and something I can always look back on, making an impact on such a historic program like Penn State."
For Penn State to achieve its biggest goals in any given year, it pretty much always has to go through Ohio State. So that game is always huge on the schedule. The Lions' three best wins this century, in fact, have all been against the Buckeyes: in 2005, 2008 and 2016.
But as Rubin said, it's not just about beating Ohio State for Penn State players.
"I think you come to Penn State for a national championship and to go undefeated," he said. "So yes, beating Ohio State, but also yes to every other team, to be completely honest. Just with the history of Penn State, the undefeated seasons, the national championships. You don't come to lose games. You don't lack confidence.
"We lost to Iowa on a last-second field goal (in 2008), but we were in the running for a national championship."
Rubin, now 36, has become well known for a different reason since leaving Penn State. He earned degrees in finance and public relations at Penn State, then got his MBA with a specialization in corporate finance. He's worked on Wall Street since 2011 and is a future bonds execution trader at TP ICAP.
Each year, there's a decathlon held for Wall Street executives, and Rubin distinguished himself in that world by winning the title five years in a row from 2012-16 to become known as Wall Street's Best Athlete.
He's gone on to great success in the corporate world, but in the world of college football, Rubin will always be known, in his words, as "the Terrelle Pryor fumble guy."
"It almost feels like yesterday really," Rubin said. "I can't believe how many years have flown by."
