Steve Breaston has been in this position before.
Mario Manningham, Michigan’s big-play wide receiver, will miss Saturday’s game at Penn State because of a knee injury. But Breaston is prepared to move into the spotlight instead, just like he had to when Braylon Edwards graduated two years ago and Jason Avant left after last season.
Breaston said the team learned something last year amid all the injuries that led, in part, to the team’s disappointing 7-5 finish.
“The biggest thing we learned is we can’t fall apart when components are missing,” Breaston said. “Other people have to step it up and carry the burden. Just because one man goes down, we’re still a team.”
Though he has yet to catch any deep balls, Breaston has been effective this season on intermediate routes. He has 23 catches–one fewer than Manningham–and 222 receiving yards for the fourth-ranked Wolverines, who are 6-0, 3-0 Big Ten.
Saturday’s game is Breaston’s perfect opportunity to shine. It will be the only opportunity for the North Braddock, Pa., native to play in his home state and the chance to show up his brother, David, a Penn State grad.
“I’m really excited; I’m not going to lie,” said Breaston, whose average of 11.3 return yards per punt leads the Big Ten. “To go back to Pennsylvania to play, the way we’ve been playing right now . . . I don’t want to get out of whack and get too excited and get out there and lay an egg.”
He’ll likely join fellow Pennsylvania native Chad Henne on the most-wanted list at Saturday’s night’s game: Breaston played a major role in last season’s last-second, 27-25 upset at Michigan Stadium, Penn State’s only loss of the season.
“Breaston is one of best kids to come out of Pennsylvania in a long time,” said Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno, whose team is 4-2, 2-1 Big Ten. “We never really got into [recruiting] with him, and we tried, but this really wasn’t the place for him. He was a great high school player and a great college player. In fact, we would have won the game last year if we hadn’t kicked off the ball to him. He made a great, great runback on the kickoff and put them in position where they could make that final drive.”
One more lasting memory would be enough for Breaston.
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