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ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Anthony Thomas made his last game at Michigan Stadium a memorable one. Thomas ran for 171 yards and a score and Drew Henson threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead 21st-ranked Michigan to a 33-11 victory over Penn State in a Big Ten Conference game. Thomas, a senior who decided to stay at Michigan for one year despite the possibility of NFL riches, received a warm ovation from the fans before carrying 35 times, including a seven-yard TD run to highlight a 17-point second quarter. Thomas has 4,228 career rushing yards, moving past Tyrone Wheatley and into second place on Michigan's all-time list behind Jamie Morris. "It really didn't hit me until this morning (that this was my last game)," Thomas said. "Then I got real emotional by myself. I tried to play my best game here today. I didn't want to leave. As I was walking off the field, there were a lot of little things going through my mind." It was the third win in four games for Michigan (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten), which bounced back from a heartbreaking 54-51 loss to Northwestern last week that dropped it out of the Rose Bowl hunt. "We played with a lot of intensity," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "We challenged them to come back this week, not feeling sorry for themselves." The Wolverines completed an unbeaten home season (6-0) and improved to 34-3 against unranked teams in Lloyd Carr's tenure as coach. Penn State (4-7, 3-4) needed to win its final two games for coach Joe Paterno to tie Bryant as the all-time wins leader in major college football with 323. The Nittany Lions close the season next week against Michigan State and will not go to a bowl game for the first time since 1988. "The effort was there the whole game," Paterno said. "You've gotta be careful when you have a bunch of kids give that kind of effort. You don't want to fingerpoint." Thomas' TD run gave the Wolverines the lead for good at 7-3. Eight minutes later, Henson found Bill Seymour with a 15-yard TD pass and Hayden Epstein made it 17-3 with a 33-yard field goal 23 seconds before halftime. The only scoring in the third quarter was a 31-yard field goal by Epstein. Less than a minute into the final period, Henson and BJ Askew connected on a 40-yard TD pass to make it 27-3. Henson completed 14-of-29 passes for 212 yards and was intercepted for the first three times this season. Penn State cut the lead to 27-11 on a 50-yard TD pass from Matt Senneca to Bryant Johnson followed by a two-point conversion. Chris Perry of Michigan capped the scoring with a one-yard TD run with one second left. The first score of the game was a 35-yard field goal by Ryan Primanti late in the first quarter. Primanti missed on three other attempts. Rashard Casey of Penn State completed 16-of-28 passes for 158 yards, but was intercepted three timnes. Eric McCoo carried nine times for 102 yards.
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