Tunnel Vision: O'Korn's Mother Set to See Dream Come True
10/16/2017 9:13:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Paula O'Korn chuckled and said she's "living the dream" right now. She said that's because her three "healthy, beautiful" grown children are happy, and "life is good" for her and husband Gary back in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
Then there's the matter of living out your dreams, and that's about to happen, too.
Everything will come full circle for the O'Korn family Saturday night (Oct. 21) at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
University of Michigan quarterback John O'Korn grew up just a half-hour drive down the winding roads through the Appalachian Mountains from the Penn State campus and rooted for the Nittany Lions as a boy. He attended their summer football camps, and his favorite players were quarterbacks Daryll Clark and Michael Robinson and linebacker Paul Posluszny.
"They had a camp experience one year of walking through the tunnel as the Penn State fight song played," said Paula. "So, I'm walking through the tunnel and I have Gary on my right and John on my left.
"And, all of a sudden, tears uncontrollably start flowing from my eyes and I have goose bumps. And they start teasing me. They were like, 'Look at her!' But the emotions were so intense. And what I said -- and I'm choking up right now retelling you the story -- is, 'One day, my son will walk through this tunnel either as a Penn State football player or as a guest.' That feeling was just overwhelming to me."
So, when John starts for the Wolverines in a pivotal Big Ten matchup, she knows the emotions are going to flow once again.
"I know that when I see John enter the field I will lose it," said Paula. "I'm just so proud of John. He is such a wonderful man, and I would like to take credit. But his faith in God, the friends he surrounds himself with, and his teammates ... Michigan is just a great, great school.
"John is getting to live his dream. Starting at Michigan, he is just living life and loves it so much."
John said: "I can't even imagine walking out there on Saturday night in a 'White Out' as a player, having been there so many times. I walked out of the tunnel and my mom just starts weeping. I can guarantee she'll be emotional Saturday night."
Paula knows both sides of this rivalry. Penn State players, such as standout tight end Mike Gesicki, and coaches have frequented the Naked Egg restaurant where she's served breakfast and lunch for the last four years.
"I have a job here in State College that doesn't seem like a job," said Paula. "I know them quite well, and there's a lot of respect between their side and my side, and I wish them well. I just don't wish them to do well against Michigan.
"And they all know that because they wouldn't expect anything else. They'd be confused if I was cheering against Michigan. They all understand. I want no one harmed on either side and just want the kids to go out and have fun. And I want to beat Penn State."
Paula said that she doesn't have a close friendship with anybody in the football program but added that they definitely know she's the mother of the Wolverine quarterback.
"Mike Gesicki is a great guy," she said. "He's phenomenal, and he'll be really kind. He'll ask, 'How's John doing?' I'll ask how he's doing. When he came back from his injury, it made me feel real good."
John smiled and said, "Mom's had a lot of fun with it, but I'm sure this week will be interesting for her."
O'Korn shares a moment with his parents, Paula and Gary, after the overtime win at Indiana.
His brother, Mark Blumling, 29, who lives in Asheville, North Carolina, attended the Air Force game in Ann Arbor last month but won't be able to attend this game. However, his sister, Kalyn Runk, a Penn State grad, and her husband, Jason, are coming up from Lake Worth, Florida.
Paula said Mark and Kalyn are children from a previous marriage, but she's extremely proud of how the three of them stay in close contact even though they now live in three different states.
John and his mother moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the middle of his high school sophomore year in order to help relocate his grandparents there. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas High, a football powerhouse that sent at least 14 teammates, including former Michigan teammate and quarterback Jake Rudock of the Detroit Lions, to the NFL.
O'Korn said Penn State didn't end up being an option as he explored college opportunities. He chose Houston and threw for 3,117 yards while leading all freshmen nationally with 28 touchdown passes in 2013. However, after coaching changes, he lost his starting job as a sophomore and transferred to Michigan. Wilton Speight won tight battles with him to start both in 2016 and this season, but O'Korn came on to lead a comeback win at Purdue when Speight was injured.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about the improvements O'Korn has made since getting the No. 1 job.
"You know, winning football," said Harbaugh, noting that he's 2-1 after entering the Purdue game in the first quarter and starting the last two games. "He's well-experienced and able to go in and operate well. He's throwing the ball, we have different game plans, and we're coming in throwing in the Purdue game and he played extremely well, and this (Indiana) game, no turnovers was huge, three-for-three in the red zone, no sacks, avoiding the plays that get you beat was an emphasis. I thought he did a fine job."
Harbaugh referred to O'Korn's 17-yard completion to Donovan Peoples-Jones on third-and-seven as a "Houdini play" that kept a touchdown drive alive Saturday (Oct. 14) at Indiana. O'Korn ran to his right, spotted Peoples-Jones, and threaded a pass over three defenders into a very small window.
"It was pure luck," said O'Korn. "I was scrambling, trying to make a play off the edge. We didn't have as many guys as we needed to block as many guys as they brought, and somehow I was able to get out of it, keep my eyes downfield, see Donovan, and throw it to where Donovan was going. He made a heck of a catch.
"You sit back and laugh when he see film of that one. I don't know how it happened."
O'Korn has completed 55 percent of 82 passes for 563 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions -- with three coming in the loss to Michigan State in a driving rain.
"Quite frankly," he said, "my performances on the field haven't been as good as I would like them to be. But managing the huddle, managing bad plays when something breaks down, I think you saw this week that anytime we go out there and don't turn the ball over, we have a chance to win. I made some strides last week with protecting the football. I'm really upset with myself about giving the ball to Michigan State's defense two weeks ago, and that was a big point of emphasis last week.
"That's just the nature of having a great defense and a great running game. Those are two of the things Michigan football was built on. That hard-nosed, physical football, protecting the ball, and not giving it to the other team, we're going to have a chance to win."
O'Korn, 22, said that at Houston and Aquinas he was "expected to be the playmaker and make something out of nothing at times" but said "that's not really the case" at Michigan.
"It's something I've had to adjust to," said O'Korn, "and something I'm still working on."
It's been a long journey for O'Korn from Huntingdon to Fort Lauderdale to Houston to Ann Arbor and now coming home Saturday to State College. His mother's premonition that he would come out of that tunnel at Beaver Stadium someday to play in a big game is about to come true.
There will be plenty of memories, plenty of tears and plenty of drama, to be sure.
