Wolverines Cruise Past Nittany Lions 41-17 in Top 10 College Football Matchup

Photo credit:  Aaron J. Thornton

 

By Aaron J. Thornton

 

The number four Michigan Wolverines silenced any doubters they may have still had on Saturday, as they beat the #10 Penn State Nittany Lions in a dominating performance.  Head Coach Jim Harbaugh commented afterwards that “the team made a real positive statement”, and referred to this as a statement game. Michigan, who remains undefeated at 7-0 on the season, has had many critics.  Despite winning most of their games with little difficulty, Saturday’s game against Penn State was the first of the season against a ranked opponent.

With the Wolverines going up 13-0 early in the game, the Nittany Lions fought back to take the lead in the second quarter behind two touchdowns in a two minute span.  The first came after a big play by Penn State Quarterback Sean Clifford who ran for 62 yards on a 3rd down and 1 midway through the second quarter, putting the Nittany Lions in position to score their first TD.  On Michigan’s next possession, Quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s pass was intercepted and run back for Penn State’s second and only other TD of the game giving the visitors from State College, PA a 14-13 lead.  The Wolverines would get a field goal right before the end of the half to retake the lead 16-14 going into the break.  

Although the score at halftime read 16-14, Michigan notably controlled both sides of the ball.  Penn State only gained 1 first down in the half compared to 18 by Michigan.  The Wolverines also racked up 274 total yards in comparison to the Nittany Lions’ 83 yards in the first half, 62 of which came on Clifford’s one run in the second quarter.  

The second half was more of the same, as Michigan held Penn State to just a field goal, while the maize and blue added 25 more points to their total.  Led by the rushing attack of Donovan Edwards (173 yards, 2 TDs) and Blake Corum (166 yards, 2 TDs), Michigan literally ran all over and through the Penn State defense.  Adding in runs by McCarthy and C.J. Stokes, the Wolverines racked up 418 total rushing yards for the game against a Nittany Lions team that was top 5 in rushing defense and had only allowed 398 rushing yards in all their games before Saturday.  

Michigan will get some rest next weekend as they have a bye week before they host their in-state rival Michigan State (3-4) on Oct 29 at the Big House.  Penn State heads back home to regroup as they will play host to a 4-2 Minnesota Golden Gopher team that will have upset on their minds.  

Final Score: Michigan 41 – Penn State 17