It's officially game day in Happy Valley, the Penn State Nittany Lions, coming off their first win in over a month will look for their second upset of the season at noon. The 6-3 Nittany Lions are hosting the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines who sit at 8-1 on the season and are coming off a 29-7 win over Indiana last weekend.
Last season, when these two teams met, Penn State entered the game winless but walked out of Ann Arbor with a 27-17 victory, it was just another win in what has been a rather strong stretch for Penn State against the Wolverines over the last 13 seasons. Since 2008, the Nittany Lions are 7-4 including a 5-1 record at Beaver Stadium. This leads us right into our first storyline to watch;
1. Penn State looks for third-straight win over Michigan
Saturday afternoon's matchup will provide Penn State the opportunity to win their third-straight matchup against the Wolverines and their fourth win in their last five games against Michigan. Over the last half-decade, the two programs have been fighting to cement themselves as the Big Ten's No. 2 program behind Ohio State. While it has felt like Penn State has been that No. 2 program over the last few years, a win on Saturday would go a long way in that argument, pushing the Nittany Lions record to 8-4 over their last 12 meetings.
2. How banged up are the Wolverines coming into the game?
Injuries have been a major storyline leading up to today's game in Ann Arbor. Last week despite a comfortable victory, the Wolverines became quite banged up, seeing four notable players in the game leave with injuries. Those players were; running back Blake Corum, wide receivers Andrel Anthony and AJ Henning, as well cornerback Gemon Green all leaving the game with injuries.
Much like James Franklin is with injuries, Jim Harbaugh has been mum throughout the week on the overall status of his injured players but thought earlier this week that they all to some degree had a chance to play this afternoon. How much of that was coach talk? It's hard to say. That being said, the biggest name here to watch injury-wise, is Corum. The Maryland native is in the midst of a breakout season, totaling 915 yards from scrimmage as well as 11 touchdowns. If Corum can't go, the Wolverines will still be fine at running back as senior Hassan Haskins has 873 yards and 11 touchdowns from scrimmage himself this season but as their "thunder (Haskins) and lightning (Corum)" nickname would indicate, they both bring a little bit of a different running style to the Michigan offense.
If Corum's out, it would be a huge blow to Michigan's offense even with still having Haskins. Losing Anthony and/r Henning would also be big losses for the Wolverines but don't nearly bring the value that Corum would, at least on paper.
3. The Nittany Lions' offensive line against Aiden Hutchinson and David Ojabo
This will be the top defensive line duo that the Nittany Lions face all season. Both Hutchinson and Ojabo are All-America candidates and have absolutely terrorized opposing offensive lines all season. Penn State's offensive line against the pass rush has been solid but not great this season, allowing 20 sacks on the season over nine games. With the state of Penn State's rushing attack, the passing game will likely be a huge part of the Nittany Lions' game plan, meaning plenty of opportunities for Hutchinson and Ojabo to create havoc. With seven sacks allowed in their last two games, this has certainly become quite the matchup to watch on Saturday that could end up deciding the game.
4. How does Jahan Dotson follow up his record-breaking performance?
Last week, Jahan Dotson simply put together the best single-game performance we've ever seen out of a Penn State wide receiver. At this point, there's simply no stopping him, you can only hope to slow him down and even that is quite difficult. Michigan's secondary has been very good this season, only allowing 173.4 yards per game but this will also be without a doubt, not just the best wide receiver they will have faced all season. Dotson is a special player and while he has not entered the Saquon Barkley atmosphere just yet, a big performance on Saturday afternoon would just continue to elevate his status among Penn State greats.
5. Can Cade McNamara get it done through the air?
If Penn State is going to win this game, a big portion of it will be from suppressing the Michigan run game and forcing the Wolverines to throw the ball more than usual. Cade McNamara is usually an efficient passer with smart decision-making. That being said, he's rarely asked to do much, this season, he's passed for 200 or more yards just twice. His best performance of the season was a 383-yard performance against Michigan State a few weeks ago, but the Spartans just surrendered over 500-yards in the air a week ago to Purdue, putting into question how strong of a performance it actually was from McNamara. Either way, this will be the best secondary McNamara has faced all season, if this comes down to Michigan needing to throw the ball to potentially win it, you have to like Penn State's chances in that matchup.
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