An inexplicable afternoon in State College a few weeks back radically changed the perception that the layperson had of Penn State football. After Illinois ran the football right down PSU's throat repeatedly for over 350 yards and won college football's first 9OT game, the narrative quickly morphed into a belief that the Nittany Lions were bad and vastly overrated. Those who cared to scrutinize the tape noticed how bizarre and inconsistent that game was with the rest of their season's results. 

Outside of that game, PSU had just two losses, one on a Sorta Night Game at Kinnick that they were going to win handily before Sean Clifford's injury, and the other being a highly competitive game against Ohio State in the 'Shoe that they very well could have won. SP+ ranked Penn State 11th in the country entering this weekend. They are a very good football team, one with a ton of talent. Michigan just beat that football team. On the road. After taking a few punches. And in the process, Michigan's College Football Playoff hopes are still alive. 

The first quarter was the definition of "Not What You Want". Penn State dominated play, gaining 145 yards split across 2.5 drives. Meanwhile Michigan gained 5 total yards, split across two drives. PSU hit Michigan with a variety of tactics that your author outlined in his FFFF of Penn State this week: screens to stretch the field horizontally and then QB scrambles/design runs to move the chains. And tempo, which worked well to keep some of Michigan's best players off the field for several plays:

One of the consequences of PSU’s tempo: there was a several play stretch on that drive where Upshaw, Jeter, and Welschof were 3 of the 4 Michigan DL on the field, with Hutchinson/Ojabo/Hinton on the sideline.

Not what you want

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) November 13, 2021

On their first drive, the Nittany Lions faced the wrath of David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson yet kept moving. They converted a 3rd & 17 and a 3rd & 8, and then executed a perfect fake punt on a 4th & 6. Michigan finally got off the field after a Junior Colson sack ended the drive, but Jordan Stout threaded a FG through the uprights for a 3-0 Nittany Lions lead. 

A fake FG disaster [Patrick Barron]

Indeed, the theme of that first quarter onslaught was Michigan doing their best Michigan State impression by bending, but not breaking. They gave up gobs of yards on the first two PSU drives, but the opposition walked away with just three points. That second Nittany Lion drive stalled out in the red zone, coming up two yards short. James Franklin seemed to be ascending to peak Frames Janklin when he appeared to settle for a cowardly field goal, but then ripped off the mask to reveal the real Frames Janklin by faking that field goal, a play that went horribly wrong when Michigan snuffed it out for a fumble and an 18 yard loss (!). 

The Wolverine offense was moribund on its first two drives, damaged by false starts that set them back behind the sticks. As we discussed in the other FFFF, Penn State has a strong secondary and a good pass rush. They are not a team you want to be in long down and distances against, but false starts on Stueber and Vastardis forced Michigan into exactly that. The Wolverine offense couldn't recover. 

Finally on the third possession, Michigan had a mistake free drive. Time of possession was immensely lopsided at that juncture, and a long drive to give the Wolverine defense a break was needed like a fish needs water. That's what Michigan got- 15 plays spanning 90 yards over 7:30 and ending in a TD. A brilliant play call on a Haskins slip screen, helped out by strong vision from Haskins after the catch, kept the drive going, and the senior RB bailed Michigan out again on a 4th & 2 conversion. Cade McNamara capped the drive with a laser down the seam to Roman Wilson for a 21-yard TD. 7-3 Wolverines. 

Roman Wilson: pretttttttty good [Barron]

After a quick PSU three-and-out, Michigan seemed to be poised to add points before halftime. They drove into Penn State territory, but a crucial 4th & 2 at the 38 went haywire on a run that the opposition saw coming a mile away. The Nittany Lions got good field position and moved down the field in a hurry, thanks to a 44-yard catch-and-run from Parker Washington who was uncovered over the middle. Michigan halted the drive after an Ojabo strip sack (PSU recovered), but Stout nailed a 52-yard FG. The score stood at 7-6 at the intermission. 

The road team got the ball to begin the second half, and it was another magnificent drive. Cornelius Johnson went for 30, mostly on the strength of his YAC prowess, and Michigan managed to brush another false start (in the Red Zone no less!) to convert when it mattered. Cade McNamara put immaculate touch on a pass to Erick All that got the Wolverines a 1st down, and then a play-action pass at the goal line saw McNamara zip it to Roman Wilson, for the Hawaiian's second TD catch of the game. Michigan's got themselves a good group of receivers in the program:

Don’t worry about me, I’m just dreaming about a 2022 receiving corps of Ronnie Bell, Cornelius Johnson, Andrel Anthony, Roman Wilson, and Erick All ???

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) November 13, 2021

Michigan led 14-6. 

It would be nearly 20 minutes until points were put back up on the board by either side. Five of the next six drives ended in punts, while Penn State saw a drive fizzle out at the Michigan 28 and Stout couldn't connect on his third difficult FG attempt of the game. The Michigan offense ran into a ditch, play calls being too predictable, the passing rhythm not quite on point, and the rushing attack banging into a strong PSU front that was keying in on the run. The Wolverine defense did well to keep the Nittany Lions off the board but you knew they were going to face at least one more charge. Indeed they did. 

Sean Clifford took a ton of hits, but he gave PSU a chance to win [Barron]

A Michigan punt from their own end zone gave Penn State the football at midfield and the Nittany Lions stitched together a methodical drive that included three 4th down conversions. Completions to Jahan Dotson moved the sticks on the first two, and then a jump ball TD to a well-covered Tyler Warren got them in the end zone on 4th & goal from the two. PSU went back to Dotson for the two-point conversion, and the likely All-American reeled it in despite good coverage from DJ Turner II. The score stood at 14-14 with 7:35 to go. 

With the game starting to shift against Michigan, their next offensive drive did nothing to stop the avalanche of momentum. Hassan Haskins ran into bodies on first down, a 2nd down passing play to Erick All was batted down at the line, and then a tremendous pass rushing effort from Arnold Ebiketie spun Ryan Hayes around like a turnstile and the DE popped Cade McNamara in the back, jarring the ball free. It was recovered by DT Derrick Tangelo at the Michigan 16. 

For those who wanted Michigan to "make plays!!!" (*engage Mike Valenti voice*), the defense did just that, dropping to one knee and hoisting up a shield to protect the team from the hail of arrows raining from the sky. They sniffed out a Clifford keeper, bottled up a pass intended for Dotson, and then blitzed Clifford out of his shoes, forcing another incompletion. A massive three and out. Stout added a FG that the fortuitous field position had gifted him, but that defensive stand immediately after the fumble single-handedly changed the game. Penn State led 17-14 with 6:00 remaining. 

Take that, pylon cam! [Barron]

With their backs against the wall, Michigan's offense finally showed a pulse on the metaphorical EKG machine. Hassan Haskins started it with his legs, picking up 28 yards on his first five carries of the drive. Facing 2nd & 9 from just inside PSU territory, Cade McNamara found Erick All underneath, who turned the corner in a hurry and was gone. The athletic TE galloped down the sideline, narrowly evading the blue shirts and then stretching the football across the goal line, just before kicking the Progressive Pylon Cam™️. Michigan led 21-17 with 3:29 left. 

Penn State got the ball and went back to the air. A deep shot to Cam Sullivan-Brown just evaded the receiver's arms, a slant picked up eight, and then facing 3rd & 2, they were unable to complete the pass to Dotson. Now at 4th & 2, Penn State went for it on their own 33 and targeted Sullivan-Brown down the field again, which fell incomplete. Michigan took over on downs. 

Needing one first down to ice the game, the Maize & Blue went back to Haskins. The bellcow back picked up 9 yards on his first two carries, and then a Cade McNamara sneak got just enough for the first down on 3rd & 1. After that, the Wolverines were able to kneel it down and salt the game away. 

Good game for Hutchinson and Ojabo... again [Barron]

In totality, Michigan outgained Penn State 361 to 332, and on a per-play basis by a margin of 5.2 to 3.9. Surprisingly, despite the long first quarter, Michigan managed to narrowly win the TOP battle. PSU going 4/6 on 4th down, and ending up +1 in the turnover column (not counting that disastrous fake FG fumble as a turnover), seemed to loom large, but the Wolverines managed to survive despite it. 

The offensive effort was another ode to Hassan Haskins. He rushed 31 times for 156 yards (5.0 YPC), despite never breaking off a huge run. Erick All was the star in the receiving game, with 4 catches for 64 yards and a TD, though Roman Wilson and his two TDs need recognition. Cade McNamara put together another terrific game in a big moment, going 19/29 for 217 yards for 3 TDs and 0 INTs. He did turn it over on the strip sack fumble, but there's nothing you could expect him to do about that. The offensive line play was spotty between the false starts (four of them in total) and a rough day in pass pro from Ryan Hayes, but Michigan put up 361 yards and 21 points on a PSU defense that held Ohio State's menacing offense to 467 yards and 26 points just two weeks ago. 

Defensively, it was not a perfect showing, but there were standouts. David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson combined for 5.5 sacks (!!), and were held on just about every play. The referees only called it when it was so egregious that a non-football fan could notice something was up, because that's the life of being an elite pass rusher in NCAA football. The defensive backs passed an important hurdle, tackling decently well on the WR screen, but providing good coverage on a dangerous receiving corps. DJ Turner in particular had another strong game and seems to have really come on strong in recent weeks. 

Michigan is now 9-1 and will likely stay around the top five in this week's CFP rankings. They remain one Michigan State loss from making The Game in late November for a ticket to Indianapolis, and have now likely sealed a ticket to a New Year's Six bowl game, at the very least. It is the first time since 2018, and just the third time since 2007, that Michigan is 9-1 in a season. They play Maryland next week in College Park, before returning home to face Ohio State. That game is scheduled for 3:30 pm on BTN. There is no content after the jump.