Michigan 28, Penn State 16
The difference. [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]
There were shades of the dark, recent past. A non-existent running game. An ugly interception. Catching seemingly all the bad breaks.
One particularly bad aspect of that past was missing, however. While James Franklin cost Penn State a chance to win by kicking a field goal from the one and mismanaging their timeouts, Jim Harbaugh stood opposite him, competent and then some.
Michigan won this game due to coaching and finishing drives, and the two were inextricably linked. Both teams had one touchdown from outside the red zone, Michigan's a 26-yard pass from Jake Rudock to Jake Butt before PSU responded with a 25-yard fade to Saeed Blacknail. The Wolverines converted all three* of their red zone chances into touchdowns. Penn State also had three, but ultimately settled for three field goals, stymied by a stout Wolverine defense and their own conservative playcalling.
James Ross laid some licks. He wasn't alone. [Upchurch]
While the game remained close throughout, Michigan controlled most of the action, outgaining PSU 343-207. Outside of a bad pick, Jake Rudock continued his pinpoint ways of the last couple games, throwing for 256 yards and a pair of scores on 36 attempts. Amara Darboh moved the chains and earned a hard-fought touchdown on a steady diet of wide receiver screens and added a remarkable sideline snag; Butt found open spaces for 66 yards; Chesson stretched the field and chipped in M's best run of the day on a 20-yard end-around. While it was a frustrating day on the ground, the weapons in the passing game again proved their steadily increasing worth.
On the other side, Michigan allowed an early 56-yard run to standout freshman back Saquon Barkley and otherwise limited him to 12 yards on 14 carries. The defensive front beat up quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who managed just 131 yards on 37 attempts and took four sacks among many, many hits. By PSU's last-gasp drive, Hackenberg seemed out of it—quite possibly injured—and even started trotting off the field before barely getting the play off on fourth down; his final throw sailed harmlessly out of bounds.
If you're looking for the moment that turned around the game, the muffed punt that Chesson recovered inside the ten, setting up a one-yard Sione Houma plunge for a 21-10 lead, is the simplest answer. But if you'd like to say it's the moment Michigan hired Harbaugh, whose timely aggressiveness got the Wolverines a critical score late in the first half for the second straight game, it'd be hard to argue.
Ultimately, that's why this game will be fondly remembered—if quickly lost in the excitement of the week to come—instead of another nightmare in Happy Valley. Be gone, ever-fuzzier recollections of McGloin and Floyd and 27-for-27 and missed overtime field goals. Michigan is one Ohio State victory away from playing for the Big Ten East.
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*Not including the game's final drive, when Michigan kneeled out the clock while inside the PSU five.
November 21st, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 5:07 PM ^
He's talking about OSU beating MSU.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:33 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 11:27 PM ^
SPARTY BEATING OSU IS ALL ACE'S FAULT!!!!!!!
November 21st, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 9:02 PM ^
STEEL in the spine!
November 21st, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
12 point win on the road in Sad Valley during a white out. Well done boys.
Well done.
November 22nd, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
It probably would have been a 20+ point win without the penalties. I'd love to see another breakdown of the expected point value of all the blown calls, like after the MSU game, because that was ridiculous.
November 21st, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
Nice to see the run D perform today. Hopefully they can reproduce what MSU's D is doing so far next week.
November 21st, 2015 at 4:52 PM ^
The huge run play on Penn Sate's first drive and Peppers giving up a TD were the only 2 big plays I remember.
There might be more. But more importantly the goal line stands, and giving up field goals instead of TD's were huge for this game.
Overall not the best outting, but definetly a good outting for the D on the road against a team with NFL talent.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^
Also deserving mention....Lewis's kick return.... That was Mansome.
November 21st, 2015 at 4:52 PM ^
was also the player who recovered the muffed punt. He's impacted the game on special teams all year.
November 21st, 2015 at 9:23 PM ^
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November 22nd, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
That was a brilliant play, and exactly what the punt coverage team should do. Natural instinct is to go for the ball, but the coverage team will almost certainly have more guys in the area than the receiving team. If the first guy there takes out the returner instead of going for the ball, the coverage team is almost certain to recover.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^
November 22nd, 2015 at 12:40 AM ^
I thought you meant Thoreau, and so I was going to silently resist stuff.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:13 PM ^
Not sure how you failed to mention even a sentence on the penalties today. That to me was what stands out most from this game. It was absurd, definitely my biggest takeaway.....
Go Blue.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^
The officiating was just horrendous today. Admittedly UM committed more than their share of penalties, but come on, that many calls is ridiculous. The Big 10 continues its tradition of bad refs.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Michigan is playing for the East Title no matter what. MSU has to play PSU still.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:38 PM ^
What Michigan did to Hackenberg today, MSU's hyper aggressive defense will do that 2-3x over.
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November 21st, 2015 at 9:11 PM ^
November 22nd, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^
November 23rd, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
OSU lost because they did run, run, run, punt against one of the wors secondaries in the B1G. I doubt PSU decides to shelve Hackenberg the entire game like that. They have a chance.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
I don't think running the ball was the game plan at all. We had to keep them honest with a couple vanilla runs, but this game was always going through Rudock and the air. Opponents are going to keep playing like we have a 70/30 run/pass split when Harbaugh's gunning for 70/30 pass to run.
In that respect, this game was successful.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:17 PM ^
Dierdorf said on the radio that with today's performance, Rudock becomes the first Michigan QB in history to throw for 250 yards in three straight games.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^
I guess he was wrong. I looked up a few...
Tom Brady did it in 1999. (250, 285 and 307 against Purdue, MSU and Illinois)
Todd Collins did it in 1993. (265, 251, 267 against Washington State, Notre Dame and Houston)
John Navarre did it in 2003. (288, 278 and 271 against Northwestern, OSU and USC)
November 21st, 2015 at 9:23 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^
It really sucks we can't keep him. He will be sorely missed.
November 21st, 2015 at 5:37 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^
Harbaugh said potential to lay egg at PS didn't occur to him:"I don’t really like comparing humans to chickens or any other type of animal."
— angelique (@chengelis) November 21, 2015
November 21st, 2015 at 6:07 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 6:08 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^
Jeez the one time you pull for this team and they'll find a way to screw it up. On the bright side, they're offense looks like a tire fire. I really hope thats the offens that shows up next week. Of course I'm sure for next week OSU will realize they have 5 star kids and actually play to their potential during the game. Ugh I hate pulling for OSU with my OSU fan wife.
November 21st, 2015 at 6:25 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 7:05 PM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 8:09 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 8:10 PM ^
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November 22nd, 2015 at 5:30 AM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 8:20 PM ^
I loved seeing the white uniforms @ PSU. Looked like an old fashioned Big Ten game from the 90s. I even turned it to SD for old time sake.
November 21st, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^
So now that OSU played a hapless game against MSU and lost by a score that was way closer than the game actually was, what happens to us after we beat OSU next week? I'm just assuming that MSU beats PSU at home, though who knows. Do we have any shot at a BCS game at all? I'm thinking if Iowa wins out, they get a top 4 slot and if MSU wins out, there is a pretty good chance they get a top 4 slot. So the Rose Bowl is open. Who goes then? Any other BCS games on the table?
November 22nd, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
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