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TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
Breakdown: Michigan vs. Penn State
In the last meeting between
Michigan and Penn State, in State
College last November, both teams
scored four times.
The difference in the game was
that Michigan’s four scores were
all touchdowns, while Penn State
stalled for short field goals three
times in a 28-16 loss. The Nittany
Lions finished 3-for-14 on third
down with just nine points on three
red-zone trips.
That might well be the story
when the teams match up again
Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The
Big Ten East foes’ stats have many
disparities, but the biggest one is
this: Penn State ranks 118th in the
country on third down, converting
27.3 percent of its chances, while
Michigan leads the country in
third-down defense, allowing a
10.5 percent conversion rate.
The Nittany Lions have to do
much better to have a chance
Saturday, but they will likely still
be the toughest opponent the
Wolverines have faced. Here’s how
the teams stack up:
Michigan rush offense vs. Penn
State rush defense
Michigan’s ground game eased
some of the concerns last week
against Colorado, rushing for 168
yards on 4.1 per carry with three
touchdowns. Senior De’Veon Smith
played his best game of the season,
carrying 11 times for 87 yards and
a score, and the unit had just two
negative rushes, not counting sacks.
Last year, the Wolverines totaled
just 87 rushing yards against
Penn State, but in this matchup,
the Nittany Lions’ front seven is
hurting. Since the season opener,
Penn State has lost all three starting
linebackers — Brandon Bell, Jason
Cabinda and Nyeem Wartman-
White
—
to
injury.
Manny
Bowen, Brandon Smith and Jake
Cooper will start in their places,
respectively. Once considered a
position of strength, that’s a severe
depth issue for a unit that will
match up with Michigan redshirt
junior fullbacks Khalid Hill and
Henry Poggi in the run game.
As a byproduct of those injuries,
the Nittany Lions now rank 92nd in
the country in rush defense at 176.3
yards per game. Their two leading
tacklers are in the secondary, and
their next two are injured, though
they have had 28 tackles for loss
from 17 different players. Michigan
may try to pound the ball against
that undermanned front.
Edge: Michigan
Michigan pass offense vs. Penn
State pass defense
For the first time this season,
Michigan’s passing game looked
out of sync on Saturday. Redshirt
sophomore
quarterback
Wilton
Speight completed just 53 percent
of his passes (16 of 30) and took
three sacks. Top wide receivers
Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson
combined for just two catches.
And the multiple deep balls the
Wolverines hit against Central
Florida the previous week weren’t
there, as Speight completed just
one long pass.
Offensive
coordinator
Tim
Drevno
on
Wednesday
acknowledged
areas
for
improvement in every facet of that
game, from pass protection to route
polishing. One constant has been
senior tight end Jake Butt, who
was the team’s leading pass catcher
again Saturday with seven grabs for
87 yards. He, Darboh and Chesson
combined for 203 of Michigan’s 256
yards last year against Penn State.
The Nittany Lions, meanwhile,
have been tough on opposing
quarterbacks. Pass defense is their
statistical strength, tied for 22nd
in the country at 168.7 yards per
game. And while Speight should
be the most talented opposing
quarterback Penn State has faced,
the Nittany Lions have picked off
the other three four times, broken
up eight passes and made 10 sacks.
Despite its success, Penn State’s
secondary has been inconsistent.
After Kent State and Pittsburgh
combined to pass for just 220 yards
in the first two games, Temple piled
up 286 against the Nittany Lions on
Saturday. Penn State will have to
make some adjustments to avoid
letting Michigan do the same.
Edge: Penn State
Penn State rush offense vs.
Michigan rush defense
Talk
around
Schembechler
Hall this week has been focused
on Michigan, as usual, but the one
Penn State name that has surfaced
is Saquon Barkley.
The Nittany Lions’ sophomore
running back blends speed and
power at 5-foot-11, 223 pounds,
and is the team’s biggest offensive
weapon. He led Penn State in
each of the first three games with
105, 85 and 68 rushing yards. The
Wolverines limited him to just 68
yards on 15 carries last year, and 56
of those yards came on a single run.
The only other Penn State rusher
with more than eight carries is
quarterback
Trace
McSorley,
who has 32 rushes for 38 yards,
in part because of five sacks. He
will run the spread offense out
of the shotgun and be a threat
to scramble, but his speed isn’t
anything Michigan hasn’t seen
before. Overall, the Nittany Lions’
rushing offense ranks 113th in the
country.
On the defensive side, the
Wolverines cleaned up some of
the long runs that plagued them
against Central Florida, giving up
no rushes of more than 15 yards
to Colorado. Their rush defense
still sits at 57th in the country, but
the UCF game skews that number.
The Nittany Lions have struggled
up front in recent years, which
isn’t a recipe for success against
Michigan’s defense.
More
importantly,
the
Wolverines
are
nearing
full
strength. After losing two members
of their defensive line to injury in
the opener, they hope to get senior
defensive end Taco Charlton (ankle)
back this week. Charlton made
three tackles for loss and two sacks
last year against Penn State and will
be a handful again if he plays.
Edge: Michigan
Penn State pass offense vs.
Michigan pass defense
The Nittany Lions will be the
third consecutive up-tempo spread
offense Michigan has faced, so the
Wolverines are now accustomed
to it, and defensive coordinator
Don Brown vowed to have his
team prepared. He’s familiar with
this particular offense, having
been the defensive coordinator
at Connecticut in 2011 while
current
Penn
State
offensive
coordinator Joe Moorhead was the
quarterbacks coach.
First-year starting quarterbacks
like
McSorley
don’t
have
a
good track record against the
Wolverines’ suffocating defense
in recent years. But McSorley has
gained experience quickly this
season, being the only Nittany
Lions quarterback to throw a pass
and averaging 276 yards per game.
He has thrown four touchdowns
and two interceptions against some
decent defenses.
Michigan’s
stifling
defensive
backfield
lost
some
ground
Saturday when it gave up several
big pass plays against Colorado.
This should help: The Wolverines
hope
All-American
senior
cornerback Jourdan Lewis will
make his season debut Saturday
after suffering a couple of minor
injuries. Lewis was excited four
weeks ago to get his final season
underway, so he should have plenty
of energy Saturday.
Elsewhere,
Michigan
should
recover
from
a
lackluster
performance
Saturday.
Fellow
defensive
backs
Channing
Stribling, Jeremy Clark, Dymonte
Thomas and Delano Hill are all
seniors who know how to learn
from their mistakes, and Penn
State doesn’t have the weapons that
Colorado did.
Edge: Michigan
Special teams
The Wolverines have Jabrill
Peppers on their team.
That’s enough. The do-it-all star
finally returned his first punt for a
touchdown last week, going 54 yards
to secure a Michigan victory. With
278 all-purpose yards, he would rank
Wolverines own advantages up front on both sides of the ball; Peppers an impact player on special teams
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior defensive end Taco Charlton (33) appears likely to return from an ankle injury Saturday against Penn State.
See BREAKDOWN, Page 8B