The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, October 20, 2017 — 7A

Breakdown: No. 2 Penn State set to overpower No. 19 Michigan

Michigan hasn’t beaten an 

opponent ranked in the top-
five of the AP Top 25 poll since 
September 
of 
2006. 
Eleven 

seasons ago, the 11th-ranked 
Wolverines dominated No. 2 
Notre Dame in South Bend, 
delivering the Fighting Irish 
a 47-21 loss — the most points 
scored against Notre Dame at 
home in 46 years.

Flash forward to 2017, and 

the No. 19 Michigan football 
team (2-1 Big Ten, 5-1 overall) 
has a chance to repeat the feat 
Saturday in State College against 
No. 2 Penn State (3-0, 6-0).

With 
the 
ESPN 
College 

Gameday treatment, a primetime 
national 
television 
slot 
and 

a white-out crowd at Beaver 
Stadium, the Nittany Lions will 
certainly have an atmosphere 
built up in their favor. The 
Wolverines will try to play the 
spoiler, but whether or not they 
can pull it off is an entirely 
different question.

Here’s how Michigan matches 

up 
against 
Penn 
State 
on 

Saturday night.

Michigan pass offense vs 

Penn State pass defense

Coming off fifth-year senior 

John O’Korn’s 10-for-20, 58-yard 
performance last week, this is 
the phase of the game that has 
induced the most anxiety among 
the Wolverine faithful — and for 
good reason.

Throughout the first half of 

the season, Michigan’s offense 
has 
been 
inept. 
That’s 
no 

secret. But after last week, the 
Wolverines’ run game seems to 
be in much better shape, which 
leaves the passing attack as the 
biggest problem facing the team.

The Nittany Lions and their 

vaunted defense have all the tools 
to exploit that problem to the 
fullest degree. Penn State ranks 
third in the nation in passing 
efficiency defense, as it has given 
up just 1007 yards in six games. 
The Nittany Lions have already 

picked off their opponents nine 
times while allowing just three 
touchdowns through the air. 

This is a clear mismatch. It 

wouldn’t be a surprise to see 
redshirt freshman quarterback 
Brandon Peters take some snaps 
under center if things get out of 
hand.

Edge: Penn State
Michigan run offense vs 

Penn State run defense

As alluded to in the previous 

section, Michigan’s ground game 
is moving in the right direction, in 
large part due to the rise of junior 
running back Karan Higdon.

Prior to the season, Higdon 

seemed to be the third-string 
back in the Wolverines’ three-
man rotation. Instead, he has 
taken the first half of the year 
by storm, breaking out from 
the pack as the clear starter. He 
topped off his emergence last 
week with a career-best 200-
yard, 
three-touchdown 
day 

against Indiana.

While Higdon and his fellow 

backs have played well, they have 
yet to face off against a defense 
as tough as Penn State’s. The 
Nittany Lions average 3.09 yards 
allowed per rush and have given 
up just four touchdowns on the 
season.

Penn State has the ninth-best 

overall defense in the country 
and has allowed the fewest 
touchdowns of any team so far. 
For an offense as anemic as 
Michigan’s, that will likely be too 
much to overcome.

Edge: Penn State
Penn State pass offense vs 

Michigan pass defense

For as much Heisman hype 

as running back Saquon Barkley 
attracts, he might not even be 
the best offensive player on the 
Nittany Lions’ roster. That would 
be quarterback Trace McSorley.

While 
some 
dual-threat 

quarterbacks use their legs to 
compensate for a lackluster arm, 
that couldn’t be farther from the 
truth for McSorley. He has one of 
the best passer efficiency ratings 
in the country at 154.1 after 

averaging 266.2 yards per game 
with a total of 13 touchdowns 
and a completion percentage of 
67. On top of that, he boasts four 
rushing touchdowns and 2.5 
yards per carry.

But McSorley will have his 

most challenging test against 
Michigan’s No. 1 ranked defense. 
The Wolverines lead the nation 
in passing efficiency defense, 
specifically, 
after 
giving 
up 

just 828 yards in the air while 
tallying five interceptions and 
allowing five touchdowns.

Behind 
junior 
safety 

Tyree Kinnel and sophomore 
cornerback 
Lavert 
Hill, 
the 

secondary 
looks 
ready 
for 

McSorley. But he might still be 
one step ahead.

Edge: Penn State
Penn State run offense vs 

Michigan run defense

As good as Barkley is, he has 

seemingly hit a rough patch. 

After rushing for over 200 yards 
against Iowa a month ago, he 
hasn’t broken the 100-yard mark 
in the two games since.

Last week, Northwestern held 

Barkley to 75 yards on 16 carries, 
though he did score twice. And 
the week before, Indiana shut 
him down completely, keeping 
him out of the end zone while 
also holding him to a measly 56 
yards on 20 carries.

Neither of those defenses 

are anywhere near as good as 
Michigan’s. 
The 
Wolverines 

have given up an average of 
just 85.8 yards per game on the 
ground, including an average of 
2.64 yards per rush, with a total 
of three touchdowns allowed.

Michigan combined for seven 

tackles-for-loss 
against 
the 

Hoosiers, and then spent the 
week claiming that the defensive 
unit has yet to reach its full 
potential. That isn’t a good sign 

for Barkley.

Edge: Michigan
Special teams
While both punters are evenly 

matched, 
between 
the 
two 

kickers, there is no competition.

Redshirt freshman kicker, and 

former Penn State commit, Quinn 
Nordin continues to impress 
with his consistency, adding two 
more field goals to his name to 
run his record up to 14-for-16. 
Penn State kicker Tyler Davis 
couldn’t be much more opposite. 
He has made just six field goals 
out of 13 attempts, missing all but 
two of his attempts from farther 
than thirty yards out.

After wresting the starting job 

away from sophomore Will Hart, 
freshman punter Brad Robbins 
made the most of it against 
Indiana. Out of nine punts, 
Robbins averaged 40.8 yards and 
downed three of them inside the 
20-yard line.

Meanwhile, 
Nittany 
Lion 

punter 
Blake 
Gillikin 
has 

averaged 44.2 yards on his 26 
punts — seven of which went 
longer than 50 yards. 

Edge: Michigan
Intangibles
Though it may be hard to 

believe, it was just a season ago 
that Michigan routed Penn State, 
49-10. That latter team went on 
to run the table and capture the 
Big Ten title.

The only game the Nittany 

Lions have lost since then was a 
hard-fought, 52-49 battle against 
USC in the 2016 Rose Bowl. A 
number of notable injuries and 
a questionable ejection surely 
sunk Penn State last September.

It seems eager to correct the 

record against the Wolverines 
this year.

Edge: Penn State
Prediction: 
Michigan 
10, 

Penn State 31

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Junior running back Karan Higdon will face a steep challenge against the Nittany Lions, who currently boast the ninth-best overall defense in the country.

Notebook: Point guard competition nears end

With the season less than 

three weeks away, Michigan 
men’s basketball coach John 
Beilein has yet to name his 
starting point guard. At Big 
Ten Media Day on Thursday, 
though, Beilein admitted he is 
getting closer.

“It’s so competitive right 

now,” 
Beilein 
said. 
“The 

intensity 
is 
probably 
like 

nothing we’ve ever seen.”

Fifth-year senior point guard 

Jaaron Simmons transferred to 
Michigan instead of entering 
the 
NBA 
Draft 
under 
the 

assumption, presumably, that 
he would man the starting role 
come Nov. 11 against North 
Florida. And he very well may. 
But sophomore Zavier Simpson 
and freshman Eli Brooks are 
competing for the spot as 
well, and what once seemed 
inevitable for Simmons appears 
to be up for the taking.

Simpson’s minutes steadily 

increased last season in his 
role as the backup to Derrick 

Walton Jr., though his offensive 
production 
often 
sputtered, 

averaging just 1.6 points per 
game. Recruited as the heir to 
Walton’s throne, Simpson saw a 
wrench thrown in his potential 
breakout sophomore campaign 
with Simmons entering the 
program as a graduate transfer 
and Brooks shining early in 
practice. His defensive tenacity, 
as it did last season, will earn 
him minutes on a team seeking 
intensity on that end of the 
floor.

Youth may well be the only 

thing limiting Brooks at this 
point, as the buzz around his 
freshman season continues to 
churn. Talk of him starting is no 
longer purely hypothetical; he 
seems to be firmly in the mix, 
and will likely play a major role 
whether or not he is starting or 
coming off the bench. If history 
taught us anything with Trey 
Burke and Derrick Walton Jr., 
Beilein will not be afraid to 
start a freshman if he is ready.

Though he refused to hint 

at which way he was leaning, 
Beilein believes the “healthy” 
competition will ultimately be 
beneficial for the group as a 
whole. 

“This one is three guys 

going at it; it’s really tough to 
even decide because nobody’s 
making each other look good 
because the competition is 
so hard,” Beilein said. “It’ll 
be good for us when we play 
against other competition.”

Wolverines will face tough 

early opponents

“We maybe have the most 

challenging 
schedule 
that 

certainly I’ve ever had at 
Michigan or maybe Michigan’s 
ever had,” Beilein said in his 
opening statements Thursday.

Clearly 
the 
Wolverines’ 

tough schedule has been on 
his mind, and justifiably so. 
In 22 days — from Nov. 20 to 
Dec. 12 — Michigan will travel 
to Hawaii, Columbus, North 
Carolina and Texas, with home 
games against Indiana and 
UCLA sprinkled in between.

And then there’s the rest of 

the Big Ten schedule.

Since the Wolverines have a 

team that includes many new 
faces in important positions, 
it will be important for the 
experienced players to play 
well. Fifth-year senior forward 
Duncan Robinson said as much 
on Thursday. He recognizes the 

challenge as an opportunity for 
the older players to drive the 
team to success.

“A lot of these young guys are 

going to have to grow up quick,” 
Robinson said. “It’ll probably be 
on us, as the older guys, to kind 
of help push them through the 
adversity in those times.”

Beilein says this past month 

has been paramount in preparing 
for the upcoming schedule, 
saying that preparation now will 
allow the team an opportunity 
to spend time “off their feet” 
when they need to in the future. 

Two is better than one
John Beilein and Tom Izzo 

agree on one thing: Michigan 
and Michigan State should play 
each other twice a year.

For the 2017-18 season, the 

in-state rivalry will happen 
only once in East Lansing, but 
after a recent move by the Big 
Ten to expand conference play 
from 18 to 20 games, the home-
and-home matchup looks to 
be protected for the following 
season and near future.

“I think preserving rivalries 

that people have grown up on in 
this changing world was a very 
good move by the Big Ten,” Izzo 
said. “And I think it’s going to 
benefit a lot of us and hopefully 
it will catch fire around the 
country.”

Added 
Beilein: 
“There’s 

never a doubt in any way, shape 
or form. And it’s what should 
be happening. I think it’s the 
way that — it’s really smart 
scheduling for us. … It just makes 
so much sense, both interest-
wise, financially, the whole deal. 
It’s just like a great concept that 
we’ve both embraced.”

For the rest of the Big Ten, 

the move was intended to 
increase the frequency of other 
in-state rivalries and regional 
opponents. The change will 
likely boost the strength-of-
schedule across the conference 
as 
weaker 
non-conference 

games 
are 
replaced, 
which 

could have implications on 
NCAA 
Tournament 
seeding 

come March. 

Daily Sports Editor Ethan 

Wolfe also contributed to the 
reporting of this article.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore guard Zavier Simpson is in the middle of a battle for the starting spot with fifth-year senior Jaaron Simmons.

ICE HOCKEY
Yost Ice Arena rink 
named for Berenson

If Red Berenson’s name 

wasn’t already etched in the 
hallow halls of Yost Ice Arena 
years ago, his legacy will now 
forever 
be 
celebrated 
and 

cemented on the ice. 

The rink inside the arena 

is now “Red Berenson Rink,” 
honoring 
the 
legendary 

Michigan hockey coach of 33 
years who retired at the end of 
last season. The University’s 
Board of Regents unanimously 
approved the rink naming 
Thursday 
afternoon 
at 
its 

monthly meeting.

“Red Berenson is a legend 

in the sport of ice hockey, 
a 
tremendous 
educator 
of 

young 
men 
and 
someone 

who has made 
a 
significant 

impact 
at 
the 

University 
of 

Michigan,” said 
athletic director 
Warde 
Manuel 

in a statement. 
“He 
has 

dedicated much 
of 
his 
adult 

life to develop 
hundreds 
of 

young men here at Michigan. 
This is an honor befitting his 
exceptional commitment to 
intercollegiate athletics and 
his championship success in 
the sport of hockey as both a 
player and a coach.”

The 
new 
ice 
design 
— 

featuring Berenson’s signature 
near both blue lines — will be 
unveiled before Friday night’s 
home opener against Vermont, 
with a formal rink dedication 
on Jan. 5 when Michigan hosts 
Notre Dame. Next season, 
the words “Yost Ice Arena” in 
the center ice circle will be 
replaced with “Red Berenson 
Rink.”

A 
lifelong 
Wolverine, 

Berenson arrived in Ann Arbor 
as 
a 
student-athlete 
from 

Regina, Saskatchewan. The 
Canadian played four years 
of hockey and was named 
All-American twice, the 1962 
WCHA Most Valuable Player 
and a team captain his senior 
season. 
After 
graduation, 

Berenson played 17 years in 
the NHL as a member of the 
New York Rangers, St. Louis 
Blues, 
Detroit 
Red 
Wings 

and 
Montreal 
Canadiens. 

With 
Montreal, 
Berenson 

won Stanley Cups in 1965 and 
1966, 
while 
simultaneously 

earning a Master of Business 
Administration 
degree 
at 

Michigan.

After coaching in the NHL 

until 1984, Berenson returned 

to Ann Arbor as 
head coach and 
immediately 
revamped 
the 
hockey 

program 
into 

one of the most 
storied in the 
country. Under 
his leadership, 
Michigan 
captured 
21 

conference 

championships and made the 
NCAA Tournament in 23 of his 
last 27 seasons. From 1991 to 
2012, the Wolverines received 
22 straight tournament bids, 
a streak that still stands as 
an NCAA record. Berenson 
led Michigan to 11 Frozen 
Fours 
and 
two 
national 

championships in 1996 and 
1998.

Berenson retired with the 

fourth-most wins in NCAA ice 
hockey history with an 848-
426-92 career record. He also 
groomed two Hobey Baker 
Memorial Award winners, 73 
NHL players and 140 Academic 
All-Big Ten selections.

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

The former coach’s legacy will
now be represented on the ice 

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

Red Berenson 
is a legend in 
the sport of ice 

hockey

