8A — Friday, October 20, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

What to Watch For: No. 2 Penn State

This week’s focus is all on fifth-

year senior quarterback John 
O’Korn and the No. 19 Michigan 
football team’s offense. 

The Wolverines are No. 1 in 

total defense, but No. 98 in total 
offense. It’s clear where the 
problem lies.

Michigan (2-1 Big Ten, 5-1 

overall) scarcely beat Indiana last 
week and now faces a superior 
opponent in No. 2 Penn State (3-0, 
6-0).

Here’s what to watch for when 

the Wolverines take on Penn 
State this weekend as nine-point 
underdogs.

1. Can O’Korn connect with 

his receivers?

When O’Korn lit up Purdue, 

it seemed as if the then-backup 
quarterback would do just fine. 
But in two games since beating 
the Boilermakers, O’Korn has 
completed just 47 percent of his 

passes for 256 total yards and zero 
touchdowns.

He notably overthrew freshman 

receiver Donovon Peoples-Jones 
on a wide-open go route last week. 
That is not only a pass that he is 
expected to make, but a type of 
pass that Speight had been able 
to before he got injured. O’Korn 
admitted this week that he needs 
to hit those open receivers.

If he can land just two or three 

passes in the 20 to 30-yard range 
— which he couldn’t against 
Indiana — it will force Penn State’s 
secondary to play back a bit, which 
should help open the Wolverines’ 
run game as well.

2. How far can the running 

backs carry the Wolverines?

Junior running back Karan 

Higdon stole the show against the 
Hoosiers, but all season long, the 
running back trio — which also 
includes fifth-year senior Ty Isaac 
and sophomore Chris Evans — has 
been the backbone of Michigan’s 
offense. Higdon leads the team 
with five rushing touchdowns, 
and Evans and Isaac trail him 
with two and one, respectively.

Michigan has depth at running 

back and a handful of nifty plays in 
its back pocket. Sophomore receiver 
Eddie McDoom contributes with 
his jet sweeps, fifth-year senior 
Khalid Hill consistently gets the 

short gains and even the highly 
anticipated 
redshirt 
freshman 

running back Kareem Walker got 
into the mix against Indiana.

But Penn State surely knows 

all of this and will be prepared to 
stop the run. If the Nittany Lions 
pack the line of scrimmage with 
players, then only time will tell 
how far all these running backs 
can really go.

3. Was the offensive line’s 

performance against Indiana a 
one-time thing?

Michigan’s offensive line played 

an all-around consistent game for 
the first time against the Hoosiers. 
The question is whether or not the 
offensive line can hold up again.

With the left side of the line 

sured up by senior tackle Mason 
Cole and sophomore guard Ben 
Bredeson, the fate falls on redshirt 
junior right tackle Juwann Bushell-
Beatty and sophomore right guard 
Michael Onwenu. Bushell-Beatty 
started last weekend and played 
the entire game.

Pass protection was better than 

ever, as O’Korn wasn’t sacked 
— the first time this year that a 
Michigan quarterback didn’t get 
taken down.

Indiana’s 
defensive 
line, 

though, is likely not as threatening 
as Penn State’s. The Nittany Lions 
have accumulated 17 sacks and 51 

total tackles for loss this year.

Can 
Michigan’s 
offensive 

line keep up with Penn State’s 
aggressive defense? We’ll find out 
on Saturday.

4. Switching it up. You know 

about Barkley and McSorley, 
but keep an eye on these other 
players for Penn State’s offense.

Wide 
receiver 
DaeSean 

Hamilton has been the beneficiary 
of quarterback Trace McSorley’s 
relentless throwing arm over the 
past few years, and the trend has 
continued into this season.

The fifth-year senior averages 61 

receiving yards per game, and has 
four touchdown catches. Behind 
running back Saquon Barkley, 
Hamilton should be McSorley’s 
next 
most-targeted 
receiver. 

Finally, with an average of 16.6 
yards per catch, Hamilton often 
finds himself on the receiving 
end of some of McSorley’s biggest 
throws.

Tight end Mike Gesicki also 

has four receiving touchdowns 
for Penn State this year and has 
amassed a total of 176 receiving 
yards. Gesicki stands tall at 6-foot-
6, which should be a big red flag for 
Michigan’s undersized backfield.

McSorley and Barkley are the 

Nittany Lions’ biggest playmakers, 
but Gesicki and Hamilton can be 
just as dangerous.

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn needs to find a rhythm with his receivers for Michigan’s offense to succeed.

Behind Enemy Lines: Penn State beat writer Jill Beckman

For Michigan, it all comes down 

to this.

Win on the road against No. 

2 Penn State, and the College 
Football Playoff is still in sight. 

Lose?
Well, that outcome is much less 

rosy.

The 
Wolverines 
will 
enter 

Happy Valley on Saturday night 
as the underdogs for the first time 
all year. It’ll be their biggest test 
of the season so far — the Nittany 
Lions boast the nation’s top scoring 
defense and have a high-powered 
offense led by running back Saquon 
Barkley, an early contender for the 
Heisman Trophy.

The 
Michigan 
Daily 
spoke 

with Jill Beckman of The Daily 
Collegian and Philly Inquirer 
ahead of this week’s game about 
Barkley, Penn State’s defense and 
what it will take for the Wolverines 
to pull off an upset.

TMD: “I really want to hear 

your thoughts on this team this 
year. 6-0, (ranked) No. 2 — what’s 
impressed you the most so far?”

JB: “Yeah, you’re right, the 

undefeated 
record 
is 
really 

impressive, but also they haven’t 
had too much of a test so far. 
They’ve had some challenging Big 
Ten opponents but this three-game 
stretch is going to be the hardest of 
the season. What’s impressed me 
the most, obviously, (running back) 
Saquon (Barkley) is being Saquon. 
Franklin said that we’re going to 
see some new tricks from him the 
second half of the season. I think 
they were saving some big things 
for him, so I don’t think we’ve 
seen his full potential yet. And 
then our defense has been looking 
really good. Yeah, I would say 
right now, the defense and I think 
(quarterback) Trace McSorley have 
been impressing. His numbers 
have improved a little bit since last 
year, but the offensive line has been 
struggling so he hasn’t looked as 
good as he possibly could, but I still 
think he’s a solid quarterback.”

TMD: “Yeah, so I noticed 

Barkley has been held under 100 
yards rushing for four out of the 
six games this year. How have 
teams really been able to stop him? 
Have they been loading up the box, 
or has it just been the offensive 
line unable to block six or seven 
people?”

JB: “I think the offensive line is 

to blame completely. They haven’t 
been looking good, and we’ve been 
seeing Trace being sacked a number 
of times per game, and they’re 
containing Saquon. That’ll be a 
struggle too this weekend. I think 
it’ll be the biggest test basically on 
both ends — if Michigan’s defense 
can contain Saquon, that shows a 
lot from them and then if Saquon 
can get past the best defense in the 
country, then that shows a lot from 
Penn State’s offense. So I think 
it’ll be a test on both ends but the 
offensive line has been Penn State’s 
biggest struggle right now.”

TMD: “That Iowa game — close 

call, but Penn State had nearly 600 
yards of offense. I don’t think that’s 
quite sustainable for teams to try to 
upset, if they’re getting outgained 
like 600 to 273. What would you 
say is the more realistic path to an 
upset for Michigan?”

JB: “I mean, it’s going to be them 

playing really solid on defense. I just 
don’t think, from what we’ve seen, 
that their offense will be able to 
put up a lot of points this weekend. 
I just don’t see that happening. So 
I think the way to the upset will 
be containing Saquon and the rest 
of the offense, getting to Trace 
because, like I said, the OL hasn’t 
been looking good. Yeah, scoring 
as many points as you can against 
Penn State’s defense — which isn’t 
easy — but I think the key to a 
Michigan upset would be showing 
that their defense is as good as it’s 
been all year, as good as people say 
it is.”

TMD: “Another big part of that 

Penn State offense is (tight end) 
Mike Gesicki. He had those four 
touchdowns in the first two weeks, 
but it seems like he’s really slowed 
down in production in the four 
games since. What have teams 
been throwing at him to stop him? 

Is it something where teams are 
focusing so hard on Gesicki that 
Penn State’s spreading the ball 
to the outside receivers, or is it 
something where Penn State just 
needs to get him going at some 
point?”

JB: “I think teams have noticed 

that he makes the big plays once in 
awhile. He’s not going to be that guy 
every time, but he makes those big 
plays here and there, and they’ve 
noticed that. Gesicki wasn’t always 
this good, he had a few pretty bad 
seasons, and all of a sudden now, 
he’s this really great player. So I 
think Penn State, like you said, is 
trying to spread the ball out more 
because opponents are starting to 
pick up on that.”

TMD: “You talked earlier about 

that defense. Michigan’s pretty 
highly-touted, but Penn State is 
No. 1 in scoring defense right now 
— what has stood out to you about 
Penn State’s defense so far?”

JB: “A lot has stood out. They’re 

getting a lot of turnovers, which 
is a key part, and then you have a 
lot of guys who are really versatile 
and they’re making those big 
plays and if they get the ball on 
defense, they’re going to go score 
a touchdown. You’re seeing a lot of 
those big plays. It’s actually funny 
because at practice yesterday, 
(defensive end) Shareef Miller, he 
… basically said, ‘They’re acting 
like we’re nothing but we’re going 
to show them who the best defense 
is Saturday.’ I think that was it. So I 
mean, they can do a lot more. They 
can score. That’s going to be huge.”

TMD: “On defense, what has 

been the most impressive unit to 
you so far? I know last year, I think 
Garrett Sickels is gone, he was that 
defensive end that was pretty good. 
Linebackers, cornerbacks, who has 
stood out to you so far on defense?”

JB: “You have Marcus Allen, 

he’s been really impressing. He’s 
a safety. You have Jason Cabinda 
at middle linebacker, he’s been 
consistent the past few years. 
He’s always been solid. That’s a 
good question — there’s so many. 
I would say asides from those two, 
(cornerback) Grant Haley, he’s 

been really impressive. He just 
got named to some Watch List or 
Award List or something. Shareef 
Miller has been good. I think those 
guys are the key pieces.”

TMD: 
“Looking 
at 
special 

teams, Tyler Davis the kicker last 
year put up elite numbers, 22-of-24, 
this year under 50 percent, what 
has gone wrong with him so far?”

JB: “That’s a good question. I 

think we’re all kind of wondering 
the same thing. Last year, he was so 
impressive. I don’t know that I have 
the answer for you, to be honest.”

TMD: “Are they going to bring 

in another kicker, or is this his 
job? Is it just his job until they find 
someone else, I’m not really sure 
who else they have on the roster.”

JB: “I don’t think they have 

much depth at that position, as far 
as I know. It’s just going to be him 
unless something changes. To be 
honest, I can’t tell you what’s gone 
wrong with him. It was such a 
dramatic decrease in production 
from him. Last year, everyone was 
raving about him. This year, the 
stats are just not looking good at all 
for him.”

TMD: “It seems like that’s one 

area that’s a little under-discussed 
when it comes to Penn State, 

because you look at the offense, 
McSorley, Barkley, Gesicki. But 
it could really hurt them in big 
games, right, because against Iowa, 
two-point victory and he missed 
two field goals — you wouldn’t even 
have needed that touchdown if he 
had made those, right?”

JB: “Yeah, definitely. And I 

think asides from Tyler Davis’s 
drop in production, I think the 
special teams unit has actually 
been really solid. Even this week, 
James Franklin actually said the 
special teams unit has had the best 
two days of practice that they’ve 
had since he became coach at 
Penn State. So they made some 
tweaks, I guess, so maybe we’ll see 
some better stuff from them this 
weekend. But that was something 
that stood out in my mind, for 
sure.”

TMD: “And then to wrap 

things up — it really seems, in the 
past few years and maybe even 
before that, that this has taken on 
a new meaning, the game between 
these two teams. Would you see 
it as a rivalry, maybe, on par with 
Michigan-MSU, Michigan-OSU, or 
do you think it’s still on its way to 
getting there?”

JB: “Looking at it right now, 

obviously all three of those teams 
are ranked now, and at this point 
last year, we definitely could not 
say that Penn State is on the same 
level as those two teams. After that 
Michigan game last year, Penn 
State-Michigan, it was a disaster 
for Penn State. But now they’re 
definitely on that level. I’d say that, 
yeah, they’re definitely rivals now 
because it’s a competition. It’s not 
obvious that Michigan’s going to 
beat Penn State or it’s not even 
obvious that Ohio State’s going to 
beat Penn State. So I would say it’s 
a rivalry because they’re all playing 
at a really high level.”

TMD: “Because it just seems 

like, in the week leading up to the 
game, from both sides there’s been 
a little different atmosphere when 
the players and coaches have been 
talking about this matchup in 
particular.”

JB: “Obviously, Michigan and 

Ohio State, those Big Ten teams 
have always been, at least recently, 
our biggest games, but Penn State 
wasn’t at the level of a Michigan 
or Ohio State the past few years. 
So it’s definitely different this year 
now that Penn State’s ranked No. 2 
right now. The Big Ten East is just 
so good right now.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, an early Heisman Trophy contender, leads his team’s high-powered offense.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

