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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