7B
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
What to watch for when No. 5 Michigan faces No. 14 Penn State
There is no sugarcoating what
is at stake for the Michigan
football
team
in
Saturday’s
matchup against No. 14 Penn
State.
Win, and the team’s floor —
barring shocking upsets against
Indiana and Rutgers — is a New
Year’s Six bowl game. Lose,
and that scenario becomes a lot
more difficult. Coupled with the
desire to avenge last year’s 42-13
beatdown in Happy Valley, the
fifth-ranked
Wolverines
(7-1
overall, 5-0 Big Ten) simply have
more to lose than the Nittany
Lions (6-2, 3-2).
Michigan is coming off a bye
week riding a seven-game win
streak, while Penn State visits
Michigan Stadium after escaping
with a 30-24 home victory against
Iowa.
The Daily breaks down what
to watch for in the third game of
the Wolverines’ self-proclaimed
Revenge Tour.
Containing Trace McSorley
Alternatively, this could just
be titled “Devin Bush Jr. needs
to have a career game.” Sure,
a
defense
that
surrendered
506
yards
and
five
rushing
touchdowns a year ago is a call to
arms for all 11 guys on the field.
But last year, McSorley and now-
New York Giant Saquon Barkley
did much of their damage from
over-pursuing
defenders
and
pure speed. It was a particularly
tough night for Mike McCray,
who was burned on two of the
Nittany Lions’ scoring drives by
the duo.
For
Bush,
spying
McSorley
effectively
is
priority
number
one.
McCray
wasn’t an answer
last year, and Josh
Ross
or
Devin
Gil shouldn’t be
the
replacement.
Miles
Sanders
has
displayed
All-American
ability and could present similar
problems, but he’s not Barkley.
Thus, eyes are cast squarely
on the quarterback. Imagine
this scenario: Chase Winovich
and Kwity Paye seal the edges,
leaving a running gap open up the
middle with Penn State receivers
streaking up field. Except you
don’t have to imagine, because
Barkley did it out of the wildcat
and McSorley succeeded with it
too last season.
McSorley is also a capable
passer,
of
course.
Speedster
K.J. Hamler is the prototypical
slot receiver that can catch the
ball and fly behind Michigan’s
linebackers.
Six-foot-4
Juwan
Johnson
and
6-foot-5
Pat
Freiermuth have combined for
five
touchdowns
themselves.
McSorley
is
a
serviceable
quarterback,
but
his
110
rushing
attempts this year
make the message
clear: keep him
from taking off.
Keeping
the
Michigan
offense on the
field
Michigan ranks
seventh
in
the
country in time
of possession, averaging around
34 minutes per game on offense.
For a Wolverine offense that can
be maddeningly slow, it’s easy to
dismiss the number. Defensive
coordinator Don Brown can tell
you why he loves it.
“There were a couple points
against
Michigan
State
I’m
like — I’m sitting with the guys
and Bush is here and Khaleke
(Hudson is) here and I’m like
‘Dude, that’s five minutes off the
clock,’ ” Brown said. “And that’s
huge when you can go out there
and just sell your soul to get off
the field, and you’re rewarded by
the offense just dominating the
clock. That’s a big deal.
Don’t have to score, but field
position and giving you the rest
so you can be 100 miles an hour,
that’s a big deal.”
Brown even put on his research
cap on to dissect the impact even
further.
“I did this study last year on us,
and when we are below 70 snaps —
in the sixties — we’re pretty good
now,” Brown said. “When we get
into the high seventies, eighties,
that’s when trouble starts. That’s
when fatigue’s done, concept is
out there and it’s a bad deal.
“In the last seven games, we’re
somewhere high-forties to mid-
sixties, which is a heck of a deal.
I think if you asked a couple Big
12 defensive coordinators, they’d
take it and run.”
Penn State averages nearly 84.9
defensive plays per game, and 92
its past three games. Keeping
Michigan’s offense on the field
seems easier said than done, but it
could be the key to topping a team
that lost some playmakers.
Tarik Black is back
On
Tuesday,
senior
wide
receiver Grant Perry offered
some encouraging, but curious
insight regarding the health of
Black, who is eyeing his first
game action of the season after
fracturing his left foot. He also
missed the last 10 games last year
from a broken right foot, earning
him a medical redshirt.
“Coming back from an injury
like that, there’s
going to be some
cloudiness coming
back
on
the
field,
definitely
some
doubts,”
Perry
said.
“He’s
definitely
overcome that gap
and he’s back to
being Tarik.”
What
does
being Tarik mean?
Based on limited anecdotes from
one spring game and three games
over a year ago, it means being
a playmaker that can spread
the field that much more. Black
can catch the deep ball, and
can also play inside like he did
when catching his first and only
touchdown in his career debut
against Florida in 2017.
Coinciding with improvements
made by counterparts Donovan
Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins,
and tight end Zach Gentry, the
various
formations
that
the
Wolverines can employ with
Black in the lineup could leave
opposing defensive coordinators
sweating.
Bottom line
Penn State has the offensive
weapons to expose holes in
Michigan’s
defense.
But
its
offense
is
still
worse than last
year,
and
the
Wolverines’
defense
is
the
same, if not better.
McSorley doesn’t
have
the
same
parachute
to
get out of tricky
situations.
Michigan’s
offense,
on
the
other hand, has trended upward
week over week. Penn State’s
defense has allowed at least three
touchdowns
in
four
straight
games. And yeah, Shea Patterson
in Ann Arbor is an improvement
over John O’Korn in Happy
Valley, to put it mildly.
Prediction:
Michigan
28,
Penn State 17
EVAN AARON/Daily
Redshirt freshman Tarik Black is seemingly going to return from injury against Penn State on Saturday, after sitting out the last 18 games for the Wolverines.
“(You) sell your
soul to get off
the field, and
you’re...
... rewarded by
the offense just
dominating the
clock.”
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer