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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

