First, Michigan lost to a 

Michigan State team in Year 
One of a new coach. Then it 
lost to a team it hadn’t lost 
to in 30 years. Then, a week 
after losing to Wisconsin in 
the biggest loss in Michigan 
Stadium history, it took three 
overtimes to beat conference 
bottom-feeder Rutgers.

On Saturday, the lows 

kept coming. This time, the 
Wolverines (2-4) handed Penn 
State (1-5) its first win of the 
season, 27-17, the second time 
this year a team’s first win 
came against Michigan. 

A group of Nittany Lions 

took a picture on the field 
afterwards, an empty Big 
House behind them, the 
third team in three games 
to celebrate on the maize 
‘M.’ The Wolverines were 
long gone from the field 
by then, left only with the 
crushing weight of another 
disappointment.

When Jim Harbaugh was 

asked after the game what 
his team’s mood was after 
the loss, he could conjure up 
just four words: “I mean, it’s 
disappointing.” At this point 

in a season full of questions, 
it’s one of the few answers 
Michigan has.

The Wolverines’ last gasp 

came on their second failed 
fourth-down attempt of the 
game with just over five 
minutes left in the fourth 
quarter — a quarterback 
sneak with junior Joe Milton, 
who started the game as the 
backup quarterback, under 
center when he’d been in the 
shotgun practically every 
other play. Milton was stuffed. 
On Michigan’s first fourth-
down attempt in the first 
quarter, sophomore Cade 
McNamara was nearly picked 
off on a passing attempt.

“In the first half, we just 

weren’t able to extend the 
drives,” Harbaugh said. 
“Had some third-and-short 
opportunities and then Penn 
State was able to convert their 
third-and-shorts, thought that 
was also, when I said we’re 
not getting the stop at the 
critical time and not getting 
the first down to sustain the 
drive offensively, that was a 
big part of the game.”

With Penn State’s top three 

running backs all out due 
to injuries, it found a new 
spark plug in true freshman 
Keyvone Lee. Lee finished 

with 134 yards on 22 carries, 
including 39 yards on the 
Nittany Lions’ opening 
drive, 44 yards on a fourth-
quarter touchdown drive that 
extended Penn State’s lead to 
10 and 33 yards on the final 
drive of the game, in which 
the Nittany Lions drove deep 
into Michigan territory before 
opting to kneel out the clock.

Junior running back Hassan 

Haskins was a similar catalyst 
for Michigan, finishing with 
101 yards on 17 attempts, 
including a 59-yard rush on 
a first-quarter touchdown 
drive. But the rest of the 
Wolverines’ offense seemed 
discombobulated — a 
problem only made worse 
by McNamara hurting his 
shoulder during a goal-line 
play in the first quarter, which 
caused problems all game and 
led Michigan to twice turn to 
Milton.

Both teams traded field 

goals in the third quarter after 
promising drives that stalled 
out. Then, the offenses found 
life in the fourth quarter. 
First it was the Wolverines, 
buoyed by an acrobatic catch 
by freshman wide receiver 
AJ Henning and topped off 
with a two-yard touchdown 
run by Haskins. Then the 

Nittany Lions followed with 
a touchdown of their own 
thanks to 49 rushing yards 
from Lee.

By then, it was too little, too 

late for Michigan.

The Wolverines’ chances of 

going even .500 are slipping 
away. A reporter asked after 
the game if Michigan’s players 
felt like their backs were 
up against the wall. But for 
that to happen, there would 
have to be some semblance of 
suspense, some semblance of 
something left to play for.

Senior tackle Andrew 

Stueber maintained that there 
was. 

“We have the big team, OSU, 

at the end of the year,” he said. 
“And we just need to click on 
all cylinders and I think we’re 
in contention for that game. 
We’ve got Maryland too and 
so we’ve gotta come together, 
come every day and play.”

But the days have passed 

when the Wolverines have 
been true contenders against 
Ohio State, and even a win 
against Maryland (a team 
Penn State lost to) is no 
guarantee.

Every week, it seems, is 

a new basement for this 
program. Then the bottom 
falls out again.

Michigan sleepwalks through 27-17 loss to

formerly winless Penn State

ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/DAILY

18 — Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

