N
othing is guaranteed in big games.
Opportunities come and go like the
wind, and momentum can shift at
the drop of a hat.
In a moment, a game that looks fully in
control can unravel, testing the mettle of both
teams involved. The side that responds best is
the one that takes home the victory.
On Saturday, the No. 5 Michigan football
team (7-0 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) responded
to the adversity it faced in a big way in its
most challenging game of the season thus
far. Following a first half marred by self-
inflicted wounds and failures to convert, the
Wolverines pulled away after the break,
defeating No. 10 Penn State (5-1, 2-1), 41-17,
in their first ranked matchup of the year.
“Good game, (I) thought the team
made a real positive statement today,”
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said
Saturday. “Call it a statement game?
OK, call it a statement game.”
But the Wolverines’ statement
started out on unsteady footing.
On its first drive, Michigan
drove deep into the red zone,
moving like a well-oiled machine
before sputtering out just short
of the endzone, only coming
away with a field goal. After
forcing a three-and-out, the
offense had another shot to
punch it home. But once again,
it failed to put six on the board,
instead settling for three points.
Another
three-and-out
gave
Michigan its third chance to put up
six. After a well-orchestrated drive
culminated with junior running back
Blake Corum powering through the
middle, the Wolverines finally gave the
maize sea of fans at the Big House a
reason to get on its feet.
Michigan appeared to have seized
control. But just as quickly as the
Wolverines claimed it, the Nittany Lions
knocked it out of their hands. On third
and one — Penn State at risk of for its third
straight three-and-out — Nittany Lions
quarterback Sean Clifford broke free for a
62-yard run, landing at the Michigan four
yard line. Four downs later, Penn State
netted a touchdown to vault itself back
into the game, trailing just 13-7 after
capitalizing on Clifford’s big play.
“You just got to step up,” senior edge rusher
Mike Morris said. “I feel like nothing really
went through our head, (though), because we
know we shot ourselves in the foot.”
While the Wolverines looked to recover
from the misfire, the Nittany Lions dialed
it up another notch. In a ricochet play like
an old-school pinball machine, Penn State
defensive end Chop Robinson blocked a pass
from sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy,
which bounced off defensive tackle PJ
Mustifer’s helmet and into hands of linebacker
Curtis Jacobs for a pick six. The play looked
just as confusing as it sounds; nonetheless,
the Nittany Lions put six more points on the
board.
And just like that, Penn State was in the
lead.
“I mean, in the game, there’s gonna be
ups and downs,” graduate center Olusegun
Oluwatimi said. “There’s going to be tips that
go their way, and there’s gonna be tips that
go our way. So in that instance, they had one
that went their way, so we weren’t too worried
about it. There was a whole game left to play.”
Michigan managed a field goal to end the
half up 16-14, but the momentum had swung
the other way. The box score screamed
blowout — the Wolverines led 18-1 on first
downs, 274-83 in total yards and 4-1 in red
zone trips —, but clung to a two point lead only
by two points heading into the locker rooms.
After an uneasy and inefficient first half,
and with the biggest game of its season thus
far on the line, Michigan had to come out in
the second half and deliver.
It exceeded that demand.
After a Nittany Lions field goal, the
Wolverines retook the field. On the fourth
play of their drive, sophomore running
back Donovan Edwards bounced outside,
bursting past defenders before cutting back
inside for a 67-yard touchdown. A two-point
conversion to fifth-year receiver Ronnie Bell
put Michigan up seven. Despite their previous
circumstances, it seemed like the Wolverines
never panicked.
“Our spirits were up; we knew that we beat
ourselves (in the first half),” Oluwatimi said.
“So we just wanted to come out in the second
half and execute, and we felt like we did that.”
After forcing a turnover on downs with
Penn State in Michigan territory, the offense
trotted back out and assumed its position,
Michigan Stadium buzzing with energy.
The next play only gave it more.
Corum blasted up the middle, leaving
Nittany Lions defenders in his wake en route to
a 61-yard touchdown run. The game was back
in the Wolverines’ hands. And an increasingly
suffocating defensive attack paired with the
rushing explosion was the perfect recipe for a
Michigan victory.
As the third quarter bled into the fourth,
Penn State couldn’t stop its own bleeding, and
the Wolverines didn’t let up.
“We always have that 0-0 mentality,”
McCarthy said. “… But we never lost
confidence, we never stopped pushing, and it
just showed in the second half.”
Ultimately, Michigan claimed the top-10
win, 41-17, battling through setbacks and
uncertainties, and silencing any doubts that
remained going into the game.
“I feel like (the win) shows a lot,” Morris
said. “… People want to look at it as if we
haven’t played anybody, but in reality we have,
and we showed up and showed out. … And
now Penn State; again, we showed up and we
showed out. So that narrative can keep going,
but we’re in the business of proving people
wrong.”
And if the Wolverines plan to continue that
business, now might be just the right time to
buy stock.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
NICHOLAS STOLL
Managing Sports Editor
STATEMENT
michigandaily.com
GOT A NEWS TIP?
E-mail news@michigandaily.com and let
us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 96
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................ 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
S TAT E M E N T . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
JEREMY WEINE/Daily | Design by Lys Goldman
HEY WOLVERINES, GET 15% OFF AT MADEWELL
WHEN YOU VERIFY YOUR SCHOOL ID
SCAN ME TO SAVE
MICH 41
PSU 17
Michigan
eviscerates Penn
State in second half,
claiming top-10 win