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

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Vol. CXXXII, No. 96
©2022 The Michigan Daily

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MICH 41
PSU 17
Michigan 
eviscerates Penn 
State in second half, 
claiming top-10 win