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Week 7: Michigan
Nickname: Wolverines
Head Coach: Lloyd Carr (98-32 in 11 seasons at Michigan)
Record: 3-3 (1-2 in the Big Ten)
Series Record: Michigan leads 7-3 (The Wolverines have won the last 6)
Surprising Statistic #1: In their 6 games so far this season, the Nittany Lions have been penalized just 26 times for an average of 33 yards per game. This puts them tied for 7th nationally, averaging just 4.3 penalties a game.
Surprising Statistic #2: Against Ohio State, the Penn State defense forced seven Ohio State drives of 5 plays or less, including the last 4 Buckeye possessions. The Nittany Lion defense also registered 5 sacks, bringing their season total thus far to 20, or one more than they had all of last season.
He Said: Penn State coach Joe Paterno assesses his team after the Ohio State victory: "I have been trying to be as conservative as I can in evaluating this football team…I think we are a good football team. I think we can be better and do some things better."
Freshman WR Derrick Williams on preparing for this week's game: "Right now, it's about playing with heart. We're going to focus on Michigan for next week and all we have to do is just play with heart."
Cornerback Alan Zemaitis on what Penn State has proved to the nation: "We love when people doubt us. Number one, our team plays for ourselves and our fans. We don't play for anyone else. We don't even need national exposure like we have. We will still go as hard."
Freshman Justin King on taking a chance by coming to Penn State: "I never thought about it as taking a chance. Maybe other people have and were second-guessing what I was doing. Penn State, with where we're going, now I think people see why Derrick and I made the choice."
Watch Out For:
· Chad Henne (QB): The Pennsylvania-native is 108 for 192 for 1,266 yards thus far this season. While some argue that Henne is having a Sophomore Slump, he's still managed to throw 11 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions on the season.
· Mike Hart (RB): Even though he has been forced to sit out a few games with an injury, the Sophomore running back leads the Wolverines on the ground running for 448 yards on 94 carries. He's also picked up 3 touchdowns on the ground and one through the air.
Intriguing Matchup:
· Penn State's pass rush vs. Michigan's offensive line: There are many matchups in this game that interest me. Will Mike Hart be able to run against a Penn State defensive front that has stuffed its last two opponents ground attacks? How will the Nittany Lions look to exploit any weaknesses that a banged up UM secondary may have? Will the Lions be able to establish a ground attack against the Wolverines? All of these matchups will surely have an impact on the game. However, I feel that if the Penn State defensive front can get into the Michigan backfield and get to QB Chad Henne, it could be a long day for the Maize and Blue. Michigan's offensive line is usually its rock. However, it did not perform up to its usual expectations last Saturday and allowed the Gophers to sack Henne on 3 different occasions. The Lions, on the other hand, have been getting a tremendous surge from their front 4 over the course of the past 2 ballgames and sacked mobile Buckeye QB Troy Smith 5 times. By getting into the backfield and disrupting Chad Henne's timing, the Nittany Lions can go a long way in containing a potentially explosive Michigan offense.
Keys for Penn State to pick up the W:
· Keep Mike Hart in front of you: While the Lions did a super job in containing Minnesota RB Laurence Maroney, they will have a much tougher task this weekend in shutting down Michigan's talented sophomore. Penn State needs to be concerned with keeping Hart in front of them and wrapping him up – he has a knack for breaking tackles. Also, keep an eye on him catching the ball out of the backfield – this may be where he hurts the Lions the most.
· Exploit UM's weaknesses: Every team Penn State plays has a weakness somewhere, but Michigan's are fairly obvious this weekend. Their secondary has been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, losing each of their top 3 safeties. A matchup that Penn State must win is their 3rd and 4th receivers against Michigan's DB's. If won, this could lead to several big plays for PSU.
· Stay calm in pressure situations: My guess is that in order to compensate for the weakness stated above, Michigan will bring a lot of pressure in order to force QB Michael Robinson to get rid of the ball sooner than he wants to or make a bad decision. Robinson must play the smart football that we've grown accustomed to seeing over Penn State's last 10 quarters (in other words, NO TURNOVERS). If the offensive line can give him time, look out. If not, he must not force his throws and use his feet to pick up yardage. Notoriously, Michigan has had difficulty defending mobile quarterbacks (rewind to last season's Rose Bowl loss to Texas). Robinson may very well be the X-factor to Penn State leaving Ann Arbor 7-0.
JoePa's Take:
· The coach felt that OL Andrew Richardson did a nice job filling in for the injured John Wilson. He mentioned that Richardson had a tough assignment in OSU's Bobby Carpenter and will face another tough DE this weekend.
· Freshman LB Sean Lee will not redshirt and is currently listed behind Paul Posluszney on the depth chart.
· Joe feels that Michigan is a good football team and may even be more talented than Ohio State.
· Coach Paterno is glad that he helped bring instant replay to the Big Ten and really dislikes the current BCS setup. He would really like to see a playoff but doesn't know how one would work.
· JoePa compared LB Paul Posluszney to Shane Conlan and said he is one of the best linebackers Penn State has ever had. He also feels that there can't be a better linebacker in the nation than Poz.
· DB Paul Cronin has been dismissed from the team.
· Joe doesn't feel that his canceling of 4 official visits over the Ohio State weekend will have an impact on Penn State's recruiting. In fact, he said they had of 40 kids there on unofficial visits and even had 4 or 5 kids give verbal commitments to sign with the Lions. Watch for their announcements to be made public this week.
Bet You Didn't Know: After recording 14 tackles and a sack, LB Paul Posluszny was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week. This is the third consecutive week that Poz has come away with this honor, making him the first to do so.
My Prediction: Penn State 27, Michigan 24
Fan Notes:
- A caravan of pennstatetailgate.comers will be making the road trip to Ann Arbor this weekend. Be on the look out for us out on the town on Friday afternoon and evening and watch our for our "Tailgate on the Road" on the Michigan Golf Course. Stop by and eat, drink, toss washers, and chat it up with the gang!
- In the event of wet weather keeping us off the Golf Course, look for us in the Ann Arbor Pioneer High School lot!
- Michigan had declared a "Maize Out" for this weekend's game. I think all Penn Stater's should unite and take our "White Out" to the Big House!
For a full recap of Joe Paterno's weekly press conference, check out gopsusports.com.
For more information regarding the Michigan Wolverines, head to mgoblue.com.
Until next time, S-T-A-T-E, Go State!!!
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