Breaking down what we learned from the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions taking down the No. 19 Michigan Wolverines 42-13 on Saturday night in Happy Valley.
The Penn State Nittany Lions defended their No. 2 ranking with an easy 42-13 victory over the No. 19 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday night in front of an electric white out crowd at Beaver Stadium.
With a primetime audience watching, it didn’t take long for Saquon Barkley to have his Heisman moment. Barkley broke off a 69-yard touchdown run on the third snap of the game, giving Penn State an early 7-0 advantage.
Penn State’s lead was doubled just four minutes later following a quick Michigan three-and-out, as Trace McSorley hit Mike Gesicki on a long downfield pass to set up a second Barkley touchdown run. Just when the rout looked to be on late in the first, David Long picked off McSorley deep in Michigan territory, and the limited Wolverines offense took advantage of the short field on a Karan Higdon touchdown to make it a 14-6 game early in the second.
That briefly sparked the Michigan defense, which held Penn State on its next two drives, and Ty Isaac punched it in from six yards out to make it a 14-13 game with 1:45 to go in the half. Penn State’s quick strike offense responded with an impressive seven-play, 75-yard drive to go back up eight heading into the break on a touchdown run by McSorley.
The Nittany Lions continued to roll after the break, scoring on their opening drive of the second half on another McSorley scramble to push the lead to 28-13. That put a lot of pressure on a Michigan offense that is not particularly explosive, and a John O’Korn fumble early in the fourth doomed any hope of a comeback.
Two plays later, McSorley found Barkley on a juggling 42-yard touchdown catch to give Penn State a massive 35-13 advantage. The game was already sealed at that point, but McSorley added on his third touchdown run of the evening with under eight minutes to go to seal the 42-13 victory.
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Here’s what we learned from Penn State’s easy victory over Michigan on Saturday night in Happy Valley.
3 takeaways
DaeSean Hamilton is the additional playmaker the Nittany Lions needed
The Penn State offense is loaded with star-caliber talent that can challenge any defense in the country but was still missing something from the passing game at times this season. Hamilton filled that hole on Saturday night with a breakout performance, a welcome sign for the Nittany Lions heading into next week’s matchup in Columbus.
Penn State’s toughest game of the year by far was a 21-19 win at Iowa on Sep. 19, as its offense struggled to generate anything outside of Barkley’s school record 358 all-purpose yards. Wide receiver was a bit of a question mark for the Nittany Lions entering the year after Chris Godwin left for the NFL, and it showed in the tough victory over the Hawkeyes.
Hamilton now looks like the clear-cut No. 1 wide receiver target for Penn State after torching the Wolverines for 115 yards on six catches. With Hamilton’s big-play ability complementing Barkley’s versatility, McSorley’s huge arm and Gesicki’s size in the red zone, Penn State is going to be tough for anyone to stop.
The Nittany Lions can’t rely on Barkley and McSorley alone next week at Ohio State, so Hamilton will need another huge game to pull off the road victory.
The rest of Michigan’s season will be about preparing for 2018
Michigan is now out of the running for the College Football Playoff and will need a miracle to reach the New Year’s Six, meaning Jim Harbaugh should start preparing for what could be a special 2018 season.
It was a little unfair to expect the Wolverines to contend for a Big Ten title this year after they lost a ton of talent to the NFL over the offseason and returned an FBS-low five starters. The offense has been sputtering all year long leading to a home loss to Michigan State two weeks ago, and the lack of experience on defense finally caught up to Michigan on Saturday with Barkley creating matchup nightmares all over the field.
Fortunately for Harbaugh, this means a lot of young players are going to get key experience in relatively low-pressure situations over the rest of the year. Michigan has to be happy with Higdon’s emergence over the past two weeks, and the Wolverines should seriously consider starting four-star redshirt freshman Brandon Peters next week against Rutgers.
Despite a lofty preseason No. 11 ranking, this was always going to be a rebuilding year of sorts in Ann Arbor, and the Wolverines will now get to see some young talent emerge for what could be a championship-worthy squad in 2018.
Penn State has the most underrated defense in the country
Shutting down the Michigan offense isn’t exactly a special feat, but it’s time to give a terrific Penn State defense some credit.
While most of Penn State’s star power is on offense, the Nittany Lions have been putting up better numbers on the other side of the ball during their 7-0 start. Penn State led the nation in scoring defense entering week eight with nine points per game allowed, and they surrendered just 269 yards of offense on Saturday night.
Safety Marcus Allen and defensive end Shareef Miller are both having All-American worthy seasons to lead the exceptional defensive effort. Cornerback Christian Campbell also chipped in with a huge forced fumble on O’Korn early in the fourth quarter that ended any chance of a Michigan comeback.
Penn State’s defense doesn’t get mentioned enough alongside Alabama, Clemson and Georgia as one of the best units in the nation, but has the ability to carry Penn State to a national title.