Michigan’s revenge tour claimed another victim as the Wolverines thoroughly dominated Penn State in the Big House as Karan Higdon topped the century mark for the seventh straight game.
All anyone could talk about Michigan entering the season was Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson coming in to run Jim Harbaugh’s offense. I took the bait and drank the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid and thought Patterson would be a really good player for Michigan as they look to take the Big Ten back from Ohio State.
Patterson is good and has gotten better with every game and looks nothing like the player who was shell-shocked in the season-opening loss to Notre Dame.
However, the primary reason the offense is humming and why Michigan has won eight straight after knocking off Penn State, 42-7, is the play of running back, Karan Higdon, who might be the most under-appreciated player in the nation.
Higdon had his seventh straight 100-yard rushing game against the Nittany Lions as the Michigan offense continues to look like a classic Wolverines offense Bo Schembechler would be proud of. Higdon ran 20 times for 132 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line is opening up big lanes and holes for Higdon to run through and Michigan is dominating the time of possession as a result.
With the offense dictating the pace of play, the Michigan defense has been given the opportunity to rest for long stretches during games so they aren’t out of gas by the third quarter. The Michigan defense is talented and might be the best in the nation, but having an offense help their cause is what makes Michigan the favorite in the Big Ten and a College Football Playoff contender.
This ground and pound style of play is becoming less common in college football as the spread offense and hurry-up, no-huddle philosophies put less of an emphasis on rushing yards and time of possession. If you can score in 60 seconds, you take the points. But Michigan will take the ball for seven or eight minutes and physically beat you into the ground with a methodical approach that is both draining physically and mentally.
Michigan beat Penn State in the first half as Higdon wore them out to the tune of 99 rushing yards in the first half. As great as the defense is and as much as Patterson has improved over the course of the season, it’s Higdon that is the driving force behind Michigan’s success.
He might not be in the Heisman conversation or a household name outside Ann Arbor, but there might not be a player as valuable in the Big Ten as Michigan’s senior running back.