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Kickoff is at Noon on ABC.  The Nitts are a one point favorite at home.  Michigan sustained several notable injuries against Indiana: Henning, Germon Green, Corum, and Anthony. 

Good for UM it's not at night, but looks like a heavy lift to me, probably low scoring, I'll venture 20-16 Nitts.

Yeah, I don't know. I'm oddly confident in Michigan in this one. And believe me- I'm almost never confident in them in anything. Michigan is catching a break that the game is at noon. That's a way different crowd at noon then night. Happy Valley at night is a complete nightmare.

Penn State point blank just does not have a pass game like OSU's that can shred a secondary in half from every which way or a run game like MSU has with that stud tailback KW3- and that seems to be Michigan's achilles heel right now- their run defense. Their young LB's over-pursue and get caught with their pants down on misdirection run plays- which can lead to big gains vs teams that run the ball well. MSU has an elite RB- and he was able to expose their LB's and pop some long runs. I don't see Penn State being able to do this.

Penn State on the other hand has a run game that kinda sorta stinks. Penn State ranks tied for 122nd nationally with 29 runs of 10-plus yards. They rank 119th in the nation in yards per rush (3.2) and 117th in rush yards per game (107).

They key for Michigan will be to double Dotson at all times and not let him break the game open. Because he absolutely can. He is the one guy they have on offense that can flat out beat anybody man to man. If they aren't putting a safety over top on him and doubling him every play they are insane- because he has shown he is the one guy on that entire offense that can make a play on anybody consistently. Don't let him beat you- and you have a great shot at slowing down Penn State.

Conversely, Penn State's rush defense has been pretty bad giving up THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY rushing yards to freaking Illinois at home in Happy Valley. Penn State is giving up just about 140 yards rushing a game. And Michigan wants to rush the football first and foremost. They will run, run, run right at Penn State.

And pretty much everyone has been able to run on Penn State- Wisconsin was able to run on them (would've had 200+ yards rushing if not for all Mertz' sacks), Illinois ran a party on them with 360 yards, Auburn ran for 190 on them, Ohio State ran for 160+ on them, shit even Iowa who can't run the ball ran for 110 on them. Really the only team that wasn't able to run wild on them was Maryland and Indiana- and well Maryland and Indiana kinda f*ckin suck.

Cade will have to play a mistake free game and not turn it over- he seems pretty good at that- Michigan will have to run the ball- they seem pretty good at that- and Michigan's DB's will have to double Dotson basically every snap and they will need their pass rush duo of Hutch & Ojabo to show up like they have been showing up all year long.

I hope Michigan gets TE Erik All this week because they'll need him.  Both of Michigan's starting guards, Keegan and Zinter, were back for Indiana and played the whole game.  If Corum is still out with a sprain Haskin's is more than capable of carrying the load.  I think Illinois coined how to beat Penn State: on the ground with lots of big bodies, a Michigan staple this year. 

Looks like there's a chance of rain Saturday afternoon in State College.  Hopefully the Nitt students stay in their cozy dorm rooms and sleep in.

Looks like there's a chance of rain Saturday afternoon in State College.  Hopefully the Nitt students stay in their cozy dorm rooms and sleep in.

Hopefully they remember the 9 straight losses from '97-'07.Where the hell are BBTS and GeoLion? Need a couple of Ninnies to stir up the froth.How the hell is a good pissing match ever going to get off the ground?

Hard to start a pissing match when your bladder is empty.


There's no way Penn State wins this game.

MDot's analysis above is spot on.  Illinois showed the world how to beat us.  If we had not lost our best DT early in the Iowa game, I think our run defense would be loads better.

I wouldn’t say that. Penn State can obviously win the game- Michigan’s coach is still Jim Harbaugh and their passing game is still Stone Age.

I think the game will come down to rushing the football. Penn State will need to run the ball on Michigan just enough to slow down their edge rushers and they’ll need to stop Michigan from running a party on them for like 200+.

I am curious to see how healthy Clifford is- if he’s 100% healthy that helps PSU’s chances A LOT obviously. If he’s still banged up and not able to escape the pocket and run around like he was doing before the injury- could be a long day for him because Hutchison & Ojabo have like 16 or 17 sacks combined and like 80 QB pressures combined. Both of these guys have been stud pass rushers all season long- and both of them looking like future 1st round NFL draft picks.

Its probably a noon game because Penn State's offense is too painful to watch.

Clifford should be healthy, he looked fine in the Maryland game.

I'm not confident that we can run the ball enough to affect Michigan's edge rushers.

we all know it's a noon game because the conference is protecting their prize pupil

8-1 with a slight chance to upset Ohio St. needs to be protected

the conferences don't pick the time slots- they gave up that power during the negotiations for their new contracts with the networks I believe.

It's just a luck of the draw. The networks get to pick the time slots they want.