CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Temp430 on October 16, 2017, 08:13:17 AM
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Penn State is coming off a bye week used to sharpen their fangs and claws for a schizophrenic Michigan team. Michigan may have the nation's #1 defense but the real entertainment is when Michigan is on offense. I liken it to bull riding where you're always wondering if the rider, Michigan QB O'Korn, is going to die. Michigan's offense did take a step forward against Indiana giving up no sacks, fumbles, or interceptions and had a back with 200 yards rushing for the first time since Denard Robinson. Penn State is rumored to be planning a white out and is favored by 14 points the last time I checked. ABC is carrying the game at 7:30 PM.
Go Blue!
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I think the OL took a step forward, but O'Korn looked awful, without the weather to blame this time.
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I have a funny feeling about this game. I wonder what time it will be on (if it's on..) in Barcelona. Are they 6 hours ahead there?
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This should be an exciting game. College Gameday, white out, and a 7:30 kickoff should have the stadium rockin'.
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I think the OL took a step forward, but O'Korn looked awful, without the weather to blame this time.
The OL took a step forward because they finally benched Ulizio- who had been absolutely awful for 5 games in a row- honestly maybe the worst RT that I've seen at Michigan ever- and they also decided it might be a good idea to put Wheatley- their 6'6, 275 pound TE as an extra in-line blocker more often. Giving Higdon the majority of the carries helped as well. He doesn't hesitate and dance in the backfield- he's one cut and go- runs north/south violently. Basically the complete opposite of Chris Evans. Evans continues to be misused.
And yeah, O'Korn was probably the worst I've ever seen him. At least against MSU he was dealing with a monsoon. Perfect weather and he can't complete passes. He makes a lot of rookie mistakes for a 5th year guy. He stares down receivers and telegraphs throws. And if his first read isn't there right away he starts to panic and get happy feet. You expect that sort of thing from a freshman. Not a 5th year senior who has started probably close to 20 games in his career.
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This should be an exciting game. College Gameday, white out, and a 7:30 kickoff should have the stadium rockin'.
Yeah, gonna have to disagree with you. It'll only be exciting if you're a Penn State fan. Or maybe Ohio State fan. Or MSU fan. Or ND fan. I know those 3 teams- they like to get their rocks off watching Michigan get embarrassed.
Penn State is going to slaughter Michigan. I'm thinking 31-7. Something along those lines. I am not a betting man- but I am thinking about betting the farm on Penn State. It is not going to be pretty. Michigan has absolutely no chance in this game. And their defense will eventually wear down and break because the Michigan offense is going to be going 3 and out and/or turning it over pretty much all game long.
I may not even watch this game. It is going to be really ugly for Michigan.
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Yeah, gonna have to disagree with you. It'll only be exciting if you're a Penn State fan. Or maybe Ohio State fan. Or MSU fan. Or ND fan. I know those 3 teams- they like to get their rocks off watching Michigan get embarrassed.
Nah, we already have tiebreaker over Michigan. We may need this PSU loss.
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I have a funny feeling about this game. I wonder what time it will be on (if it's on..) in Barcelona. Are they 6 hours ahead there?
Yup, 6 hrs ahead. If you have wifi/internet or data plan that works you can watch it on the WatchESPN app on your iPhone/IPad or laptop. Not sure it'll be on any of the local channels though.
Barcelona is maybe my favorite place of all-time. How long you going there for?
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Did Mdot21 just type his version of a "No Way" post?
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Nah, we already have tiebreaker over Michigan. We may need this PSU loss.
Do your own damn dirty work. Gonna have too. Penn State is going to absolutely murder Michigan. I honestly don't see anyway in hell how it's even a close game. The offense is just so bad. And as good as Michigan's defense can be- they're not going to be able to hold down an explosive offense like Penn State's for 60 minutes. Ain't happening. Eventually they'll crack and tire out from being on the field all damn game.
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Do your own damn dirty work. Gonna have too. Penn State is going to absolutely murder Michigan. I honestly don't see anyway in hell how it's even a close game. The offense is just so bad. And as good as Michigan's defense can be- they're not going to be able to hold down an explosive offense like Penn State's for 60 minutes. Ain't happening. Eventually they'll crack and tire out from being on the field all damn game.
Well, yeah, I'd prefer to beat OSU and PSU, but if we don't I'd prefer to still have things align to get to Indy at 8-1. 7-2 seems nearly impossible unless they beat OSU or PSU and then get upset for the 2nd loss.
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I like Michigan's chances in this game. Michigan's D is good enough to contain Barkley and keep McSorely running for his life. Michigan just needs to run the ball effectively, control the clock, and not turn the ball over.
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Yup, 6 hrs ahead. If you have wifi/internet or data plan that works you can watch it on the WatchESPN app on your iPhone/IPad or laptop. Not sure it'll be on any of the local channels though.
Barcelona is maybe my favorite place of all-time. How long you going there for?
We start there on Wednesday and then on Saturday board a ship for a week that will hit Spanish, French and Italian islands. We end up near Rome, take the train to Florence for 5 days and then back to Rome for a few days to fly home.
Trip of a lifetime for us. We have the same ship, same crew and same cabin as last time. All the islands (West Indies) we were on are pretty much gone now...
So as it turns out if I want to see football it will be on the ship, which has the high speed internet on board. They did have the games live when we were on it over the Holidays last year so maybe they will have them again. I can't imagine staying up that late for this game though. Looks like I can catch the Badger game as it's an 11AM game here.
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I like Michigan's chances in this game. Michigan's D is good enough to contain Barkley and keep McSorely running for his life. Michigan just needs to run the ball effectively, control the clock, and not turn the ball over.
I do too. It just feels like that.
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Put me down in the close game camp.
It will be a contest of which team has the worst O-Line.
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Put me down in the close game camp.
It will be a contest of which team has the worst O-Line.
Michigan's defense is too good for this not to be a close game. Michigan's defense will be the best unit on the field, but their offense will be the worst as well. I htink Penn State's balance is where they hold that advantage.
Don't overlook the importance of special teams. PSU's kicker has not been good this season.
21-10 Penn State, but it's 14-10 into the 4Q at least.
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Exactly, the O-line has me worried. They have been terrible, Northwestern should not have been able to put that much pressure into the PSU backfield.
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Michigan's defense is too good for this not to be a close game. Michigan's defense will be the best unit on the field, but their offense will be the worst as well. I htink Penn State's balance is where they hold that advantage.
Don't overlook the importance of special teams. PSU's kicker has not been good this season.
21-10 Penn State, but it's 14-10 into the 4Q at least.
The kicker has not been good, but the punter has done a great job of giving our opponents horrible field position.
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We start there on Wednesday and then on Saturday board a ship for a week that will hit Spanish, French and Italian islands. We end up near Rome, take the train to Florence for 5 days and then back to Rome for a few days to fly home.
Trip of a lifetime for us. We have the same ship, same crew and same cabin as last time. All the islands (West Indies) we were on are pretty much gone now...
So as it turns out if I want to see football it will be on the ship, which has the high speed internet on board. They did have the games live when we were on it over the Holidays last year so maybe they will have them again. I can't imagine staying up that late for this game though. Looks like I can catch the Badger game as it's an 11AM game here.
The other thing you'll need is a US-based IP address. WatchESPN (as well as many other US based video streaming apps and services) doesn't work in Europe. You'll get a message that says it's not available in your area, but that you can subscribe to a European version (which isn't cheap). Where I got around it last year was by signing into my work's VPN that was out of Chicago, so it tricked the service into thinking I was in the US.
Enjoy Florence. My wife and I were just there over Labor Day, it's a beautiful, charming city (we only had 2 days there unfortunately). I am happy to share the abbreviated itinerary with you if you'd like. Rome as well, I did Rome on a weekend, ended up walking something like 28 miles in two days, but got to see everything.
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The kicker has not been good, but the punter has done a great job of giving our opponents horrible field position.
Gillikin is Penn State's most important player in this game, IMO.
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Interesting game. Michigan's defense is good enough to give PSU fits. However, Michigan has just looked awful throwing the ball, and now they are going on the road against probably the best defense they've seen. They probably need to play this like Iowa did - just run the ball and play defense and hope to be in position to win in the 4th quarter.
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The other thing you'll need is a US-based IP address. WatchESPN (as well as many other US based video streaming apps and services) doesn't work in Europe. You'll get a message that says it's not available in your area, but that you can subscribe to a European version (which isn't cheap). Where I got around it last year was by signing into my work's VPN that was out of Chicago, so it tricked the service into thinking I was in the US.
Enjoy Florence. My wife and I were just there over Labor Day, it's a beautiful, charming city (we only had 2 days there unfortunately). I am happy to share the abbreviated itinerary with you if you'd like. Rome as well, I did Rome on a weekend, ended up walking something like 28 miles in two days, but got to see everything.
We're pretty well scheduled out but thanks for the offer.
So, if I log into my VPN, it will think I'm in the US? I don't use the VPN for internet service when I'm on it so will it still work?
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test your VPN with the ESPN app before you leave, then your IT guy can work on it if it needs to be tweeked
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The ISP here gives ESPN a block of IP addresses and pays ESPN each month so that block can get service
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Yeah, gonna have to disagree with you. It'll only be exciting if you're a Penn State fan. Or maybe Ohio State fan. Or MSU fan. Or ND fan. I know those 3 teams- they like to get their rocks off watching Michigan get embarrassed.
Penn State is going to slaughter Michigan. I'm thinking 31-7.
LOL quite frankly we all enjoy watching every program but ours take a dive
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I am not a betting man- but I am thinking about betting the farm on Penn State.
i'll be in Vegas, if this line remains at PSU -10 I'm tossing at least a few hundy on it.
Michigan has a chance, but they will need to muddy the waters. they need to play awesome defense (quite possible), don't screw up on special teams and punt well for field position, and they probably need to be like Nebraska in the 90s and run the ball 70 times to control the clock. a defensive score or punt block score or something etc would work as well.
my gut tells me my gut tells me, since I'm in vegas, the city of lost wages for a UM fan's bachelor party, with penn st coming off a bye, there's going to be a lot of pain for UM.
Penn St wins 37-10.
But, UM traditionally plays the lions tough, hopefully they can hit Barkley about 57 times before coming to the shoe next week.
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We're pretty well scheduled out but thanks for the offer.
So, if I log into my VPN, it will think I'm in the US? I don't use the VPN for internet service when I'm on it so will it still work?
You can also use a free proxy server to go to Espn website and login with your cable/sat acct. info if you're on a laptop.
https://hide.me/en/proxy - that's a good site. Just select USA for proxy location and type in ESPN.com or WatchESPN.com and log-in with your sat/cable provider.
Never been to Florence, but I can tell you some pretty good places to eat in Rome and Barcelona if you'd like. You should definitely buy your tickets to the Vatican and Coliseum ahead of time online- you get to skip all the long ass lines and walk right in if you buy them ahead of time on your phone or on a computer and print them out. Do the same thing if you're going to go to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona- because tickets to Sagrada Familia sell out pretty fast. You should try to go to the church at the top of Mt. Tibidabo in Barelona- highest point in the city and really just breath-taking views.
There's a cable car kinda near the beach and W hotel that takes you up Montjuic and to the Miramar Hotel Gardens- amazing views and there's a cafe up there where you can grab a coffee- really worth the 10 euros it costs. If you're into gambling- there's a casino open 24/7 right at Port Olimpico.
I'm not into soccer at all- I don't know if you are- but you should definitely go to Camp Nou to check out the Nike store and tour the stadium and facilities or go to a game if they are playing. Took the tour and went to a game- just an amazing
experience.
If you've got time take the day trip to Montserrat. It's this huge granite mountain with a monestary at the top of the mountain- like an hr + each way by train, so it's pretty much an entire day trip- but it's totally worth it if you've got the time.
Safe travels. Have a blast. And watch out for the picket pocketers in Rome and Barcelona. Those are two of the worst cities for that crap. If people try to sell you stuff on the streets or talk to you and ask you to sign petitions or whatever- don't even stop. Just blow them off and keep walking or tell them no really forcefully and give them nasty looks. La Rambla is the worst street for pick pockets in Barcelona. So just be on the lookout there. Lots of people will come up to you try to sell you shi. Be really careful to watch your bon public transportion- buses/subways if you wind up taking them- had a friend get pick pocketed on subway in Rome. Have to be on your guard for those sneaky little effers.
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I am not a betting man- but I am thinking about betting the farm on Penn State.
i'll be in Vegas, if this line remains at PSU -10 I'm tossing at least a few hundy on it.
Michigan has a chance, but they will need to muddy the waters. they need to play awesome defense (quite possible), don't screw up on special teams and punt well for field position, and they probably need to be like Nebraska in the 90s and run the ball 70 times to control the clock. a defensive score or punt block score or something etc would work as well.
my gut tells me my gut tells me, since I'm in vegas, the city of lost wages for a UM fan's bachelor party, with penn st coming off a bye, there's going to be a lot of pain for UM.
Penn St wins 37-10.
But, UM traditionally plays the lions tough, hopefully they can hit Barkley about 57 times before coming to the shoe next week.
I'm jealous. I don't have much interest in gambling, slots and poker just don't do much for me. But man, being in Vegas and be able to sit in the sports book laying down a few bets and then watching football is fun as hell.
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Turnovers may be important, and hard to predict. Duh.
Michigan 19 Penn State 16.
Or, my favorite score of all time, Penn State wins 6-4 in triple OT.
Pick one.
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This should be a close game. The only blowout loss (10+ points) Michigan has had under Harbaugh is the 2015 OSU game.
If Michigan had a halfway decent passing game, I'd feel optimistic, but I've given up on that at this point. It's encouraging to see the running game, particularly Higdon, emerge, and I do think Penn State's defense is overrated, but I'm not sure how effective they'll be. This probably won't happen, but if O'Korn looks bad enough, perhaps they'll sub in Peters who would hopefully be marginally better....
Otherwise, the team's best chance is to force turnovers on defense to at least get the offense in FG range, if not score themselves. I think they give up 2 TDs at most, unless the offense turns it over on their own side of the field. Special teams have been pretty strong except for kick returns, as well.
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I'm jealous. I don't have much interest in gambling, slots and poker just don't do much for me. But man, being in Vegas and be able to sit in the sports book laying down a few bets and then watching football is fun as hell.
sure is, my wife likes the pools etc, but I'm like "I gotta go during football season." this one's for a bachelor party, so i'll be detoxing all next week. There's a ton of nice sportsbooks obviously, but I'm going to lagassee stadium, it's in the basement of the venetian, you get to lounge on your own coach, have cocktail waitresses serve you for hours while you watch every game on TV with a sportsbook and good kitchen just feet away.
never been out there for the NCAA tourney, but I'm guessing that's gotta be pretty sweet. it's nice waking up to 9 AM football/hoops etc.
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Been looking forward to this game. I felt like PSU is legit, and that UM defense is filthy.
I enjoy reading both teams forums, the best part is, both teams fan bases are supremely confident.
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"both teams fan bases are supremely confident." - Not on this board.
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"both teams fan bases are supremely confident." - Not on this board.
That always been one of the biggest differences between our board and the team boards
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I don't even bother going to the Rivals/247 boards, but the MGoBlog posters aren't confident, either....
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On MGOBLOG. There are threads talking about the narrative when UM beats PSU and many posters who are down on UM, but still very confident of a win, and many predicting a crushing defeat. :96:
They feel UM has some magical spell over Penn State, and/or that Penn State is a paper tiger.
Same on the Audibles board- respect UMs defense but very confident they will wear them down.
Like I said- you rarely see this....many on both sides who actually know their Xs and Os, highly confident.
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So what is so special about Penn State that they are ranked #2? They have not beat any top shelf teams. Iowa almost and probably should have beat them. Barkley looked like a Heisman contender against Pitt but since has not done much...was thinking he was injured. The Nitts have remained undefeated while teams ranked above them lost a game..that's all I can think of.
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One of the many reasons I stopped visiting FightOnState was the number of homers, that and trolls.
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"both teams fan bases are supremely confident." - Not on this board.
Not confident by any means but this feels like Michigan has a very good chance to win this game given Michigan's defense. To a Michigan fan this does not feel like we're playing Alabama or anything close.
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So what is so special about Penn State that they are ranked #2? They have not beat any top shelf teams. Iowa almost and probably should have beat them. Barkley looked like a Heisman contender against Pitt but since has not done much...was thinking he was injured. The Nitts have remained undefeated while teams ranked above them lost a game..that's all I can think of.
Barkley's talent is undisputed, the problem is that the O-line has not been able to open holes for him. He generally gets one to three highlight reel runs and/or pass receptions (or completion against Indiana) per game.
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Personally, I am not confident that Penn State should be #2. Top 5 okay, but given the problems on the o-line, I would have a hard time putting them at 2. On the other hand, who should be there? No one else has really been dominant, either.
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I don't have an issue with Penn St at #2, we're gonna find out in the next 3 weeks if they deserve the ranking or not.
Although if I was voting, I would put Georgia in the #2 slot as of right now.
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Michigan just passed for 58 yards. Against Indiana. Any Michigan fan who is confident in a victory on the road at night against Penn State is an absolute complete and utter moron. Penn State is going to absolutely smash Michigan in half. It will not be a close game. At all. Michigan's defense might be able to keep them in the game for a half, but Penn State will start to roll in the 3rd QTR and midway through the 4th the game will be over. The only plus side is O'Korn will probably play so bad, Harbaugh will be forced to put Peters in late when the game is out of hand and then Peters will be able to probably make his first start at home against Rutgers and then Michigan can start finding out what they have in him and build for the future.
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I don't have an issue with Penn St at #2, we're gonna find out in the next 3 weeks if they deserve the ranking or not.
Although if I was voting, I would put Georgia in the #2 slot as of right now.
That's where I'm at. I think Georgia is #2, but PSU started higher, and while they haven't had a big moment, they haven't lost, or been challenged by a vastly inferior opponent. One of those 31-28 wins over Illinois that will cause you to drop.
I like SOR, and that has Georgia #1, and I agree they have the best resume, although I wouldn't pick them to beat Bama (#3). FWIW, PSU is #5 there, also behind TCU (#2) and Miami (#4)
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If O'Korn passes like he did against Purdue Michigan wins by 10+ points.
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If O'Korn passes like he did against Purdue Michigan wins by 10+ points.
Oh please. Get out of here with that non-sense. IF my Aunt had a d*** she'd be my uncle.
WHEN O'Korn passes like he did against Michigan State, Indiana in 2016 and Indiana in 2017- Michigan will lose by 17.
Denial isn't just a river in Egypt ya know.
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couple little interesting tidbits...
Penn State didn't offer S/LB hybrid Khaleke Hudson, DT Mo Hurst Jr., or John O'Korn- all of them come from the area and grew up dreaming of playing for Penn State. DE Chase Winovich was pretty much set to go there until the scandal broke out. Penn State would be a pretty gnarly team with Hurst and Winovich starting on their DL. Not sure Khaleke would start but I think he'd fit in there somewhere in the two deep. Really glad Penn State didn't get those guys and they are at Michigan. Too bad they passed up on O'Korn.
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Bill Bender recounts the last 25 years of clashes between the two football programs....
25 Years Penn State vs. Michigan (http://www.sportingnews.com/michigan-penn-state-football-history-highlights-big-ten)
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Bill Bender recounts the last years of clashes between the two football programs....
25 Years Penn State vs. Michigan (http://www.sportingnews.com/michigan-penn-state-football-history-highlights-big-ten)
It's certainly an interesting series from a fan base mentality perspective.
Obviously Michigan's top rival is OSU, and the MSU game falsl behind it, and gets more juice for being in state. PSU hates OSU most, but the Big Ten assigned them MSU as a "rival," but there is some sort of undefined UM-PSU rivalry just kind of lurking out there.
Considering they have only played 20 times ever, and never before 1993, you have a disproportionate number of memorable games.
1993 - UM goal line stand in a 21-13 win
1995 - PSU students throwing ice at UM players in a 27-17 loss
1997 - UM rolling PSU in Happy Valley on "Showdown Saturday" where you had two matchups between top 5 teams, and both were outdone by Nebraska holding off Missouri on an uncalled kick ball
2002 - controversial out of bounds call halts potential PSU socring drive, UM wins 27-24 in OT
2005 - Manningham catch on the final play
2013 - UM goes on a 24-3 run to turn an 11 point halftime deficit into a 10 point lead with 6 minutes left, only to have PSU come back to force OT. Then both teams miss a FG in 1st OT. Both teams make a FG in 2nd OT. PSU fumbles in 3rd OT, but the rapist misses another chip shot FG. He makes his FG in the 4th OT, but PSU scores a TD after going for it on 4th and 1, rather than kicking a FG to extend to 5 OT. It went 4 OT, and the teams combined for 15 OT points (9-6 PSU), PSU had 27 total yards over the 4 OTs (25 on the final one) and UM had 30 yards total.
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It's jihad week in Happy Valley. As I pointed out in the Game Week thread, this series has produced a number of classics, but the vast majority have gone the Wolverines' way. A not so memorable game took place last year when a 2-1 Penn State team came in off a loss to Pitt, and a near loss to Temple, and got absolutely trucked, 49-10, in a game that could have been much, much worse. Trace McSorley had a career worst 34.4 QBR, and Saquon Barkley had what was at that point a career low in rushing yards, with 59. That was the game that convinced everyone that James Franklin was only a recruiter, and that his time in Happy Valley was drawing to an end. But to the surprise of everyone, it flipped the other way. Since that humiliating defeat in the Big House, the Nittany Lions are 15-1, with the lone loss being a 3 point loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. They've tallied wins over the schools that had supplanted them in the conference pecking order, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin. Now it's time to go after the one that got this whole thing started. Everyone talks about Michigan's defense, with good reason. Maybe it's because all attention to Penn State is to Saquon Barkley's Heisman candidacy, but for whatever reason, the Nittany Lion defense is vastly underappreciated. They aren't the smothering front that Michigan is, but they aren't letting anyone score, and their creating turnovers at a greater rate than anyone but Michigan State (who admittedly piled up a lot in one game). Michigan just decided to quit even trying to pass the ball last week, when they totalled only 58 yards through the air and O'Korn missed plenty of downfield targets, without the weather as an excuse. Indiana's defense is better than your typical Indiana defense, but Trace McSorley threw for 315 yards on them, and J.T. Barrett threw for 304...in a performance that had people questioning what was wrong with him. If Michigan can't loosen up the Penn State defense, they can forget just relying on the ground game, like they were able to do last week. The Michigan defense will do all it can to keep them in the game, but unlike the Michigan State game, where the Spartans couldn't take advantage of opportunity after opportunity to put the game away earlier due to Michigan's offensive ineptitude, the Penn State offense will eventually cash those short field in. This will be another referendum on Jim Harbaugh, and probably unfairly, the Wolverines are going to walk into an absolute beehive on Saturday night, without a quarterback to fight them out of it.
PENN STATE 30, MICHIGAN 14
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I think this will be a very close game. Penn State's offensive line has really struggled this year. I expect UM to be in the PSU backfield all night. Penn State hasn't been able to get the deep ball going much this year due to the lack of time for a play to develop.
With that said, Michigan's offense isn't exactly filling me with fear. However, I expect them to hit a few big offensive plays, much like Iowa did.
I think this game will be decided on special teams and by turnovers. For that reason, I'll go with the team with the better kicker.
I think Michigan wins, 13-10.
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Michigan just passed for 58 yards. Against Indiana. Any Michigan fan who is confident in a victory on the road at night against Penn State is an absolute complete and utter moron. Penn State is going to absolutely smash Michigan in half. It will not be a close game. At all. Michigan's defense might be able to keep them in the game for a half, but Penn State will start to roll in the 3rd QTR and midway through the 4th the game will be over. The only plus side is O'Korn will probably play so bad, Harbaugh will be forced to put Peters in late when the game is out of hand and then Peters will be able to probably make his first start at home against Rutgers and then Michigan can start finding out what they have in him and build for the future.
I’m trying to feel optimistic about this game, but my gut keeps returning to a similar feeling as posted here. I like Michigan’s D, but they get worn out by the second half because the offense is not good. My only hope is that Michigan has this oddly bizarre good fortune against PsU and has won many games they were not the better team.
As far as betting, I had a few guys ask me about it this week and my advice was if you’re honestly putting money down, bet the house on PSU. Michigan’s offense looks that bad to me.
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O’Korn played well enough to win the game. The fundamental problem with Michigan’s offense is the OL not the QB. WRs need to improve as well. Hard to win games over a quality oppenent with piss poor blocking and all the dropped passes.
Michigan’s defense gave up quite a few big plays. That’s going to happen when you’re playing the likes of Barkley. What bothered me the most was the mis-matches on PSU’s recievers. LBs defending Barkely or a WR like Hamilton in space does not work.
Congrats to Penn State and good luck next week.
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O’Korn played well enough to win the game. The fundamental problem with Michigan’s offense is the OL not the QB. WRs need to improve as well. Hard to win games over a quality oppenent with piss poor blocking and all the dropped passes.
Michigan’s defense gave up quite a few big plays. That’s going to happen when you’re playing the likes of Barkley. What bothered me the most was the mis-matches on PSU’s recievers. LBs defending Barkely or a WR like Hamilton in space does not work.
Congrats to Penn State and good luck next week.
The fundamental problem with the offense is the play-calling and the coaching.
Harbaugh needs to basically fire the entire offensive staff and start from scratch and find a real play-caller. It's that bad. I'd offer Jedd Fisch the job ASAP. The problem I am seeing with the WR's is the route running and their hands. I don't think they have a full-time WR coach. Time to call up Soup Campbell and see if he wants a job. Drevno has to be demoted to OL coach or go.
I don't agree with you on O'Korn. At all. He is bad. He struggles going through progressions and telegraphs throws and if his first read isn't there right away he's running out of the pocket. He has no feel in the pocket, he can't slide and step up and get rid of a ball. He often runs himself into pressure that isn't there if he'd just slide and step up. He's a really good athlete who can run, he's got ideal size with an above average arm- his arm is better than Wilt's- but he's just not good at football. He teases you with his physical talent but mentally he's not there. And he's a 5th year senior. His flaws aren't going to be fixed.
Peters needs a shot and they need to try other RB's and shuffle up the OL. Kareem Walker and O'Maury Samuels can't be much worse than the horseshit at RB they keep trotting out there. Higdon can't pass block and Chris Evans is NOT A RUNNING BACK. I think Ruiz at C, Kugler to LG and Bredeson to RT might be the line up they should try for the OL. JBB should probably be benched. He struggled yet again.
The Penn State game was a huge indictment on the coaching staff. They are being way too stubborn. That defensive game plan was atrocious. They never once made adjustments. Just like the offense. Harbaugh's ego is holding this team back right now. He needs to realize it ain't working- time to make some changes.
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Time to build for the future going forward.
Great opportunity next week to re-shuffle the OL, get Samuels and Walker carries at RB and give Brandon Peters his first crack at starting at home against Rutgers.
Be smart Jim. Don't be an idiot and start O'Korn and the same OL line-up and keep giving minutes to a RB that cannot pass block and another guy that is a slot WR playing RB.
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Michigan's defense got burned early and then got worn out, and while the offense played better than I expected, they're obviously not able to score more than 20 points against a decent defense.
At this point, there's no reason not to at least play (if not start) Peters. However, I wouldn't make any other major changes to who plays. Cole, Kugler, Isaac, and the fullbacks are the only other seniors that play, and they deserve to. If the team is able to get a big lead against Rutgers, Maryland, and/or Minnesota, the backups will get reps, anyway. There's also no reason to burn redshirts at this point.
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I’m trying to feel optimistic about this game, but my gut keeps returning to a similar feeling as posted here. I like Michigan’s D, but they get worn out by the second half because the offense is not good. My only hope is that Michigan has this oddly bizarre good fortune against PsU and has won many games they were not the better team.
Appears that's what happened but I nodded off at the half.
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Penn State is built to defeat Don Brown's defense, but the question was whether the oline could hold up. They were fine, which allowed Penn State to run their offense. Don Brown loves to blitz and play a lot of man to man and contest everything. That allowed Penn State to get favorable matchups downfield with their best receiver and Barkley. As Michigan scrambled to get everyone covered, McSorley took off.
Most teams aren't going to be able to do that. OSU is going to challenge MU in a different way by running lots of mesh and wheel routes, plus they have a stronger overall rushing attack. But don't think they can duplicate those downfield throws.
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Penn State's line play Saturday was the #1 determinant IMO. If they play like that this week, legit chance to upset the Bucks.
Was fortunate to be at the game, it was a dynamite atmosphere and a really fun day for us in Blue and White.
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So what is so special about Penn State that they are ranked #2? They have not beat any top shelf teams. Iowa almost and probably should have beat them. Barkley looked like a Heisman contender against Pitt but since has not done much...was thinking he was injured. The Nitts have remained undefeated while teams ranked above them lost a game..that's all I can think of.
I'm still not going to tell you that Penn State is the second best team in America, but I do think you got your answers to your original question? PSU's defense is much stouter than people are recognizing, and when the OL even remotely plays well PSU has playmakers EVERYWHERE, and a lot of them.
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I saw Lavert Hill voted PSU #1 after the game.
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Penn State is built to defeat Don Brown's defense, but the question was whether the oline could hold up. They were fine, which allowed Penn State to run their offense. Don Brown loves to blitz and play a lot of man to man and contest everything. That allowed Penn State to get favorable matchups downfield with their best receiver and Barkley. As Michigan scrambled to get everyone covered, McSorley took off.
this is a pattern that I am seeing in Don Brown's defenses, and I don't like. He doesn't adjust the defense based on personnel to even out the match-ups. He asks safeties/LB's to do things they just can't betting that his pressure can get there before the QB figures things out. Works great on QB's that aren't that good. Can get you gashed against really good QB's like McSorley. Brown was pretty much like- I'm gonna run my defense and that's that- try and stop it. He only put LaVert Hill in the slot in man coverage on Hamilton three times the entire game. Hamilton only caught one of those balls- a slant for 7-8 yards for a 1st down and Hill was right on his back hip and tackled him immediately. Brown should've kept Hill on Hamilton and let him follow him the entire game. Instead he kept the safeties on Hamilton in man coverage and they got smoked all night long. Kudos to McSorley for recognizing that match-up and exploiting it continually. That's why Michigan couldn't get consistent pass rush on defense. McSorley knew where to go pre-snap just about every passing play and got rid of the ball quickly. The only times they tripped up McSorley is when they disguised a few blitzes and when they dropped into zone coverages. Other than that- McSorley had his way.
The biggest head scratcher to me was continually putting 6'4, 240 pound Mike McCray- who runs a 4.8 in the 40 on his best day- in man coverage on the best fricken player in the country and a guy that's gonna be a top 5 pick in Barkley. Absolutely idiotic to continually do that and not make an adjustment. That's a tough ask for anybody- even somebody as athletically gifted as Jabrill Peppers. That's an IMPOSSIBLE ask for someone like Mike McCray.
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Fact is they lost too much last season.Too much talent too much experience.You can break down and analyse but in the end the match ups favored PSU.tOSU went thru this last year and didn't belong in the playoff
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Fact is they lost too much last season.Too much talent too much experience.You can break down and analyse but in the end the match ups favored PSU.tOSU went thru this last year and didn't belong in the playoff
I'd agree with that. 11 guys drafted to the NFL and 6 others as UDFA's who wound up getting cut (Kalis, Magnunson) and 43 seniors (not all scholarship players). That's a lot to lose. I didn't expect them to be a great team this year. Especially with Speight at QB. Never was a believer in him. He's not the kind of QB who can elevate a program. He's not even a particularly good game manager. See: Iowa, Ohio State, FSU, and Florida games.
And I didn't expect them to beat Penn State either. I expected them to get their asses kicked by Penn State. But I did expect that defense to show up a hell of a lot better. And I do think Brown didn't put guys like Mettelus, Kinnel, and McCray in position to succeed. And that falls on the coaching to me. Daesean Hamilton is a future NFL WR. Mettelus and Kinnel can't cover him in man to man coverage. They aren't going to win any of those matchups. Ever. And Mike McCray vs Barkley in man is insane. Like on so many levels.