Penn State Football vs. Michigan: 3 keys to victory

Penn State football will head to Ann Arbor this Saturday to take on the underachieving Michigan Wolverines in a nationally televised noon kickoff on ABC.

Penn State football is 0-5 for the first time in program history as the Nittany Lions head to take on rival Michigan in search of there first victory of the season.

Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan squad has not faired much better this season as they enter this contest 2-3, fresh off a triple overtime victory against Rutgers last week, snapping  a three game loosing streak. The seat under Harbaugh’s khakis is presumably getting hot and a loss to a winless Penn State squad wouldn’t do him any favors.

The home team has won this game each of the last four times they’ve met, with Penn State getting the upper hand in last year’s ‘whiteout game’ 28-21, a game Penn State led 21-0 in the first half.

Penn State has lost eight of the last 11 trips to Ann Arbor, and will have to play much better then they have over the past few weeks if they are going to leave with a win in hand Saturday.

This matchup has become a little bit of a punchline among the pundits as two perennial blue bloods have hit low points, but this game matters and would go a long way to righting the ship for coach James Franklin and company.

Here are three keys to a Penn State football victory Saturday:

Penn State’s Quarterback vs Michigan Secondary

Quarterback Will Levis came in off the bench at Nebraska and then got the starting nod in last week’s game with Iowa. Levis had an up and down two plus quarters and was eventually pulled after his second fumble of the afternoon for incumbent starter Sean Clifford. In his weekly press conference James Franklin was once again non-committal on naming a starter.

"We’re going to need both of those guys,” Franklin said. “They’re both very passionate, they both work really hard, they both have skills. … I expect them to play well on Saturday and help give us a chance to be successful."

Franklin made similar comments ahead of the Iowa game last week saying they were going to need both of them, so time will tell how much of each quarterback we see Saturday. Penn State will need quarterback play to improve, as they have scored 13 of there 16 touchdowns this season in the second halves of games and has failed to score 30+ points in regulation of a game.

Regardless of who is behind center, Penn State’s focus should be attacking Michigan’s secondary. The Wolverines rank second to last in the Big Ten in passing defense, allowing 274 yards per game and 12 passing touchdowns through the air. Michigan Defensive coordinator Don Brown likes to play an aggressive style of defense, blitzing early and often leaving his corners in one-on-one coverage on the outside. He just does not have the guys out there this season to consistently matchup, and it shows, as Rutgers passed all over this secondary last week for 381 yards and three touchdowns.

Penn State should be able to exploit this weakness, especially when Clifford is at the helm. Clifford and junior wideout Jahan Dotson have had a special connection this season, resulting in 31 catches for 527 yards and six touchdowns for Dotson,  good for second in the Big Ten in receiving. Last season KJ Hamler was able to get behind the Michigan defense for two touchdown receptions, and expect more of that from Dotson this time around. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca should also look to keep freshman Parker Washington involved, after he only caught two passes last week.