Penn State Football vs. Michigan: 3 keys to victory

Penn State defense vs young Wolverines quarterback

Harbaugh would not show his hand in who will be the starting quarterback this week after pulling starter Joe Milton for sophomore Cade McNamara last week against Rutgers. Speculation is McNamara will get the nod, making this his first collegiate start against Penn State.

McNamara came in against the Scarlet Knights and provided Michigan with a much needed spark, completing 75% of his passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns.

McNamara is a former 4-star recruit out of Nevada who looked comfortable at the helm of this offense, seemingly finding a favorite target in wide receiver Cornelius Johnson who caught five passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. McNamara was also able to spread the ball around to all his weapons, as seven Wolverines caught four plus passes in the win.

Last week Penn State faced sophomore quarterback Spencer Petrus from Iowa who came into the game struggling, completing just over 53% of his passes, yet made it look easy against this Penn State defense, completing 64% of his passes for 186 yards. Penn State’s defense ranks fourth in the Big Ten in passing yards allowed, however the stats are misleading because Penn State has been behind in every game, with opponents mostly running the ball to kill clock.

Penn State senior cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields has been medically unavailable the last two weeks and it is yet to be seen if he will suit up for the Nittany Lions Saturday. If he can, it will be a much needed boost to this secondary. If not, they will rely on young corners Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson once again. Penn State needs defensive ends Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh to get after the young quarterback and rattle him early and often. Penn State fans saw Will Levis come in on relief and spark the team and then next week not have that same carryover.

Time will tell is this was a flash in the pan for McNamara or he is the next field general for Harbaugh.