Penn State Football hosts the sixth-ranked Michigan Wolverines this Saturday at Beaver Stadium at high noon on ABC.
Penn State Football will get a chance to take down another ranked opponent this Saturday when Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines come to town.
The No. 6 ranked Wolverines come into this one off a 29-7 victory over Indiana, while Penn State Football broke a three-game losing streak by picking up a 31-14 win at Maryland.
This game not only has College Football Playoff implications for Michigan but also Big Ten East standings implications for these two rivals.
The Nittany Lions come into this one having won three of the last four against Michigan and with a win, head coach James Franklin would love to 4-4 all-time against the Wolverines.
Here are three reasons why Penn State Football will knock off Michigan:
The Nittany Lions defense will hold the Wolverines’ banged-up run game in check
Michigan running back Blake Corum left last week’s game against Indiana, with an apparent ankle injury and his status for this week is up in the air, meaning Hassan Haskins will have to carry the load for Michigan.
Haskins is having a terrific year rushing for 829 yards and 11 touchdowns averaging five yards a clip, however, Corum is more of the home run hitter out of the two backs.
Outside of their horrific performance against Illinois, in which they gave up over 350 yards on the ground, Penn State Football’s defense has been stout in Big Ten play against the run, not giving up more than 180 yards in a single game.
If the Lions can keep Haskins in check and keep Michigan behind the chains forcing second and third and long, they will things uncomfortable for Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara who is more of a game manager for this offense.
He has only thrown nine touchdowns this season but to only two interceptions. The offense starts and stops with the ground game for Michigan.