Penn State Football: Closing the gap on Michigan Wolverines

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions shakes hands with head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines after the game on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Michigan 28-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

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Head coach James Franklin of Penn State Football (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

After Michigan reached the College Football Playoff last season, Penn State Football is now playing catch-up.

Penn State Football finished fourth in the Big Ten East last year.

To make matters worse, it seems Michigan Football turned a corner. The Wolverines finally resembled what experts thought a Jim Harbaugh team would look like. That’s bad news for Penn State.

The rivalry between Penn State Football and Michigan has been as even as it could be the last ten years. They have split the last ten meetings. Sounds fair enough. Two top-tier programs are evenly matched. Except recently, the two programs are heading in different directions.

The Nittany Lions, as we all know, were 11-11 the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Michigan Football on the other hand, just completed a season in which they reached the College Football Playoff. Something Penn State Football has yet to do under James Franklin.

Fear not though, because the gap between Penn State Football and Michigan isn’t the Grand Canyon.

Penn State Football was ahead of Michigan with four minutes left to play last season. But there is a gap between the two programs.

Here are three ways Penn State Football can close the gap against Michigan.

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