Penn State Has Mind Set on Revenge

For the last eleven years, Michigan's football program has absolutely dominated the Penn State Nittany Lions. However, this year, they're only 1-2, only beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who are slipping into the cracks and are highly doubtful to make any kind of a comeback this year. The Nittany Lions on the other hand, are kicking the crap out of their opponents. They've outscored their opponents this season 135-34 (have held their opponents scoreless in the second quarter), their closest win being by 21 (against both Notre Dame and Buffalo), and their largest margin of victory was in their first game of the season, where they absolutely hammered Florida International University 59-0. Comparing averages, obtained from the Penn State football website, their opponents have only scored a mere 11.3 points per game, while the Lions have dominated with 45 points per game! I don’t know about you, but Penn State is a powerhouse this year, and as long as their crowd keeps doing what they do, then they have a good chance of going undefeated. I am unhappy I have to say this, as I am a HUGE Purdue football fan, and we play them in six weeks time, AT Penn State! That’s the worst part of it.

Anyways, back to this week’s game. Mike Hart, running back for the Wolverines, is going to have one hell of a time trying to get his job done. Penn State’s defense has only allowed 53 TOTAL yards of defense, an average of only 17.7 per game. On the other hand, the Lions simply stuff the ball down their opponents’ throats, with a total of 591 yards, with an average of 197 per game! I don’t care who they’re playing against, that’s simply ridiculous! The only way I can see the Wolverines getting even decent yardage is through the air, as Penn State and their opponents are pretty much equal, with the Lions out-passing by only 46 yards (646-600). Whether it’s passed to Mike Hart, Adrian Arrington, or even Mario Manningham, they have to complete the passes, or they are SCREWED. The Lions have a big advantage, as the Wolverines’ starting quarterback, Chad Henne, is out with an injury, and they are starting a freshman, being Ryan Mallett. We’ve all seen how Notre Dame’s choice of starting a freshman at the quarterback position has gone, the Wolverines’ had better pray to god that that doesn’t happen to them as well. He’s only got 2 games under his belt, one of them against Oregon, who obliterated them, 39-7, and held Mallett to a mere 49 yards passing, and kept him from breaking surface rushing with -16 yards, giving him only 33 yards total offense.

If Michigan plays how they did against both Appalachian State and Oregon, they aren’t going to survive the first quarter, let alone the entire game. If they can manage to take it up another step or two from how they played against the Fighting Irish, however, they might, might, have a chance to stay in the game. I’m going to go with my gut on this though, and predict that Penn State is going to win by at least a touchdown, possibly two. The way they’ve played this season shows me that they’re here to stay, here to compete for a second Big Ten title in three years. And they are most definitely going to go down without a fight, that's for damn sure.