What I do think is that Penn State is much better suited to give the Wolverines problems upfront than they were a year ago. Will it change the result? Impossible to tell. Penn State’s record in recent years after the bye has warranted some changes to the world in the off week. Maybe the imperfection is what makes college football so fun to follow up and so frustrating to try to figure out. Their schedule so far hasn’t helped in regards to trying to figure out this riddle. Yes, the Wolverines do a lot of things well, but are they as good as last year’s College Football Playoff squad? I don’t think so, and I’m not sure that they are that close at this point. You could probably say the same about Michigan. In this case, given some of Penn State’s cracks and recent history in these types of games, the home team gets the nod. Otherwise, I see a mostly even game with a splash turnover or big run dictating the outcome for either side. Where does that leave the outcome? Both defenses should have advantages against these respective offenses. But, the Nittany Lion defense hasn’t been tested by anything resembling Michigan’s versatility, and offensively, underwhelming showings in back-to-back games should create questions.
Penn State, meanwhile, has a couple of nice wins at Purdue and at Auburn on its resume, lending credence to the notion that environment shouldn’t be an overwhelming factor. Four of Michigan’s opponents also have some of the worst defenses in college football this season. Five of Michigan’s six opponents have scoring offenses ranked among the worst in college football this season.
Having a strong sense about how this game will go seems, to me, premature. Nate Bauer (Season: 5-0 Last Game: 38-10 PSU)
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