Michigan Football: Game Predictions for Saturday Showdown Against Penn State

The Michigan Wolverines are coming back home after losing their first road game of the season against Minnesota before going into their bye week.

Now, they will be staring across the sideline at a program in a similar spot to the one they are in. Matt Campbell is Penn State’s head coach. He came over from the Big 12’s Iowa State. He brought a lot of his players with him, and his team is in the midst of a three game losing streak. Campbell’s struggles have led to some speculation that he may be a fish out of water in the Big Ten.

Sound familiar? Kyle Whittingham came over from the Big 12’s Utah. He brought some of his own players with him, and his team is in the midst of a two-game losing streak leaving some to wonder if he’s a fish out of water in the Big Ten.

The winner of this game will get, at minimum, that winning feeling back into the building. The loser risks watching the rest of their season spiral out of control.

What are our predictions for the game?

Run Game Breaks Out

If not now, when? Michigan’s run game was supposed to be the identity of their offense. Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter were both supposed to flirt with 1,000 yards rushing. Bryce Underwood was supposed to be able to add to that with his legs as well.

Through five games, neither running back is on pace to rush for 1,000 yards. Michigan’s run game has been dreadful.

Their offense has followed suit. They’re not consistent enough in either phase of offense, which makes them zero-dimensional. It’s hard to do anything of note on offense when you don’t have basic concepts to hang your hat on.

This week, however, is the week that Michigan’s run game breaks out. As bad as Michigan’s offense has been on the ground, Penn State’s defense has been worse. They’re at the bottom of the Big Ten in rush yards against. They gave up more than 400 yards rushing against Northwestern a few weeks ago en route to a loss by three scores.

Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter should be focal points of Michigan’s game plan that I anticipate is going to be relatively conservative as a means to avoid turnovers.

Penn State is also banged up at linebacker. Michigan is not healthy on the offensive line, but they’re healthier there than Penn State looks to be on defense.

As a result, their ground game will rumble for more than 200 yards against the Nittany Lions.

Dominant Defense

Penn State’s offense has had its troubles this season as well. Rocco Becht is a veteran quarterback who has plenty of experience, but the offense really has not found much of its footing.

Joel Klatt of Fox Sports mentioned earlier in the week his concerns about Penn State’s offense. Those concerns get even bigger against a Michigan defense that has certainly held up its end of the bargain thus far this season.

Michigan’s defense is a little healthier coming into the week. They should be able to move Becht off of his spot. Penn State should have trouble moving the ball whether by the ground or through the air. Look or a big game from Michigan’s defensive front that should give more snaps to Tariq Boney and Carter Meadows this week.

Tommy Carr Plays

No, Bryce Underwood is not going to get fully benched, but Kyle Whittingham said earlier in the week that he could look to get backup quarterback Tommy Carr some snaps if he felt it gave the team a chance to win.

Michigan’s offense is likely going to stall at some point during this game. When that happens, Carr might be ready to enter a game that is in the balance for the first time in his career.

Bryce Underwood is still going to be the starting quarterback, but when you’re splitting reps with your backup, that’s probably not a good sign.

Carr will be called on at some point to give this team a spark. If he performs well, perhaps he’ll never cede control of the job back to Underwood.