Coming off its bye, the Michigan Wolverines football team returns to the field after its bye week.
The Maize and Blue have struggled in their 2026 campaign to this point and are looking to break a two-game losing streak while seeking their first conference win of the season.
Michigan will welcome Penn State, which has also underperformed compared to program standards, to Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions have dropped their first three Big Ten games and are also searching for their first win in conference action.
How to Watch
- Day: Saturday, Oct. 17
- Time: 3:30 PM ET
- Where: Michigan Stadium (Ann Arbor, Mich..)
- Network: CBS
- On the call: Brad Nessler and Charles Davis
- Spread: Michigan -6.5 points (via DraftKings)
- Over/under: 42.5 total points (via DraftKings)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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History Between the Wolverines and Nittany Lions
Two programs that have matched up with one another nearly every season since 1993, Michigan leads the all-time series 17-10.
In recent history, the Wolverines have won the previous three matchups, including a 24-15 victory on the road (Nov. 11, 2023) in the last matchup between the two schools.
The last time PSU took down UofM was Nov. 28, 2020, coming away with a 27-17 win in The Big House.
When playing in Ann Arbor, Michigan holds a 9-4 record against Penn State.
Storylines to Watch For
On Thursday afternoon, I reviewed my top three storylines to watch heading into today’s game against the Nittany Lions.
The first and most important thing to take note of is Michigan’s discipline and whether UofM can avoid costly turnovers and penalties. Week in and week out it has been the most glaring problem with the 2026 Wolverine squad. Coming off a bye week, maybe head coach Kyle Whittingham and the Wolverines can finally show more discipline on both sides of the ball.
After the discipline, the next biggest problem has been the offense. We have seen it have life at times, but last week, against Minnesota, it was terrible. Maybe being on the road really shocked the offense; I am not sure, but they need to find a pulse against a struggling PSU team.
Lastly, which team is going to come out and play like they have something to prove? It sounds cliché, but it is gut-check time for the two programs that need to right the ship.
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