Big Ten Network analyst and former Wolverine Marcus Ray joins the podcast, talking Michigan-Penn State.
Ray sees a way the Wolverines could pull it off, in a game in which they've been made the heavy underdog. He talks about the match-ups and how this one could play out.
Here is the podcast…
Here are some podcast highlights, including Ray on…
• How the Wolverines should approach the Penn State game: "It's a road game, it's a big game. Michigan's offense hasn't been world beating, and the defense has been pretty good, for the most part. You don't know what Penn State has up their sleeve.
"They owe you one. James Franklin is 0-3 in this game. They're No. 2 in the country. They're going to have a whiteout.
"But you know what? There's no better time to go in there, get everybody grouped together in one place and go in there and beat them up and knock them out. That's what Michigan State did in Ann Arbor, so why not go into somebody else's house and do the same?"
• Why this game is special: "These two teams, single-handedly, are the reason you see the current college football playoff set-up. With '94, and Penn State going undefeated, and with Michigan in '97, they had to make some changes.
"I think they should have instituted the playoff in '98, instead of 15 years of the BCS. That's another reason why this game is special."
• A scenario in which Michigan could win this game: "Penn State is going to have to play one of their worst games. I think Penn State is a better team.
"Michigan has to live in their backfield. Penn State has really struggled to run block and run the ball. Michigan has the advantage there. Penn State has the advantage with the running quarterback, and with their three receivers. I don't think Michigan can match up with everybody, including the tight end and the running back.
"So Michigan has to score on offense, probably block a kick, have the lead at halftime, go up two scores … kind of like what they did to Ohio State … but Michigan is not the same team as last year, either.
"I don't see Michigan running the ball as well as they did last week. If they try to do that, and they milk clock and don't get any points, it's going to get ugly. It's just not going to work.
"So Michigan has to not be afraid to throw the ball. Line up and do it. Don't run from it, and say, 'I'm going two tight ends, two backs, for four quarters, and let's get out of there…'
"Michigan's got to go in there and fight, man."
• Penn State trying to take advantage of Michigan's man defense: "The one touchdown they scored last year was to [running back Saquon] Barkley out of the backfield. It was a wheel route, and he raced out of the backfield, turned up, and had a match-up on a linebacker. They use their receivers to kind of pick-and-roll.
"Your inside receiver may run a slant route, or a shallow cross. He rubs off the linebacker, and it frees up the back to get up the sideline. Stuff like that.
"They're going to run the quarterback. If Michigan is in some form of man-to-man, and the middle of the field is wide open, [quarterback Trace] McSorley's going to run it. Or if he gets a match-up where [fifth-year senior linebacker] Mike McCray is guarding Barkley out on the edge, or tries to check him on an arrow route, that's what they're going to go after.
"We've seen it before. It's not like I'm telling the people anything new. People say, 'You've got to get fired up! You've got to execute!' No, you have to scheme, too."
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