Game At PSU Will Be A Whiteout, Chance For U-M To Exorcise Its Road Demons
Penn State announced this afternoon that its Oct. 19 home contest with Michigan will serve as the program's annual whiteout game, which is typically reserved for the biggest showdown on the Nittany Lions' home slate.
Huge road games against top-tier competition have been a nightmare for U-M under head coach Jim Harbaugh, and it's a trend the team will undoubtedly need to break if it hopes to finally win the Big Ten East and make it to the conference title game.
On the flip side, Michigan has been incredibly consistent on the road against unranked foes under Harbaugh, posting an 11-2 record over the past four years (with one of those losses coming at the hands of a Utah club in 2015 who wound up finishing 10-3).
| Date | Game | Result | Opponent's Final Record |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sept. 3, 2015 |
@ Utah |
L, 24-17 |
10-3 |
|
Oct. 3, 2015 |
@ Maryland |
W, 28-0 |
3-9 |
|
Oct. 31, 2015 |
@ Minnesota |
W, 29-26 |
6-7 |
|
Nov. 14, 2015 |
@ Indiana |
W, 48-41 |
6-7 |
|
Nov. 21, 2015 |
@ Penn State |
W, 28-16 |
7-6 |
|
Oct. 8, 2016 |
@ Rutgers |
W, 78-0 |
2-10 |
|
Oct. 29, 2016 |
@ Michigan State |
W, 32-23 |
3-9 |
|
Nov. 12, 2016 |
@ Iowa |
L, 14-13 |
8-5 |
|
Nov. 26, 2016 |
@ (No. 2) Ohio State |
L, 30-27 |
11-2 |
|
Sept. 23, 2017 |
@ Purdue |
W, 28-10 |
7-6 |
|
Oct. 14, 2017 |
@ Indiana |
W, 27-20 |
5-7 |
|
Oct. 21, 2017 |
@ (No. 2) Penn State |
L, 42-13 |
11-2 |
|
Nov. 11, 2017 |
@ Maryland |
W, 35-10 |
4-8 |
|
Nov. 18, 2017 |
@ (No. 5) Wisconsin |
L, 24-10 |
13-1 |
|
Sept. 1, 2018 |
@ (No. 12) Notre Dame |
L, 24-17 |
12-1 |
|
Sept. 29, 2018 |
@ Northwestern |
W, 20-17 |
9-5 |
|
Oct. 20, 2018 |
@ (No. 24) Michigan State |
W, 21-7 |
7-6 |
|
Nov. 10, 2018 |
@ Rutgers |
W, 42-7 |
1-11 |
|
Nov. 24, 2018 |
@ (No. 10) Ohio State |
L, 62-39 |
13-1 |
Fans are still waiting for Michigan to pick up a signature road victory against an excellent opponent under Harbaugh, with the Wolverines having posted just a 1-5 record in the home stadiums of top-25 clubs.
The lone triumph came at No. 24 Michigan State this past season, though the Spartans wound up stumbling to a 7-6 record and were not viewed as a quality opponent by season's end.
The case could actually be made that U-M's win at Northwestern this past year was more impressive, as the Wildcats — though not ranked at the time of the game — went on to enjoy a 9-5 campaign that included a Big Ten West title.
Going by record alone, Northwestern is undoubtedly the best team Michigan has beaten on the road under Harbaugh, and is actually the only road foe U-M has taken down in the last four years that finished with more than seven wins.
Michigan holds just a 4-7 road record against clubs who have ended the year with a winning mark, with three of the four triumphs coming against squads who went 7-6 (Penn State in 2015, Purdue in 2017 and MSU in 2018).
U-M has also shown a tendency to play its worst football of the year when it travels to top-25 venues, with this past season serving as the best example — its losses at No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 10 Ohio State were two of its three worst performances (Florida being the other) of the year, and didn't even resemble the kind of football that fans saw during the 10-game winning streak from Sept. 8 through Nov. 17.
As a whole, Michigan's five road setbacks against ranked foes since 2015 haven't been particularly close either, with the average margin of defeat being 15.2 points.
The Wolverines will be able to put many of those demons to rest next fall, however, by picking up road victories at Wisconsin on Sept. 21, and of course at Penn State on Oct. 19.
Both venues have been a house of horrors for the Maize and Blue as of late though, with the club holding an identical 1-4 record in its last five trips to both places (the lone win in Happy Valley came in 2015 and the single victory in Madison occurred in 2001).
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