Offense Notes: Costly Sacks Sink Michigan In Blowout At Penn State
After scoring 13 points in the second quarter, Michigan’s offense wasn’t able to put any points on the board in the second half in front of a raucous crowd on the road, ultimately dooming the Wolverines' comeback hopes.
No. 19 Michigan fell to No. 2 Penn State 42-13 at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley in front of a record crowd of 110,823 people.
It was an up-and-down first 30 minutes of play for the U-M offense. Michigan was unable to match Penn State’s quick start on offense, going three-and-out on its first two possessions while losing five yards. The Nittany Lions are the only team in the country to have not allowed any points in the first quarter, outscoring their competition 90-0 in the opening frame.
However, trailing by two touchdowns, U-M scored on two of its next three drives to bring the score back to 14-13.
Junior running back Karan Higdon took a toss play to the left into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from just inches out for Michigan’s first touchdown. It was Higdon’s sixth touchdown of the season. Redshirt freshman kicker Quinn Nordin missed his first career extra point; it was Michigan's first misfired PAT since the 2011 season.
Later in the second quarter, fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac plowed into the end zone for the team’s second score of the game and his second touchdown of the season. The situation appeared to be looking up for the Wolverines with under two minutes to play in the first half.
“Early on, especially on the first two drives, we put our defense in a little bit of a hole,” Michigan fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn said. “We were finally able to get things rolling. Halftime came and we were in position, getting the ball coming out of halftime.”
The second half featured five Michigan drives. The first two resulted in punts, the middle possession ended in a fumble and the final two finished with turnovers on downs. The Wolverines had just 105 total yards in the second half, compared to their 164 in the first half. For comparison, Penn State racked up 506 yards on offense.
The passing game was better statistically than last week against Indiana — O’Korn finished the game 16-of-28 passing for 166 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. He did fumble, but it came on a strip sack.
O’Korn was sacked seven times — the most Michigan has allowed all season, and the most allowed in the Jim Harbaugh era. It marked Penn State's most in a Big Ten game since the 2011 season (seven against Northwestern).
“They made it really hard on us to get open, something we saw on film,” O’Korn said. “All year long, they made it really tough on opposing teams’ receivers to get open. We had some success, but through the entire game as a whole, they were able to get a lot of coverage sacks.”
Penn State entered the game allowing 167.8 yards through the air and 117.3 yards on the ground per game. Michigan hit the passing yardage mark almost exactly, and came up just short on the ground with 103 yards on 42 carries (2.5-yard average). Higdon was the team’s leading rusher with 15 carries for 45 yards, but was never able to break a big play. The longest run posted by the Wolverines was a 14-yard scramble from O'Korn.
“They made the big plays, and we didn’t,” O’Korn said. “They picked up huge chunks of yards on third down, and that was huge for them. We weren’t able to match that.”
The Wolverine’s quarterback played the entire game and praised the Nittany Lions defense after the contest.
“I’ve got to give the credit to their defense,” O’Korn said. “They showed some looks we weren’t expecting. They just continued to get after it all game. We’ll look at the film, and I’m sure there were some things we could have done better, but I don’t think it will be as bad as the score showed.”
Miscellaneous Notes:
· Freshman wide receiver Nico Collins made his first career appearance. He didn’t record any catches.
· Freshman wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones caught multiple passes for the first time in his career. He finished the game with three catches for 43 yards. He also had one drop.
· Michigan was 2 for 2 in the red zone, with two touchdowns.
· O’Korn gained 46 yards rushing, but finished with minus-3 net rushing yards due to 49 yards lost on sacks. Without that sack yardage, O’Korn would have been Michigan’s leading rusher.
· Michigan’s seven sacks allowed are the most the school has given up since it gave up seven in back-to-back games against Michigan State and Nebraska in 2013.
· The loss snaps Michigan’s three-game winning streak against Penn State.
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