On paper, Michigan was at a disadvantage. Penn State’s run defense was stout, and their coverage (at least by Pro Football Focus’ metrics) was among the best Michigan will see this season. How the offense would move the ball so many injuries at the skill positions was an open question. Defensively, Penn State wasn’t likely to test Michigan’s run defense, and though Michigan’s edge rushers had a leg up on Penn State’s tackles, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford and receiver Jahan Dotson were a lethal combination that looked like a problem for Michigan’s pass coverage. And on top of that, there was the elephant in the room: Michigan has fared terribly against ranked teams on the road under Jim Harbaugh. ABC splashed the graphic up in the fourth quarter when it looked like the game was turning: Michigan was 2-9 against AP-ranked teams on the road in the Harbaugh era. Now, though, the graphic has to be updated to 3-9. Here are three takeaways from Michigan’s win over Penn State.

Michigan’s short passing game will dictate the offense’s success the rest of this season

We can all see what running back Hassan Haskins can do. He was the hero of the second half and finished the day with 31 carries for 156 yards. His stats will be fun to dig into this week; at one point in this game he was gaining half of his yards after initial contact. It's not hard to figure out why he's one of Jim Harbaugh's favorite players; since Harbaugh arrived, there has been no back on any of his rosters more adept at getting three yards out of nothing.

At this point Michigan’s offense has to work to give Haskins space to run, and that means Michigan has to pull defenders out horizontally and prevent them from stacking the box. This offense has the playmakers to get guys open underneath at both receiver and tight end, and they need to use those playmakers and crossing routes to pull defenders across the field. Mike Sainristil, Cornelius Johnson, and AJ Henning are all guys that fare well underneath; even Andrel Anthony, who might eventually be more of a vertical field-stretcher, caught a pass over the middle that he bobbled multiple times.

Michigan is also helped in this regard by the tight ends. Last week’s big game from Luke Schoonmaker was an indicator of things to come for whoever gets the most run at that position. Erick All returned from injury this week and looked like he has not missed a beat, catching four passes for 64 yards with a long of 47 yards on the touchdown catch that sealed the game for Michigan. The route? A mesh that crossed three receivers from right to left and All from left to right and got him wide open with space down the sideline.

Another way to help Haskins: call someone else's number on first down

Michigan had five offensive drives in the first half and called a first-down run on four of them. The one that they didn't call a run was a pass to Haskins that gained eight yards. In the second half, Michigan had seven offensive drives and called a run for Haskins to start six of them.

The issue here isn't necessarily one of execution; only one of the runs went for negative yardage. Haskins had a huge second half, and two of his first-down carries went for more than 10 yards. In fact, the one non-Haskins-run play called was a pass to All that went for no gain. Predictability against Ohio State has been a death knell for Michigan in recent years, and though it's nice to have a back as reliably able to get positive yardage as Haskins, it's a tough ask and an invitation to tee off on the run and put Michigan behind the sticks.

Michigan's elite edge rushing made the difference for the defense

Perhaps the most lopsided matchup heading into this game was Michigan edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo versus Penn State offensive tackles Caedan Wallace and Rasheed Walker. That lopsidedness played out on Saturday afternoon. The number of times the two were held had to have been in double digits, and despite that they put together an incredible stat line. Ojabo showed how far he has come as a pass-rusher, particularly with his hands, notching two sacks and a forced fumble (his five forced fumbles this season is a program record). Hutchinson picked up three sacks and a forced fumble.

The forced fumbles were key, as one ended a Penn State drive and the other pushed Penn State from the edge of the red zone out and back into field goal territory; a third-down Hutchinson sack on Penn State's first offensive drive also pushed the Nittany Lions from Michigan's 15-yard line to Michigan's 24 and forced a field goal. Without even considering how other hurries impacted Clifford's throws, that's approximately eight points they kept off the board.

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