Highs and Lows: Penn State blown out by No. 5 Michigan

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Michigan dominated with its ground game against Penn State Saturday, and most of that damage came by way of Karan Higdon. The Wolverine tailback rushed for 132 yards and a score against the Nittany Lions, including a 50-yard rush that helped spring Michigan to a 42-7 rout of Penn State at Michigan Stadium.

PLAY OF THE GAME:

With a bit of hope still remaining for Penn State, Michigan set out to extinguish it. The Wolverines marched 90 yards down the field over 7:05 to put themselves up 21-0. Shea Patterson completed the effort with a touchdown pass to tight end Zach Gentry. It was a show of brute force in a game that saw Michigan simply overwhelm the Nittany Lions physically. From there, the wheels came off, as Tommy Stevens tossed a pick-six on the next drive for Penn State.

BEST PASS:

Michigan did most of its damage on the ground and the Nittany Lions had a hard time getting anything going through the air, but Patterson did make a pair of plays with his arm, first connecting with Nico Collins for 47 yards in the first quarter, and later finding Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 23-yard touchdown with a nicely placed throw.

BEST RUN:

Higdon established the Michigan running game with an explosion early in the first quarter. The Wolverine running back found a huge hole to work with at the line of scrimmage and made his way to the left sideline. Eventually he was chased down by Nick Scott, but not before a gain of 50 yards that set up Michigan’s first touchdown of the day.

BEST CATCH:

Neither team came down with a particularly spectacular grab on Saturday, but the Wolverine wideouts were easily the more reliable of the two groups, going without a drop, while the Nittany Lions struggled to hang on to the football even when they had some space.

WORST DROP:

Nick Bowers got his hand on a Trace McSorley pass in the fourth quarter, but he redirected it right into the breadbasket of Michigan’s David Long, who intercepted it and set Michigan up deep in Penn State territory with the game already out of reach.

BEST SACK:

Yetur Gross-Matos collected a sack for the third-straight week, thanks in large part to excellent coverage down the field by the Nittany Lions near the end of the first half. He pursued Patterson to the left sideline and eventually brought him down when the Wolverine signal-caller ran out of space to run.

WORST TURNOVER:

The Nittany Lions were their own worst enemies once again on Saturday, and perhaps the biggest mistake came courtesy of McSorley and Miles Sanders. In the first half, the duo met at the mesh point in the backfield as they’ve done countless times this season, but McSorley seemed to decided to pull the ball and keep it himself too late, resulting in a fumble that the Wolverines recovered near midfield.

BEST HIT:

Standing in the hole as the only man between Higdon and a first down on third-and-1, Yetur Gross-Matos managed to set his feet, dig in and step the Wolverine tailback in his tracks early on in the second half, keeping Higdon upright in a situation where falling forward would mean a new set of downs.

BEST EFFORT:

With his leaping effort over the Michigan line of scrimmage, Scott denied Michigan a chance to go up two scores early in the second quarter. He blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt from Quinn Nordin, setting the Nittany Lions up with the ball at their own 35.

BEST KICK:

Blake Gillikin’s punting has been shaky as of late, but he did unleash an excellent kick in the first quarter on Saturday, pinning the Wolverines inside their own 5-yard line with a beautifully placed punt.

BEST RETURN:

Lengthy returns for both teams were erased by penalties, leaving a punt return by Peoples-Jones as the most remarkable special teams feat of the day. He took a punt from Gillikin back 26 yards in the fourth quarter, making numerous Nittany Lions miss along the way before finally running out of real estate.

BEST DECISION:

On a rough day all around for the Nittany Lions, the best decision of the day came from the officiating crew. Amani Oruwariye was originally called for targeting against Peoples-Jones, but the call was reversed after review showed Oruwariye made contact with the shoulder of the wide receiver.

WORST DECISION:

After the Wolverines scored their first touchdown of the game, it appeared McSorley had enough room to extend Penn State’s drive on third-and-11, but he elected to slide down just short of the line to gain instead of diving headfirst. The spot appeared questionable as well, but James Franklin elected not to ask for a review.

MOST TELLING MOMENT:

The outcome of the battle in the trenches between Penn State’s offense and Michigan’s defense was decided on the game’s very first drive. The Wolverines sacked McSorley twice in the four plays that comprised Penn State’s opening drive without sending any pressure. First, Chase Winovich beat Chasz Wright around the right end, and on the very next play, Josh Uche split right through Ryan Bates and Steven Gonzalez.