By the time Michigan’s Devins Asiasi scored the Wolverines third touchdown against Penn State at the beginning of the second quarter, the outcome of the game was already clear.
There would be very few things for Penn State fans to cheer about in the 49-10 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Sept. 24 in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines are an experienced, talented team, and they are on a mission. They racked up 515 yards of total offense, 25 first downs and 326 yards rushing.
The score was an overwhelming 28-0 by halftime. The closest Penn State came after that was 35-10, when Chris Godwin scored the Lions’ only touchdown of the game in the third quarter.
“We had a difficult time stopping them,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “They were able to control the ball, control the line of scrimmage, run the ball, play action pass. We were unable to get pressure on the quarterback, and when we did, he (Wilton Speight) always got out of it.
“When you are playing ranked teams, there’s a dramatic difference between the 16th- or the 25th-ranked team and a top 5 team. Those top 5 teams are top 5 for a reason, and they (Michigan) played like it today.”
For Penn State now, life goes on and so does football. There will not be very much time for the Lions to heal (five linebackers were missing against Michigan) or prepare for the next Big Ten opponent on the schedule.
That opponent is the unbeaten Minnesota Gophers, who will visit Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Minnesota is 3-0 so far with victories over Oregon State (30-23), Indiana State (58-28) and Colorado State (31-24). In the victory over Colorado State on Sept. 24, the Gophers went ahead 31-17 early in the fourth quarter on a run by Rodney Smith, but CSU came back with a score five minutes later to make it 31-24.
Minnesota was ultimately able to hold on when it stopped a last-chance effort by Colorado State on the Gopher 45-yard line as the clock wound down.
‘Offensively, I still think we continue to play well,” Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys said after the CSU win. “We are scoring enough points. But we gave up too many big plays. The tailback continues to hurt us on big plays, so we’ve got to find a way to help us there.
“I will say this, that we can play better. Offensively, I’m very pleased with where we are at. Defensively, it’s hard right now because of some kids that we are missing. But this game rewards people who don’t quit and I thought our kids competed all game long. There at the end the offense got it done for us. We will win as a team but obviously we have some things to work on.’
Minnesota can move the ball and score points. The Gophers are averaging just fewer than 40 points per game and 430 yards of total offense. They feature a balanced attack with 228 yards on the ground and 201 passing.
Smith, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound sophomore, leads the team in rushing with 298 yards on 59 carries and five touchdowns. Kobe McCrary (196 yards) and quarterback Mitch Leidner (147 yards) are the second- and third-leading runners.
Leidner completed 49 of 76 passes for 599 yards and four touchdowns in three games, and he has a 145.4 efficiency rating. Drew Walitarsky is by far the leading receiver with 17 catches for 252 yards and two scores. Three other receivers have over 50 yards in receptions, with Brian Smith (84 yards) leading that group.
The Gophers are efficient and take care of the ball. They have allowed just one sack so far, and Leidner has thrown only one interception.
Defensively, however, Minnesota has struggled at times, especially against the passing game. The Gophers surrender 347 yards each time out, with 228 of those coming through the air. They have recovered four fumbles, have one interception and recorded nine sacks for a total of 64 yards.
Outside rusher Tal’yon Devers has three of those sacks, while linebacker Jack Lynn leads the team with 14 solo tackles and eight assists.
For Penn State, now at 2-2 and 0-1 in the conference, this game has the potential to shape the rest of the season.
The Nittany Lions took a step back in many areas against Michigan. They had difficulty running the ball (just 70 yards rushing), gave up the six sacks, and really didn’t generate much offense at all until the second half.
On defense, the loss of the linebackers hurt immensely, especially on third down where Michigan converted 11 of 16 attempts. And with no pressure on the quarterback to speak of, Speight could choose his receivers at will.
Add two PSU turnovers and a dynamic first-quarter punt return by Jabrill Peppers to all of that, and it becomes easy to see how Michigan dominated the game.
There was some good news for Penn State though. Saquon Barkley ran for 59 tough yards and also caught five passes for another 77 yards.
Punter Blake Gillikin continued to impress with six punts for a 45-yard average and a long one of 61 yards. Except for his first punt out of the end zone, Gillikin successfully kept the ball away from Peppers.
Freshman running back Miles Sanders saw action in the game, running the ball twice for 14 yards and returning three kickoffs for 67 yards.
Otherwise, it was a forgettable day for the Nittany Lions, but a new game brings new opportunities.
Penn State will obviously be working to come up with solutions to the linebacker problems and improve its defense overall. The Lions will have to get stops against Minnesota, and they cannot allow the Gophers to have the kind of third-down success that Michigan did.
Minnesota has a fast and effective pass rush that will present problems for the Lion offensive line which is looking to regroup before this game. O-Line coach Matt Limegrover came to Penn State after leaving Minnesota last year so he may have more than a little insight into how to get that done.
The offense showed some sparks in the second half, but another slow start and early three-and-outs will be dangerous against the Gophers. This shapes up as a close battle anyway, and even small early confidence boosts for Minnesota will only compound things for Penn State.
This game is a chance for the Nittany Lions to get back on track, and they are certainly aware that they need to take advantage of it.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. at Beaver Stadium.
