×

Wolverines wanted to run up score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. –Michigan’s players wanted to keep scoring and rub it in Saturday night because they felt that’s what Penn State tried to do in last year’s meeting.

“This one was definitely personal, knowing that they tried to score at the end of the game last year,” Wolverines running back Karan Higdon said.

Quarterback Shea Patterson, a transfer from Ole Miss who wasn’t at Michigan last year, also acknowledged it.

“I understood that Penn State ran up the score last year. … If we had the chance we were going to run it up, too,” Patterson said.

Penn State won last year’s game at Beaver Stadium, 42-13. Trace McSorley scored the Nittany Lions’ final points on a 9-yard TD run with 7:53 left to play.

That is not what angered Michigan.

The Lions started their final drive of the game at the Michigan 47 with 3:19 to go and kept running their offense. They didn’t throw the ball, but rather ran it, and Michigan couldn’t stop them.

With 1 second left at the Michigan 6, instead of kneeling, PSU handed off to Miles Sanders, apparently trying to score.

That is what angered the Wolverines.

“We put that in our back pocket and just remember that every single day,” Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye said during the past week.

The Wolverines didn’t exactly do anything obvious to try and keep scoring Saturday. They were up just 14-0 with a minute left in the third quarter, then scored a touchdown and got another a few seconds later on an interception return for a score to make it 28-0.

Michigan ran its offense against PSU’s tired defense, keeping the ball primarily on the ground, and scored a TD with 13:17 remaining. Then the Wolverines intercepted Trace McSorley deep in PSU territory and scored for the final time with 7:44 left.

Nothing that happened after that indicated Michigan was trying to run the score up any further. Still, you can bet that next year when Michigan visits Beaver Stadium, Penn State’s players will remember what the Wolverines said about running up the score — and will use that as motivation trying to do the same thing.

Such is life in college football these days.

Why was McSorley still playing?

With the game out of hand, James Franklin opted to put banged-up quarterback Trace McSorley back in a couple of times late Saturday.

Down 21-0 in the final minute of the third quarter, Tommy Stevens replaced McSorley. But Stevens threw a really bad interception on a ball right to Michigan defender Brandon Watson, who returned it 62 yards for a TD.

“I saw Brandon Polk up the sideline was rolling left; I tried to give him a chance,” Stevens said. “Obviously didn’t go the way it was planned. That’s 100 percent on me. I’ve got to make that throw. You’ve just got to move on and live to see another down in that situation.”

McSorley came back on PSU’s next series, leading to confusion because it already was 28-0 and it appeared that Franklin had decided not to risk further injury to his starting quarterback. But after running one play and getting banged up at the end of the quarter, McSorley was back out of the game and Stevens back in to start the fourth.

McSorley’s night still wasn’t finished, though, as he came back in for another series a couple of minutes later and threw an interception that led to Michigan’s final TD.

What was Franklin thinking during all that?

“(Stevens) threw the interception there, we felt like we needed to put Trace back in,” the coach said.

Even after he was banged up again to end the fourth quarter?

“It’s hard taking Trace McSorley off the field,” said Franklin, who offered no full explanation for taking the risk.

McSorley could not run effectively, which hampered PSU’s offense all day.

“They wanted to try and get a spark with Tommy really running the ball, trying to get some sort of spark, get some energy into our sideline, into our team,” McSorley said.

Stevens wasn’t sure what went into Franklin’s decisions to keep going back and forth, or if McSorley’s health played a factor.

“I’m not sure if (McSorley) was hurting or not,” Stevens said. “I know when No. 9 steps in there, he’s giving it his all. … I love 9, and he loves me. We’re behind him.”

SUBHD: WR Johnson not on trip for PSU

Receiver Juwan Johnson, first injured at Indiana two weeks ago, did not make the trip to Michigan. His status going forward is unclear, and even though he’s struggled this season, not having him available has clearly affected Penn State’s offense.

Penn State’s wide receivers caught a grand total of three passes Saturday — two by true freshman Jahan Dotson and one by KJ Hamler. Tight end Pat Freiermuth caught three balls, while running backs Miles Sanders and Journey Brown caught one apiece.

Franklin said Thursday that Dotson would be playing from here on out this season and would not be redshirting.

SUBHD: Wolverines in good shape for CFP

Many were wondering exactly how good Michigan was coming into the game, but the Wolverines got a signature smackdown win. They’re No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings but certainly will move into the top four this week after LSU’s loss to Alabama on Saturday.

The big test for Michigan will come in the regular-season finale when it travels to rival Ohio State. A win there and in the Big Ten championship game, and Jim Harbaugh’s team would be assured of a spot in the CFP.

“What I see is a really focused team, a really confident team in themselves and their teammates,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh has had some issues letting big games get away in recent years, but that wasn’t going to happen Saturday.

“I wanted to say our stadium, our fans, it had a different feel tonight,” the coach said. “It had like the old days, it felt like that to me — it was like a Saturday at Michigan in Ann Arbor — that was an electric atmosphere in there.”

Higdon ran for 132 yards on 20 carries, his seventh straight game with at least 100 yards. He’s one shy of the school record of eight, set by Mike Hart in 2007.

Patterson threw the ball just 17 times, completing 11 for 144 yards and two TDs.

SUBHD: No Checa on kickoffs

Rafael Checa did not make the trip for PSU for unspecified reasons, so Justin Tobin came and handled the kickoff duties.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today