Penn State Nittany Lions

Michigan Football vs. Penn State: Three Nittany Lions to Watch

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 17, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Chris Godwin (12) rings the victory bell following the completion of the game against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Penn State is traveling to take on Michigan football as a 19-point underdog. The Nittany Lions will need these three players at their best for an upset bid.

After a non-conference slate that seemed more like a preseason, Michigan football finally enters the Big Ten season.

Penn State travels to Ann Arbor on Saturday for the first time during the Harbaugh era, looking to pick up where Colorado left off last week before Sefo Liuau was knocked out the game with a 28-24 lead. Not very likely, but Penn State does technically run a spread offense, so you never know.

James Franklin is still looking for his first competent offensive line since arriving at Penn State, but running back Saquon Barkley doesn’t need much help to find open field against most defenses, and first-year starting quarterback Trace McSorley has looked OK, all things considered.

Michigan looked completely confused by the CU offense and Liufau for most of the first half last week, and even though the tide of the game was turning, who knows how close it would have been if Liuau hand’t gotten hurt.

This week provides a good opportunity to make a statement by completely suffocating a conference opponent that runs a spread offense, so it’s a two-birds-one-stone situation.

Penn State’s gross (at best) display in Happy Valley last week would make it a little more satisfying to send the Nittany Lions back to the middle of nowhere with a loss. (Seriously, look at this. The two closest cities are cities where residents travel to other cities to have fun).

If Michigan can effectively neutralize a couple of important Penn State players, covering a 19-point spread shouldn’t be a problem.

Sep 17, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Saquon Barkley, RB

Barkley is the best player on the team by a pretty comfortable margin. He has 258 yards on 51 carries, good for 5.1 yards per carry, behind an offensive line that has gone from “complete disaster” to “unfortunate” under new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.

Barkely almost single-handedly beat Pittsburgh two weeks ago, scoring four touchdowns on only twenty carries. Were it not for some inexplicable late-game clock management and play-calling, he probably would have won that game.

The PSU offense begins and ends with Barkley. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, not many opponents have been able to slow him down. He has a good balance of power and speed, so he’s shifty enough to make guys miss in space and barrel through the line when necessary. He has excellent vision and really makes his living staying patient at the line and then bursting into the second level, where slower linebackers are woefully mismatched.

That’s unfortunate. Michigan’s linebackers and safeties got roasted last week by CU, especially in the part of the field Barkley likes to find.

Hopefully having Peppers and Jourdan Lewis back on the edges and stacking the box will be enough to keep him in check, but look for Barkley to break free a couple of times.

Sep 17, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Brendan Mahon (70) during the first quarter against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Brendan Mahon, LT

Left tackle Brendan Mahon is PSU’s best all-around offensive lineman, which is to say that he’s relatively solid but prone to mistakes.

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If it wasn’t Barkley running behind him, he’d look a lot worse in run blocking, and he has some trouble staying off skates in pass protection. Look for defensive coordinator Don Brown to show a lot of different looks at the line (as usual).

It’s going to be a very long day for McSorley and Barkley if the rotating cast of terrifying maize and blue clad monsters up front can consistently get past Mahon and into the backfield. McSorley hasn’t thrown the ball well under pressure, but he’s been pretty efficient when he has time to throw the ball.

We saw last week that Michigan can struggle against vertical passing plays out of the gun (having Jourdan Lewis back will help immensely), and DeAndre Thompkins is averaging 23.1 (!) yards per catch, so keeping Mahon on his heels and pressuring McSorley is going to be important.

Mahon is also probably the best run blocker in the Nittany Lions’ zone blocking scheme, so keeping him at the line of scrimmage will free up extra linebackers to help on running plays. The more bodies thrown at Barkley the better.

Ultimately, if Mahon can manage to have a very good-to-great game, the PSU line will stay together, which will free up Barkley and the deep passing game. If Mahon has a bad game, the line falls apart and it’ll be a massacre.

Apr 16, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions safety Marcus Allen (2) during the second quarter of the Blue White spring game at Beaver Stadium. The Blue team defeated the White team 37-0. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Marcus Allen, S

Marcus Allen is PSU’s best defensive player. The safety helps in pass and run defense in pretty much equal measure; standing 6-foot-2 and scaling in at 205 pounds, he’s rangy and surprisingly sturdy.

Allen is a solid tackler who doesn’t shy away from contact and has good enough speed and ball skills to make plays in the defensive backfield.

Michigan’s offense never really found its rhythm last week for a handful of reasons: Speight was off because his dinged elbow bothered him all game, the rushing attack couldn’t consistently pick up yardage, and Chidobe Awuzie shut down whichever receiver he was matched up against. It was a slog.

Allen will exacerbate those struggles if offensive coordinator Tim Drevno and company can’t find a way to push the action away from him.

Look for quick-hitters over the middle and screens to draw Allen into the box before Michigan attempts too much downfield. It’ll be fun to watch Allen and Jake Butt go after it as well.

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