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Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

Penn State-Michigan Game Notes

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No. 14/13 Penn State takes on the Big Ten East Division leader when it visits No. 5 Michigan Saturday at 3:45 p.m. on ESPN.
 
Penn State and Michigan are meeting for the 10th time as ranked teams and for the first time as ranked teams in back-to-back seasons since 1999. An average of 34 points has decided the last two meetings between the Wolverines and Nittany Lions, with the home team prevailing each time.
 
Penn State's last four games have been decided by six points or less. After coming up on the short end with a pair of heartbreaking losses to Ohio State and Michigan State, the Lions have responded with wins over Indiana and Iowa in the last two weeks.
 
Senior quarterback Trace McSorley continues to lead Penn State, adding to his legend last week against Iowa after returning from injury to rush for a 51-yard touchdown en route to a Nittany Lions victory. McSorley and the Penn State offense are averaging 459.5 yards per game, but will face another strong challenge, as Michigan leads the FBS in total defense, yielding just 220.0 yards per game.
 
Also standing out for Penn State the last two weeks is sophomore defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, who now leads the Big Ten in tackles for loss (1.6 per game) and is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Gross-Matos has made 19 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks in the last two weeks after making 17 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and 2.0 sacks the previous six weeks.
 
Michigan enters the game coming off a bye week and riding a seven-game winning streak. Its lone loss came at now-No. 3 Notre Dame by a touchdown to open the season.
 
HEAD COACH JIM HARBAUGH

  • Jim Harbaugh is in his fourth season as head coach at Michigan. He is the second-fastest coach in program history to reach 20 wins, trailing only Fielding Yost.
  • From 2011-14, Harbaugh was head coach of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. He led the franchise to the NFC Championship Game in each of his first three seasons and the 2012 Super Bowl.
  • From 2007-10, Harbaugh was the head coach at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to an Orange Bowl victory in 2010.
  • Harbaugh is the only coach to win both the AP NFL Coach of the Year (2011) and Woody Hayes Coach of the Year Award (2010).
  • Harbaugh played for five different organizations during his 15-year NFL career (1987-2001).
  • As a quarterback at Michigan, Harbaugh earned first-team All-America honors and finished third in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy in 1986.

 
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES

  • Michigan is ranked No. 5 and leads the Big Ten East Division with a 5-0 conference record. Overall, the Wolverines are 7-1 with their lone loss coming in the season opener at Notre Dame.
  • Michigan boasts the nation's top-ranked defense, which is yielding an average of just 220.0 yards per game allowed. The Wolverines are particularly strong at shutting down the passing game, leading the nation allowing just 122.9 yards per game. On the ground, Michigan ranks ninth in FBS allowing 97.1 yards per game. Michigan is averaging 14.4 points allowed to lead the Big Ten and rank sixth in FBS
  • U-M has held seven of eight opponents to their season low in yardage this year.
  • On offense, Michigan ranks third in the Big Ten averaging 36.0 points per game.
  • Quarterback Shea Patterson ranks second in the Big Ten in efficiency (155.5) and has thrown multiple touchdown passes in four of eight games this season.
  • Running back Karan Higdon ranks second in the Big Ten and eighth in FBS rushing for 118.7 yards per game.

 
STORIED PROGRAMS MEET ON GRIDIRON

  • Penn State and Michigan both rank among the top-10 programs in winning percentage and total victories in NCAA history.
  • Four of the top-10 winningest programs in NCAA history are from the Big Ten.
  • Penn State sits No. 8 in all-time victories (884) and No. 10 in winning percentage (.688).
  • Michigan owns an NCAA-best 950 victories and ranks No. 1 in all-time winning percentage at .730.
  • The Nittany Lions and Wolverines are also among the most ranked teams in NCAA history according to the AP poll.
  • Michigan has spent 34 weeks ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll (11th all-time) and Penn State has earned the No. 1 ranking by the AP on 21 occasions (t-15th all-time). (Not including preseason rankings).
  • Penn State's 623 weeks ranked among the AP Top 25 rank ninth all-time, while Michigan's 842 weeks rank second.

AP Poll statistics are since 1936; according to CollegePollArchive.com
 
TOP 25 GAMES

  • Penn State and Michigan are meeting as AP Top 25 opponents for the 10th time in series history.
  • Penn State is 4-5 in the nine ranked match-ups, winning the last one in 2017.
  • Penn State and Michigan are meeting as ranked opponents in back-to-back seasons for the first time since doing so from 1993-99.

 
PENN STATE VS. AP NO. 5

  • Penn State is playing the Associated Press poll fifth-ranked team for the first time since playing USC in the 2009 Rose Bowl.
  • Penn State's last win over the AP No. 5 was Oct. 15, 1994 at Michigan, 31-24. That game also marks Penn State's last win on the road over an AP team ranked fifth or higher.
  • The last time Penn State played a team ranked fifth or higher on the road was at No. 4 Michigan in 2016, a 49-10 loss.

 
NITTANY LIONS FROM MICHIGAN

  • CB Donovan Johnson – Detroit Mich./Cass Tech
  • WR KJ Hamler – Pontiac, Mich./IMG Academy (Fla.)

 
PENN STATE-MICHIGAN CONNECTIONS

  • Penn State junior CB John Reid and sophomore LB Joe DuMond and Michigan senior OL Jon Runyan played together at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia.
  • Penn State redshirt freshman WR KJ Hamler and Michigan juniors DB Tyler Cochran and OL Dan Jokisch all attended Orchard Lake St. Mary's outside Detroit.
  • Hamler and Michigan sophomores LB Jordan Anthony, and OL Cesar Ruiz played together at IMG Academy in Florida. Hamler and Anthony also competed together in 2016 at The Opening in Beaverton, Oregon. Michigan junior QB Shea Patterson attended IMG the year prior.
  • Penn State sophomore DT Ellison Jordan and Michigan junior OL Stephen Spanellis played together at the Gilman School in Baltimore.
  • Penn State redshirt freshman CB Donovan Johnson and Michigan junior OL Michael Onwenu and sophomores WR Donovan Peoples-Jones and DB Jaylen Kelly-Powell played together at Cass Technical in Detroit.
  • Penn State redshirt freshman S Jonathan Sutherland played high school football with sophomore DL Luiji Vilain at Episcopal in Virginia.
  • Penn State junior LB Jarvis Miller and Michigan sophomore defensive back Brad Hawkins both played for Suffield Academy in Connecticut.
  • Penn State head coach James Franklin and assistant athletics director for performance enhancement Dwight Galt and Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown were on the Maryland coaching staff together in 2009.
  • Penn State associate head coach/defensive line coach Sean Spencer was the special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at UMass from 2007-08 under Brown, who was the head coach.
  • Penn State running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider was the running backs coach at Florida in 2017 when Michigan wide receivers coach Jim McElwain was Florida's head coach.
  • Penn State alum Michael Zordich coaches the Michigan secondary. Zordich was All-American at safety in 1985.
  • PSU alum NaVorro Bowman played for Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh with the San Francisco 49ers.

 
LARGEST STADIUMS IN AMERICA

  • Michigan and Penn State have the largest stadiums in the United States with a combined capacity of 214,173. Michigan Stadium (107,601) and Beaver Stadium (106,572), rank second and third in the world, respectively, in total capacity.
  • Only Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in North Korea has a larger capacity, estimated to be either 114,000 or 150,000 by various sources.
  • Michigan (110,658) and Penn State (106,916) rank first and second, respectively in average attendance this season.

 
BOWLING AGAIN

  • Penn State became bowl eligible when it defeated Iowa for its sixth win of the season.
  • The Lions have appeared in 48 bowl games in program history, tied for ninth-highest among FBS schools at the start of the season.
  • Head coach James Franklin has guided his team to a bowl appearance in each of his eight seasons as a head coach (3 at Vanderbilt; 5 at Penn State).
  • NAIL-BITERS
  • Penn State's last four games have been decided by six points or less. The last time the Nittany Lions played four consecutive games decided by six points or less was 1894 (at Navy, 6-6 on Nov. 10; vs. Bucknell, 12-6 on Nov. 17; at Washington & Jefferson, 6-0 on Nov. 23; at Oberlin, 9-6 on Nov. 24).
  • Penn State last played four consecutive games decided by seven points or less in 1985 (at Maryland, 20-18 on Sept. 7; Temple, 27-25 on Sept. 14; East Carolina, 17-10 on Sept. 21; at Rutgers, 17-10 on Sept. 28; Alabama, 19-17 on Oct. 12; at Syracuse, 24-20 on Oct. 19).
  • Penn State has played five games decided by seven or less points in 2018 and owns a 3-2 record in those games. It earned wins over Appalachian State (45-38, OT), Indiana (33-28) and Iowa (30-24), while falling to Ohio State (26-27) and Michigan State (17-21).
  • The Nittany Lions' last five losses have been by a total of 12 points (2016: USC – 3 points; 2017: Ohio State – 1 point, Michigan State – 3 points; 2018: Ohio State – 1 point, Michigan State - 4 points), which is the smallest margin of defeat over five losses in program history.
  • The 2016 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl and 2017 Michigan State loss came on field goals as time expired.
  • Ohio State took leads with 1:48 remaining (2017) and 2:03 remaining (2018).
  • Michigan State took its first lead in 2018 on a touchdown with 19 seconds remaining.
  • Penn State last lost a game by more than four points on Sept. 24, 2016 at Michigan (49-10).

 
MCSORLEY A MAXWELL SEMIFINALIST

  • QB Trace McSorley is among 20 semifinalists for The Maxwell Award.
  • The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, has been given to America's College Player of the Year since 1937.
  • Penn State is tied for the national lead among all schools with its seven Maxwell Award winners.

 
GROSS-MATOS NAMED B1G DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

  • DE Yetur Gross-Matos was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his nine-tackle, 4.0-TFL and 2.0-sack performance in a win over Iowa.
  • Gross-Matos set a career high for tackles for loss and matched his career high for sacks.
  • Gross-Matos is the first Penn State Defensive Player of the Week since Jason Cabinda earned the honor following last season's win over Michigan.

 
MILESTONE WATCH

  • Trace McSorley is 3 yards shy of 9,000 career passing yards.
    • ... 2 TDs shy of 100 career touchdowns responsible for.
    • ... 121 yards shy of the PSU career QB rushing record of 1,637 yards held by Michael Robinson (2002-05).
    • ... 189 yards shy of the PSU career QB season record of 806 held by Michael Robinson (2005).
    • ... 372 yards shy of 2,000 passing yards on the season.
    • ... 50 completions shy of 700 career completions.
    • ... 383 yards shy of 1,000 rushing yards this season.
  • Juwan Johnson is 23 receptions shy of 100 career receptions.
  • Miles Sanders is 166 yards shy of 1,000 rushing yards on the season.
  • Tommy Stevens is 106 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards.

 
MILESTONES ACHIEVED

  • Head coach James Franklin coached his 100th career game against Iowa.
  • Trace McSorley surpassed 10,000 career yards of total offense with 327 at Indiana.
    • ... 1,000 career passing attempts with 32 against Michigan State.
    • ... 1,000 career rushing yards with 54 yards against Kent State.
    • ... 8,000 career passing yards with 160 against Illinois.
    • ... 600 career completions with 16 against Ohio State.
  • Juwan Johnson surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards with 72 at Indiana.
  • Miles Sanders surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards with 162 against Michigan State.
  • DeAndre Thompkins surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards with 101 against Kent State.
    • ... surpassed 500 career punt return yards with a 29-yard return against App State.

 
STREAKING

  • Penn State has won its last four games on the road.
  • Penn State has won its last nine games against Big Ten West Division opponents.
  • Redshirt freshman WR KJ Hamler has a reception in all eight games of his career.
  • True freshman TE Pat Freiermuth has a reception in his last seven games.
  • True freshman K Jake Pinegar has made his last six field goals.

 
WINNING WAYS

  • Penn State is 26-5 in its last 31 games, the best span since going 26-5 from the start of the 2008 season to the first four games of 2010.
  • Penn State is 28-7 over the past three seasons (2016-18), for the seventh-best record in FBS.
  • Dating back to 2015, Penn State has won 23 of its last 26 home games.
  • Penn State's 42 wins over the last five years (2014-18) rank tied for 15th in FBS and third in the Big Ten (Ohio State, 56; Wisconsin, 50).
  • Penn State's 84 wins over the last 10 years (2009-18) rank tied for 18th in FBS and fourth in the Big Ten (Wisconsin, 99; Ohio State, 97; Michigan State, 89).
  • Penn State's 128 wins over the last 15 years rank tied for 16th in FBS and third in the Big Ten (Ohio State, 148; Wisconsin, 146).
  • Penn State and Wisconsin are the only Big Ten teams to have posted a winning season in the last 13 consecutive years.
  • Penn State is one of eight teams (USC, LSU, Florida State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia Tech) in the Autonomy Five to have a winning record each of the last 13 years.
  • Overall in the FBS, Penn State is one of nine teams with a winning record in each of the last 13 years (Boise State).

 
MCSORLEY MAKES HIS MARK

  • QB Trace McSorley owns Penn State career records for passing yards (8,997), 300-yard passing games (10), 200-yard passing games (26), rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (27), passing touchdowns (71), total offense (10,513) and touchdowns responsible for (98).
  • McSorley also presently holds Penn State's career passing efficiency (147.1) record.
  • McSorley is 3 passing yards shy of becoming the first Penn State quarterback to throw for 9,000 career yards and the 14th in Big Ten history.
  • McSorley has 1,085 career passing attempts to rank second on Penn State's career list. Next on the list is Christian Hackenberg with 1,235 attempts (2013-15).

 
SECOND-HALF TEAM

  • Penn State is second in FBS in scoring offense in the second half, averaging 23.38 points. Houston leads averaging 24.13 points.
  • Penn State is also second FBS in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 13.35 points. Houston leads averaging 14.38 points.
  • For the season, Penn State is outscoring opponents 174-83 in the second half. The plus-12.13 points per game margin in the second half ranks fourth in FBS.
  • Penn State's plus-6.0 scoring differential in the fourth quarter ranks seventh in FBS. (Per Coaches by the Numbers)

 
LIMITED ACCESS

  • Penn State ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 35th in FBS in scoring defense, allowing 22.3 points per game.
  • Penn State ranks tied for 22nd in FBS and second in the Big Ten behind Iowa (4.75) averaging 4.25 three-and-outs per game.
  • Penn State's 1.17 points per possession ranks 10th in FBS and second in the Big Ten behind Michigan. (Per Coaches by the Numbers)
  • Penn State's 1.14 points per possession over the last two years is fourth in FBS. (Per Coaches by the Numbers)
  • The Penn State defense owns three second half shutouts this season: at Pitt, Kent State and Iowa.
  • Indiana ran 100 offensive plays against the Nittany Lions, the most by a Penn State opponent in program history, but was held to 1.75 points per possession.
  • Penn State broke up 15 passes against Michigan State, which was the most for the team since breaking up 16 passes against Purdue in 2000.
  • Penn State became the first team to hold Ohio State scoreless in the opening stanza this season. The Buckeyes had scored at least 10 points in the first quarter in each of the first four games of the season.
  • Penn State was the first team to hold Ohio State under 100 yards of offense in a half since Oklahoma did it last year in the first half of their 2017 meeting.
  • Penn State allowed just 221 total yards to Kent State, the sixth-fewest yards allowed under James Franklin, tied with 221 yards allowed at Indiana in 2014.
  • The 221 total yards allowed vs. Kent State are the fewest since allowing 200 vs. Rutgers in 2017.
  • The Nittany Lions allowed just 41 yards rushing by Kent State, the lowest value since giving up 39 at Rutgers in 2016.
  • Penn State held Pitt to just six points, marking the fewest points allowed by Penn State since holding Maryland to three points in the 2017 regular season finale.

 
STEPPING UP ON D

  • Penn State's top six tacklers this season do not include any returning starters from last season.
  • True freshman LB Micah Parsons leads the team with 43 tackles. S Nick Scott, LB Cam Brown and S Garrett Taylor follow with 42 tackles each. LB Jan Johnson has 41 tackles and CB Amani Oruwariye has 39.
  • Parsons has not started a game yet.
  • Johnson was put on scholarship Oct. 18.

 
CAUSING CHAOS BEHIND THE LINE

  • Penn State leads the Big Ten in both sacks (3.50) and tackles for loss (8.1) per game. Nationally, Penn State ranks fourth and eighth, respectively.
  • Penn State is continuing to bring a balanced pass rush, as 14 different Nittany Lions have contributed to the team's 25 sacks for the season.
  • DE Yetur Gross-Matos had a career-high 4.0 tackles for loss against Iowa and tied his career high with 2.0 sacks, marking the second-straight week he posted 2.0 sacks. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the Iowa game.
  • Gross-Matos leads the Big Ten and ranks 16th in FBS with 1.6 TFLs per game. He also ranks third in the Big Ten with 0.75 sacks per game.
  • DE Shaka Toney recorded 4.0 sacks at Indiana, all coming in the fourth quarter, doubling his previous career high of 2.0 against Northwestern in 2017.
  • Toney's 4.0 sacks tied the Penn State single-game record, equaling the mark held by three others – Terry Killens vs. Indiana, 1995; Jimmy Kennedy at Wisconsin, 2002; Tamba Hali vs. Wisconsin, 2005.
  • Penn State has 28 sacks in 2018. The Nittany Lions totaled 42 sacks in 13 games in 2017. Following totals of 46 sacks in 2015 and 40 sacks in 2016, Penn State posted back-to-back-to-back 40-sack seasons for the first time since it posted three-consecutive 40-sack seasons in 2005 (41), 2006 (40) and 2007 (46).

 
NO FLY ZONE

  • The Nittany Lions held Iowa to just 19-for-50 in the passing game, marking the sixth time since 2000 an FBS school has held an opponent to less than 20 completions on 50 attempts (Florida State vs. North Carolina [19-50] in 2002; Utah State vs. Connecticut [19-51] in 2001; Boise State vs. Nevada [19-51] in 2008; Colorado vs. Washington State [19-52] in 2004; UTEP vs. Hawaii [15-50] in 2000).
  • CBs Amani Oruwariye and John Reid both rank in the top five in the Big Ten in passes defended.
  • With 13 passes defended (11 PBU, 2 INT), Oruwariye ranks second the Big Ten with 1.6 passes defended per game, which also ranks eighth in FBS.
  • In six games played, Reid (6 PBU, 1 INT) ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 1.2 passes defended per game.
  • Against Iowa, Reid grabbed his fourth career interception and returned it for 44 yards, tying his career-long interception return. He also broke up a career-high three passes.
  • S Nick Scott had his second interception of the season and his career against Iowa. It was also his second interception in as many weeks, and came at a crucial time as Iowa was threatening to tie the game in the final minutes. Scott intercepted the pass at the 2-yard line.
  • Scott is the third Nittany Lion to have interceptions in back-to-back games this season, joining Amani Oruwariye (Appalachian State, Pittsburgh) and Garrett Taylor (Ohio State, Michigan State).
  • Oruwariye had an interception in each of Penn State's first two games. Both interceptions were in the red zone.
  • At Pitt, Oruwariye intercepted a pass at the 3-yard line nullifying a potential touchdown drive. He was named to the Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week for his efforts.
  • See Season Honors on Page 11
  • Against App State, Oruwariye sealed Penn State's season-opening win in overtime with an interception in the end zone.
  • Oruwariye has had an interception in three consecutive season openers (2016 vs. Kent State; 2017 vs. Akron).

 
RETURN GAME LEADERS

  • Returner KJ Hamler and DeAndre Thompkins both rank in the top 30 nationally in kickoff and punt returns, respectively.
  • Hamler is averaging 28.4 yards per kickoff return to rank 10th in FBS and second in the Big Ten. The average presently ranks tied for the 10th best single-season average with Saquon Barkley's 2018 season. It also presently ranks him tied for third on Penn State's career list with Charlie Pittman (1967-69).
  • Hamler has also returned nine punts for 84 yards, giving him 538 combined return yards this season, which ranks fourth in FBS and first in the Big Ten.
  • Hamler had a career-long 67-yard kick return against Iowa.
  • Hamler's return prowess and success on offense rank him with the third-highest all-purpose yards average  (133.38) in the Big Ten.
  • Thompkins ranks second in the Big Ten and ranks 26th in FBS averaging 10.1 yards per punt return.
  • Thompkins' 671 career punt return yards rank him tied for seventh all-time at Penn State with Kevin Baugh (1980-83).
  • Thompkins returned a punt 39 yards for a touchdown at Pitt for his second career punt return touchdown. He also scored on a punt return against Akron last season.
  • With two career punt returns for a touchdown, Thompkins is tied for fourth on Penn State's all-time list with 10 other players (most recently: Larry Johnson, 1998-2002.
  • Penn State has been strong on punt return defense, yielding an average of just 4.05 yards to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 22nd in FBS.

 
FRESHMEN KICKERS

  • Penn State's place-kicking and kickoff specialists are both true freshmen,
  • K Jake Pinegar has made his last six field goals and is 9-for-13 on the year.
  • Pinegar is 6-for-7 on field goals inside 40 yards, and had field goals of 45, 49 and 44 yards against Iowa to improve to 3-for-6 from 40 yards or longer.
  • Against Iowa, Pinegar became the first Nittany Lion kicker with three 40-yard field goals in a single game since Sam Ficken had boots of 47, 46 and 48 yards vs. Maryland in 2014.
  • Pinegar's 49-yard field goal against Iowa was the longest field goal by Penn State since Sam Ficken kicked a 50-yard kick vs. Temple in 2014.
  • Pinegar leads the Big Ten with 68 points scored.
  • K Rafael Checa has 33 touchbacks on 60 kickoffs this season and is averaging 60.0 yards per kickoff.