Nittany Lions prep for OSU by routing Wolverines
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — What untold happiness merely two people can spread, if one happens to be as wondrous a college football back as anybody could dream up, and the other happens to be a clever quarterback, and they have a bunch of friends who don’t mind blocking for them and for limited credit.
That ancient American reality came true again here Saturday night, and it turned up whiplash-fast on the second play of the night, with the masses of tailgate tables barely folded up and the 110,823 at Beaver Stadium barely into their places in their overwhelming white attire. No. 2 Penn State’s 42-13 win over No. 19 Michigan would have its snags, but as running back Saquon Barkley grew his gathering legend further by running 69 yards into agreeable night air for a 7-0 lead, that run gave a heap of hints.
It hinted that this bruising Big Ten match might not prove so bruising, that Michigan’s smashing defensive statistics might be in for a night of some warping, and that Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley and the whole, loud Penn State ship would go streaming into Ohio State on Saturday.
Within six offensive plays and five minutes of onesided action, Penn State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) had 153 yards, which looked shocking against a Michigan defense which had allowed Florida only 192 yards, Purdue only 189, Michigan State only 252. Penn State had 14 points. It had Barkley through the midsection for 69 yards, and then Barkley around the right side on a pitch for 15 and another touchdown.
None of this looked too encouraging for Michigan’s offense, No. 88 nationally in total yards per game and No. 84 in offensive yards per play, even if the Wolverines (5-2, 2-2) did make a go of it. With an interception by David Long that might have staved off a 21-0 deficit, Michigan did some plodding efficiency. It went 59 yards in an eternal 11 plays, 67 in eight. Had it not missed an extra point after the first touchdown, the score would have stood 14-14 rather than 14-13.
Never mind that. The Nittany Lions got going again. After some sludgy stuff through the first half, they went 75 yards in 52 seconds (and seven plays) to make it 21-13. Their 21 points by halftime exceeded the game totals of all the previous six Michigan opponents. Barkley’s 109 yards rushing by halftime would surpass the 85.8 rushing yards per game Michigan had been allowing. Their eventual 506 total yards would scream way past the front-running 278 attained against Michigan by Indiana.
Clearly, Penn State was something else. It danced through the second half as superior, leaving the audience rather tame by the fourth quarter. On the first Penn State possession after halftime, McSorley saw a defender nudge toward Barkley, pulled in one of those fakes to Barkley and took off leftward for 13 yards. Then McSorley flipped to Barkley on the other side of the field for 9. Then he threw a third-down slant to DaeSean Hamilton for a first down, until a fantastic defense looked addled, so McSorley took off on a winding run that started slightly right and wound up 13 yards way left, at the pylon.
For further fun, Barkley, who clearly doesn’t mind behaving as a wide receiver when asked, almost hauled in a 42-yard pass up the right sideline from McSorley, but bobbled it. Then, of course, he recollected it, completed the touchdown and finished that as the fourth Big Ten player ever with 3,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 career receiving yards.
That gave Penn State a 35-13 lead, and that closed down any unusually durable suspicion that the game might go in any other direction.