LBU Staff Reactions: Penn State 41, Michigan 31

Penn State had more than a few reasons
to celebrate Saturday night. (Photo: Mike/LBU)

How sweet was Penn State's ass-whoopin' of Michigan? We'll tell you...

Galen

We knew going in the Denard was going to get his scores and we knew we had to outscore Michigan because we weren’t going to stop him. Considering Penn State was basically starting a 3rd string walk-on at Quarterback (the first to ever do so for Joe Paterno) you really can’t complain about Saturday’s result. I’m always very critical of the play calling, especially on offense, so I have to give credit where credit is due, the coaches called a fantastic game. They threw on first down, mixed in pass & run, and basically had Michigan’s defense on their heels. Penn State needed to get out to a fast start and they did, Michigan was playing catch-up the entire game. Instead of going into a conservative shell the coaches came out punching and it worked. Throw in the perfectly timed fake field goal and all I can do is tip my hat to Jay & Galen. Kudos gentlemen.

Mike

Penn State needed to win this game. Not only did the Nittany Lions show up to play some damn good football Satuday night, they did it in such a way, I was temporarily stricken with amnesia. After the first two drives--Michigan's 3-and-out, and Penn State's touchdown--I completely forgot what year, what team this was on the Beaver Stadium grass. Yes, it was Michigan, which came in with the worst defense in the Big Ten. But Penn State torched the Wolverines exactly the way a good team should. And while this wasn't a blowout in the end, the Penn State defense did a good enough job early to make the game feel much more out of reach for the visitors than the final score would read.

The playcalling was superb, Matt McGloin looked like a Zack Mills c. 2001, Evan Royster flicked away defenders like gnats, and--holy cow--the offensive line opened holes like it was 2008 or 2005 all over again. Even the defense, considering it was up against the best (statistically) offense and the best offensive player in the Big Ten, played fundamentally better and with more fire than it had in a long time.

Nick

I have to say this game played out eerily similar to how I imagined it would, because the Gingers strike at night! McGloin and Royster took turns absolutely laying waste to Michigan's defense, so much so I put this game in the win column following Penn St.'s drive to open the second half that extended the lead to 3 TD's. While Michigan eventually managed to get it back to a 7-point deficit, this game felt like Illinois in '08 where their defense really had no answer whatsoever for what Penn St. wanted to do. The most shocking revelation is just how poor Michigan's offense is, is there even a playbook? It basically consists of Denard Robinson just trying to make something happen and occasionally he's able to spin some magic. There was the one really awful blown coverage and some lost contains, but PSU's young and beat up defense more than held their own. I was surprised that Forcier didn't see more snaps outside of when Robinson was getting treatment yet again, but I'm glad he didn't.

Also, I would be remiss not acknowledging Royster's record breaking performance. Glad he could get it in a game like that.

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