Penn State stuck it to Michigan last year, U-M will try returning the favor

Last season, the Penn State Nittany Lions really took it to the Michigan Wolverines, winning in Happy Valley 42-13.

How Penn State finished the game rubbed Michigan the wrong way, snapping the ball with one second left with goal to go. The run by Miles Sanders was stuffed for a loss.

If you don’t like it, stop it is my thought on a team running up the score. In that instance, the Wolverines did stop it, and they haven’t forgotten about it either.

• DE Kwity Paye: “Five seconds left in the game they had their players in and ran that last play. We just put that in our back pocket, remember that every single day as we’re working, that they disrespected us. We want to come out and show them who we are this year.”
• S Josh Metellus: “I find that as disrespectful. It was two seconds left on the clock and they tried to run the ball to score even more. I take that personally. This game is real personal.”
• DE Chase Winovich: “We don’t like what they tried to do at the end of the game, trying to score the touchdown. Hey, they’ve got to do what to do. It’s football, so we’re not going to whine about it. We’re just going to focus on what we can control and keep getting better every week.”

Defensive coordinator Don Brown said he wakes up every morning and thinks about that loss to PSU. “They handed it to us last year. I did a poor job against them. Obviously, the players feel the same way, and we’ve got (time for) preparation to put our best foot forward. I feel good about this one.”

Dr. Blitz and his dudes will be looking to dominate QB Trace McSorely and the rest of the Lions offense, but in order to really stick it to them, Michigan’s offense will have to play like a fine-tuned machine as well.

The team and fans will be happy with a win no matter how the game transpires, but there’s no doubt they’d like to win big, that’s likely the goal.

The prelude to this game is reminiscent of something that already happened to Jim Harbaugh in his days at Stanford.

USC’s Pete Carroll was known to run up the score any chance he could get, often going for it on 4th and opting for 2-point conversions even when the Trojans were up a few scores.

In 2008 USC beat Stanford by a score of 45-23, and the way the Trojans went about it rubbed a lot of the Cardinal players the wrong way.

A year later, the game unfolded in a much different manner. Andrew Luck and the Stanford offense couldn’t be stopped.

When Stanford was up 48-21 late in the 4th quarter, Harbaugh opted to go for a 2-point conversion. The run failed, but the message was sent to Carroll and USC loud and clear.

Stanford won the game 55-21.

During their post-game handshake Carroll proceeded to ask Harbaugh “What’s your deal?”, in which Harbaugh retorted with “What’s your deal?!”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is a philosophy Harbaugh implements every now and then, and Michigan sure would like to be in a position to go for two up a few scores in the 4th against Penn State.

JOIN US on Friday, Nov. 2 for a hangout at the Detroit Beer Company! Free beer, free food, who says no to that before a win over Penn State? RSVP HERE!