Michigan Revenge Tour: C Ya Penn State

The Michigan Revenge Tour rolled on Saturday evening at the Big House.  Michigan dismantled the Penn State Nittany Lions 42-7.  The Wolverines have gone 3 for 3 on the Revenge Tour and will look for a clean sweep in 3 weeks when the Wolverines travel to Columbus.

Michigan will likely be ranked No. 4 when the next round of College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday evening.  If the College Football Playoffs started tomorrow, they would likely look like this:

1. Alabama -vs- 4. Michigan

2. Clemson -vs- 3. Notre Dame

Michigan has gotten better each and every game this season and is getting healthy at the right time with the Wolverines seeing the return of WR Tarik Black and defensive superstar Rashan Gary.  How dominant were the Wolverines on Saturday?  They held Penn State to 186 yards total.  Karan Higdon and Chris Evans rushed for 189 yards.  Yes, 2 Michigan RB's earned more total yards than Penn State's entire offense.

Penn State only converted 2 3rd downs in the entire game.  And how badly did Michigan want to pitch a shut out?  Jim Harbaugh challenged a catch with 3 minutes left in the game.

Michigan heads on the road Saturday to play a beleaguered Rutgers team before coming home to close out home play against Indiana.  While the Michigan players and staff can't look past either opponent, all eyes are certainly focusing in on Columbus for The Game - a game which could determine who will play for the Big Ten championship in Indianapolis and who could be heading to the College Football Playoff.

From Earlier in the Week....

After a much needed bye week for Michigan who are coming off of two big wins against Wisconsin and in-state rival Michigan State, the Michigan Revenge Tour rolls on this Saturday when Penn State comes to down.  The Nittany Lions crushed the Wolverines last year 42-13 en route to an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.

This year the Nittany Lions have suffered two home losses against Ohio State and Michigan State and are squarely out of the Big Ten title picture.  While they loss stud running back Saquon Barkley to the NY Giants this year, they are still piloted by Trace McSorley.  While McSorley isn’t have the same year as he did in 2017 (down 14% in completions), he is still a versatile QB capable of escaping defenses.

Michigan will trot out the No. 1 defense against the Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon.  Jim Harbaugh did not provide an update on the availabity of Rashan Gary for Saturday’s game but I would expect that he is not going to be dressed.  With each week that passses by, it becomes less likely that Gary is likely to return to the Wolverines and potentially harm his draft status before next April.

On the other hand, Tarik Black was dressed for Michigan State and did lineup for a play.  Reports from Detroit Free Press reporter Nick Baumgardner is that Black was limited in practice during the bye week but could return to the field and see meaningful action.  A receiving corp of Black, Peoples-Jones, and Collins would be lethal for Shea Patterson and the Michigan offense and substantial compliment to the steady running game lead by Karon Hidgon.

Michigan is currently a 10.5 point favorite heading into the game on Saturday which seems like a big number to hit over a ranked Penn State. Team.  We’d look for Michigan to win on Saturday but Penn State to cover.