Michigan vs. Penn State 2017 results: Nittany Lions roll, 42-13

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10:51. Rinse, repeat. Michigan again plods into PSU territory, and a fourth-down sack again ends the drive. PSU’s backups drive into a goal-to-go situation but just narrowly avoids scoring one last time. 42-13, final.

10:37. Um, yeah. They’re keeping their foot on the gas. McSorley completes a 23-yard pass to Brandon Polk, scrambles for 19 yards, then drags tacklers into the end zone for a nine-yard score. Damn. Everybody on this PSU team remembers last year’s 49-10 loss to Michigan and is trying to just about match it. 42-13, 7:53 left. Penn State is averaging nearly nine yards per play. Against Michigan.

10:30. Yeah, that’ll just about do it. O’Korn and Perry connect to move Michigan into PSU territory, but Curtis Cothran sacks O’Korn on the ensuing first down, then Kevin Givens gets him on fourth. PSU ball, up 22, 9:50 left. The only question left: will PSU keep its foot on the gas?

10:22. And the dagger has been inserted. McSorley finds Barkley wide open on another wheel route, and Barkley only almost drops this one. He bats it about but reels it in. 42-yard touchdown. 35-13 PSU, 13:11 left. Michigan needs a miracle, otherwise PSU is heading to Columbus still unbeaten next week.

10:17. After a questionable chop block penalty backs the Wolverines up, O’Korn makes another really nice pass, this one to Grant Perry for a first down at the UM 49. But he doesn’t see a corner blitz coming, and Christian Campbell separates him from the football. Robert Windsor recovers for Penn State. The dagger is in Penn State’s hand once again.

10:09. It’s quickly third-and-10 for Michigan again, but O’Korn makes a big pass: he finds Sean McKeon for 12 yards on third-and-10. The fourth quarter will begin with Michigan facing a second-and-6 from its 42.

10:05. Lovely Michigan response. On third-and-6, the Wolverines overwhelm PSU’s pass protectors, and Kwity Paye and Mike McCray sack McSorley. This one’s not over just yet.

10:00. Danger time for Michigan. As Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are talking up O’Korn, he holds onto the ball way too long on a third-and-6 and takes a big sack from Jason Cabinda and Manny Bowen. Three-and-out. If PSU scores again here, this one’s just about over.

9:53. In the first half, PSU offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead got the best of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown early, then Brown caught up and adjusted. The second half begins with Moorhead again getting the upper hand, though McSorley and Hamilton have a whole hell of a lot to do with that.

McSorley hits Hamilton on a perfect slant, and he races to near midfield, then McSorley takes a zone-read keeper inside the Michigan 40. Gophers trip Barkley on an eight-yard pass (it certainly wasn’t a Michigan defender who took him down), then McSorley scrambles for another first down.

After Barkley is stuffed for a four-yard loss, McSorley escapes pressure and hits Hamilton for 11 yards to set up third-and-3. Another easy slant to Hamilton moves the chains, and then McSorley shakes and dances and dives to the pylon for a 13-yard touchdown run. 28-13 PSU, 5:13 left in the third. That was a nine-play, 80-yard, five-minute drive.

9:42. Grant Perry recovers an O’Korn fumble on the second play of the second half, then Michigan converts back-to-back third-and-manageables to get into Penn State territory. But Peoples-Jones drops a nicely developing screen pass, then Ryan Buchholz sacks O’Korn. Third-and-16 is not third-and-manageable — Peoples-Jones catches a shallow cross but comes up six yards short, and Michigan punts.

9:15. A penalty ends any last-second Michigan scoring hopes. A holding call backs the Wolverines up, and PSU’s James Franklin calls a time out to force Michigan to punt, and PSU kneels out the clock to take an eight-point lead into halftime. The Nittany Lions have dominated in terms of yardage (302-141), but the David Long pick turned the game around for a bit.

9:09. Fun Deep Ball Penn State is back. After McSorley finds Johnson for 12 yards, he lobs a 36-yarder to Hamilton, and the Nittany Lions will have one last scoring chance this half.

Another lob, another completion. This time it’s Gesicki’s turn to high-point the ball along the sideline, and it’s first-and-goal at the 3. McSorley takes it from there. He fakes a hand-off to Barkley, then runs up the middle for a touchdown. 21-13, 53 seconds left. And because he evidently can’t stop himself, Gesicki leapfrogs McSorley just for fun in the touchdown celebration.

9:00. And now it’s O’Korn’s turn to stabilize. He scrambles for a first down to midfield, then connects with Donovan Peoples-Jones for 18 yards. And on third-and-5 from the PSU 29, O’Korn gets cracked by Jason Kabinda but lobs a ball to Kekoa Crawford at the 6. Ty Isaac takes it from there: he follows his pulling right guard into the end zone. Nordin makes the PAT this time. 14-13, 1:45 left in the half.

8:52. McSorley stabilizes a bit. He connects with Juwan Johnson for 12 yards, and after he gets away with a possible intentional grounding, he lobs a lovely third-down pass to DaeSean Hamilton for 27 yards. Another pass to Hamilton moves the chains again, and then it’s a wheel route to Barkley ... who drops it? He did something wrong? That’s allowed? PSU advances to Michigan’s 33 but stalls out after the drop and turns it over on downs.

8:44. An important three-and-out for the PSU defense. Two Michigan rushes gain seven yards, and a short O’Korn pass to Evans is eaten up short of the sticks, and a nice punt pins PSU inside the 15.

8:39. The home stadium isn’t quite as loud now. After a Barkley kick return is snuffed out at the 15, McSorley is sacked, Barkley is stuffed, and Michigan’s Khaleke Hudson allllllmost picks off a screen pass in the end zone. The Wolverines’ defensive front dominated that possession, and Penn State is lucky to get to punt. Blake Gillikin uncorks a lovely 56-yarder, and Michigan will start at its 36.

8:26. Manball near the goal line. After Higdon gets the ball to the 1 on first-and-goal, two plunge attempts by big Khalid Hill don’t get in. Fourth-and-goal from the 1-inch line: a pitch to Higdon, who gets to the pylon before he gets trucked. Big, dumb, physical football ... and a missed PAT! Quinn Nordin, booed by the home crowd (he creatively decommitted from PSU), shanks it wide right. 14-6, 12:53 left.

8:19. Given new life by the defense, Michigan’s offense finds some traction. John O’Korn, Chris Evans, and Taran Higdon all rush for first downs, then a quick flick to Eddie McDoom gets Michigan inside the 5 as the quarter ends. This was about to turn into a rout, but now Michigan’s close to getting back within one possession.

8:13. Finally, some life from Michigan and an absolutely awful drive by McSorley. A holding penalty and a really bad roughing the passer penalty by Chase Winovich get PSU to midfield, but McSorley misfires on a couple of passes, then gets picked off by David Long. The best play he made all drive: tackling Long at the Michigan 41.

8:03. After a nice Ambry Thomas kick return, it’s more of the same: two runs gain three yards, then a screen loses three. Another three-and-out in the blink of an eye. Penn State gets the ball back at its 23 midway through the first.

7:56. Hot knife, meet butter. A decent Barkley run is followed by a 23-yard keeper by Trace McSorley. McSorley lobs a jump ball downfield to Mike Gesicki for 35 yards downfield, and then it’s option right to Barkley for a 15-yard touchdown. Good gracious, this has been a perfect start. And where has this Penn State line been the last couple of games? 14-0, PSU. We haven’t played five minutes yet.

7:50. Michigan’s offense has been so woefully inefficient this year that the only chance the Wolverines have of keeping up if they’re going to give up some big plays is to establish the run like they did against Indiana (only, more so). Doesn’t happen on the first drive. Two short runs + a sack = three-and-out.

An illegal block on the punt return will pin PSU inside the 20, but this is still just a nightmarish start for UM.

7:45. It does give us a quick opportunity to answer the biggest question of the game: how does Penn State try to get Saquon Barkley going? He’s had a couple of inefficient games of late, and—oh, I’m sorry, he just ripped off a very nice 69-yard touchdown run. Direct snap. Well then. 7-0, Penn State, less than a minute into the game.

7:43. Penn State won the toss and elected to receive. That’s bold.

As the Big Ten has been ascending the ranks of Power-5 conferences, three teams have consistently stood out as national contenders: Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. Two of those teams (Michigan and Penn State) will meet on Saturday, with the trifecta of games rounding out over the next few weeks.

The 2016 Big Ten Championship came down to the last week of the regular season, with Ohio State’s win over Michigan putting the Wolverines out of contention and the Penn State win over the Buckeyes landing the Nittany Lions the No. 1 spot — and a trip to the title game. Despite all this — and winning the Big Ten title — Penn State was still slighted out of a chance to compete in the College Football Playoff.

Now, Penn State head coach James Franklin and his team still have one of the most productive and versatile offensive weapons in all of college football in Saquon Barkley and a quarterback who has only four interceptions to his 13 touchdowns. The Nittany Lion offense may be what the talking heads are noticing, but the defense hasn’t allowed more than 19 points all year, with two games resulting in shutouts of epic proportions (52-0 and 56-0).

On the other sideline, the Michigan Wolverines were a top-10 team for the first few weeks of the season, before their offensive struggles failed to improve, followed by their loss to an unranked Michigan State in Week 6. Now sitting on the back end of the top 25, Jim Harbaugh and Co. might have the defensive prowess to hold Barkley from a breakout day, but without an offense that can put points on the board, could be facing a losing battle — especially on the road.

Through six games, not much has changed with this Michigan team. Same old story: The defense is dominant and will keep them in every game, but mistakes and bad offense continue to drag this team down.

2017 is trying its best to replicate the madness of 2007, having re-shifted the top five two weeks in a row already, and claimed two No. 2 teams this season. The top 10 carnage hasn’t been as wild as of yet, but several teams have already lost to unranked opponents, with the exception of one of the aforementioned top two teams, Ohio State, who lost at the hands of another top five team in Oklahoma.

After a solid performance against Michigan State (12 carries, 65 yards), the junior was working his way up that chart.

After Saturday, Higdon now finds himself as a key component to Michigan’s offensive success.

The Sarasota, Florida native rushed for a career-high 200 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns, which was every touchdown Michigan scored in the game.

Plus, if Michigan attains sustainable success with its rushing attack, the clock will continue to run. This will shorten the game, provide Penn State with fewer possessions to pull away, and permit Michigan’s defense to earn as much rest as it possibly can.