Michigan 24, PSU 15.

[lineygoblue]

I mentioned during the game that there was a blatant hold on PSU's TD right before the half.

401097961_835271358607965_5001380379542489651_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_s960x960&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=CvGk302eNI4AX9527s3&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfD3p2iHE5ftCn3QXJCY_zZGZo9vc3XvdkjcDdxYvv7LjA&oe=6556E

And there it is. PSU's #71 has two hands inside Michigan's #55 shoulder pads, as the QB goes right by him on his way to the endzone.

At least it was a 'good' hold ... he freaking tackled him. If you're going to hold, make it a good hold.

Turns out it didn't matter, .. It had no effect on the outcome... .. but it did happen.

.. and as a bonus, it looks to me like M's #94 is being held too ....

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'm sure M didn't get away with any holds...

[lineygoblue]

I think they may have later in the game on one of Corum's runs.

Obviously a 'make up' call by the zebras, .. right?

[Mike]

Franklin fired his OC today.

[Hannibal]

I haven’t been so relieved that we got a win like that one in a long time. Penn State wanted that one — badly. And so did we. The way that PSU was able to ram the ball down out throats for so much of the day and our inability to defend the QB run are major concerns. But boy oh boy, the running game sure did pick a great time to show up! Corum, Edwards, and the OL — great game on the ground against a very good run defense.

in the passing game, the tackles were turnstiles. 30 runs in the second half. Zero passes. Wow. Our solution to the terrible DE/OT matchup was to abandon the passing game entirely. And it actually worked! Well sorta. It was OK in the second half but we punted a bunch of times and our 10 points came off of a fumble and a failed 4th down conversion.

We need fo figure out a solution for the tackles situation that doesn’t involve completely taking JJ’s arm and Roman Wilson completely out of the game.

But for now, let’s enjoy the win. It wasn’t long ago that a road game against a Top 10 team meant “automatic loss”. Maybe we’ll revert to that next year and beyond, but this group feels special.

[Hannibal]

This game saw the continuation of some highly favorable lucky trends that we have been enjoying this year. I’m not going to say out loud what those are, but I’ll make some remarks on them after the season.

[Hannibal]

Franklin fired his OC today.

Weird. I thought that Penn State’s OC had a pretty good day. Especially in the first half. And they made some great playcalls on 3rd amd 4th down.

[lineygoblue]

PSU's defensive line is one of the best in college football. IIRC, their pass rush has more sacks than any other in the country. Georgia, OSU, Michigan,... anybody.

This turned out to be a classic Bo/Woody type of matchup in the 2nd half. Once M had the lead, ..PSU had to find a way to catch them. Moore gambled on pounding the rock, hoping that a play or two might break thru, and at the same time didn't take any risks in the passing game. If you insist on throwing against that defense, you get the possibility of interceptions, tipped passes that fall into the wrong hands, and even worse, you risk injury to McCarthy. M had the lead, so PSU had to be the team to take the risks to get the game tied, or take the lead. Moore was confident that his defense could contain PSU.

It was maddening to watch, but afterward, you see the result, and you say, .. "Oh, okay". Moore forced Franklin to take risks, (and call boneheaded plays) and Moore played for a stalemate.

Just a classic Bo thing.

Now this isn't going to work in every remaining game, but it worked yesterday.

[lineygoblue]

Franklin fired his OC today.

The wrong guy was fired.

[WM Wolverine]

That only makes me a lil better about how much pressure M's OL gave up in their handful of pass attempts.

[Cody_Russell]

That only makes me a lil better about how much pressure M's OL gave up in their handful of pass attempts.

M saw RT Barnhart get destroyed on at least 4 reps in the 1st half and decided to shutdown the pass… The run game was working too. That’s my theory.

Could be troublesome vs OSU and edge rusher JT Tuimoloau.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Here's a great explanation of why M (Sherrone Moore) called only one pass attempt. Fundamentally, because Manny Diaz puts two DEs who are freakish athletes on the field and can get quickly into an opponent's backfield. Diaz is Don Brown level aggressive and lines up relatively light dudes in the front 7 that also can get into the backfield often before an opposing OL guy has gotten out of his stance. Yes, RT Karson Barnhart, looked like a turn style - pretty much like every other R or LT that faced PSU's DEs.

The upside for M facing Manny DIaz's D is that if you're patient, a D player is going to make a mistake and ......... Corum's dagger 45y TD in the 4th quarter to seal it happens. And, that wasn't the only big run play during M's 32 consecutive calls for them. They weren't as dramatic but they moved the chains on several 3rd down attempts.

https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-mammoth-tramples-mercs#read-more

Is there something to be worried about M's run game when it faces osu? Probably not as Kerry Combs, a Don Brown devotee, isn't the DC. Jim Knowles is. He runs a defensive scheme similar to Diaz at PSU but it doesn't have freakishly athletic DEs and his front 7 are more traditionally beefy dudes.

[Niffla]

A win in Happy Valley against a highly motivated Penn State team who still had a path to a Big Ten title -- I'll take it everyday of the week.

Not to mention the storm of controversy surrounding the program and them finding out mid-flight their HC was being suspended. Those are pretty incredible circumstances to take into battle, in one of the most difficult environments to win in of all of college football.

[Hannibal]

I mentioned during the game that there was a blatant hold on PSU's TD right before the half.

401097961_835271358607965_5001380379542489651_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_s960x960&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=CvGk302eNI4AX9527s3&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfD3p2iHE5ftCn3QXJCY_zZGZo9vc3XvdkjcDdxYvv7LjA&oe=6556E

And there it is. PSU's #71 has two hands inside Michigan's #55 shoulder pads, as the QB goes right by him on his way to the endzone.

At least it was a 'good' hold ... he freaking tackled him. If you're going to hold, make it a good hold.

Turns out it didn't matter, .. It had no effect on the outcome... .. but it did happen.

.. and as a bonus, it looks to me like M's #94 is being held too ....

That doesn't look like a hold to me, TBH. At least not as it's called in today's game. I came away from the game thinking that M got the favorable treatment from the officials.

[Mike]

That play in particular was a great play call against our formation. 55 was the only defender in the middle of the field.