Blue White Illustrated

PLAYER OF THE GAMEMichigan's de- fense collectively had the best game of anyone on the field, and defensive end Frank Clark had the best night, so he gets the nod here. He finished the game with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. PLAY OF THE GAMEClark's sack on Christian Hackenberg with less than two minutes to play wasn't the play of the game. It really was just the final ex- ample of a debilitating performance by Michigan's defense against an out- matched Penn State front. In any case, the 13-yard sack cemented the Nittany Lions' fate on this night. BEST PASSOn a third-and-goal from the 10-yard line in the second quarter, Hackenberg's touchdown pass to Dae- Sean Hamilton through an im- possibly tight window was one of the few bright spots for the soph- omore quarterback. BEST RUNOn a slow night for both teams, Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner finally found some room to run early in the third quarter, breaking free for a 25-yard carry using some nice deception. BEST CATCHMichigan receiver Devin Funchess' first-quarter 43-yard touch- down reception first appeared to be headed directly toward safety Ryan Keiser. Instead it wound up in Funchess' arms in the end zone to give the Wolverines an early 7-3 lead. WORST DROPOn the very first offen- sive play of the third quarter, an easy pitch-and-catch from Gardner to Funchess was thwarted when the Wolverine wideout simply dropped the ball. BEST SACKMike Hull was a mad man Saturday night, no more so than when he went Superman – arms wide – and slammed Gardner to the ground from behind early in the third quarter. BEST HITHackenberg took more than a few shots Saturday night – none more odd than the sack taken at the end of the first half. Here's betting he wakes up with a few bruises Sun- day morning. BEST INTERCEPTION Anthony Zettel, already jacked to be back in his native state of Michigan, made an unbelievably athletic play against a Gardner dump pass. Leaping to the ball's highest point, Zettel picked it off in Wolverines' territory and set up the Lions' second-quarter touchdown. BEST KICKMichigan kicker Matt Wile nailed a crucial 37-yard kick to give Michigan a 16-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines would not re- lent. WORST KICKChris Gulla had a few. His 29-yarder early in the fourth quar- ter, when Penn State severely needed to push the field position, was a disastrous way to set up Michigan with the ball at midfield. BEST DECISIONLate in the third quar- ter, Hull made the read and burst through the offensive line from his middle linebacker spot and nearly picked off third-string quarterback Russell Bellomy's pass going the other way, with nothing but green space in front. The dropped ball kept the Wolverines alive, though. WORST DECISIONWhere to start? The night was full of them from both teams, but Michigan defensive back Delonte Hollowell really wasted everyone's time early in the third quarter, taking a bob- bled pass that fell incomplete by Geno Lewis to the house for a "touchdown." Actually, though, the ball bounced twice before Hollowell gained posses- sion. Somehow, the officials missed the clear incompletion. MOST TELLING MOMENTStuck with a stalling offense, the Nittany Lions went to a fake punt hoping to revitalize a drive in Michigan territory midway through the third quarter. The experi- ment – a jet sweep to Grant Haley – was a disaster, leaving the Wolverines with prime field position. – NATE BAUER JUDGMENT CALLS The best and the rest from the Lions' road loss to Michigan Steve Manuel O c T O B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 4 PILING ON Michigan defend- ers bring down Jesse James. PSU's offense failed to score a point in the second half.

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