Blue White Illustrated

mater, Harbaugh has displayed a pen- chant for making bizarre headlines. At a different time, in a different place, that habit might seem frivolous or distract- ing. But winning has a way of transform- ing eccentricity into brilliance, and few college football teams at the moment are winning with more frequency or deci- siveness than the Wolverines. Heading into its Big Ten opener against Penn State, Michigan is ranked fourth in the country and is second in the Big Ten in scoring offense (53 points per game) and fourth in scoring defense (15 ppg). The Wolverines are 19 1 ⁄2-point favorites to defeat the Nittany Lions, and with eight home games on their schedule, they appear to have an excellent chance of being unbeaten heading into their tra- ditional regular-season finale against Ohio State, which this year will take place in Columbus. Defying the conventional coaching wisdom, which holds that the polls are best ignored and players should be fo- cused on factors they can control, Har- baugh has encouraged the Wolverines to be mindful of their ranking as they vie for a spot in the College Football Playoff. "We're trying to see how high we can climb, how far we can go," he said. "We're striving to be the best." Harbaugh said that heading into the season, he was looking to ensure that his players' intensity didn't vary from week to week. The start of the Big Ten season might be a significant milepost, but it wouldn't change the team's approach in any way, he said. "The way we've looked at it, we were out to be at our best every single week. As we assess the schedule from the start of the schedule, every opponent that we play was going to have to be treated with the utmost respect," Harbaugh said. "Preparation was going to have to be pre- cise and locked in and focused to give ourselves the best chance to be success- ful in the football game. So that's the way we've treated game one, game two, game three and game four now. We're going to have to treat every team on our schedule with that kind of respect: as a big game, as a championship game. That's how we've been going about it. Every game is a big game. Every game is a champi- onship game." For the most part, the Wolverines have lived up to that credo. Blessed with differ- ence-makers on both sides of the ball, players such as redshirt sophomore strong safety Jabrill Peppers, whose team- leading total of 28 tackles includes 9.5 tackles for loss, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight, who is com- pleting 63.8 percent of his passes in his first season as a starter, Michigan romped in its first three games. The Wolverines blasted Hawaii and UCF by a combined score of 114-17, then followed up last week with a 45-28 victory over Colorado. The game against the Buffalos is the only one in which they were challenged. Colorado jumped on top with three first- quarter touchdowns, but while waiting for their offense to get on track, the Wolverines got a touchdown on a blocked punt. And then they seized con- trol. Sparked by a 17-yard touchdown run by Jehu Chesson in the second quar- ter, Michigan outscored Colorado 38-7 over the game's final three quarters. With a senior-dominated lineup, Michigan figures to pose matchup prob- lems all over the field for a youthful Penn State team that has already been hit hard by injuries, particularly on defense. As Nittany Lion coach James Franklin noted this week, "We have 12 seniors on our team. They have 13 seniors on the two- deep on defense and 13 seniors on the two-deep on offense. They're just a big, strong, physical, mature team, and then they do have some speed aspects." Those factors all point to a Michigan victory on Saturday, and the oddsmakers have certainly taken notice. But Har- baugh is wary of every opponent, includ- ing the Nittany Lions. "They've got a very good quarterback, they've got a very good running back, they've got very good players who I think are very good for that system, so it's an- other challenge for us," he said. "It's why we treat every game like it's a champi- onship game. It's a big game. Every op- ponent on our schedule comes in with a strong will to defeat us, and with good coaching and good players." They may come in with a will to win, but few opponents are leaving the Big House victorious these days. Until that changes, the Wolverines will be headline news. NATE BAUER RECORD 3-0 Through three games, the Lions have demonstrated their youth. They're full of potential but susceptible to errors both mental and physical. On the road, against a Michigan team that feasts on mistakes, that spells trouble for Penn State. MICHIGAN 41, PENN STATE 16 PHIL GROSZ RECORD 2-1 Penn State will be hard-pressed to slow down a Michigan offense that is averaging more than 50 points per game. For the Lions to even cover the 19 1 ⁄2-point spread, Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley and Chris Godwin will have to lead the offense to its best performance of the season. That will be difficult to accomplish, because Michi- gan enters the game with the No. 1 pass defense in the Big Ten. MICHIGAN 35, PENN STATE 17 MATT HERB RECORD 3-0 With its defense battered and bruised, PSU doesn't appear to have the man- power it will need to slow down the Big Ten's second-highest-scoring offense, nor does it have enough offense of its own to turn the game into a track meet. MICHIGAN 48, PENN STATE 17 TIM OWEN RECORD 3-0 Michigan's wealth of veterans combined with the damage that Jabrill Peppers can inflict from anywhere on the field are factors that I'm afraid PSU isn't going to be able to match. MICHIGAN 38, PENN STATE 27 RYAN SNYDER RECORD 3-0 Penn State finds itself in a tough position on defense, and it's now set to face a team that is averaging over 50 points per game. That's not a good combination for the Nittany Lions. MICHIGAN 48, PENN STATE 27 S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 BWI'S FORECAST

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