Michigan’s top player, offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, is probable for a return in the second half. Lewan had to be helped off the field in the second quarter and was taken back to the team’s locker room for further attention to what is still an undisclosed injury because it was too loud at Beaver Stadium to communicate back and forth. The reason it is so loud is because Penn State is playing host to one of their largest crowds in a while and they are enjoying a 21-10 lead at halftime against the ranked Wolverines.
Penn State’s defense has come up with three Michigan turnovers and held the Wolverines to 144 yards of offense at the half. Devin Gardner has had a rough going with just six out of 12 pass attempts completed for 88 yards. Gardner has been picked off twice and he has had trouble controlling a couple of low snaps in short-down situations. Gardner also leads the Wolverines with 47 rushing yards, while Fitzgerald Toussaint and Derrick Green have combined for just nine rushing yards.
On the other side of the field, freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg has shown some freshman mistakes, but has come through for 111 passing yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came in the hands of Brandon Moseby-Felder, who leads Penn State with 46 receiving yards as well.
Both teams have made some mistakes, but the difference has been that Penn State has not allowed the mistakes to hurt them too much. The same could not have been said about last week’s game at Indiana. This Penn State team may be feeding off of the energy in front of a sellout crowd in Beaver Stadium, the largest crowd in a while for the Nittany Lions. Can they keep it going in the second half, or will Michigan’s depth advantage come in to play after the break?