Michigan Football: 5 predictions for Wolverines against Penn State

Who will get to the quarterback more often?

While every Michigan football fan knows the Wolverines are one of the top teams in the country when it comes to pressuring the quarterback, you might not know that Penn State actually leads the Big Ten in sacks 28 or 3.5 per game.

Michigan is close and averages three sacks a game on its own with a total of 24. The Wolverines also have the best individual pass rusher still playing in the Big Ten and that’s Chase Winovich, who has three sacks, seven quarterback hits and 11 tackles for loss.

Over the past two seasons, Michigan has sacked Trace McSorley eight times. Last season, the Wolverines got to him only twice, but Penn State also rushed for over 200 yards. Two years ago, Penn State ran for 70 and McSorley was brought down six times.

Stopping the run will be key for the Wolverines and if they can do that, they should win the sack battle. As long as Juwann Bushell-Beatty is healthy, Shea Patterson shouldn’t be sacked more than a few times, but between both teams, we should see a lot of pressure on the quarterback.