Michigan Football: 3 Nittany Lions to watch this week

As Michigan football faces off against the Penn State Nittany Lions this Saturday, they will aim to build off their emotional victory last week in Piscataway.

The Michigan football team is fresh off an uncharacteristically difficult win against Rutgers. Although it was not reflected on the scoreboard, Michigan really found itself on offense — especially at quarterback with sophomore Cade McNamara.

Penn State found themselves at a similar crossroads last week at quarterback. Second-year starter Sean Clifford began the game wearing a headset as sophomore Will Levis received his first collegiate start. Levis didn’t last long and was eventually replaced by Clifford in the third quarter after the offense scored only 7 points in the first half.

Clifford was mounting a comeback before two fourth quarter interceptions derailed his progress. I expect Clifford to start against Michigan this weekend and I also expect for Don Brown to turn up the heat to make Clifford uncomfortable early and possibly force a couple of big mistakes.

Let’s get into the players Penn State will lean on to pull off the upset against Michigan.

Jahan Dotson

Season Stats: 31 receptions, 527 yards, 6 TD

For the fifth time in six weeks I am including an opposing wide receiver as a player Michigan football must keep an eye on. The only week I didn’t was against Wisconsin and TE Jake Ferguson was on that list, so pass catchers are a major theme as far as players that should have Michigan football’s full attention.

In their matchups against the Wolverines, those pass catchers have totaled 32 receptions for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns for an average of 6.4 catches, 71.6 yards, and 0.4 touchdowns per game. Michigan’s secondary has had its struggles all season especially against the opponent’s top pass catcher. Jahan Dotson could be the best they have faced yet as only Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman has an argument there.

The talented junior has already torched a secondary better than Michigan’s. He pulled down 8 catches for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns against Ohio State. He leads the team in receptions by eight so he is clearly the top threat through the air in this Penn State offense.

Adding in the fact that star tight end Pat Freiermuth will not play on Saturday, Dotson should be in for a huge workload this week. Vincent Gray and Gemon Green need to prepare to cover the middle of the field especially because that’s where Dotson has done most of his damage. He has gained 308 of his 527 yards in the middle third of the field this season.

Here are two others to watch for Penn State on Saturday.