Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from a top-10 win at Penn State

In a defensive slugfest Michigan football made more plays than Penn State and they secured their benchmark win of 2023.

The crowd was loud, the head coach was suspended, but that didn’t bother the best team in the Big Ten. The winged helmets had no excuses to make and went into Happy Valley and extended their unprecedented Big Ten winning streak. Michigan’s defense discombobulated Drew Allar to a season-low in completions and yardage.

Here’s how it went down. The Nittany Lions cracked the scoreboard first, but Michigan football drove the length of the field to never relinquish the lead again. Blake Corum charged into the endzone in the second quarter. The Wolverines tightened their grip on the next series as Donovan Edwards broke loose for six. It was set up by Corum who went 44 yards untouched on an open field scamper.

Penn State snuck one in before the half and the fight was on. Michigan football had a 13-play drive after Allar fumbled but only got three out of it. That’s when the defenses reigned supreme and it became a punt battle. Six straight punts by both schools until Penn State ran out of downs and Corum closed the lid on a ravishing victory.

In the waning minutes, Penn State scored with a swift two-minute drill. Down nine, instead of kicking the extra point and making it a one-possession affair, James Franklin decided to go for two and failed. He was brutalized by his own fans and reporters afterward. Could these be the final actions of Franklin in State College?

Then there was the postgame interview with Sherrone Moore that can be seen and will be remembered for a long time on X. He cursed like a sailor and handed it off to Corum to wrap up the interview, just like his boss would have done. Moore will get trolled hard for the emotional outburst, but he and Michigan football are getting the last laugh.

Here are three of the takeaways from Saturday’s revealing victory.