Welcome to www.Collegefootballfan.com

"Get off the couch and go to a game!"

The Goal - See 'em all!

Michigan Tops Penn State, 17-10, to vault to #2

State College, PA - Michigan's defense held Penn State (4-3,2-2) to -14 yards rushing including seven sacks of PSU QBs to hold on and win their seventh game of the season to surge past Florida, who lost to Auburn, and USC, who edged Arizona State, to jump from #4 to #2 behind archrival Ohio State ranked #1.  PSU's defense played tough but missed tackles in key situations to allow Michigan the edge in ball control.  PSU lost starting QB Antony Morelli and back-up Daryll Clark to injuries to make way for third stringer, Paul Cianciolo, who led the Lions to their final score of the night.  For CFF it was the fourth time we had seen these two play one another in Big Ten competition, and it was the fourth time the Wolverines won. Of twenty games we've seen PSU lose, 20% are at the hands of the Wolverines.

     Penn State looked ready to play before a packed house of 110,007, second largest in Beaver Stadium history, as AJ Wallace returned the opening kick-off to midfield as he was taken down by the ankles before almost breaking away.  They drove to the 29 from where Kevin Kelly attempted a 46-yard FG that went wide right.  It was the only scoring threat in the first period as both defenses played tough.  The Michigan defense had already started to dominate up front.  Bookends LaMarr Woodley and Rondell Biggs would both record two sacks each for the Wolverines.   Their rush and Morelli's inability to move caused 65 yards in losses.  LB Dan Connor led the PSU defense with seven solo tackles.

     Michigan finally got on the board on its first drive of Q2 on a 75-yard ten-play drive where QB Chad Henne (15-30, 196 yards) fired down the middle to WR Adrian Arrington who caught it between two Lion defenders for a 25-yard TD pass.  Garret Rivas' kick gave the Wolverines a 7-0 lead.  Michigan pushed PSU back nine yards on its next series to force punt from the 12.  U of M took over on the 50 and drove 8 plays to the six  where Rivas connected on a 23-yard FG to make the Wolverine lead, 10-0.  The momentum seemed to be building for the visiting team.  Wallace's return was stopped by Michigan at his own 111.  A 9-yard sack of Morelli, where he also recovered his own fumble, put PSU back at their own two.  Two plays later, PSU got a break on a pass interference call that seemed uncatchable.  PSU took advantage and drove all the way to the Michigan 5.  With no time-outs left, Morelli threw two incompletions before the Lions settled for Kevin Kelly's 22-yard FG with :15 before the half ended.  Michigan led 10-3. 

     Route 80 construction was finished in time to allow traffic to flow more smoothly for the second largest PSU crowd in history.  #1 was the game played on September 14, 2002, where PSU throttled Nebraska, 40-7.  We avoided Route 80 construction not knowing it had cleared.  We had already planned to meet Guest Game Analyst Rich Williams in Selingsgrove where we watched some of the game between Susquehanna and Widener in a D-III game.  We caught about a quarter before getting ready to go to State College.  The weather got relatively cold this evening as temps dropped into the 30's.  The late start time kept many fans sitting in traffic until 2 am.  No wonder why so many fans come in mobile homes!   We'll have to rent one some day and camp out in the parking lot.

     In a slow-moving game,  Michigan finally moved the ball again on its third possession of the third period driving 61 yards before RB Mike Hart (26 carries for 112 yards) took it in from one yard out to extend their lead to 17-3.  PSU fans started heading to exits in this late game played on a cold night.  Their offense had showed no promise to come back.  Morelli (11 of 18 for 133) was knocked out in the third with a concussion, and Daryll Clark (3 of 6 for 16)  looked just as ineffective as Morelli prior to his injury.  Clark left in the fourth period to give way to third string Soph QB Paul Cianciolo.  On his second series at QB, Cianciolo (3 of 7 for 51 yards) threw a screen pass to RB Tony Hunt (13 carries - 33 yards)  who picked up blockers on the right side, slipped a tackle, and charged hard to the left side of the end zone for a 43-yard TD pass and run.  The Lions had a glimmer of hope down 17-10 with Kelly's PAT and 3:18 left.  Michigan prepped for the onsides kick, but PSU kicked off and Michigan took over at its own 20.  They ran five plays to the 45 as PSU used time-outs to kill the clock, but with only 1:27 left and an inept offense with no remaining time-outs with an inexperienced QB against a tough D, PSU picked up only four yards on four downs before it relinquished the ball to finish the game.  It was over not with a bang, but a whimper.

     Michigan moves to #2 with the win.  The return of WR Mario Manningham will definitely help them for the balance of the season in what should end in a showdown between #1 and #2 when they visit hated Ohio State.  Their toughest challenge will probably be next week at home against Iowa, who fell from #15 to outside the polls in an upset loss to Indiana.  The Lions will remain at Beaver Stadium for Homecoming to take on 2-5 Illinois, who lost to Ohio U., 20-17.  A huge question is who will play QB, and the next question is whether their QB play can improve.  Morelli has not been impressive to say the least.  With all the hype that this guy made in a last minute decision to go to PSU instead of Pitt, he hasn't lived up to it.  How is Clark's health?  How will Cianciolo play if called on?  Our feeling is that PSU may be "Linebacker U" as advertised on this week's game program, but it sure is far from being QB U!  And we'll say this, they rarely improve with age as their careers progress.  They still have a shot at a decent bowl if they run the table on the balance of their schedule.  CFF plans to see 5-0 Princeton host 5-0 Harvard to battle for first place in the Ivy League.  Hopefully, we'll see a little more intensity at PU than we did Friday night when we saw them defeat 1-4 Brown.