18 October 2009

Michigan and Penn State Play One For the Ages

Michigan and Penn State went back and forth all night in a game which was decided in the final 15 seconds of the game. Both teams' defenses had their hands more than full tonight as both offenses were basically unstoppable. The Wolverines converted on 5/6 3rd down conversions while the Nittany Lions converted on 8/10 conversions. The 1st quarter flew by as there weren't even 2 complete drives in it. PSU had the ball first and they marched down the field to score a TD. During this drive they converted on a lot of key 3rd down conversions. Michigan's defense played well on 1st and 2nd down, but no matter what they tried on 3rd down, they just could not get PSU off the field.

On Michigan's 1st drive, they drove down the field with ease. Early on Penn State had absolutely no answer for Michigan's option game. Michigan would end the drive with a nice TD pass from Forcier to Stonum.




Penn State would once again be unstoppable as they marched down the field to take a 14-7 lead. Michigan would then score on their next drive to tie up the game up with only 24 seconds left in the half. Penn State would get greedy as they would try to get into field goal range and FS Michael Williams would make a huge interception off of Kevin Newsome to stop the drive and give the Wolverines great field position with 7 seconds remaining.



Forcier would make 1 quick pass to get the Wolverines closer as they called a timeout with 1 second left. Kicker Brandon Gibbons would kick a career long 53 yard FG to put the Wolverines up 17-14 at the half.

Michigan's Forcier drove down the field to start the 3rd quarter, but an untimely interception would force the Wolverines to go scoreless in the 3rd quarter. The Nittany Lions would add a FG in the 3rd quarter to tie the game up 20-20 after 3 quarters.

On Michigan's first drive, they drove into PSU territory, but Penn State, who had figured out Michigan's option game forced the Wolverines to punt for the first time. PSU, who began the drive inside their own 15, would go on a very long, extremely frustrating drive from there. No matter what Michigan tried, they were incapable of getting PSU off the field. Eventually they would get into the red zone where Michigan finally made Penn State fail on a 3rd down conversion for only the 2nd time in the game. Penn State would have to settle for a FG to put them up 20-17 with only 1:05 remaining in the game, and Michigan was without any timeouts.

Penn State chose to kick the ball deep and freshman Jeremy Gallon would field the kick 2 yards deep in the end zone. He would break through a tackle at the 20 yard line and ended up returning it for 45 yards which allowed Michigan to start at their own 43 yard line.



Tate Forcier would lead the Wolverines on the most memorable drive in coach Jello's 1 1/2 years as head coach. He would hit Roy Roundtree for a 16 yard completion. Then, with Penn State dropping just about eveyone into coverage, Forcier would then scramble up the middle on 3 plays in a row for 11, 14, and 10 yards, the final one taking the Wolverines to the PSU 7 yard line with 15 seconds remaining. Forcier would then connect with Roy Roundtree once again, and Roundtree showed his toughness by holding onto the ball for a 7 yard TD which put Michigan up 24-20 with 12 seconds remaining.



Coach Jello chose to squib kick it so as not to let the dangerous PSU return men return the ball. Penn State would take a couple of shots at the end zone, but Michigan's prevent defense did the trick and they escaped with the 24-20 victory.

Forcier was a real beast today. He completed 12 of 14 passes for 134 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. He also lead Michigan in rushing as he rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries.

Forcier was the man today

Game Statistics
CategoryMichiganPenn State

Score2420
First Downs1719
Total Offense277303
Rushes-YDS-TD28-143-130-72-1
COMP-ATT-TD12-14-217-23-1
Passing YDS134231
Sacked10
3rd Down Conv5-68-10
4th Down Conv0-00-0
2pt Conv0-00-0
Redzone-TD-FG4-3-04-2-2
Turnovers11
Fumbles-Lost0-00-0
Intercepted11
PR Yds01
KR Yds14465
Total Yards421369
Punts-Average1-400-0.0
Penalties-YDS2-100-0
T.O.P.11:1616:44


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