Michigan @ Penn State preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2016 ) Penn State 10, Michigan 49

No. 2 Penn State begins the most difficult portion of its schedule Saturday night when it hosts a Michigan team looking to prove it belongs among the Big Ten elites. The 15th-ranked Wolverines are enduring a sluggish stretch that includes a home loss to Michigan State and an overtime win against East Division doormat Indiana, and they hope to hang around against a dominant Nittany Lions crew that's coming off a bye week.

"We're 11-point underdogs. I think we've only been beaten (by that many) in the (coach Jim Harbaugh) era one time," Michigan senior defensive lineman Chase Winovich told reporters. "It's just something we have to prove to ourselves and to the world. And for the season, it's tough to win the Big Ten with two losses." Penn State is coming off back-to-back routs of Indiana and Northwestern, but faces a daunting three-week run that also includes visits to No. 6 Ohio State and No. 19 Michigan State. The Nittany Lions have won 14 straight regular-season games since a 49-10 loss at Ann Arbor a year ago in which the Wolverines posted a 515-191 advantage in total yards - including 326-70 on the ground. "Yeah, was that loss a factor in what happened after that loss and how we moved forward, how we approached it? Yeah," Penn State coach James Franklin told reporters. "But I would say every win before, our current win streak, was a factor. Every loss was a factor. We learn, we grow."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC. LINE: Penn State -9.5

ABOUT MICHIGAN (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten): The Wolverines rank 11th in the Big Ten in passing offense and senior John O'Korn has struggled since taking over the starting job from the injured Wilton Speight. "I need to pick it up. There's no way around it," O'Korn - who has zero touchdowns, three interceptions and a completion percentage of 47.3 over the last two weeks - told reporters. Michigan's top three rushers - Ty Isaac, Karan Higdon and Chris Evans - combined for 211 yards and four TDs in last year's rout of Penn State.

ABOUT PENN STATE (6-0, 3-0): Stars like running back Saquon Barkley (Big Ten-leading 1,302 all-purpose yards) and quarterback Trace McSorley (Big Ten-leading 266.2 passing yards per game) get most of the headlines, but the Nittany Lions' defense is gaining more credit with every week and tops the country with an average of nine points allowed. "I think a lot of it is experience," Franklin said of his defense. "They always had the raw material to work with in terms of intelligence and body time and quickness and strength and power and explosion, things like that. But they played a lot of reps. With reps comes experience, and with experience comes confidence. That's kind of where we're at." Linebacker Jason Cabinda leads the way with 40 tackles and defensive end Shaka Toney has three of the team's 17 sacks and two of its nine forced fumbles.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Isaac is averaging 39 rushing yards over his last four games after producing at least 114 in each of the first two contests.

2. Barkley needs 100 rushing yards to surpass four others - D.J. Dozier, Curtis Enis, Blair Thomas and Tony Hunt - and move into third on Penn State's all-time list.

3. Michigan owns a 13-7 series advantage and has won three straight meetings.

PREDICTION: Penn State 24, Michigan 16