UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – It wasn’t supposed to be easy and, honestly, it probably wasn’t.
Penn State just made it look that way.
The second-ranked Nittany Lions shredded Michigan’s defense – widely regarded as one of the nation’s finest – for 506 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-13 victory against the No. 19 Wolverines at Beaver Stadium Saturday night.
And they did it in front of the largest crowd in school history, 110,823.
It was Penn State’s 16th consecutive regular-season victory since a 49-10 defeat at Michigan Stadium in 2016.
The game was the first of three in a row against ranked opponents for Penn State. The Nittany Lions will visit No. 6 Ohio State next Saturday and play at 18th-ranked Michigan State Nov. 4.
Michigan had not allowed 300 yards or given up more than 20 points in any of its first six games, but neither of those stats made it to halftime intact, as Penn State gained 302 yards and piled up 21 points during the first two quarters.
“That’s a defense that hasn’t given up any yards and any points, really, to anybody,” Nittany Lions coach James Franklin said.
Well, not until Saturday, anyway.
The Wolverines had allowed an average of 14.7 points in their other games. Penn State effectively matched that total on its first two possessions, as Saquon Barkley scored on touchdown runs of 69 and 15 yards.
Barkley’s first TD run covered more yardage than three of the Wolverines’ previous six opponents had gained on the ground in the entire game.
He would finish the game with those two touchdowns and 108 net yards on 15 carries, and add 53 more yards and another touchdown on three catches.
That performance allowed Barkley to end the evening as the first player in school history to pile up 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 more as a receiver.
But while Barkley arguably was the headliner in a victory that ran Penn State’s record to 7-0 (4-0 in the Big Ten) heading into a showdown with Ohio State in Columbus, he hardly was the only one to make a significant contribution.
Quarterback Trace McSorley ran for 76 net yards and three touchdowns. He also passed for 282 yards and threw a touchdown pass for the 22nd consecutive game.
Wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton padded his school record total for career receptions by pulling in six passes for 115 yards.
The Penn State offensive line, which has performed below expectations for much of the season, exceeded almost everyone’s expectations, largely neutralizing Michigan defensive linemen Maurice Hurst, Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich as the Wolverine’s celebrated defense was held to two sacks.
“I thought [redshirt freshman tackle] Will Fries played a real good game,” Franklin said. “I thought the whole unit did.”
For that matter, his entire team did.
Penn State remains the only FBS school that hasn’t allowed a point in the first quarter this season and shut out the Wolverines in three of four quarters.
“We have a pretty good defense around here, too,” Franklin said.
The Nittany Lions’ defense gave Michigan just 269 yards, barely half of what Penn State generated. And the Wolverines didn’t do much to burnish their defensive credentials Saturday, either.
“Their defense obviously is one of the best in the country,” said Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, who had two catches, including a 35-yarder. “They have great players, great speed, all that kind of stuff.
“But obviously, our game plan – the position our coaches put us in – gave us an opportunity to be successful, and we just made the most of our opportunities.”
That’s something Penn State hadn’t been able to do in their previous meeting with Michigan.
And while that 39-point defeat 13 months ago surely left a bruise or two on their psyches, Barkley insisted that a desire to avenge it was not a major source of motivation for the Nittany Lions.
Oh, what happened in 2016 was discussed a bit, he said, but not as much as might have been expected.
“It’s two different teams,” he said. “It’s not the exact same guys … [Michigan] is a different team, and we’re a different team. So it’s not revenge.”
It only looked that way.
Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG
First Published: October 22, 2017, 3:10 a.m.