ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Three second half turnovers led to three Michigan touchdowns as the Wolverines took down Penn State 21-18 at Michigan Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It was yet another disappointing afternoon for the now 3-4 Nittany Lions who came into the game searching for answers to their offensive and defensive woes. While the answers were there at times for the Penn State defense, the offense still failed to establish the run and made too many mistakes to overcome against Michigan.
The Nittany Lions marched down the field on the first possession of the game taking 9:05 to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Ryan Barker after getting inside the six yard line. It served as a microcosm of the offense’s performance throughout the season, close, but no cigar.
That was also the only time either team sniffed the red zone in the first half. Both teams combined for seven punts while Michigan also threw in two interceptions for quarterback Bryce Underwood. Both Josiah Zayas and Zion Tracy were able to record interceptions for the Nittany Lions in the first half
Penn State’s defense came to play out of the gate as they held a middling Wolverines offense to 80 yards. Underwood’s poor play and an inability to establish any semblance of a run game had nearly silenced the crowd of 110,781 fans at Michigan Stadium.
The Michigan faithful would come alive to start the second half as backup quarterback Tommy Carr took the field with the offense. Carr and the offense would eventually punt on the drive, but found the end zone on each of the next two drives to take a 14-3 lead over the Nittany Lions.
Each of the Michigan touchdowns were preceded by interceptions by Rocco Becht and came via the run game with a 43-yard run by Bryson Kuzdzal and a 1-yard run by Jordan Marshall.
Becht and the Penn State offense responded with a 12 play, 75-yard touchdown drive of their own. Becht and Chase Sowell connected twice for 21 yards to help drive the Nittany Lions down the field. Carson Hansen’s 2-yard rush capped off the drive. A two-point conversion on a shovel pass to Ben Brahmer cut the deficit to three with 11:40 to play in the game.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Both teams would punt on their each of their next drives including Michigan punting twice. Penn State took over at their own eight yard line, but just three plays later Becht would roll to his right only to be chase from behind and fumble giving the Wolverines the ball at the 16 yard line.
Carr would hit a 9-yard pass to JJ Buchanan before taking it himself to finish off the scoring drive and make it 21-11 with 2:58 to play in the game.
To the credit of the Nittany Lions, they did not go down without a fight.
Becht led an 11-play 73-yard scoring drive culminated by a 24-yard strike to Chase Sowell. Sowell’s touchdown cut the lead to 21-18 with 1:11 left.
It put the finishing touches on a career day for Sowell who finished with 11 receptions for 151 yards and the touchdown against the Wolverines.
