Wolverines Found Offensive 'Rhythm' While Never Quitting at Penn State
10/20/2019 10:29:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Wolverines got so much out of this game.
Their offense and defense dominated the second half against the No. 7-ranked team in the land, Penn State. The University of Michigan also showed great fight after falling behind by 21 points midway through the second quarter, and could have forced overtime by punching it in from the Nittany Lion 3-yard line on the final two plays of its last drive.
However, for all the good things that came out of this one Saturday night (Oct. 19), it failed to get the one thing that mattered most: the win.
Penn State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) might have lost the game on paper, but beat the No. 16 Wolverines (5-2, 3-2) on the scoreboard, 28-21.
"I thought our team played with great character and great effort the entire night on both sides of the ball and special teams," said Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. "We fought really hard."
Michigan had a 230-80 yardage edge in the second half, but the 53 yards KJ Hamler covered to score on a wide-open pass from Sean Clifford early in the fourth quarter ended up being the difference.
"It was so hard because we were just so close," said Wolverine defensive end Kwity Paye, who had a team-high 10 tackles.
How close?
Well, as close as Ronnie Bell came to catching the fourth-and-goal pass that Shea Patterson managed to get off by maneuvering with his quick feet. Bell went low but could not cradle the ball for the catch and the tying touchdown as safety Lamont Wade came down on him from behind.
Bell had done so much to get his team in a position to win, making five catches for 82 yards, including the dazzling 35-yarder that he made possible by eluding a tackler and then zig-zagging through defenders to set up Patterson's one-yard quarterback sneak that made it 28-21 with 4:26 remaining.
"Ronnie's a fierce competitor," said Patterson. "He's being pretty hard on himself right now. But you can't take away the fact he made a ton of great plays to put us in that situation. So, we're just going to move on. And maybe I could've run it in. So ... it's just onto next week."
Bell
Bell, Michigan's leading receiver this season with 25 catches for 443 yards, let the tears flow and was consoled by teammates.
This was a tough one to take.
And especially since the Wolverines really took it to a pretty tough team.
Penn State had allowed 19 points in its first three Big Ten games combined -- defeating Maryland, Purdue and Iowa with a stout defense. They became the first team since Louisville in 2013 to hold each of its first six opponents to 13 points or fewer.
However, the Wolverines began having success offensively on their touchdown drive late in the first half, going 75 yards on only eight plays. Zach Charbonnet went around right end for a 12-yard run for the touchdown, and the fact that he was untouched was a sign of good things to come.
Big holes were starting to open.
Michigan ended up with a 417-283 yardage edge in the game. Patterson completed 24-of-41 passes for 276 yards and ran for 34 yards. Charbonnet had 15 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
The blocking was exceptional.
"They protected very well," said Harbaugh. "They were coming off the ball really good, especially in the second half. They were grinding the run game and holes were opening up. I thought our line played well."
Center Cesar Ruiz said, "From an offensive line standpoint, I think we played one of our best games this entire season. We studied the film, we knew the blitzes, we studied each and every defensive lineman and linebacker. Protection was phenomenal today (one sack) and the run game was moving people off the ball."
Michael Onwenu clears a path for Zach Charbonnet
The all-around blocking prowess allowed everything to click.
"I thought the offense did a lot of really good things tonight," said Harbaugh. "I thought Shea had a really good night throwing the football and receivers were making catches. We chipped away at the running game and got that going. We have a lot of good things to learn from and grow from."
Harbaugh had been saying the offense was close to "hitting its stride" based on what he'd seen in recent practices and even games, and it definitely found its "rhythm" in this one.
"I felt like I was in a rhythm pretty much all night," said Patterson. "The offensive line did a heck of a job. I had plenty of time, and that (passing) opened up the running game. Zach Charbonnet had a good game on the ground. That allowed us to mix it up. ... We kind of found our groove a little bit. We were making plays in open space and trusting everything. The line was just blocking their asses off and allowing me to make plays down field."
"In all the touchdown drives, we had a certain rhythm to us. That came from the defense stopping them and putting us in good field position. It's tough as hell, that last drive, not coming up with it."
On the final drive, Patterson converted a fourth-and-4 by completing a six-yard pass to Nico Collins, who had six catches for 89 yards. Then, on third-and-6 from the Penn State 17, Patterson fired a 10-yard pass down the middle to freshman tight end Erick All.
That put Michigan into the goal-to-go at the 7-yard line, but it could not punch it into the end zone, and the Nittany Lions got the one first down they needed to run out the clock.
Harbaugh was asked for his postgame message to his players, and said, "I complimented them on the effort they gave, the character they showed and to hold their heads high, and come back and go at it on Monday because we love football. That will be our mission."
There was plenty to "hold their heads high" about, for sure.
"Any time you're down, 21-0, especially at Penn State in a 'White Out'" said Patterson, "I was proud of our guys and the defense allowed one touchdown in the whole entire second half. And I just loved the way our offense fought back."
Ruiz said, "We played a whole 60 minutes. We didn't quit. ... We had all the fight in us. We played hard every single play, played strong, tried to minimize mistakes and I thought we made a big jump."
Viper Khaleke Hudson added, "We were down and we just all came together to say we were going to keep fighting for the team. We were just going to do whatever we've got to do. We were going to fight, scratch and claw to come out with the victory. I'm really proud of the offense, and I'm also really proud of our defense and how we came out in the second half.
"But, unfortunately, we didn't come out on top. We've just got to move on. We can't change it to a victory for us."
