Postgame Notes: #2 Michigan 24, #9 Penn State 15
11/11/2023 3:46:00 PM | Football
• U-M improved to 17-10 all-time in 27 meetings with Penn State, including an 8-6 mark at Beaver Stadium. The Wolverines have won seven of the last 10 matchups (all under Harbaugh) including three straight.
• Today's game was the fourth time that these teams met as top-10 ranked opponents. U-M improved to 3-1 in those matchups.
• The Maize and Blue are 10-0 for the second season in a row. The last time U-M achieved a 10-0 start in consecutive seasons was during a stretch of four straight seasons with a 10 wins through 10 weeks from 1971-74.
• The Wolverines have won 22 straight games against Big Ten opponents, the longest streak in program history.
• The Big Ten does not recognize the 2021 or 2022 league championship games as conference matchups, so according to the conference, U-M is at 20 straight wins, a new program record (previous: 19 by 1990-92 teams coached by Gary Moeller).
• Michigan has been victorious in 26 consecutive regular season games, tied for the third-longest stretch in Big Ten history with a streak set by the 1903-05 Michigan teams. Only the 1901-03 Michigan teams, which won 28 straight regular season games, have won more in program history.
• U-M has won 10 straight Big Ten road games (beginning with Penn State, 2021) for the first time since a streak that lasted from 1945-48. There are only six longer streaks in league history.
• After winning in Columbus last season and in State College today, U-M has a top-10 road win in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1963 (at No. 2 Illinois) and 1964 (at No. 9 Michigan State) seasons.
• No team has surpassed the 15 points scored on the Wolverines by Penn State today. PSU joined Purdue today as the only teams to score more than 10 points (13).
• In quarterback J.J. McCarthy's 23 career starts, U-M is 22-1.Â
• No opponent had scored more than one touchdown against U-M's defense before Penn State did today. PSU was the first team to run a play inside Michigan's 10-yard line and the first team to score a touchdown of fewer than 20 yards – previously, all Michigan's touchdowns allowed had been on explosive plays.
• U-M is dominant out of the locker room. Opponents have accumulated 17 total first downs in 10 third quarters played. No team has reached 75 yards of offense in the quarter -- and four teams have been held to under 15 yards of total offense.
• The fumble by Drew Allar in the third quarter was recovered by Makari Paige (his first) and forced by Rayshaun Benny (his first).
• Michigan's third-quarter field goal represented the first points allowed by the Nittany Lions in the third quarter all season.
• The Michigan defense sealed the game in the fourth quarter, allowing zero Penn State first downs on three consecutive drives.
• U-M was the first team in the last nine to eclipse 100 yards rushing against Penn State. Penn State entered the game with the No. 1-ranked rushing defense in the country.
• The Nittany Lions averaged 60.3 team rushing yards against, a figure individually surpassed by Blake Corum's 145 yards during today's game. U-M's rushing total was the most allowed by PSU this year (227 yards).
• Corum's 145 rushing yards are the most by anyone against Penn State since Donovan Edwards' 173 yards in 2022. Corum's performance today included runs of 44 and 33 yards, the latter a touchdown. He is just the second Wolverine with 140-plus rushing yards on the road against an A.P. Top-10 since 2000 (Edwards at Ohio State, 2022)
