Greg McElroy adds Michigan vs. Penn State in Week 11 to ultimate 2023 college football schedule

Former Alabama quarterback and current college football analyst Greg McElroy chose some of his favorite games for every single week of the upcoming college football season, taking a fictional journey across the country to the nation’s best games.

And for Week 11, McElroy chose to take a trip to Happy Valley when Penn State will host Michigan.

“Week 11, Penn State is the destination, Michigan at Penn State,” McElroy said. “We’ve already talked a little bit about what Penn State might ultimately be, but we haven’t talked about Michigan. Michigan to me is a top three team in the country on paper heading in to the upcoming season, they have their quarterback, they have an excellent tandem of running backs, yes they lost a couple pieces along the offensive line but they might have replenished by way of the transfer portal.”

The Wolverines did add the duo of Stanford offensive linemen Myles Hinton and Drake Nugent along with Arizona State transfer LaDarius Henderson this offseason. Their defense is expected to be stout yet again per usual, but McElroy even believes one of their biggest areas of concern could be resolved in 2023 as well.

“I think they have great twitch on the perimeter defensively, they can get after the quarterback, and that will hold up against the run on the inside,” McElroy said. “And I think when you look at the weapons that Michigan has, that’s been the question mark in the past, what do their weapons look like beyond that of the run game? I like their weapons, I like their wideouts, and I like the opportunities that they have on the outside to create big plays off play action.”

McElroy has high hopes for the Wolverines team as a whole and their quarterback JJ McCarthy as he enters his second full season as the team’s starter. The Wolverines have won the Big Ten Championship and made a College Football Playoff appearance in their last two seasons, but their showdown with the Nittany Lions is anticipated to be one of their biggest tests of the season.

“I expect JJ McCarthy to take a significant step this year and if I had to pick it right now, you tell me you got to pick your playoff teams, I got Michigan in the College Football Playoff as of right now. But one of the toughest road trips on the docket for the Wolverines in that Week 11 trip to Happy Valley,” McElroy said.

The Wolverines have had the Nittany Lions number in their last two matchups, but Penn State had a stronger recruiting class than Michigan in the past two seasons according to On3’s Industry Ranking Team Recruiting Rankings, and they bring back star sophomore running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

McElroy also touched on some other matchups in Week 11 that possibly could’ve made the cut.

“Utah versus Washington also very compelling Week 11. Ole Miss at Georgia, somewhat compelling, I think Georgia might have a little bit more of a difficult time going to Ole Miss but either way between the hedges I’m not sure that one will be super competitive all the way down the stretch unless Lane Kiffin pulls out a couple of the tricks that I don’t anticipate at this moment,” McElroy concluded.