Wolverine Watch: A view from Happy Valley

Michigan and Penn State share plenty in common, heading into a high-noon showdown on Saturday.

They each boast proud football traditions, fallen on frustrating times. Michigan (8-1) didn’t know if its head coach would return for 2021. Penn State (6-3) doesn’t know if its boss will be back in 2022.

Neither are good in the red zone this year, and haven’t been good in the scarlet (and gray) zone for way too long.

Make no mistake, this isn’t Judgment Day. More like Train Wreck Avoidance Week. But as always, plenty of judgments will be rendered.

Jed Donahue hosts PA Sports Now and PA Sports Saturday on radio stations across football-crazed Pennsylvania, and has maintained a keen eye on the Nittany Lions and Wolverines for decades.

Donahue slides this one over into the home team win column … but not forcefully.

“I’ll go Penn State, which means you guys will be good, because I’m horrible at predictions,” Donahue quipped. “I think it’s going to be 23-20. It’s one of these traditional down-to-the-wire jobs. Who is going to make a mistake in the kicking game?”

First team to the low 20s isn’t a bad call here. Donohue expects Michigan’s defense to trouble a Penn State offense that puts all its eggs in quarterback Sean Clifford’s basket. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions will be trotting out one of the better defenses he’s seen.

“Defensively, this team is top notch,” Donahue said. “There are NFL guys all over the place. This is the best secondary they’ve ever had. They have never had a first-round draft choice in the defensive secondary in program history.

“It looks like we may have two, in [cornerback] Joey Porter Jr. and [safety] Jaquan Brisker. These guys are really, really good. That’s going to be one of the big advantages Penn State is going to have on Saturday, in this game.

“They’ve got linebackers like Curtis Jacobs, Ellis Brooks. This is as good a defense as anybody is going to see playing in the Big Ten this year.”

That defense will pay no small amount of attention to redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins. Given injuries to freshmen backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, Haskins just got busier than the Big Ten’s apology issuer.

“They’re going to certainly key on Haskins,” Donahue said. “[Redshirt freshman quarterback Cade] McNamara is going to have to throw the ball a little bit up here. That’s a real problem. This defense is really quick, and they attack. That secondary has NFL guys all over the place. That’s going to be a problem for Michigan.”

One the other hand, Michigan’s defense won’t be run over by Penn State’s atypically inert ground game. That leaves the door open for players such as junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and redshirt freshman linebacker David Ojabo to put Clifford back on the endangered species list.

“Hutchinson is really, really good,” Donahue said. “I’ve got a Heisman vote, and I’ve got my eye on him. He’s as good a defensive player as there is in America.

“Michigan’s defense is really going to trouble Clifford. You don’t have to worry about their running game. They do nothing in the running game here — 1.8 yards per carry.”

Obviously, Michigan has to watch out for Nittany Lions wideout Jahan Dotson. Beyond that, the Wolverines may need oxygen tanks for a sprinting secondary.

“They’re a one-trick pony,” Donahue said of the home team. “They’re going to throw 50 or 60 times, because they know they can’t run. That’s just alarming to me. Penn State, not being able to run the football? Whoever had that, back in the day?”

They’d better have Clifford’s back, he noted. One Alan Branch falling on Anthony Morelli moment and it’s over.

“I’m doing a venue pick on you,” Donahue assured. “That’s why I picked Penn State. But there are a lot of reasons to like Michigan here, especially the way their defense matches up with that Penn State offensive line. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to protect Clifford on a consistent basis in this game.”

The Nittany Lions couldn’t with a 17-3 lead at Iowa, and their season spun out of control. Clifford exited with a hip injury, Penn State came from ahead to lose and wound up dropping three straight.

Meanwhile, head coach James Franklin has been linked to an opening at USC, rumors fueled by his hiring of high-powered agent Jimmy Sexton. Donahue suspects Franklin wouldn’t mind putting the Buckeyes well back in the rearview mirror.

“I think he will be going, because I think they’re going to pony up the money,” Donahue stressed. “When you look at USC, and you’re out of the Big Ten East, is it easier to go up against Oregon and UCLA and be dominant with that Southern California recruiting base, than to try and lock horns with Michigan, Michigan State and especially Ohio State, and some crossover stuff like Wisconsin and Iowa?

“I just think the Big Ten is a lot tougher to win on a consistent basis, than it would be to go to Southern Cal, get a couple of recruiting classes and change the tenor. I think you can dominate quicker at USC than you can here.”

Franklin’s counterpart on Saturday hasn’t found domination an easy task, either, in that crowd.

“Nobody really understands [Jim] Harbaugh,” Donahue offered. “He just kind of comes across as a little bit different, for those of us on the outside looking in, who don’t deal with him on a regular basis.

“There’s a ton of respect for Michigan, I know that. But nobody understands Harbaugh, or what is the plan. They’re fully aware of the struggles with Michigan State and Ohio State.”

For the struggle against Ohio State to carry full meaning this season, the Wolverines can’t afford another slip. While Penn State fans turned on a coach who stands 10-9 in his last 19 with no top-five wins since 2016, Michigan partisans keep aching for big-game hope. It’s time for a decisive finish, with no apologies.

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