By the numbers: Home field advantage at The Big House, Michigan-PSU statistical breakdown

No. 5 Michigan Wolverines football is set to host No. 10 Penn State in the 10th top-10 matchup of eighth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s tenure in Ann Arbor.

Michigan is 2-7 overall and 1-2 at home under Harbaugh in contests between two teams that reside in the top 10, with the lone victory at The Big House coming over No. 2 Ohio State last November, 42-27. Four of Michigan’s losses in such outings came to Ohio State, and the other three were bowl game setbacks to Georgia (2021), Florida (2018) and Florida State (2016).

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The Maize and Blue have fared extremely well at home overall under Harbaugh, and haven’t dropped a game inside the friendly confines of The Big House since the shortened 2020 campaign’s final game — a 27-17 loss to Penn State with no fans in the stands.

Outside of the 2020 season, which saw no fans allowed inside Big Ten stadiums, Michigan is 37-5 in home games during the Harbaugh era. The Wolverines haven’t lost to any team other than Ohio State (three times) and Michigan State (twice) on Main Street under the head coach. Michigan has won its last 11, and 24 of 25, home tilts with spectators allowed.

Here are the stats and figures to know ahead of kickoff between Michigan and Penn State:

By the numbers: Michigan vs. Penn State

3 Points allowed by the Michigan defense in third quarters of games this season, showing its ability to implement halftime adjustments. Overall, U-M’s +190 point differential trails only Alabama (+191) and Ohio State (+199) nationally.

3-5 Is Penn State head coach James Franklin‘s record against Michigan. U-M head man Jim Harbaugh is 4-3 versus the Nittany Lions. Under Harbaugh, Michigan is 2-1 versus Penn State at home, with wins in 2016 (49-10) and 2018 (42-7). The lone loss came in front of no fans in 2020, a 27-17 setback.

5th In the land is where Michigan ranks in scoring defense and total defense. The Maize and Blue are seventh in rushing defense and 11th in passing defense.

6-0 Start for two straight seasons, the first time Michigan has accomplished that feat since 1976-77.

11 Turnovers forced over the last three games and 12 for the season for the Penn State defense. The Nittany Lions have picked off 5 passes.

15 Points per game is all that Penn State has allowed this season. That mark ranks 13th in the sport. The Nittany Lions are 38th in total defense, fifth in rushing defense and 102nd in passing defense. They’re allowing just 5.8 yards per pass attempt, which slots 12th in the country. Opponents are completing only 49.6 percent of their passes versus Penn State, the third-best mark in the nation.

15-10 Series lead for Michigan over Penn State.

20 Catches over the last three games for Michigan graduate tight end Luke Schoonmaker. He’s also scored 2 touchdowns during that span. Nearly half of his 42 career grabs have come in that stretch, as have 184 of his 448 career receiving yards. Graduate wide receiver Ronnie Bell has 16 grabs during that span and 30 for the season, leading the Wolverines in that category and with 390 receiving yards.

24 Negative plays for the Michigan offense this season on 400 snaps. When the line does allow a sack, it comes on an average of 5.65 seconds to throw, second-most among those with 120-plus drop-backs.

25 Drop-backs when facing pressure for Michigan sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy, or 19.5 percent of his drop-backs. Only seven FBS quarterbacks who have faced 15 or more pressures have been pressured less than McCarthy. For contrast, PSU quarterback Sean Clifford has been under pressure on 33.3 percent of his drop-backs.

26 Pressures for Michigan senior EDGE Mike Morris, ranking tied for fifth in the country among edge rushers. His 4 sacks during league play lead the Big Ten. He has 5 for the entire year.

38th Is where Penn State checks in nationally in total offense. The Nittany Lions are 37th in scoring offense, 33rd in rushing offense and 60th in passing offense.

43 Points per game for the Michigan offense, which slots seventh in the country. The Wolverines rank 29th in total offense, 69th in passing offense and 20th in rushing offense. Michigan is one of two teams in the country to rank top 10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense, joining Alabama.

51 Pass breakups for the Penn State defense, which leads the nation by 12. For comparison, Michigan has 18 pass breakups even while having played one more game than PSU.

61 Percent of Penn State punter Barney Amor‘s attempts have landed inside the 20 and 52 percent of his boots inside the 10 this season, leading the country with both marks.

62 Completion percentage for Clifford this season, the highest mark of his career. His previous best was 61 last season. Clifford has thrown for 1,030 yards and 9 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.

78.3 Is McCarthy’s completion percentage, which leads the country. He threw for 304 yards last week, marking the first 300-yard game of his career. Six of McCarthy’s 9 passing touchdowns have come against the blitz. The only struggle spot for the 19-year-old has been the deep ball. He’s connected on just 6 of his 18 attempts that traveled 20-plus air yards for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. He’s 70-for-76 on passes within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

735 Rushing yards and 11 touchdowns for Michigan junior running back Blake Corum. He had 952 yards and 11 scores on the ground for the entire year in 2021. Corum is seventh in the country with 122.5 yards per contest. Corum has seen 375 of his yards come after contact. He’s picked up 46 first downs and had 14 rushes of 15-plus yards.

963 Rushing yards on the season for the Penn State offense, with its 192.6 yards per game ranking 33rd in the country. That’s a huge step up from last year, when Penn State averaged just 108 rushing yards per outing and totaled only 1,404 yards on the ground for the entire season. Freshman running back and former five-star recruit Nicholas Singleton leads the way with 463 yards and 5 touchdowns on 63 carries. He splits time with classmate Kaytron Allen, who’s registered 303 yards and 3 scores on 57 rushes.