It's Penn State-Michigan week: Time, TV channel, early storylines, point spread, more

It’s Michigan week, Penn State fans. The Nittany Lions can keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive by upsetting the Wolverines at home on Satuday. Head coach James Franklin’s team is coming off of a 51-15 blowout win over Maryland that marked its second triumph in as many weeks.

“I thought we had a great crowd,” Franklin said. “This area has always been really good to us from a travel perspective, from an alumni base perspective, so that was significant in the game. I thought offensively, probably the most important thing is we were able to stay on schedule on first and second down. We were efficient, creating manageable third down situations. I thought the o-line did a great job of protecting the quarterback. Drew [Allar] was comfortable moving through his progressions and using his eyes to open people. And, we grinded out the run game. They played an aggressive defense. They played a ton of covers zero. No safeties, overload the box for the run game, overload the protections in the pass game. And, we were able to get a lot of guys involved which was good.

“Defensively, except for the penalties, and the block punt that turned into a penalty, which should have been a huge play the game in our direction, we were able to keep them way off schedule. Exactly what we talked about doing and what we did today on offense, they had a hard time doing running the ball. For most of the game, I think they were negative in rushing yards.”

Get ready for game week with our early preview below.

Time and TV info

Kickoff is at Noon ET on FOX. The network’s top crew of Gus Johnson (play by play), Joel Klatt (color commentary), and Jenny Taft (sideline reporter) will call the game. The contest will stream on FOX Sport LIVE.

What is the Penn State-Michigan spread?

The Nittany Lions are an underdog for only the second time this season. Back in the summer, Michigan was a two-point road favorite. However, the line is now up to Wolverines -5.5 or -4.5, depending on the site you use. And, the total is 43.5.

Lions’ game week schedule

For the first time in the James Franklin era, there will be a media availability on Monday. He will hold his first news conference of the week at Noon ET. He will also speak after Wednesday’s practice and during the second half hour of the Penn State Coaches Show on Thursday, which runs from 6-7 p.m. ET. Select players will be made available to reporters on ZOOM or after practice in person Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. And, an assistant coach will chat with the media Thursday morning.

What’s up with Michigan?

Michigan is 9-0 after blasting Purdue 41-13. Star Wolverines running back Blake Corum scored three times in the victory. He leads the team with 126 carries for 649 yards and 16 touchdowns. Donovan Edwards is oft-used in the backfield, as well. He has 239 yards and two touchdowns on 74 carries. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy is having a very good season. He owns a 75 percent completion percentage and has thrown for 2,134 yards and 18 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Roman Wilson is the top receiver with 36 catches for 589 yards and 10 touchdowns. Colston Loveland (four touchdowns) and Cornelius Johnson (24 catches for 422 yards) are top targets.

Defensively, linebacker Junior Colson leads the way with 49 tackles (two for loss). Edge rushers Jaylen Harrell and Josiah Stewart each have 4.5 sacks. And, defensive back Mike Sainristil has three interceptions.

As noted above, the fallout from the sign stealing scandal will dominate the headlines this week.

Weather report

According to Weather.com, rain is not likely. The outlet has this as its early prediction: “Partly cloudy. High 48F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.”

Early Penn State-Michigan storylines

–Will Harbaugh coach in the game? We expect him too. But, there continue to be rumblings about a possible suspension as part of the sign-stealing investigation being conducted by the NCAA and Big Ten. It will be the talk of the week.

–Will Penn State get either defensive end Chop Robinson or receiver Harrison Wallace III back in action? Both missed the Maryland game. We’d bet on the former returning but the latter sitting again. Defensive end Amin Vanover should play, too.

–Can the Lions finally knock out Michigan and carve a possible path to the final four-team College Football Playoff? This will dominate the Penn State side of the conversation this week.

–Is the Lions’ success on offense reproducible? Or, was the Maryland win a one-off?