Hype surrounding Michigan vs. Penn State this year is bigger than normal: 'Big, big, big game'
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh doesn't want to get away from his work with the team.
But when asked if his No. 4 Wolverines' matchup with No. 10 Penn State (noon Saturday, Fox) this was a particularly big game for this program or just any other game, Harbaugh joked about the few moments he was trying to unwind, the reminders were still there.
"Big, big, big game," he said. "If anybody was watching football yesterday (Sunday) on television, the pro games, seems like every commercial break there was an advertisement for the Michigan/Penn State game. So if anybody wasn't realizing that this is a big game, there were constant reminders yesterday."
It's a welcomed position, to be in a top-10 matchup, one of three battles across the country of undefeated teams (along with Tennessee vs. Alabama and Oklahoma State vs. TCU).
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Offensive guard Zak Zinter said the team is going to "take it up a notch" and that while they focus on every opponent, its only natural for the preparation to be heightened for a game of this magnitude.
He pointed out Penn State's solid run defense, but even though he hasn't watched "a ton" of film on the Nittany Lions yet — that's what the next handful of days is for — he thinks one key to success is for the Wolverines to not get outside themselves.
"I think we've got to be us," Zinter said. "Stay true to who we are. We've got to clean up the little details on the offensive line, but we've got special backs like Blake (Corum) and (Donovan Edwards) so you know if we get our jobs done, they make it pretty special."
For the second consecutive year, Michigan is 6-0; the first time its done so since 1976-77. Only the Wolverines (seventh, offense; fifth, defense) and Alabama (sixth, offense; sixth, defense) rank in the top 10 in scoring.
While the billing for this game is even more than usual, Colson said this matchup is always on the team's radar.
"Penn State, there's a lot to it," Colson said. "Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State is kind of like the big three, we treat them all as like they're tough opponents you can't over look them — every team we play is going to give us their best shot, but those teams usually tend to be the hardest teams we have to face.
"We've just got to put in good work this week to be ready for them."
Revenge on their minds?
Last season in Happy Valley, Penn State was up by three points and had just forced three punts and a fumble on Michigan football's previous four possessions.
The Nittany Lions needed to come up with one more stop for their biggest win of the season.
Instead, it was Michigan's offense that put together a season-defining touchdown drive.
But six plays and 75 yards later, culminating with a Erick All drag route for a 47-yard touchdown, U-M escaped with a 21-17 victory.
While the win over Ohio State was the highlight of the year, the comeback in State College helped set the stage for the first-ever trip to the Big Ten championship game. victory over the Buckeyes wouldn't have mattered in the big picture, only for rivalry purposes.
And the Wolverines know that Penn State remembers.
So the short answer is yes, Michigan is prepared for revenge to be on Penn State's mind.
"Revenge can be huge because it's kind of like, you plan your whole year around them," said linebacker Junior Colson. "Penn State for example, they plan their whole year around us, being able to beat us, it's a revenge game.
"They've studied every little aspect of our film, they know every little weakness so that's one thing we've got to work on, just our little weaknesses, fixing those and just being able to play a perfect game. That's what we're striving to do."
New faces, same production for Wolverines
Three players touched the ball for Michigan the aforementioned game-winning touchdown drive; All, Cade McNamara, All and Hassan Haskins, none of whom are expected to play Saturday.
Haskins is in the NFL, All has missed three consecutive games for Michigan while dealing with a nagging back injury and McNamara, who injured his leg against Connecticut and hasn't been in uniform in conference play, was supplanted by J.J. McCarthy.
But the Wolverines are perhaps in better shape this season. There has been little if any drop off from Haskins to Corum. If anything, the production has increased.
Haskins had 101 carries for 492 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns through the team's first eight games last season. Corum has 118 rushes for 735 yards (third in the country) for an average of 6.2 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns (second in the country).
Tight end Luke Schoonmaker has taken over with great production. The senior had three catches for 45 yards in the non-conference season. During Big Ten play, he leads the team with 20 receptions for 184 yards and two scores; none of which is surprising to Harbaugh.
"He's always been (a leader)," Harbaugh said. "The catches, the targets, the blocking, I mean everybody is just seeing what we've always seen and thought of Luke. He's elevated his game to a really high level and it's great to see."
McCarthy, coming off the first 300-yard game of his career, leads the nation in completion percentage (78.3%) on 94 of 120 passing. He has led the Wolverines to 23 touchdowns and six field goals on his 46 possessions, a 63% clip.
Saturday will be, by far, the biggest test of his career. But McCarthy has passed each test thus far, and Harbaugh expects his team to be ready for the next one.
"They're good all the time as I said," Harbaugh said. "Always good football, you always expect a real big game when you're playing Penn State."
Follow Tony Garcia on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.