UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 23/23 Penn State faces No. 9/8/7 Michigan on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon on ABC. The 2021 season is presented by PSECU.
SERIES HISTORY: The Nittany Lions will meet Michigan for the 25th time in program history. The teams have split the last six meetings, 3-3, but Penn State has won each of the last two matchups. Last year, Penn State earned a 27-17 win in Ann Arbor. Keyvone Lee rushed for a career-high 134 yards and a touchdown and Sean Clifford added a 28-yard rushing score. The Nittany Lions held Michigan to 112 passing yards.
DOTSON'S RECORD-SETTING DAY: Jahan Dotson continues to put up impressive numbers every week. Last Saturday, Dotson had a career-high-tying 11 receptions for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Dotson's 242 yards are a Penn State single-game record, bettering Deon Butler's 216 yards against Northwestern in 2006. Dotson had touchdown receptions of 38, 21 and 86 yards. The 86-yard touchdown is tied for the fourth-longest pass play in school history. Dotson is the only Power Five receiver, and one of two FBS receivers, with 240 yards and three touchdowns in a game this season.
EBIKETIE LIVING IN THE BACKFIELD: Arnold Ebiketie registered a solo sack in the first quarter against Maryland. Ebiketie has at least one tackle for loss in five-straight games. He's tied for ninth in the country and leads the Big Ten with 12.5 tackles for loss. Ten of his 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 of his 6.5 sacks have come against Big Ten opponents (six games).
MORE RED ZONE STOPS: Penn State held Maryland to two-of-five in the red zone last Saturday. The first stop was aided by an intentional grounding call that forced a punt. Ji'Ayir Brown takeaways accounted for the other two stops, including a fumble recovery in the third quarter and an 87-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter. Penn State has held opponents without a score in 12 of 34 red zone possessions.
THE OPPOSITION: Michigan moved to 8-1 on the season with a 29-7 win over Indiana last Saturday. Michigan tallied 411 yards, including 188 on the ground. Hassan Haskins rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, while Cade McNamara threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Cornelius Johnson had five catches for 108 yards. The Wolverines held Indiana to 195 total yards.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
- Jim Harbaugh is in his seventh season as head coach at Michigan. In three of his six seasons as the Michigan head coach, Harbaugh has guided the Wolverines to 10-win seasons.
- Michigan is 8-1 on the season, including a 5-1 mark in Big Ten play.
- The Wolverines are coming off a 29-7 win over Indiana.
- Michigan ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring offense (36.2), third in total offense (451.4), seventh in passing offense (217.3) and first in rushing offense (234.1).
- QB Cade McNamara has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 1,666 yards and nine touchdowns.
- Michigan's dynamic rushing attack features RB Hassan Haskins (829 yards, 11 TD) and RB Blake Corum (778 yards, 10 TD). The duo is averaging 178.5 yards per game and 5.45 yards per carry.
- WR Cornelius Johnson has 27 catches for 449 yards and three touchdowns.
- Michigan's defense sits third in the Big Ten in scoring defense (16.0), second in total defense (298.1), second in passing defense (173.4) and sixth in rushing defense (124.7).
- LB Josh Ross leads the unit with 61 tackles.
- LB David Ojabo paces the Wolverines with eight tackles for loss, eight sacks and four forced fumbles, while DE Aidan Hutchinson has recorded 7.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
- K Jake Moody leads the Big Ten averaging 2.33 field goals per game and holds second with a 91.3 field goal percentage.
MARYLAND NOTES
- Penn State has won each of the last 14 road matchups against the Terrapins and seven of the last eight matchups between the teams.
- QB Sean Clifford and WR Jahan Dotson connected for an 86-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, Penn State's fourth-longest pass play in program history.
- Dotson caught 11 passes for a career-high and program-record 242 yards and three touchdowns.
- Dotson is the only Power Five receiver with 240+ receiving yards and three touchdowns in a game this season.
- The Nittany Lions held Maryland to 48 rushing yards, the 38th time Penn State held its opponent under 100 rushing yards since 2014.
- Penn State forced three red-zone stops, holding Maryland to two-of-five.
- The Nittany Lions forced two turnovers, including an 87-yard pick-six by S Ji'Ayir Brown, the fifth-longest interception return in program history.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Sean Clifford has connected with Jahan Dotson for 21 passing touchdowns in their careers.
- Clifford and Dotson own the most passing touchdowns of any current FBS duo.
- In 2021, Dotson (71 rec, 932 yards, 9 TD) and Parker Washington (43, 498, 2) are one of six receiver duos with at least 40 receptions and 490 receiving yards among Power Five teams through their first nine games of the season.
- Clifford and Dotson connected for an 86-yard touchdown pass against Maryland. It's tied for the fourth-longest pass play in program history and it's Penn State's longest pass play this season.
- Dotson tallied a career-high and program-record 242 receiving yards, bettering Deon Butler's 216 against Northwestern in 2006 and became the first Penn State receiver to record 200 receiving yards in a game since Butler.
- Dotson is the only power five receiver with at least 240 yards and three touchdowns this season and one of two in the FBS, joining Northern Illinois' Trayvon Rudolph (14 rec, 309 yds, 3 TD vs. Kent State).
- Dotson is one of two FBS receivers, and the only Power Five receiver, with at least 70 receptions, 930 yards and nine touchdowns in their first nine games of the season, joining Western Kentucky's Jerreth Sterns (104, 1,276, 11).
- Dotson is the first Big Ten receiver with at least 70 receptions, 930 yards and nine touchdowns in the first nine games of a season since Northwestern's Austin Carr (70, 1,010, 10) in 2016.
- Dotson has five or more receptions in 11-straight games, dating back to the Michigan State game in 2020, the longest streak among current FBS players, and is the only Nittany Lion in program history to catch at least five passes in 11 consecutive games.
- Clifford became the third Penn State quarterback to reach 7,000 passing yards, against Maryland. He currently has 7,103 passing yards.
- Clifford threw for 363 yards against Maryland, his sixth career 300-yard game and 17th career 200-yard game.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
- The Nittany Lions are allowing just 16.7 points per game in 2021, ranking 10th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten.
- Penn State is allowing opponents only a 64.7 conversion rate in the red zone this season, ranking sixth in the country and leading the Big Ten.
- In 34 opponent red zone trips, Penn State has held opposing teams without a score on 12 possessions.
- Penn State has held its opponents to a 29.41 touchdown conversion percentage in the red zone, marking the third-best in the country (34 attempts, 10 touchdowns).
- The Nittany Lions' 12 red zone stops are the most among Power Five teams and tied for the FBS lead with Cincinnati, Florida Atlantic and UTEP.
- Penn State has allowed just six passing touchdowns this season, tied for fifth in the country.
- Ji'Ayir Brown returned an interception 87 yards for a touchdown at Maryland. It is the fifth-longest interception return in program history.
- The pick-six is Penn State's second this season, including Jesse Luketa's 16-yard return vs. Ball State.
- Penn State has two pick-six's in a season for the first time since 2019 (John Reid vs. Buffalo, Garrett Taylor vs. Memphis).
- Brown has a hand in six takeaways this season (four interceptions, two fumble recoveries). He is the first Nittany Lion with four interceptions and two fumble recoveries in a season since current assistant recruiting coordinator Alan Zemaitis in 2005 (six interceptions, two fumble recoveries)
- Brown's four interceptions lead the Big Ten and rank third in the FBS.
- The Nittany Lions, who held Indiana to 69 rushing yards and Maryland to 48 rushing yards, have limited opponents to under 100 yards rushing 38 times since 2014. Penn State is 32-6 in those games.
- Dating back to the Nebraska game in 2020, Penn State has forced a turnover in 15-straight games, the fourth-longest streak among FBS teams and the tied second-most among Power Five teams (Marshall, 23; Baylor, 17; San Diego State, 17; Oklahoma, 15).
- In those 15 games, Penn State has forced 23 total turnovers (15 interceptions, eight fumbles).
- Ten of Arnold Ebiketie's Big Ten-leading 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 of his team-high 6.5 sacks have come against Big Ten opponents (six games).
- The Silver Spring, Md. native ranks second in the Big Ten in tackles for loss per game (1.4, 11th nationally) and fifth in sacks per game (0.72, 25th).
- In three seasons, Clifford has thrown for 1,101 yards against the Terrapins (398 in 2019, 340 in 2020, 363 in 2021).
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
- Redshirt senior Jordan Stout has served as Penn State's kicker, for both field goals and extra points, punter and kickoff specialist in all nine games this season.
- Stout owns Penn State's best career punt average (44.58), leading by 1.45 yards per punt.
- Stout also holds Penn State's highest season punt average (46.70), ahead by 2.75 yards per punt.
- Led by Stout, Penn State ranks second in the country in net punting (45.06).
- Stout is 10th in the country, and third in the Big Ten, with a 46.7 punt average.
- Stout's 91.6 touchback percentage (44 of 48) is the highest in the FBS among kickers with 40 or more kickoffs.