Yeah that Kenneth Grant play needs more shout-out for sure.

Nice write up thanks 

Grant should play TE next season, he can smash any linebacker in front of him and he can catch too. 

"A white-out of a different kind: While it wasn’t a white-out day, it certainly was one racially. "

Loled and spit out my coffee

Nice write-up BB, thanks for taking the time to share.

That Ken Grant play is gonna go viral like the Hutch play where he destroyed the OSU tackle after calling him out.  Real football fans are going to marvel at it.

We've all watched and know the the running game has not been....characteristic this year. For understandable reasons, often, no doubt. I have to imagine that Ohio, having been on the receiving end of that running game for the last two years, probably has breathed a sigh of relief. No doubt they still know that the offense is formidable, but it has been one that maybe they are more confident defending.  

Yesterday, they watched and cryin ryan turned white as a sheet. Shit! They still have THAT in them!

If we need it to beat an ohio university, we still got it.

KG play ranks up with Mikey's batted down pass last year. 

You really brought the game to life with this. I don't watch games that I think will be tight --- throwback to watching my kids play sports and an admitted weakness of mine, so thanks for the write up. 

Fantastic write up.  Congratulations on making a wonderful lifetime memory with your son, who will likely y be a Michigan fan with you as a result.  Kenneth Grant is awesome and his running down the PSU back down field after a long run was truly inspirational.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  Helped me feel like I visited there myself.   

thanks for the write up

The PSU grads I work with are both very good at their job and reasonable

There is something to be said about not overthinking things.  Moore found something that worked, then stayed with it until PSU proved they could stop it. They never did, and it became clear early in the second half that this would be a winning strategy. I've seen some complain about how boring the approach was.  As a UM fan, I'm certain of the entertainment value of winning with cruelty. 

As a Pennsylvanian, I can confirm that Happy Valley is in the middle of nowhere.

I suspect that makes the student body self-selectedly less diverse. Why would you go to the most rural reaches of the state? The answer would be a cheap education at the state school, but Penn State has satellites everywhere.

The much, much more diverse urban populations are either going to other good schools or Penn State campuses in the Philly or Pittsburgh area. 

And no, I can't speak to Penn State's culture. I grew up in the Philly area, and there's no reason to ever go there except on a college tour (and no, college football isn't a good enough reason when you have the Eagles or Steelers in town).

Thanks for sharing your experience; we went to UM v PSU in Rich Rod's first year (2007) and found it remote and the fans to be really kind/welcoming.  Not Nebraska kind; but no jerks experienced.  I think we lost by like 5 TDs that day so they had reason to be gracious at the end.

To your other part about diversity - I can't really comment one way or the other but did 2 quick searches to see how the 2 schools compared in that regard.  There are differences in the numbers, but I'm not sure they are large enough to be noteworthy.

Clip: #78 Kenneth Grant runs down PSU RB #14 Kaytron Allen! 

https://youtu.be/gXI5SehTSoQ?si=n7OJ8twZtAVrWH1M

Wonderful write up and glad you had a winning experience.

I've never been to HV for a UM game but have heard the same (long drive to the middle of nowhere). 

Before I retired, I had a chance to work with a few PSU grads/fans and found them to be very pleasant. They look at Ohio as boorish bullies who deliberately make you feel uncomfortable even if you are NW or IU. I've heard that PSU is nice to opposing fans (maybe not Ohio but to the rest). 

The game yesterday had the feel of something Bo or Lloyd or Tressel would do when they had you down and knew you couldn't move the ball. Even if you have to run three times and punt, it didn't matter, Just don't give them a short field. Bo used a similar offense to beat Ohio 14-3 in 1978 when Rickey Leach pulled a calf muscle. Same for Lloyd at Ohio 1996 (Shawn Springs falls down covering Tai Streets game) winning 13-9. Tressel did the same vs. Richrod in A2 21-10 2009. 

Nice writeup.

I live in PA, and my impression of Penn State games in person (I've probably been to a dozen, half or so of which were against Michigan) was always "So this is what it must've been like to attend college games in the 60s and 70s!"

It's a huge mass of people converging on an area that clearly has no idea or interest in accommodating that kind of crowd, so you're parking on literal cow pastures and walking damn near a mile (maybe more?) to the stadium. 

You get inside, and it's a very small-town feeling mixed with "25% of these people are Philadelphia fans, and I know exactly which ones they are." 

In the end, it's a middle-of-the-pack B1G experience: you're not thinking "I might have to fight my way out" like Columbus or "how drunk ARE these people?" like East Lansing. But it's also not Madison, Lincoln, etc. (and yes, Ann Arbor) where the experience is truly memorable. It's also not "I can probably be back on the highway in 10 minutes!" like Rutgers or Maryland. 

As a 51-year old, I had the same reaction: what an amazing and awesome gameplan and execution. Was a marvel to watch. 

And great write up!

Nice work, OP. Interesting -- and pleasant -- observations on Myles Hinton.

Thanks for the report. Lots of interesting stuff. 

As I replied to DelGriffith above, I've been to State College and can also confirm how insistently it's in the boonies. 

The TV feed showed a guy in a Napoleon Dynamite t-shirt doing Napoleon Dynamite moves. Did you see it? In my brief glimpse, I thought the t-shirt said "I Am Pedo." I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that I misread it. 

This was a great write up. Thanks. Cool observations. I think your point about murderball is well taken: it seems like a refreshing revelation on offense. And I miss those different styles that you mention.

I could not believe they were booing their own team. Those kids were playing their hearts out.

In his post-game comments, Sherrone Moore indicated that the gameplan for Penn State had been drawn up starting in the summer. He noted that the big guy lineups had been planned well in advance as the coaching staff discussed the best way to attack PSU's stingy and fast DL. 

Rewatching the game, this is evident from Michigan's initial possession. The use of extra linemen wasn't so much an adjustment to Penn State's edge rush beating Barnhart as were play calls that neutralized it or overmatched the perimeter charge. Michigan's biggest plays came off going heavy with Jones, Hinton and Barner as a triple TE package. 

Michigan decided before the season started that running straight at Penn State was the best way to beat the Nittany Lions just as Brian noted in every advanced scouting report. Not sign stealing. Just great coaching. 

Re: 1

The town itself is a big step down from Ann Arbor IMO but the actual area around State College is spectacular. Hiking, trail running, mountain biking, rock climbing, and general outdoor recreational opportunities abound where, from Ann Arbor, you’d have to drive 6+ hours to get anything similar. It’s a nice spot.

Watching the Purdue game, I was concerned that we relied on passing so much, and the running game (save for the Morgan end around) seemed to have atrophied.  Seeing the running game dominate once again was very encouraging.

Thank you for the wonderful write up.

The Stadium.  Well, it’s the most outdated looking major college stadium I’ve ever been in.  The 1970’s paneling could use a facelift.  It’s one of the most vertical stadiums as well.  It reminded me of the old Mile High Stadium growing up in Denver.  A 60’s metal monstrosity that at times vibrates and feels like it might collapse.  It was devastatingly loud and certainly the most difficult stadium in the B1G to visit.  An incredible asset to the home team.  It will be even more dangerous when paneling starts to drop from the media towers.

Our little group of 6 went to the Michigan PSU game there when they had Saquon Barkley. We sat way up in those metal extension seats. It is hard to convince people who never seen the place just how ramshackle it was. It is as if someone had grafted some high school aluminum and steel bleachers onto a previous extensions - exposed nuts, bolts and cotter pins. The whole thing shook and had a worrisome vibration when the students started to jump around. There was no aesthetic place. There were ads for some local grocery and insurance guy and local gas / service station of conflicting sizes and shape - really weird as if there was no cohesive vision when renovating the stadium. Very surprised after all of these years they haven't tried to do a solid rebuild/renovation.

I know that Bill Martin won't be remembered as a great AD in terms of football coaching hires, but he does know construction and the renovation of The Big House (while we were still using it!) should always be remembered - the 1920's parts and the more modern parts just fit together beautifully.