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Hart's late touchdown helps Michigan upset Penn State

Sep 23, 2007 - 1:49 AM By Bob Tripi PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Mike Hart ran for 153 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown and freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett sprinted for a 10-yard score to lead Michigan to a 14-9 victory Saturday over No. 10 Penn State in the Big Ten Conference opener for both schools.

The Wolverines (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten), who have won two straight contests after a devastating 0-2 start, have won nine straight meetings with Penn State.

Michigan also played its second consecutive game without injured quarterback Chad Henne, who suffered an injury to his right knee against Oregon on September 8.

"It feels great," Hart said of the two straight wins. "The team came a long way after the first two losses. The defense has carried us the last two games."

The 6-7, 252-pound Mallett completed 16-of-29 attempts for 170 yards and an interception for Michigan, which has beaten the Nittany Lions five consecutive times when Penn State is ranked in the top 10.

"It was a lot of fun out there," Mallett said.

After the Nittany Lions (3-1, 0-1) pulled within 7-6 on Kevin Kelly's 29-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the third quarter, Hart carried nine times on a 15-play, 77-yard drive that ended with the senior tailback scoring on a one-yard dive up the middle.

Hart finished with a career-high 44 carries and registered a school-record 23rd 100-yard rushing game.

"The linemen did a great job," Hart said. "We talked about finishing, and today we finished. That's the best defense we've played."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno gave a great deal of credit to Hart.

"He's a helluva back and he gets stronger as the game goes on," Paterno said. "We didn't go in there with the idea we're going to stop Hart. We've got a good defense, but we're not a great defense."

Kelly cut the margin to 14-9 with 6:04 to play when he hit his third field goal of the game from 31 yards.

Penn State had one last comeback opportunity when it received the ball with 88 seconds left, but Anthony Morelli threw four straight incompletions and Michigan took over on downs at the Nittany Lions 13 with just over a minute to play.

"We came into the 'Big House' and moved the ball up and down the field," Morelli said. "We've just got to capitalize at the end."

Penn State linebacker Dan Connor said the loss is frustrating but not devastating.

"It was a hard-fought game," Connor said. "The effort was there. It was just one of those games that didn't fall our way."

Michigan converted a Penn State turnover early in the game to take a 7-0 lead.

Morelli was sacked deep in his own territory by defensive end Brandon Graham and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by linebacker Chris Graham.

"Fumbles, turnovers, we can't have them," Morelli said. "Things didn't go our way today. We've just got to move on."

Mallett, after a minus one-yard completion to Mario Manningham, sprinted 10 yards around left end for the touchdown with 9:35 left in the first quarter.

"I missed the open receiver (on the TD run)," Mallett said. "Hart made a great block."

Morelli, who was 15-of-31 for 169 yards, led Penn State on an 11-play drive to the Michigan 11 in the second quarter, but the Nittany Lions had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Kelly to pull within 7-3 with 9:14 remaining in the period.

The Wolverines' defense has not allowed a touchdown in its last nine quarters. The last score came by Oregon with 29 seconds to play in the third quarter.

"The lead early was very important in this game," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The defense was really outstanding, relentless, played hard, tackled well, tenacious - a beautiful thing to watch."