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Michigan without WR Manningham at Penn State

Oct 10, 2006 - 10:26 PM No. 4 Michigan (6-0) at Penn St (4-2), 8:00 pm EDT

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) - Last year, Michigan handed Penn State its lone loss of the season on a last-second touchdown catch by freshman Mario Manningham. This year, the Wolverines will not be able to count on their breakthrough offensive star.

The fourth-ranked Wolverines will be without Manningham for Big Ten Conference contest on Saturday night as they try to win their eighth consecutive meeting with the Nittany Lions, who have won 11 straight games at Beaver Stadium.

In Ann Arbor last year, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr successfully petitioned the officials to put two seconds back on the clock in the final minute. The Wolverines took advantage on the final play, with Chad Henne throwing a 10-yard touchdown to Manningham on a slant pattern for a 27-25 victory.

Now a super sophomore, Manningham has eight touchdown receptions in his last four games and a national-best nine overall but injured his right knee in the Wolverines' 31-13 victory over Michigan State last week and underwent arthroscopic surgery Tuesday.

With Manningham unable to go, one player Carr will lean on more heavily is senior Steve Breaston, who like Henne and free safety Ryan Mundy is a native of Pennsylvania who will be playing at Beaver Stadium for the first time. The Wolverines (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) have not played here since 2001, when they posted a 20-0 victory - the only home shutout of Penn State in Joe Paterno's 41 seasons at the school.

The Nittany Lions (4-2, 2-1) have won back-to-back contests following a loss to top-ranked Ohio State on September 23. Last week, Penn State edged Minnesota in overtime, 28-27.

Tony Hunt rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns and had his first career TD catch for the Nittany Lions, who were fortunate in the extra session. After Minnesota's Jason Giannini missed an extra point, Penn State appeared to be out of luck when a fourth-down pass by Anthony Morelli to Deon Butler was batted down, but Trumaine Banks was flagged for pass interference. Hunt scored on a two-yard run three plays later and Kevin Kelly made his extra point for the winning margin.

The Nittany Lions will need a big performance from Hunt and their offensive line, who will be matched up against a unit that leads the nation in rushing defense at 40.3 yards per game.