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Penn State seeks to end Michigan hex

Oct 18, 2008 - 10:17 AM Michigan (2-4) at (3) Penn St (6-0), 4:30 pm EDT

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Penn State removed all doubt with last week's 48-7 destruction of Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. The third-ranked Nittany Lions are serious contenders for the national championship.

Now the Nittany Lions hope to end more than a decade's worthy of frustration against Michigan when they host the Wolverines on Saturday in a Big Ten Conference contest.

No one has tormented Penn State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) more than Michigan, which extended its winning streak against the Nittany Lions to nine games with a 14-9 victory in Ann Arbor last season. It is the longest winning streak by one opponent against Joe Paterno in his 43 seasons as Penn State's coach.

Penn State has not beaten Michigan since a 29-17 victory in Ann Arbor in 1996 (the teams did not play in 2003 and 2004).

However, the Nittany Lions will be facing what could be the worst Michigan team in decades. The Wolverines (2-4, 1-1) dropped a 13-10 decision to Toledo last week, their first loss ever to a team from the Mid-American Conference.

K.C. Lopata missed a 26-yard field goal with four seconds remaining as Michigan suffered its first loss in 25 meetings against an opponent from the MAC.

Michigan's streak of 33 consecutive bowl appearances is in jeopardy, and the Wolverines also could be headed to their first losing season since 1967, two years before Bo Schembechler arrived in Ann Arbor. Michigan still has games remaining against Minnesota, Northwestern and Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions' win at Wisconsin was their first against a ranked opponent on the road since 2002.

Off to its best start since the 1999 team opened 9-0, Penn State is tied with Michigan State and Ohio State atop the Big Ten standings.

"I thought we'd win," Paterno said. "I didn't think we'd win by 41, but anybody who thought we'd win by 41 hasn't been in the game very long."

Junior quarterback Daryll Clark continues to provide steady leadership for the Nittany Lions. He completed 16-of-25 passes for a career-high 244 yards against Wisconsin and threw two touchdowns in a game for the first time.

Wide receiver Derrick Williams remains a special teams threat for the Nittany Lions. He returned a punt 63 yards last week for his third kick return score of the season and now has five in his career - the most of any player in the Paterno era.

Explosive running back Evan Royster is the third-leading rusher in the Big Ten with 719 yards and nine touchdowns. However, he only has 98 carries and is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt.