PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Trace McSorley makes this offense go. Despite getting hurt last weekend, he returned and ripped off a 51-yard run down the sideline to break a 17-17 tie. Franklin admitted Tuesday that McSorley is a bit “dinged” up but expect No. 9 to play and handle what has become a bigger workload of late.
–WR KJ Hamler has been amped to play this game from the start of the season. The Michigan native leads the team with 27 catches for 497 yards and five touchdowns thus far.
–WR DeAndre Thompkins saw significant playing time on offense last week with Juwan Johnson banged up. The senior, who’s got two punt return touchdowns in his career and is averaging 10 yards per return this season, will be called on to return punts again and could have a chance to flip field position in what could be a tight game.
–RBs Miles Sanders has been held below 100 rushing yards in three of his last four games but was worked into the Indiana game plan two weeks ago in new ways. Then, Sanders caught six passes for 54 yards out of the backfield.
–DE Yetur Gross-Matos has been a force on the edge the last two games. He’s tallied 13 tackles — six of them behind the line of scrimmage — and four sacks in that span.
SERIES HISTORY: Michigan leads Penn State 13-8. The Nittany Lions won the last meeting 42-13 at Beaver Stadium last season.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Three years ago compared to now are two completely different teams, two completely different points in our program’s development and history. Obviously you’re always learning, but the players on this team, a good portion of them weren’t even here when that game took place.” — Penn State Coach James Franklin on the last time his team played at Michigan, a 49-10 defeat that sparked the team’s current run in the AP Top 25.
