Penn St.-Michigan, Northwestern-Minnesota Highlight Vegas Big Ten Predictions Week 7

Saturday Blitz Vegas Big Ten Predictions Week 7

Penn State Nittnay Lions at Michigan Wolverines

Line: Michigan by 1

So this isn’t the hyped game we hoped we would see at the beginning of the year. It’s still a divisional game between two traditional Big Ten Powers. And who wants to ignore the soap opera that is Michigan? Brady Hoke has become nothing more than a joke in Ann Arbor, and he’s got to go. To turn this season around, the Wolverines simply need decent quarterback play. They aren’t getting it. When Devin Gardner does show up, the defense falls apart. Both units have to be able to play well for Michigan to win on Saturday. But if one of them has a bad day, then this will be another bad loss.

Penn State made us ask a lot of questions about them after a blowout loss to Northwestern two Saturdays ago, but the Wildcats now look like a pretty good team. Still, Christian Hackenberg showed his incredible inconsistency at quarterback. He’s going to have to step his game up for the Nittany Lions to beat Michigan on the road. On defense, James Franklin’s group needs to focus on making Gardner look like he did before last Saturday. They need to force a few turnovers, which they’ve done a decent job of doing this year, and they need to capitalize off them.

Prediction

This appears to everybody to be the game the Wolverines use to turn the season around as Hoke gets desperate. It won’t happen. Michigan is in sort of a downward spiral, and it’s only going to get worse. This team appears to be quitting, while Penn State continues to hang on. The psychological edge gives a major football edge to Penn State Saturday.

Penn State: 27 Michigan: 14