Error processing SSI fileBurning Questions
U-M knows how to win games late
Victory could boost Wolverines for stretch drive, but quarterback must find his rhythm.
ANN ARBOR -- Burning questions as Wolverines fans and their last-second shrieks nearly turned Michigan Stadium to ash Saturday evening in an astonishing 27-25 victory over Penn State.
Q: So how do rational college football analysts explain Saturday's Michigan-Penn State game?
A: Michigan has put together nearly a 40-year string of winning football seasons. The dividend from succeeding so regularly -- beyond spending the holidays at a beach or Sun Belt oasis -- is that a team has familiarity with the ways in which victory can be extracted from a given situation, no matter how absurd. There was an institutional football mind-set at work during those last-gasp scoring drives Saturday as the Wolverines won a game they had no business winning and a game Penn State had every right to claim.
Q: Who earns the most credit?
A: If the focus is on players, rather than coaches -- and the coaching staff slept very well Saturday night -- Michigan's offensive line showed admirable development. Chad Henne had just enough time to make fourth-quarter throws he has had difficulty making for much of the season. Part of the problem has been Henne's tentativeness. He hadn't shown authority, nor was he picking up his downfield receivers with the snap he showed a year ago. He missed a few frustrated receivers against Penn State. But his entire on-field persona changed when things turned urgent late in the fourth quarter. The quarterback grew up -- significantly -- on those last two scoring drives.
Q: How good is Penn State?
A: Better than some of us thought. Penn State is resourceful. Joe Paterno's team plays industrial-strength football in step with his old Penn State teams. The Nittany Lions got some breaks Saturday because they made some breaks. That has more or less been Penn State's personality in 2005.
Q: What does Penn State lack?
A: The offense isn't to be confused with that Penn State bunch from 11 years ago when Ki-Jana Carter, Bobby Engram and Kerry Collins were grinding up defenses. But it gets the job done in a minimalist way.
Michael Robinson, Penn State's daring quarterback, can hurt you with his legs and zip just enough passes into a receiver's midsection to keep defenses honest. The offense is pure Penn State -- very vanilla.
Q: Who was Michigan's most valuable player Saturday?
A: Once again, Mike Hart. He gets yardage he shouldn't be getting. His legs churn. He keeps his balance. He is one exceptional running back.
Q: So the worst of Michigan's struggles have ceased?
A: A gut feeling is yes. When a team has come back from the dead the way U-M did Saturday -- and played an overall solid game against a Penn State squad that had everything going for it -- you get the feeling this U-M team is beginning to resemble its ancestors.
Q: What about the schedule?
A: Again, it comes as close to being in Michigan's favor as a four-game stretch in the Big Ten figures to be: at Iowa, at Northwestern, home to Indiana and Ohio State. The road games will be difficult, but Michigan is probably the better team in each instance.
This is still the Big Ten, it's still college football, and crazy things will happen. But based on Michigan's comportment Saturday and the remaining schedule, U-M's fans should feel good about the prospects in a year unlike any in memory.
Burning questions Burning questions Burning questions Burning questions Burning questions You can reach Lynn Henning at 313-222-2472 or lynn.henning@detnews.com.
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