Peppers play may go long way in determining Michigan’s fate

For one, this Penn State departing class is about as small as it gets.

Ohio State could get shut out of the Big Ten championship game if Penn State, seventh in the committee’s rankings, beats Michigan State on Saturday. Washington is No. 5. If Washington gets to 12-1 and Ohio State beats MI to get to 11-1 but doesn’t get to the Big Ten championship game, it will be an interesting decision by the committee.

“Ohio State is very, very good in the kicking game – in all phases – so it’s a real challenge for us – and we need to step it up, in terms of our coverage game, and in terms of our protection”.

“They’ve been unbelievable, they really have”, James Franklin said. Even if Ohio State beats MI and doesn’t get to Indianapolis, there’s still a strong possibility of landing a spot in the four-team national playoff. One or the other won the Big Ten title every year, unless they shared it. Despite being heavy underdogs against the No. 1 Buckeyes, No. 12 Michigan pulled off the stunning 24-12 upset in Michigan Stadium. Mike Gundy has continued his campaign to reverse Oklahoma State’s 30-27 loss to Central Michigan (it came on a final play that never should have happened; officials incorrectly applied a rules and wrongly awarded an untimed down after a penalty). Many tears. I don’t want to go into all the specifics of how Michigan broke my heart, but let’s just say I’m still getting over the Wolverines’ collapse in the closing minutes of the 1975 game in Ann Arbor. Now let’s see how they do against the other, and more significant of their two arch-rivals. All but six of those 24 conference games ended in a MI loss. In recent years Ohio State has dominated “That Team Up North”, but with Jim Harbaugh back in Ann Arbor, this year’s edition of The Game has become, well, the game. “It’s not something we’ve had to go through”. Similarly, Washington State didn’t drop out of the rankings after a loss to Colorado. The first is an Ohio State win, which would move the Buckeyes to 11-1 and hand MI its second loss; the Wolverines would be removed from the Playoff race.

UMass-Lowell 76, Miss. Valley State 71 – Isaac White scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, Jahad Thomas had career highs with 19 rebounds and eight assists as the River Hawks (2-4) defeated Mississippi Valley State (0-5) in the Indiana Classic in Lynchburg, Va.

Orange Bowl: No. 7 Penn State vs.

The Huskies are 10-1.

It graduates just five senior starters, and one of them is the long snapper. So the Lions hold the tiebreaker over the Buckeyes if they both win Saturday.

Jackson State wraps up the invitational with a home matchup against Western Carolina on Saturday night. Washington would be 12-1. Penn State has been rolling since it lost to MI in September, winning seven in a row. In fact, Navy’s earlier win over Houston looking better was probably a big factor in Navy finally moving into the rankings this week.

Penn State would have won the nation’s toughest conference. Florida doesn’t have many negatives on its resume because of losses, but there weren’t really any valuable wins either. Then, a win in Indianapolis would put MI into the playoffs.

But if Washington doesn’t lose again, there will be a lot of nerves for both programs leading into the final CFP selections. Asked if he watched his former players in Monday night’s National Football League game, he deadpanned, “I had no chance to watch”. This was probably the most dominant performance by a John Cooper team in a MI game.

“We want to finish with a ‘W, ‘” he said. “That game is right before ours”. Win their next two games and the Tigers are in. So we’re going to discuss it ahead of time.

On average, Ohio State punts four to five times per game, which should provide at least one or two opportunities for Wolverines redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers to do damage. Wolverines’ quarterback Wilton Speight has practiced this week but could still be too hurt to play Saturday.