Penn State solid favorite at home

The Nittany Lions have lost nine straight games to Michigan since 1997.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — No team has frustrated Penn State over the last 12 years the way Michigan has.

Nine games, nine losses to the Wolverines.

But Michigan’s time may finally be up.

College football’s winningest program is struggling, in danger of missing a bowl for the first time 33 years. New coach Rich Rodriguez is getting criticized by impatient fans, his spread offense sputtering.

The third-ranked Nittany Lions (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) have been the Big Ten’s best team with a high-powered offense and a typically stingy defense.

Can Penn State break the slide against Michigan today when the Wolverines visit Beaver Stadium?

“Whenever we play Michigan, it’s always going to be a big game,” Penn State defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu said. “This is definitely a ‘Get the monkey off your back’ kind of game.”

Penn State has no traditional rival in the Big Ten, though the guys in the winged helmets come close. If it’s a rivalry, it’s been very one-sided.

For Michigan, there have been blowouts (34-8 in 1997), shutouts (20-0 in 2001) and, most recently, close calls — like the 27-25 victory at the Big House in 2005 clinched by Chad Henne’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham as time expired.

It was the only loss hung on Penn State that year, the last time the Nittany Lions were a national championship contender.

“Well, I think when we just missed out a couple years ago, it was a disappointment to me,” Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno said about coming close to his third career title.

This group of Nittany Lions has been loose but focused, intent on proving it’s more than just a surprise team in the Big Ten. Paterno promises he’s not taking the struggling Wolverines (2-4, 1-1) lightly.

“They can go out there and beat anybody probably, if they can get a couple of kids that start to feel good about themselves, make a couple plays, get a little momentum,” Paterno said.

Momentum is exactly what Michigan does not have, though, heading into Happy Valley, not after a humbling 13-10 loss last week at home to Toledo. It left the Wolverines with their worst record through six games since 1967, which was also their last losing season.

The vaunted spread scheme that Rodriguez brought with him from West Virginia isn’t working out with the players he has at Michigan.

Starting quarterback Steven Threet, a redshirt freshman, was questionable for the game with an elbow injury. Both he and backup Nick Sheridan have been inconsistent, at best, in running the offense.