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At halftime, No. 10 Penn State was taking the fight to the No. 5 Michigan football team. Literally. Things got chippy in the tunnel, with both teams shoving and engaging in the skirmish. What had transpired on the field in the previous 30 minutes didn’t fit that narrative. The Wolverines handled the Nittany Lions for the most part, outgaining them heavily in yardage and, astonishingly, holding them to just one first down despite only leading 16-14.

But standing in the tunnel, Penn State — whether warranted or not — was confident.

The Wolverines, meanwhile, were simply unbothered.

“They didn’t talk on the field,” senior defensive end Mike Morris said. “So they wanted to talk at halftime because they got lucky.”

That attitude, the nonchalance with which Michigan treated the Nittany Lions at halftime, was exemplified by its dominance on the field.

The narratives surrounding the Wolverines entering their Top-10 matchup were pertinent: Could they move the ball against Penn State’s top-five ranked run defense? What would the defense that had struggled against lesser Big Ten competition look like? And, of course, how would Michigan handle its first “real” test?

The Wolverines passed with flying colors.

They throttled Penn State from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. They marched right over the Nittany Lions’ run defense to the tune of 418 rushing yards, they stymied Penn State’s pair of talented running backs to 35 yards combined and they never punted.

The game was close in the first half because Michigan found itself settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. It was in a battle not with its opponent, but its own ineptitude. The Wolverines looked at the first half and didn’t see themselves in a dogfight.

In their eyes, they just weren’t playing to their standard.

“We knew that we beat ourselves,” graduate center Olusegun Oluwatimi said. “… So going into the locker room at halftime. Our spirits were up, we were ready to go back out … We felt like we were dominating on both sides of the ball and even in special teams, so we just (had) to keep doing us.”

Even with a 6-0 start, college football pundits criticized Michigan at every turn. Its weak non-conference schedule meant nothing could be gleaned from its blowout wins. Next, Maryland was able to move the ball against the Wolverines, raising further red flags. Then, they didn’t play four dominant quarters against Iowa or Indiana. More and more, questions swirled about their defense and whether a better opponent could exploit them.

Penn State was supposed to be the better opponent. And Michigan, instead, looked the most dominant

it had in conference play all season. “Take away three plays and the score is 41 to 3,” Morris said. “So we were not really worried about it.” The Wolverines entered this game looking for respect. Despite all they accomplished last year, they’re still viewed as a team that’s begging JOSH for a seat at the big kids’ table. TAUBMAN But a resounding win in a top-10 matchup proves Michigan should

LILA TURNER/Daily have its spot firmly anchored in the college football’s hierarchy. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh went as far to call it a “statement game.”

There’s a laser focus to this year’s iteration of the Wolverines. The breaks in the game were going Penn State’s way — and it didn’t matter. They possess a confidence, built from the fact that they’ve seen what they can accomplish and have the belief that they can do it again.

Up until kickoff, it was unclear how Michigan would look against the Nittany Lions. But, as it moved the ball at will and seized control of the game in the second half, those narratives quickly shifted — shifted to a point where going 11-0 entering the matchup in Columbus looks realistic.

That’s a narrative that wasn’t floated with much confidence outside of Ann Arbor before Saturday. But inside the Wolverines’ locker room, a new narrative about what they can accomplish this season has already been written.

Last year, the narrative was about resetting expectations.

This year, the expectation is to win, and Penn State was simply the first measuring stick.

FOOTBALL Corum, Edwards show full capabilities in dominant performance against Penn State

JEREMY WEINE/Daily

JARED GREENSPAN Managing Sports Editor

After Penn State allowed a stunning 418 rushing yards in a 41-17 loss to the Michigan football team, a number of defensive standouts admitted that the Nittany Lions needed to be better. That much was evident to anyone who watched Penn State’s fifthranked rushing defense — one of its core strengths — morph into a fatal flaw.

Yet, amid the somber scene, linebacker Curtis Jacobs still found a reason to smile.

Jacobs had just been asked about someone he considers one of his “dearest friends” — junior running back Blake Corum.

“I’ve seen the same thing from him since sixth grade,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs and Corum played together on Team Maryland in the FBU eighth grade circuit. They went on to play at competing high schools: Corum at St. Frances Academy and Jacobs for the McDonogh School.

“In our FBU Tournament, I saw some flashes,” Jacobs remembered. “But when I saw him at St. Frances, that’s when I knew he was gonna be one of the best backs in the country. He’s lightning in a bottle.”

Saturday, Corum and sophomore running back Donovan Edwards combined to decimate Jacobs and Penn State’s defense. Corum once again affirmed his presence as one of the nation’s top running backs, tallying 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Edwards, meanwhile, ran for a career-best 173 yards and found the endzone twice, too.

There is no more speculation surrounding Corum’s ability to evolve into a power, short-yardage back who can fill the void left by Hassan Haskins. Gone, too, are concerns over Corum’s ability to handle a taxing, demanding workload.

These days, it seems like the only question pertaining to Corum is if the opposing defense will ever be able to stop him.

“Everything that y’all see in games, we see in practice,” senior edge rusher Mike Morris said. “There are some plays where I have to cover (Corum and Edwards) on downs and it’s like, I just look to the coaches like, ‘Why are we calling this play?’ ”

Penn State, on paper, seemed poised to test Michigan’s rushing attack. Entering the day, it had allowed just 79.6 rushing yards per game and a mere 398 rushing yards on the season.

The Wolverines eclipsed that figure with time to spare in the fourth quarter.

Penn State players attributed the performance to a number of reasons. Most of them blamed a lack of execution in their individual assignments. Some stressed a need to be more physical. Others cited schematic issues.

One constant emerged: Heading into the game, each player felt prepared for what was coming.

“We knew what we were getting into,” linebacker Jonathan Sutherland said. “We knew what kind of game it was gonna be.”

Nothing could prepare them for the dominance that would ensue.

In the first half, Michigan racked up 168 rushing yards, marching the ball methodically down the field.

“Of course you’re not gonna feel good about it,” linebacker Kody King said. “But it’s just a next play mentality: next play, next play, next play.”

And yet, so often, each play yielded the same result. In the second half, the Wolverines’ rushing game evolved from dominant to lethal. A sequence of back-to-back runs eventually swung the game in their favor for good.

On a first and 10 from the Michigan 33-yard line, Edwards bounced around the edge, eliciting an initial thunder of cheers. Then, he cut back inside and juked cornerback Ji’Ayir Brown to the turf, taking it 67 yards to the house while the crowd crescendoed.

“Knowing what he can do with the ball in his hands, with his speed, I knew it was gonna be a big gain,” sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. “That’s just the special player he is.”

On the next offensive play, the Wolverines lined up on their own 39-yard line. This time, Corum earned the carry. He burst through the middle and left everyone else behind, sprinting 61 yards for his second score of the day.

Morris remembered being on the sideline, having just taken his helmet off. Before he could even ask for water, Corum was in the clear.

“I’m happy for him but I was like, ‘Gotta let us get a break a little bit’,” Morris laughed.

Corum and Edwards didn’t give either defense a break. Morris may have had to retake the field, but Jacobs had to worry about bringing Corum to the ground. And yes, it’s as difficult as it seems.

“He has a really strong lower base,” Jacobs noted. “He works on that. He really works on balance and being able to run downhill and that’s big. Being a running back in the Big Ten, you have to be able to run downhill.”

Saturday’s game, in a way, highlighted everything that Corum and Edwards have worked on. Corum put on 12 pounds in the offseason with the idea of adding a little more power to his game while also retaining his trademark speed. Edwards, meanwhile, has bided his time since arriving as a fivestar recruit, confident a breakout of this sort would happen.

“I feel like I’ve been prone for a game like this for a while now,” Edwards said. “I just had to sit back and wait my turn and show the world what I’m capable of being able to do.”

The duo did just that Saturday. And if the fifth-ranked run defense can’t even slow them down, well, who else stands a chance?

FOOTBALL Against Penn State, Michigan dominated the line of scrimmage

SPENCER RAINES Daily Sports Editor

Football games are won in the trenches — and that’s the way Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and his fifth-ranked Wolverines like it.

Not only did Michigan’s offensive line maul No. 10 Penn State’s defensive front on its way to a 41-17 victory, but its defensive line tamed the Nittany Lions’ offense. It was as thorough a performance on both lines of scrimmage as a team can have, and the Wolverines did it all against a top-10 team.

That much was evident to everyone in the Big House on Saturday, fans, players and coaches alike. After the game, sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy noted that.

Asked at what point in the game he knew his team would control the line of scrimmage, McCarthy answered like someone who has the utmost confidence in his offensive line.

“(We knew) from the jump, from the first drive,” McCarthy said. “I mean, just the way they were moving them off the ball. … And just the way these guys were running the ball right away and the way the offensive line was blocking. I just knew it was going to be a dogfight until the end in the trenches and yeah, our guys pulled out in front.”

It really was clear from the very beginning that Michigan’s lines were better. On the first drive, the Wolverines ran it down Penn State’s throat, always on schedule, and moving the sticks with ease. To add to that, on Michigan’s very first defensive possession, it forced a three-and-out, doing so emphatically with a tackle for loss on third and one.

That’s how things went for both the offensive and defensive lines for most of the game. The offense pounded the ball to great success time and time again. And the defensive line stymied the Nittany Lions’ talented freshman running back duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen to the point where their offense was completely one-dimensional.

Outside of a 62-yard run on a read option from Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack repeatedly ran into a wall at the line of scrimmage. Singleton and Allen combined for just 35 yards on 12 attempts — their worst mark of the season.

It was apparent that the Wolverines were the more physical team on both sides of the ball early on, and that only grew more obvious as the game progressed.

“I felt like we played dominant on both sides of the ball with our fronts,” graduate center Olusegun Oluwatimi said. “We stopped their run game and obviously we had a big game on the ground. So it was just a dominant performance.”

As Oluwatimi spoke, he donned a pair of shades and a smirk fitting of the accomplishment. He exuded the type of confidence you’d expect to see from a quarterback, a wide receiver, a running back, or realistically, any player other than a lineman.

But that’s what the Wolverines are: A program that prides itself on physical, smash-mouth football. A program that elevates linemen — offensive and defensive — to the status of a skill position, one of the utmost importance.

Even McCarthy shares that belief.

“With any successful offense — you could go to any program in the country — you have to have a dominant run game, you have to,” McCarthy said. “You don’t see any air raid offense winning national championships. It’s where it’s done, in the trenches, and that’s where the battle is won.”

Saturday, that was certainly the case. And that’s just how Michigan likes it.