Here’s what you should keep an eye on in the Penn State-Michigan football game

Folks, Penn State-Michigan is here.

The No. 2 Nittany Lions host the No. 19 Wolverines on Saturday, marking the first matchup between top-25 team in Beaver Stadium since November 2011.

Penn State opened as a double-digit favorite, but the Wolverines have the Nittany Lions’ number. James Franklin has never defeated Jim Harbaugh, and Michigan has won 12 of the last 15 meetings.

We’ll see if history holds — or if a few keys in Penn State’s favor could give the Nittany Lions an edge.

Terrorizing front

Penn State has yet to face a front-four as lethal as Michigan’s. It’s not even close.

Let’s start with nose tackle Maurice Hurst — “probably the best player in the country regardless of position,” Pro Football Focus analyst Josh Liskiewitz told Rivals. Hurst is a projected first-round pick in 2018 with good reason. The 6-foot-2, 282-pound senior has seven tackles for loss this season and, on film, has been the key cog to Michigan’s dominant defense — causing havoc at the point of attack.

“I think Hurst is really fun to watch on tape,” James Franklin said. “He’s explosive. He is quick. His get-off is what really jumps out. You watch the ball snapped, he’s the first one across the line of scrimmage. ... Probably a top-10 pick.”

The Wolverines also have Chase Winovich — a dangerous pass-rusher with Clay Matthews hair and 5.5 sacks on the the season — and five-star talent Rashan Gary. The former is second on the team with 40 tackles, while the latter is a sophomore defensive end with freakish athletic ability.

“A guy who is as big as advertised, 280 pounds. Says he can run in the 4.5s. It looks like that on tape,” Franklin said of Gary. “A lot of time people talk about guys, it doesn’t necessarily look like that when you watch. He is a really, really good athlete who flies around and plays hard.

“We got a challenge.”

Familiar face

When younger Penn State fans hear the name Michael Zordich, they’ll think of the former, younger Nittany Lion fullback — a leader on the 2012 team that stuck together through the NCAA sanctions.

But ask an older Nittany Lion supporter, and they know Michael Zordich as the elder hard-hitting, All-American safety and team captain for Penn State in the mid-1980s. And he’ll be on the sidelines wearing a Michigan shirt.

Zordich is the safeties and special teams coach for the Wolverines under Jim Harbaugh, a coaching vet who’ll return again to Beaver Stadium. An NFL player for 12 seasons, Zordich was a defensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles and Youngstown State before joining Harbaugh’s staff in 2015.

Battle at the kickoff

Speaking of Zordich and Michigan’s special teams unit, the Wolverines are tops in the country in an overlooked category: Kickoff return defense.

On average, Michigan allows 13.9 yards for every opposing return on 13 attempts. Technically, Florida leads the country in the category with 0.0 yards per return; all 26 kickoffs have been touchbacks.

But for those that have actually allowed returns, Michigan is in rare company. There are only two other schools — Utah State and Bowling Green — that’ve faced as many returns or more and allowed less than 16 yards per attempt.

Stack that up against Penn State’s 30.89 yards per return (9 attempts, buoyed by Saquon Barkley’s 98-yard touchdown), and an interesting special teams battle emerges.

Something’s got to give on Saturday. We’ll see which unit prevails.

Nothing to worry about

The Nittany Lion secondary, maybe the most underrated group in the Big Ten, should have it pretty easy on Saturday. Michigan simply cannot move the ball through the air.

The Wolverines rank 94th nationally in passing yards per game with 191.3. That’s less than Akron, Idaho, Appalachian State and Illinois. Yep, Illinois.

Between injured junior Wilton Speight and shaky starter John O’Korn, the Wolverines have only four touchdown passes this season. The only teams with fewer are Army, Troy and Rice.

That’s terrible. Don’t expect Michigan to be able to move the ball through the air if the Wolverines are down late.

Field position

According to Penn State’s S&P+ ranking profile — a statistical analysis that calculates college football teams’ win probability among other metrics — the Nittany Lions are the nation’s best when it comes to opponents’ starting field position.

Part of that credit goes to Irvin Charles, Nick Scott and Penn State’s coverage ballhawks. But a major part of that success is punter Blake Gillikin. The sophomore has hit 23 of his 26 punts either 50-plus yards or inside his opponent’s 20-yard line.

In a game between two of the country’s best defenses, a field position edge generated by Gillikin’s leg could be the difference.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Here’s what you should keep an eye on in the Penn State-Michigan football game."