College Football

Michigan and Ohio State look to once again be on a collision course

Updated Oct. 16, 2022 4:20 p.m. ET

By Laken Litman
FOX Sports College Football Writer

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — In college football, sharing a tunnel is the best and also the worst. Usually for the same reasons.

When Ohio State played at Michigan last year, there was some pushing and shoving in the bowels of the Big House at halftime. Something similar occurred Saturday between Michigan and Penn State as they headed for their respective locker rooms at the break.

At the time, the Wolverines led 16-14. The Nittany Lions had just climbed out of a two-possession hole to make it a game after a 62-yard run by quarterback Sean Clifford set up a touchdown and a pass deflection of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy turned into an interception returned for a score.

"The whole week they’ve been talking to us on social media," Michigan defensive end Mike Morris said after the game. "One of our guys was doing [a live video on social media] and they commented like, ‘We’re gonna see you [on Saturday].’ We all told each other, they want to talk on social media? OK. But then they didn’t talk on the field, so they wanted to talk at halftime because they got lucky [before the break]."

Things may have been close at halftime, but in the end, No. 5 Michigan crushed No. 10 Penn State, 41-17.

Penn State vs. Michigan highlights

No. 5 Michigan dominated No. 10 Penn State in this top-10 Big Ten matchup, 41-17.

This game was one of three highly anticipated top-15 conference matchups in Week 7, with No. 3 Alabama traveling to No. 6 Tennessee and No. 8 Oklahoma State at No. 13 TCU. And Saturday in Ann Arbor felt like a big game. These were two undefeated top-10 teams who hadn’t been tested against another ranked team, playing in front of 110,812 fans all dressed in maize. The winner would be labeled the challenger to Big Ten favorite Ohio State and also a College Football Playoff contender.

The trash talk in the tunnel added to the overall vibe.

But in the end, the outcome was lopsided, which reinforces the narrative that the Big Ten is unbalanced and Michigan and Ohio State are on a collision course for a high-stakes regular season finale battle on Nov. 26 in Columbus.

Michigan players, though, sort of resent that.

"The narrative is that Michigan hasn’t played anybody and I feel like that’s not true," Morris said. "The Big Ten is slept on. I feel like anyone can beat anybody."

He referenced the Wolverines’ three previous games against Maryland, Iowa and Indiana as proof, even though Michigan beat those teams by a collective score of 92-51.

"And now Penn State," Morris continued. "We showed up and we showed out so that narrative can keep going, but we’re in the business of proving people wrong."

In Saturday’s win, the Wolverines ran 55 times for 418 yards against a defense that had been holding opponents to 79.6 rushing yards per game, fifth best in the nation. They never had to punt. Michigan had the ball for nearly 42 minutes, Penn State had it for 18. The Nittany Lions had one first down at halftime and only finished with 10. They struggled to make explosive plays outside of Clifford’s big run in the second quarter and were 4-for-12 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth.

"I thought the team made a real positive statement today," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Call it a statement game? OK, call it a statement game."

We won’t truly know what kind of statement this was or wasn’t until the end of the season. But the path toward an undefeated showdown with Ohio State is easy to envision.

The Wolverines are off next week before hosting Michigan State, who beat them in 2021 and is 3-4, losing four of its last five games. After that, Michigan’s schedule includes games against Rutgers, Nebraska and Illinois — who is currently 6-1, No. 1 in the Big Ten West and the 24th-ranked team in the country.

Michigan blows out Penn State, 41-17

RJ Young analyzes the Wolverines' win and explains why Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards are unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Ohio State is in a similar position. It’s the No. 2 team in the country but currently has only one ranked opponent left (remaining schedule includes Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana and Maryland) before facing Michigan. The Buckeyes have the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 48.8 points per game with Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback C.J. Stroud and without star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has been out with an injury since the season opener against Notre Dame. They also have a top-15 scoring defense that’s holding teams to 15.7 points per game. But, given the nature of the conference, they fall into the same narrative as their rival.

Other Power 5 conferences are experiencing far more parity this year. Baylor, a preseason favorite to win the Big 12, has three conference losses. TCU is now the only remaining undefeated team in the league after beating Oklahoma State by three in double overtime, but judging by the way the Big 12 season has gone, who knows what will happen next week against No. 17 Kansas State. No. 6 Tennessee toppled No. 3 Alabama, but the Vols still have a date with No. 1 Georgia in November. Elsewhere, No. 4 Clemson (7-0) and No. 18 Syracuse (6-0) are still unbeaten in the ACC, but face off next week. And in the Pac-12, No. 7 USC was stunned by No. 20 Utah, 43-42, and still has to play No. 11 UCLA, which gets No. 12 Oregon next week (both were idle on Saturday).

Michigan and Ohio State could certainly slip up and head into The Game with a loss, though it seems unlikely. Until then, the Wolverines, and probably also the Buckeyes, can continue to deny any storyline they feel underestimates them.

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Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.