• Who: No. 2 Michigan at No. 9 Penn State
• What: Massive Big Ten matchup for Week 11
• Date: Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023
• Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
• Location: Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania
There are some incredible NCAA football matchups on the way this weekend and people are hoping for some more entertainment similar to what USC and UW provided us in Week 10. With that said, there’s no question that the meeting between No. 2 Michigan and No. 9 Penn State is the best contest on the way. Happy Valley is going to be packed with people hoping to see an upset recorded. However, Michigan is expected to top Penn State in a massive Big Ten battle.
While there’s been plenty of controversy surrounding the Wolveries for their sign-stealing scandal, they have one of the best teams in the country. If it wasn’t for No. 1 Georgia, then we’d surely be talking about Jim Harbaugh’s men as holding the top NCAAF betting odds to take home the title this season. This is something Coach Harbaugh has been eyeing with his alma mater for quite some time.
“What I’ve seen of our players: I think what they do no matter what happens, what it is, what emotion, list one of the adjectives: I mean, they just work,” Harbaugh said of his group ahead of Saturday. “They just want to find some work, do some work. Something could be in their personal life, something could be in the game of football or school — some kind of stressor or whatever. You just go to work.”
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, Michigan holds -205 betting odds to post a victory, while Penn State is set at +280. Whoever comes out on top of this meeting will certainly boost their National Championship betting odds. Will Penn State do the unthinkable? We don’t think so. We’re going with Michigan as our pick to grab the victory.
Opportunity on the road this week!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/8vcZNKnKQP
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 6, 2023
The over should hit between Michigan and Penn State on Saturday
With the way both of these offenses operate, the over should hit between Michigan and Penn State on Saturday. With Michigan, we certainly have to bring up the play of quarterback JJ McCarthy. McCarthy was a superstar in high school and virtually every top program in the country was trying to get him to sign with them. Michigan and Harbaugh won out and he’s been incredible this season.
McCarthy is considered one of the top QB prospects in college football and plenty of experts think he’ll be a first-round pick in next April’s NFL Draft. With the New York Giants seeing quarterback Daniel Jones go down with a torn ACL on Sunday vs. the Raiders, McCarthy is being linked with the NFC East side. Before he leaves Ann Arbor, though, he’ll look to close out his college career in style. This includes a huge game ve. Penn State this weekend.
Michigan QB JJ McCarthy showing what he can do on the move, scrambles left, contorts his body and finds his WR on the sideline. pic.twitter.com/7eIIeq7j1h
— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) November 5, 2023
As a football player in my mind, he’s Tom Brady in his preparation and his willingness to be coached, his wanting to do anything and everything that he can for his own personal growth and also for the team,” Harbaugh said about his QB. “And then he’s got this side of him that I’ve only seen in one other quarterback, Jim McMahon, which is the love of playing and the fun that a guy has playing the game of football.
Per the oddsmakers, the over/under for this game has been set at 44.5 points. Both Penn State and Michigan have strong talent on the defensive side of the ball and they’re going to hope to have a big-time impact on the game. The defensive coordinators for the Nittany Lions and Wolverines are going to have their hands full. With all of that said, we’re going with the over as our pick for show one.
Michigan is in the hunt to win the National Title this season
With the way things have gone for them this fall, Michigan is in the hunt to win the National Title this season. McCarthy is a big reason for that, but the rushing attack has also been strong for the Wolverines. If the ground game can get going against Penn State early on, it will help them out tremendously, as Harbaugh is going to want to control the pace of the game and control the clock.
As we mentioned above, with a win against Penn State, the Wolverines will boost their odds to win the title. They’re No. 2 in the rankings behind Georgia, but a lot of people are hoping that these two teams will end up meeting in the National Championship Game. Having Kirby Smart and Harbaugh face off for the trophy would be incredible to see. They’re known as two of the best college coaches of all time.
Per the oddsmakers, Michigan holds +450 odds to win the natty this year. Georgia holds the top odds, but with the way Michigan is playing this season, there’s no reason to believe that Harbaugh and Co. won’t be able to get things done this year. Harbaugh returned to Michigan to try and bring his school back to an elite level. So far, things are going to plan for him in 2023.
