Michigan football: Game-by-game predictions for the 2017 season
By Matt Snyder
Game 7 at Penn State Nittany Lions
The thing about college football is that every week is really like a playoff game. Sometimes teams can afford one loss and maybe two on occasion, but teams with any sort of championship aspiration have to go into every game with a must-win attitude.
Certain games on the schedule stick out as a checkpoint for the season that will set the trajectory for the rest of the year. The Florida game is an obvious one early on, but this road game against Penn State is monumental at the halfway point.
The Big Ten East looks like it will once again come down to Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan. If the Wolverines hope to get to Indianapolis this year, then the game against the Nittany Lions becomes a must win. Michigan dominated the game last year, but Penn State spent much of the rest of the season blowing out their opponents (a weird early-season loss to Pitt aside).
Unfortunately, this season’s matchup is going to be far from easy. James Franklin has built Penn State back into a conference (and national) contender, and Beaver Stadium is never an easy place to play. The young Wolverines are bound to stumble at times this year, and it’s hard to see them playing the error-free game at Penn State that they might need to come away victorious.
Prediction: Loss (6-1)