Franklin tries to explain struggles against Michigan football defense

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Michigan football defense, which is hailed as the No. 1 unit in the nation, held Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in check all game en route to a 24-15 victory in Beaver Stadium on Saturday. After the game, Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin explained what it was that the Wolverines did that kept Penn State from moving the football with its former five-star quarterback.

Michigan football defense handled its business against No. 10 Penn State on Saturday

Drew Allar has the size, the talent, and the potential to be an elite quarterback for Penn State; yet, against the No. 1-ranked Michigan football defense on Saturday, he looked quite average.

James Franklin explained how the Wolverines kept his team in check offensively

After the game, James Franklin explained to Basic Blues Nation and other media outlets what the Wolverines did that slowed down Drew Allar and the Penn State offense.

“The same thing that they (Michigan) have done against everybody all year long. That’s one of the best defenses in college football,” James Franklin said of the Michigan football defense following his third-straight loss to the Wolverines. “We (Penn State) have (also) got one of the best defenses in college football. (Michigan) makes it challenging up front; their front seven is able to get pressure and to get sacks, but not a whole lot against us today.

“But about their coverage — we made a couple of throws that if the ball is not delivered right, one ended up being a pass interference on them and one we were fortunate that it wasn’t an interception. Your ball location is critical in these types of games. We had a couple of shots called, but we were waiting for a specific look at a specific defense and weren’t able to do that, so we weren’t able to loosen them up from a coverage standpoint to help with the more consistent higher percentage throws.”

More from Franklin on why Drew Allar struggled against Michigan football

James Franklin also noted that, against Michigan football and other elite teams, the Nittany Lions need to do a better job of getting Drew Allar in rhythm.

“We’ve got to do a better job of calling a game to allow our quarterback (Drew Allar) to get into rhythm. That is critical,” Franklin said. “We’ve got to find easy completions for a quarterback to get into rhythm. That’s what everybody does. We’ve got to do a good job of that. And then on top of that, although there weren’t sacks, there were too many pressures, and there were too many times where we were not creating separation.”

No Jim Harbaugh? No Problem — Michigan improves to 10-0 on the road

Even without Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football beat Penn State by nine points on the road on Saturday afternoon — that is including the Nittany Lions’ garbage time touchdown and the fact that Michigan did not throw a pass throughout the entire second half.

Now, with a 10-0 record (7-0 Big Ten), the Wolverines head to College Park, MD, to put their undefeated record to the test next weekend against the 6-4 Maryland Terrapins.

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