BIG TEN

Michigan grinds up Penn State in a rush

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight took a beating last week against Colorado. This week, he spent most of the day standing back and watching his teammates do all the work.

De'Veon Smith led an overwhelming ground game with 107 yards rushing and a touchdown and Karan Higdon ran for two scores as No. 4 Michigan routed Penn State 49-10 on Saturday in both teams' Big Ten opener.

"We were looking for a way to be more careful out there so I wasn't getting hit as much as I did last week," Speight said. "Luckily, our offensive line and our running backs were great. I think there was one time where we called the same play eight straight times, just flipping the sides, and we were picking up nine or 10 yards a pop. I was just laughing every time I got the same signal."

Michigan (4-0, 1-0) finished with 326 yards rushing and scored six of its seven touchdowns on the ground. Five different backs scored on the ground.

"I was really impressed by all of our running backs," Coach Jim Harbaugh said. "We were moving the chains and breaking off big runs."

The Nittany Lions (2-2, 0-1) were simply running out of bodies on defense. They came into the game missing three starting linebackers, lost Brandon Smith to a second-quarter targeting penalty and lost Jan Johnson to injury.

"I don't know if I've ever been through or seen anything like this," Penn State Coach James Franklin said. "We've got three guys out, and then Brandon gets thrown out going for an interception. Then Jan Johnson comes in, and we lose him, too."

Penn State was overmatched on the other side of the ball as well. Saquon Barkley rushed for 59 yards and caught 5 passes for 77 more, but no one stepped up to help.

In other games involving Big Ten teams, John Wolford ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and Jessie Bates returned an interception for a third score to lead Wake Forest (4-0) past host Indiana (2-1) 33-28. ... David Blough threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, Markell Jones had a go-ahead score in the third quarter and Purdue (2-1) rallied past Nevada (2-2) 24-14 in West Lafayette, Ind. ... Rodney Smith rushed 17 times for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns to help Minnesota (3-0) wear down Colorado State (2-2) on the way to a 31-24 victory in Minneapolis. ... Akrum Wadley scored on a 26-yard run after Iowa's defense forced a turnover deep in Rutgers' territory and the Hawkeyes (3-1, 1-0) rebounded from their loss to North Dakota State with a 14-7 victory over Rutgers (2-2, 0-1) in Piscataway, N.J. ... Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw for 246 yards and ran for a career-high 132 to lead No. 20 Nebraska (4-0, 1-0) to a 24-13 victory over Northwestern (1-3, 0-1) in Evanston, Ill.

Sports on 09/25/2016

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