Michigan overwhelms Penn State after halftime altercation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan bullied Penn State on Saturday, from the line of scrimmage to the scoreboard to the newly named Lloyd Carr Tunnel at Michigan Stadium.

Tempers flared as both teams entered the shared tunnel with the Wolverines holding a 16-14 halftime lead. While video showed the teams exchanging verbal volleys, the situation never became physical.

«How they were emotionally all game, I wouldn't be surprised if [it was] them starting it,» Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of the altercation. «We just finished it.»

Michigan defensive lineman Mike Morris said the standoff stemmed from Penn State players talking trash on social media before the game.

«We all told each other, 'They want to have those Twitter fingers, they want to talk on social media,' and then they didn't talk on the field,» Morris said. «They wanted to talk at halftime because they got lucky.»

After dominating the stat sheet but not the scoreboard in the first half, the fifth-ranked Wolverines finished No. 10 Penn State with a resounding third quarter en route to a 41-17 victory. Michigan took some time to pull away but held massive advantages in rushing yards (418-111), first downs (28-10) and possession time (41:56-18:04).

In a game in which Penn State briefly had more touchdowns (2) than first downs (1), Michigan looked every bit like the defending Big Ten champion and a team poised to push Ohio State for the league crown and a likely College Football Playoff spot.

«Like Coach [Jim] Harbaugh said in the locker room, 'It was a butt-kicking in every which way a butt could be kicked,'» McCarthy said. «Just being able to do it in the fashion that we did was just awesome to see. Obviously, the first half, we wish it went a little different