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Penn State's mission: Keep Michigan offense on sideline

Before they turn the lights on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, the Penn State electricians may want to install a couple of spotlights to shine on the lush green grass.

Penn State's rushing game showed improvement in the win over Minnesota. (Paul Battaglia/AP)
Penn State's rushing game showed improvement in the win over Minnesota. (Paul Battaglia/AP)Read more

Before they turn the lights on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, the Penn State electricians may want to install a couple of spotlights to shine on the lush green grass.

One of them could be directed at Evan Royster, who needs 31 yards to end his extended pursuit of Curt Warner's career rushing record for the Nittany Lions. The other would be trained upon the offensive line, an often maligned unit that may hold the fate of the game against Michigan in its meaty hands.

The Wolverines (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten) own one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, piloted by Heisman Trophy candidate Denard Robinson. They've averaged 532 yards of total offense this season, and the sophomore quarterback has accounted for 345 of those yards by himself.

So for the Lions (4-3, 1-2) to have a chance to get another win in pursuit of a bowl bid and closer to Joe Paterno's 400th victory, they have to keep the Michigan offense off the field. What better way to do it other than by grinding it out?

"With a talented offense like Michigan, we want to be able to help out the defense the best we can," guard Stefen Wisniewski said. "We want to score points, and we want to hold onto the ball to keep Robinson and Michigan off the field as much as we can."

It hasn't been a great season on the ground for the Nittany Lions, who enter the game ranked 10th in the conference and 86th in the nation in rushing at 128.7 yards per game. But that part of the offense showed signs of life in the second half against Minnesota last weekend.

After gaining just 35 yards on the Golden Gophers in the first half, Penn State picked up 110 in the second, averaging 6.9 yards per carry in the final two quarters. Royster had a 29-yard gain, and freshman Silas Redd bolted for runs of 26 and 20 yards.

"As the game wore on, we got more into a groove," center Doug Klopacz said. "That's going to be huge. They put up a lot of points on the board . . . [so] ball control is a big point, and we have to do the best job we can in terms of that."

Royster has long been the focal point of the Lions' rushing attack, having posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2008 and 2009. But he's been well behind that pace this season, with 450 yards in seven games. His only 100-yard game came against Temple - a 187-yard, 26-carry performance on Sept. 25.

Now he's primed to break Warner's career rushing mark of 3,398 yards, if for no other reason than for people to stop asking him when it's going to happen.

"I don't really think about it," he said. "It's not that big of a thing to me, at least not right now. I'll look back and I'll be happy that it happened. But I'm ready to win games."

Asked if he couldn't wait for the pursuit to end, Royster replied, "Most definitely."

Wisniewski said he and his line mates are anxious to get Royster over the top at home, at night, and in front of a national television audience.

"It's about time, right?" he said. "We're going into Game 8 and I thought we'd have it by now. I guess you couldn't pick a better game for it to happen. It's a home game, a night game, and we're playing Michigan. We're hoping to get it done and do it on a great stage for him."

Except for Temple, Penn State's offensive coaches have not rushed Royster more than 11 times in a game as they try to get more carries for backup Stephfon Green and Redd, a 197-pound freshman who seems to put a jolt in the offense every time he carries the football.

"Obviously, Royster is our first-stringer," Paterno said. "He's played a lot of football, has had a lot of success, knows what's going on, and is very dependable. Both Green and Redd we like very much, and we'd like to get both of them a little bit more work."

For the Lions to have a chance Saturday night, all three will have to work in concert with the offensive line to mount time-consuming drives that will keep the Michigan offense idle on the sideline.