The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions couldn’t stop him Saturday - or Joe Paterno’s longest losing streak against one school.
Hart ran for 153 yards on a career-high 44 carries and scored early in the fourth quarter, leading Michigan to a 14-9 win over Penn State.
Even though the Nittany Lions stacked their defense to stop Hart, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr didn’t hesitate to keep giving him the ball.
“I’m not dumb,” Carr joked.
Two weeks after its season seemed doomed, Michigan has new life.
The Wolverines (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) have climbed back to .500 after starting the season with two of the worst losses in school history. They were the fifth-ranked team in the country when NCAA Division I-AA Appalachian State stunned them in the opener. The next week, they were blown out of the Big House by Oregon.
“Some people will still talk about us in a bad way,” Hart said. “But a lot of people will see that Michigan is back.”
The Wolverines always seems to get well against Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions.
Penn State has lost nine straight games to Michigan, the longest winning streak by one team against Paterno and almost doubling the second-best run against him.
“It’s always frustrating when you lose,” said Paterno, whose second-longest skid is five against Iowa. “I don’t necessarily think it matters that it’s Michigan.”
Michigan held Penn State’s lackluster offense to three field goals and after the final one, midway through the fourth, freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett converted a pair of third downs on passes to take 4˝ minutes off the clock and force Penn State to use all of its timeouts.
The Nittany Lions (3-1, 0-1) got the ball back at their 13 with 1:28 to go, setting up a TD-or-bust drive.
Anthony Morelli threw the ball away on the first two downs and almost threw interceptions on the next two attempts to seal the loss. He was 15 of 31 for 169 yards.
Michigan’s defense has given up 16 points in two games after allowing 73 against Appalachian State and Oregon.
“Sometimes in life, you get a wake-up call,” Carr said.
Texarkana Texas product Mallett, starting for injured Chad Henne, was 16-of-29 for 170 yards with an interception and scored the first TD of the game on a 10-yard run.
Hart ran for more than 100 yards for the 23rd time in his career, breaking Anthony Thomas’ school record. Carr improved to 17-8 against AP Top 10 teams after losing five of his previous seven.
Midway through the third quarter Mallett mishandled a snap, but the Nittany Lions could only get a 29-yard field goal by Kevin Kelly to pull to within 7-6 in the final minute of the third quarter.
Penn State responded with a solid drive but was held to Kelly’s third field goal and had to settle for a 14-9 score midway through the fourth.
Mallett scored on a crafty play, pumping right and running left untouched. He flipped the ball underhanded as he crossed the goal line.
