The Michigan football team and the Penn State football team are jockeying for position in the Big Ten East Division, trying to get the chance to take down Ohio State and make a run at the conference title. They clash in Week 7 of the college football season. Let's make some Michigan football predictions.

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Michigan Football Predictions For Game Vs Penn State Football

4. Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy will throw one interception

J.J. McCarthy and the Michigan offense are not humming along. Michigan's offense has looked ordinary against Maryland and Indiana, two defenses which are not particularly imposing or physically powerful. That should be a sign of concern for the Wolverines heading into this game. If you watched the Michigan-Indiana game this past weekend, you saw that McCarthy often tried to force the ball down the field into a tight window or double coverage (if not both), instead of taking the short gain and being patient with checkdowns. There will probably be a moment in this game in which McCarthy gets impatient against a solid Penn State defense. This might be a point of concern for Michigan fans, but in all candor, McCarthy throwing only one interception — as opposed to two or three — might not be bad news for UM. If McCarthy throws only one interception, and that interception does not cost Michigan any points (especially in a crucial situation), the Wolverines can live with it.

3. Michigan will hold Penn State under 300 yards

The Penn State Nittany Lions do not have a good offense. Quarterback Sean Clifford is a good running quarterback but not an especially gifted passing quarterback. He has been Penn State's starting quarterback each of the past three years, which might seem impressive on the surface but is actually an indication that no other quarterback inside the Penn State program has been able to beat him out for the starting job. Penn State's offense was brutal in a win over Northwestern a few weeks ago. Northwestern's defense gave up more points to Southern Illinois, Duke and Purdue than it did to Penn State. The Nittany Lions do not have the weapons which will threaten Michigan down the field and which can spread out the Wolverines. This is a great matchup for the Michigan defense.

2. Michigan will score 20 points

The Michigan offense will not be able to break free of Penn State, calling to mind last year's game against the Nittany Lions, which was similarly played in slow-motion and looked like a rockfight for most of the day. The defenses in this game are good, and the offenses are inconsistent — not necessarily bad, but loaded with enough weaknesses that the defenses can take advantage of them. Michigan is not going to light up the scoreboard against the Nittany Lions.

1. Michigan Wolverines will beat the Penn State Nittany Lions in Big Ten slugfest 

This game isn't going to be pretty. Big Ten football rarely is. This won't be Illinois 9, Iowa 6, but it isn't going to be a track meet, either. McCarthy is a better quarterback than Clifford, but that's more a reflection of Clifford having a very limited ceiling than McCarthy being a special signal-caller. Michigan has better athletes, and therefore a better chance of making a high-impact play which represents the difference in what will be a hard-fought battle. Michigan 20, Penn State 13.