Michigan has a big game versus Penn State on Saturday night at State College. Prime time on ABC! White Out at Beaver Stadium!

My former colleague Kevin McGuire now hosts the Penn State podcast for the Locked On network, Locked On Nittany Lions. Happy to see him get that gig; he’s a big Penn State fan and a passionate writer on college football. I’m grateful that he invited me on to talk about Michigan and Jim Harbaugh. And since we’re both pop culture geeks, we had to go a bit off-topic as well.

The stakes are high for both teams here (as they should be). A win could determine how well the rest of the season goes. For Michigan, it’s the beginning of a tough stretch that includes games against Notre Dame and Michigan State.

If the Wolverines are going to have the type of season fans and observers expect, they need to win. With a loss, a season that’s already been a disappointment to some Michigan fans spirals further downward as the gap between the Wolverines and Ohio State seems larger than ever (while the gap between Michigan and contenders like Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan State and Iowa continues to shrink). And the criticism of Jim Harbaugh will get even louder.