Penn State's enjoying the Michigan scandal a little too much.
In a recent video posted on Twitter, Penn State football's social media team wanted to hype up fans ahead of Saturday's top-10 matchup against the Wolverines at University Park.
The video showed several players walking toward the camera and expressing their excitement for the game. At the end, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz made an appearance and performed a series of hand signals telling fans to arrive early and be loud at the game. If that wasn't enough, Diaz said after his charade, "Those are the signals for you. Get there early, be loud, especially on third down."
Diaz's gesture just gave the Wolverines the ultimate bulletin board material for them to crush the Nittany Lions this weekend, but then everybody will just say they're cheaters. Everything is truly a lose-lose for Michigan right now.
Penn State releases hype video mocking Michigan cheaters
Penn State will face arguably its toughest matchup of the year against the No. 2 Wolverines, a team it hasn't beat since 2020. The Nittany Lions haven't reached the Big Ten Championship since 2016, but they put up a good fight against Ohio State a few weeks ago, perhaps proving they could hold their own against the Big Ten heavyweights.
As to be expected, everybody in the conference is feeling pretty anti-Michigan following the Wolverines' alleged violations relating to sign-stealing and the ongoing NCAA investigation. With the conference unlikely to impose a punishment on Michigan this season, opponents will have to beat the so-called cheaters the old-fashioned way: by playing good football.
Penn State's elite rushing defense and playmakers in the backfield could be the game-changers on Saturday as the Nittany Lions will try to take down a team currently undefeated (6-0) in the conference. James Franklin's abysmal record against top-10 teams won't boost many fans' confidence ahead of this high-stakes matchup; however, the crowd will already have plenty to jeer about when Michigan takes the field.