Penn State's Game Against Michigan Has Implications Beyond Just the Final Score

Penn State and Michigan square off on Saturday in a game that a few months ago everyone had circled as maybe a game where both teams were going to prove themselves as being a legit team on the National scale.

Instead of having implications nationally, it will have implications, but they will be for the future of each program's brand-new coach and the short-term future of each group. 

Both head coaches are just six weeks into their new jobs and are probably wondering if it will always be as hard as it is right now.

Michigan has looked pretty much exactly the same as it did under Sherrone Moore. They don't really do anything well at all, and they have found themselves in several dogfights already this year. 

They narrowly escaped with a win against Western Michigan, they snuck the Oklahoma Sooners at home before losses to Iowa and Minnesota that have them scratching their heads about what the heck is going on.

On Penn State's side, it has been basically one disaster after another the last couple of weeks. The blown 17-point lead against Wisconsin, the noncompete against Northwestern, and then just running out of gas against USC have cost them a realistic chance in Matt Campbell's first year to be relevant on a national scale.

Saturday's matchup is equally important for both sides of the field because both teams need a win, both teams view this game as a winnable one, and frankly, both fanbases need to have some kind of faith in their new coaching staffs.

From my perspective, I need to see if Matt Campbell has what it takes to just compete in the new tier that he finds himself in. When he was at Iowa State, he was able to sneak by because he was never expected to be the best team in his conference. He was the underdog more than he was the favorite, and when there is no expectation, you get a little more leeway.

Now at Penn State, the expectation, no matter what the roster situation is or what is going on, the expectation is to make the College Football Playoff. So far, he hasn't shown that he has what it takes to be able to do that, and it is something that no Penn State fan will openly admit, but it is a major concern.

This isn't quite a loser leaves town game but man, the team and coach who lose this game will have a lot of questions to answer.