Week 8 is here, the week that most every Penn State fan had circled on their calendar at the beginning of the 2019 season.

When looking back, Week 8 had the potential to be a “White Out” – which it is, and also had the potential to be a big-time college football game with Big Ten championship hopes on the line – which it is.

The No. 7-ranked Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) have taken care of business for the first seven weeks of the season, setting themselves up for yet another opportunity to make not only a conference, but a national statement later tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) when they host the No. 16-ranked Michigan Wolverines (5-1, 3-1 Big Ten).

Like the song “Taking Care of Business” says by Bachman Turner Overdrive: “Taking care of business every day, taking care of business every way.” The Nittany Lions have proved this season that they can win games with defense, offense and special teams.

Penn State has already been able to come away with wins in defensive battles, such as its 17-10 victory over Pitt and last week’s 17-12 road victory over Iowa.

But Penn State has also shown the ability to explode offensively, scoring 79 points in Week 1, 59 points on the road at Maryland, and just two weeks ago, scoring 28 points in the first half against Purdue.

To be in contention for a Big Ten championship, a team has to show the ability to not only win pretty, but also win ugly when things aren’t going their way. Winning, while handling adversity, in my opinion has always been a key attribute that a football team must have. And so far, the Nittany Lions have proved to possess that very trait.

It’s almost certainly a guarantee that Penn State’s opponent this week in Michigan will present some challenging moments. The Wolverines have navigated some troubling waters of their own this season, but still are sitting at 5-1 with a prime opportunity to improve their shot at a Big Ten championship with a win in Happy Valley.

Like last week, I believe the Nittany Lions defense is going to come to play, so once again the offense is going to have to do just enough against a talented Wolverines defense to come away with the win. Just enough is exactly what the offense was able to do last week as Penn State wasn’t able to get much going in the passing game. Quarterback Sean Clifford threw for just 117 yards and one touchdown, which was by far his worst performance of the season. Clifford, despite his troubles, still took care of the football, which is always key on the road — especially in an environment like the Hawkeyes presented last week.

Head coach James Franklin reiterated in many of his postgame interviews last week that in the first quarter, the Nittany Lions did look like a young football team. I think because of how well Penn State has played this season that many people, especially fans, forget to realize that. Penn State is starting seven players with freshman and sophomore eligibility with six of them being first-time starters.

But, unlike last week, there will be a few more things in the young players favor in this game, with over 110,000 screaming fans in white backing them up.

Although, the Penn State offense didn’t want to play Iowa’s style of game last week (slow the game down and run the football), like many teams before it, the Nittany Lions got stuck doing so and were able to match the physicality of the Hawkeyes — rushing for 177 yards on the ground. True freshman Noah Cain had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, which is a great sign. With the Nittany Lions currently playing a four-man rotation, it looks as if Cain is setting himself apart as the work horse that can be counted on to move the football.

Clifford will need to be better this week, and he will need to be more poised early on. Penn State had some early opportunities to move the ball last week in the first quarter, but Clifford was anxious in the pocket and he did not keep his eyes downfield. With the energy the crowd is going to be bringing, Clifford needs to make some big plays early — whether that’s with his feet or his arm. A fast start offensively will ignite the crowd, which will be tough for Michigan to handle.

Although talented, and with solid statistics, the Michigan defense has still been disappointing at times. The Wolverines defense has given up 21 points to both Middle Tennessee State and Army this season and allowed a surprising 25 points to Illinois last week. Michigan ranks 14th in the country in total defense at 283.3 yards per game, and the Wolverines have been especially good against the pass, allowing just 160.5 yards per game, which is good enough for ninth in FBS.

Defensively, I’m expecting the Nittany Lions to get after Michigan quarterback Shae Patterson. The Wolverines have struggled at times to protect Patterson and he hasn’t looked good at all when pressured. That will be the key in this one for the Michigan offense, because they do have playmakers at wide receiver in Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tariq Black and company. But nothing with the way Penn State has played this season up front is leading me to believe that they won’t be able to get pressure on Patterson, especially because Michigan hasn’t been able to consistently run the football (it’s ranked just 78th in the country in that category).

The numbers do not lie for the Penn State defense, which is ranked fourth in total defense, third in rushing defense (allowing just 1.59 yards per carry), second in the country in sacks per game (4.5) and third in all of FBS with 9.8 tackles for loss per game. Factor in an electrifying crowd that the defense can feed off every time it makes a big play, and it could be a long night for Patterson and the Wolverines offense.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a nine-point favorite.

I think the Nittany Lions have the edge on both the offensive and defensive line in this one. I just think with their talent on both sides of the ball, one mistake by the Wolverines, especially early could fully swing momentum into Penn State’s favor, which then it never relinquishes.

My pick is Penn State 27, Michigan 10.