Thirty minutes after Penn State lost to Michigan, John Shaw was at a loss for words.

Perhaps it was because the Nittany Lions' right tackle is naturally reserved, but Shaw said less than usual and seemed to have difficulty coming up with the words to describe what happened to his usually respectable offensive line.

Penn State's line was manhandled by Michigan's front four, which stifled Tony Hunt and the running game while also putting tremendous pressure on the Lions' quarterbacks.

The Wolverines recorded seven sacks in total, five of which coming on takedowns of Anthony Morelli, who was forced out of the game when he suffered a concussion after getting clobbered by 331-pound defensive tackle Alan Branch.

"The pressure on the quarterback was very frustrating," Shaw said. "You always want to give the quarterback time to throw the ball, and we didn't really do that tonight."

As bad as Michigan made the Lions' passing efforts look at times, the Wolverines put on a clinic in stopping the run. Penn State, which previously averaged 191 yards rushing per game, was limited to -14 yards on 25 runs, marking the first time in the Joe Paterno era the Lions were held to negative yardage on the ground. The previous low was six yards rushing against Southern California in 2000.

"It was one of the better ones," Joe Paterno said of how Michigan's defensive line stacked up against the best such units in his 41-year head coaching career. "We played against a pretty good one. They did a great job on us."

Branch, along with fellow tackle Terrance Taylor and defensive ends LaMarr Woodley and Rondell Biggs, provided sufficient pressure without the aid of blitzes. When Michigan did, however, send extra pass rushers, Penn State had little hope of containing the assault.

"Watching film of Michigan, I knew their pass rush was pretty substantial," said third-string quarterback Paul Cianciolo, who was called to duty because the Wolverines knocked out Penn State's first two quarterbacks. "They actually blitzed a little more tonight than they have teams in the past, which we thought they might do to try and test us a little."

Needless to say, Penn State failed the test miserably.

Penn State failed to accomplish much of anything on first downs. The Lions ran on 10 first downs and threw on 11, but moved the chains only twice on such plays -- and wound up without a single second-and-short situation.

The Lions averaged 2.6 yards per first down play.

Manageable third down situations were few and far between, as Penn State saw only a pair of third downs for which fewer than six yards were needed. In all, the Lions faced 13 third-and-long situations, converting on four.

The offensive players for Penn State claimed that the Wolverines sported the best line they've see this year -- but it wasn't just about speed, size and strength.

"Their defensive ends took the inside a lot," Shaw said. "They weren't so much trying to beat us around the corner. They were rushing us upfield and taking the inside move. They were good at changing direction."

Woodley and Biggs combined for two sacks apiece, leading the way against an offensive line that surrendered only six sacks through its first six games.

"We're a confident bunch, but I don't think we expected that," Biggs said.