Mike Hart takes a handoff and his teammates' eyes dart to Michigan Stadium's 768-square-foot video board.
When they watch the 5-foot-9 Wolverines running back and see him stiff-arming, spinning and hurtling around defenses, it's almost like seeing a video game.
"I play the video game a lot," Michigan's junior defensive tackle, Terrance Taylor, said. "Some of the things you do in the video game, he does it in real life."
The eyes of Penn State's defense have been glued to video screens this week, as well, studying everything about Hart that might give it an edge tomorrow. As the Nittany Lions viewed film of the 502 yards he's piled up on 83 carries this season, something became clear about what they'd need to do in Ann Arbor:
"If you stop Mike, you stop a lot of their game," junior defensive end Josh Gaines said. "We gotta prepare for him."
The cameras were focused on Hart again when the Wolverines started their season 0-2 for the first time since 1998. He'd battled through those losses -- rushing for 188 yards and three touchdowns against Appalachian State and 127 yards against Oregon -- but still felt doubted by outsider eyes.
Any resemblance to a video game vanished when Hart ensured the world that he and his team would be ready to go against Notre Dame.
"I'm not going to lose," Hart told the reporters and cameras in front of him. "We're not going to lose."
Nine days after that statement -- after Hart steamrolled Notre Dame for 187 yards in the Wolverines' 38-0 victory -- the cameras turned to the senior running back again.
He said he was impressed by what he'd seen from Penn State's defense. He's seen how the Lions' defensive line brought pressure to Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen. He knows that linebackers Sean Lee and Dan Connor -- who have combined for 52 tackles and five sacks this season -- will challenge him.
So when Hart was asked about Penn State's rush defense this week, he didn't make a guarantee.
"They have great players," Hart said. "They have no weakness on defense."
Gaines calls himself "a Mike Hart fan" -- he admires how Hart runs low to the ground, scooting behind blocks from Michigan's towering offensive line. The defensive end is impressed with Hart's strength and ability to carry the Wolverines' offense.
Still, he's seen enough to know that it's going to take "an aggressive Penn State defense" to stop the man who ran for 112 yards and one touchdown in Michigan's 17-10 win over the Lions last year.
"He's gonna have his yards," Gaines said. "But if we can maintain him and not let him score a touchdown -- that's what we want to do every game. Hopefully we can do that."
