ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) \u2014 If John Navarre still has critics, they must have missed his latest performance.
\nNavarre was 27-of-41 for 244 yards with two fourth-quarter touchdowns \u2014 and didn\u2019t commit one turnover \u2014 as Michigan beat Penn State 27-24 in overtime Saturday.
\nHis naysayers have been critical of his movement and inability to look at more than one receiver, but he was excellent in both areas against the Nittany Lions. The junior quarterback moved up and around the pocket to avoid sacks and to deliver passes, sometimes to a second or third option.
\n\u201cIt was the most comfortable I\u2019ve felt,\u201d Navarre said.
\nNavarre doesn\u2019t feel like he\u2019s redeemed himself.
\n\u201cWhat everybody says doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about what I get done here and what we do as a team that counts.\u201d
\nMichigan coach Lloyd Carr is also done defending Navarre.
\n\u201cLook, his performance speaks volumes,\u201d Carr said.
\nMichigan (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) moved up two spots to No. 11 in The Associated Press poll while Penn State (4-2, 1-2) fell to No. 20 from 15th.
\nThe Wolverines have been ranked in 71 straight polls, which is now the longest streak in the nation because Florida is unranked after being in 209 consecutive polls.
\nTwo of college\u2019s winningest programs turned a dull start into a fantastic finish capped by Chris Perry\u2019s 3-yard touchdown run on the second possession in overtime.
\nAfter both teams trudged through the first 42-plus minutes tied at 7, they combined for 28 points and three lead changes.
\nNavarre\u2019s second TD pass to Braylon Edwards \u2014 his third option in a crowded end zone \u2014 with 3:24 left forced the first overtime ever at Michigan Stadium.
\n\u201cJohn was tremendous,\u201d Carr said. \u201cHe made big throws and some big plays to help us win.\u201d
\nThe Wolverines won their sixth straight over the Nittany Lions, who hadn\u2019t lost that many games in a row to any team in more than 70 years.
\nPenn State coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in Division I-Al, was so upset after the game that he wouldn\u2019t allow his players to be interviewed.
\n\u201cThey had one more play than we had,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was as simple as that.\u201d
\nMichigan won the toss in overtime and chose to let Penn State have the ball first.
\nNittany Lions kicker Robbie Gould \u2014 who missed an extra point and a field goal in regulation \u2014 missed a 23-yard field goal in overtime. But Michigan was called for offsides, and Gould took advantage of the opportunity with a 20-yard kick to put Penn State ahead 24-21.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t blame it on the kicker,\u201d Paterno said.
\nOn Michigan\u2019s possession, Perry gained 4 yards on a third-and-1 from Penn State\u2019s 16. Four plays later, he plunged in for the score.
\nWhen Perry was mobbed by his teammates during a wild celebration in the end zone, he had one thought: \u201cI made sure I didn\u2019t fall,\u201d he said.
\nZack Mills was 19-of-31 for 264 yards with two TDs and no interceptions, despite a sprained shoulder.
\nLarry Johnson ran for 78 yards and a TD on a sore hamstring.
\n\u201cHe was hurt,\u201d Paterno said. \u201cI really didn\u2019t want to play him that much, but he wanted to stay in there.\u201d
\nBryant Johnson caught seven passes for 138 yards and a touchdown \u2014 against Thorpe Award candidate Marlin Jackson \u2014 but had a potential TD in overtime ripped out of his hands by Jackson.
\n\u201cThey got me today,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll take the win.\u201d
\nBefore Michigan\u2019s current six-game winning streak, the Nittany Lions had not lost six straight in a series since Pittsburgh beat them 10 times in a row from 1922-31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) \u2014 If John Navarre still has critics, they must have missed his latest performance. Navarre was 27-of-41 for 244 yards with two fourth-quarter touchdowns \u2014 and didn\u2019t commit one turnover \u2014 as Michigan beat Penn State 27-24 in overtime Saturday. His naysayers have been critical of his movement and inability to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}