ESPN College GameDay 2019: Week 8 Location Hosts, TV Schedule and Predictions

After two trips to SEC territory, the most recent for LSU's 42-28 dismantling of Florida, the ESPN College GameDay crew heads for the Big Ten in Week 8.

There, the destination is Happy Valley for a meeting between No. 16 Michigan and No. 7 Penn State, teams that share one loss between them and plenty of hope for the future, both in the conference and beyond.

Here's a look at info for the preview show featuring Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and the rest, as well as the game itself.

College GameDay Week 8 Info

Date: Saturday, October 19

Time (ET): 9 a.m. to noon; game is at 7:30 p.m.

Location: Beaver Stadium

Watch: ABC

Live Stream: ESPN+

Preview

This has been a trying year for Michigan, odd as it sounds given its 5-1 record.

Consistency, especially on offense, has been tough to find. Under center, Shea Patterson has completed just 57.1 percent of his attempts with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. The offense has mostly only performed based on the level of competition, hence 52 points in a win over Rutgers yet just 14 in a loss to then-No. 13 Wisconsin.

A win on the road over Illinois in Week 7 painted this picture well enough. Patterson and Co. dropped 42 points on the 2-4 team but went on a big drought and permitted a stretch of 25 consecutive points for the opposition.

Considering the Michigan defense has allowed 20 or more points in four of six showings, the offense can't afford these costly hiccups on the road against a team like Penn State. Especially when the Nittany Lions haven't had problems on offense, largely thanks to quarterback Sean Clifford. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh made a point to focus on him during interviews.

"The play's really good," he said, according to Josh Moyer of the Centre Daily Times. "I've been really impressed with his focus, too, just getting a chance to watch him on the TV a few times. I think he has a really intense focus that all the good ones have."

Clifford is first in the Big Ten with 260 passing yards per game and sits on a 64.2 completion percentage with 13 touchdowns against two interceptions.

The Nittany Lions haven't had a hard time moving on from the losses of Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders. The ground game replacing the latter averages nearly five yards per carry with 18 touchdowns over an undefeated run.

That run includes Week 7's win over then-No. 17 Iowa, with the defense again holding an opponent to 13 points or less, as it has in every game this season.

With plenty of noise backing its efforts Saturday night, Penn State could look to do much of the same against a Michigan offense with plenty of miscues on the record.

Prediction

Barry Reeger/Associated Press

Michigan simply has too many questions marks here to trust.

Harbaugh's last big test on the road resulted in a 35-14 beatdown at the hands of Wisconsin, where the two scores didn't happen until the hosts had yanked starters near the end of the game.

And on the other side, Penn State hasn't shown any reason to doubt it. No game besides the ranked encounter with Iowa has been notably close, the defense is playing well and the offense is lights out, never mind the home-field advantage.

Penn State's defensive front should create more Michigan offensive woes and force the Wolverines into a one-dimensional attack, whereas Clifford gets to comfortably sit in a balanced look and pull his team away.

Prediction: Penn State 27, Michigan 20