ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Penn State knew exactly what Michigan was going to do.

Mike Hart to the left, right and up the middle.

The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions couldn't stop him Saturday, or JoePa's longest losing streak against one school.

Hart ran for 153 yards on a career-high 44 carries and scored early in the fourth quarter, leading Michigan to a 14-9 win over Penn State.

Even though the Nittany Lions stacked their defense to stop Hart, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr didn't hesitate to keep giving him the ball.

"I'm not dumb," Carr joked.

Two weeks after its season seemed doomed, Michigan has new life.

The Wolverines (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) have climbed back to .500 after starting the season with two of the worst losses in school history. They were the fifth-ranked team in the country when Appalachian State stunned them in the opener. The next week, they were blown out of the Big House by Oregon.

"Some people will still talk about us in a bad way," Hart said. "But a lot of people will see that Michigan is back."

The Wolverines always seems to get well against Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions.

Penn State has lost nine straight games to Michigan.