Michigan 17

Penn St. 10

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Anthony Morelli sat on the Penn State bench, looking up into the chilly Pennsylvania night unable to distinguish the stars in his head from those in the sky.

The Penn State quarterback tried to rotate his neck but only two chiropractors with a hydraulic jack could have managed that feat.

Morelli and his Penn State teammates had just had their untimely encounter with the Wolverine Wall.

The Wolverine Wall – Michigan’s front four of LaMarr Woodley, Terrance Taylor, Alan Branch and Rondell Biggs, widely considered the best in the nation – is 1,183 pounds of pain, punishment and power.

Morelli was knocked out of last night’s 17-10 loss to Michigan with 9:34 left in the third quarter when Branch cleanly planted him into the turf at Beaver Stadium.

His replacement, redshirt freshman Daryll Clark of Ohio was dispatched by Michigan’s wall midway through the fourth quarter. Humpty Dumpty was the last figure of note to have this much trouble with a wall.

“We look at each other and we know,” Woodley told The Post this week. “One of us is going to make a play.”

Michigan (7-0 overall, 4-0 in the Big Ten), which entered the game with the nation’s No.1-ranked rushing defense, held Penn State to minus-14 yards on the ground and sacked the three Penn State quarterbacks seven times.

“That’s probably as good a football team as there is in the country right now,” said Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

Of course, there’s that undefeated team in Columbus, which whacked Michigan State, 38-7 yesterday. Michigan plays at Ohio State, which has the nation’s No.1 scoring defense on Nov. 18. Something’s gotta give.

The Nittany Lions (4-3, 2-2) were hoping for a repeat of last year’s Big Ten shocker when a driving rain, 109,839 fans and a swarming defense led to a 17-10 upset of Ohio State. Last night 110,007 fans, most of whom were wearing white, were hoping for another upset.

“We feel we can be as physical as any team in the country,” said Woodley. “We know we’ve done the work.”

Penn State clearly has its work to do. The Nittany Lions have proven they can beat the Akrons and Minnesotas of the college world but they can’t outslug Michigan and Ohio State. This was Michigan’s eighth straight win over Penn St.

Many of the fans began camping out almost a week before the game in a tent city known as Paternoville.

“I just wish I had an agent that I could get something out of that thing,” Paterno said, jokingly. Actually, what Paterno wishes for is a third national championship, which he almost got a shot at last season. But a 27-25 loss at Michigan denied Penn State an undefeated season.

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr convinced officials to add an extra second to the clock and the Wolverines got a Chad Henne-to-Mario Manningham touchdown pass on the game’s last play.

Last night’s game ended in much less dramatic fashion. Penn State’s third string quarterback Paul Ciancialo threw an incompletion on fourth down and Henne took a knee.

The Wolverine Wall was still standing.