By Larry Lage
The Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Penn State quarterback Zack Mills knows his sprained shoulder could take a pounding Saturday at Michigan.

He doesn't care.

Mills is determined to do whatever it takes to give the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) their first win over No. 13 Michigan (4-1, 1-0) since 1996.

Prior to the Wolverines' current streak, Syracuse was the last team to beat Penn State five straight years from 1931-35. The Nittany Lions have not lost six straight in a series since Pittsburgh beat them 10 times in a row from 1922-31.

Those facts provide Mills with more than enough incentive to keep running all over the field even when he knows that Joe Paterno, his legendary coach, wishes he wouldn't.

"It's just something that comes with my game," Mills said. "It's something I have to do. I'm not going to let up and take things out of my game. I'm not going to shy away from things because I'm a little banged up."

And the Wolverines, who lead the Big Ten with 20 sacks, are not going to feel sorry for him.

"I think any time you've got a quarterback that can run that presents some problems and yet it allows you a lot of opportunities to tackle him," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The more you tackle him, the harder it is to throw the football because there's going to be big guys after him."

Penn State has done a good job of protecting Mills by giving up just five sacks, the fewest allowed in the conference.

Carr said he admires Mills' toughness, which was on display in last week's 34-31 win at Wisconsin.

A hit in the first quarter injured his left (throwing) shoulder, but he stayed in the game. When he scooped up a fumble at Wisconsin's 1, he even dived onto his bad side for a touchdown.

"They just kept giving me a bunch of Tylenol," Mills said. "And I kept taking it throughout the game."

Mills has set records in his past two games.

He broke the school record for passing yards with 399 in the overtime loss to Iowa and his 287 passing yards against the Badgers surpassed Kerry Collins' two-game passing yardage mark by 56 yards.

Mills leads the Big Ten with 260.4 yards passing a game. The native of Ijamsville, Md., leads the conference and is 14th in the nation in total offense with 279.8 yards per game.

"He is a great quarterback," Michigan safety Julius Curry said. "He doesn't really stay in the pocket too much. But when he does, he throws the ball very effectively. He can throw it off of his back foot 40 or 50 yards pretty precisely. He can run the option real well, too."

Mills made his first of nine start against Michigan last year and became the first freshman since 1992 to start at quarterback for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions were held scoreless in that 20-0 loss for the first time since 1965 -- the year before Joe Paterno became the head coach -- and fell to 0-4 for the first time in the program's 115-year history.

"It's something that you can draw positives from, believe it or not," Mills said. "We had more than enough opportunities to get back into that game and maybe even take the lead if we could've made some plays that we had chances to make."