Best and worst from U-M's win over Purdue

By Clayton Sayfie

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football held on to beat Purdue, 21-16, Saturday evening at The Big House. Here are the best and worst from the game.

Best and toughest player

Michigan sophomore running back Jordan Marshall is the no-doubter for this category. The 5-foot-11, 216-pounder delivered another special performance, his third in a row of 100-plus yards, filling in as the bell cow for junior Justice Haynes, who may be out a while considering he was on a scooter with a big boot on his right leg.

Marshall rushed 25 times for 185 yards (7.4-yard average) and 3 touchdowns, career highs in all three categories. Nine of his 25 rushes went for either first downs (6) or touchdowns (3), and his 54-yarder to open the scoring was the longest play of the game on either side.

The ice bath will be much needed, and so will the bye week. No Michigan back in recent memory runs harder than Marshall, who’s right at the top along with former All-American Hassan Haskins (2018-21). He takes some hits but delivers more, and the way he popped out of the pile to cruise into the end zone on his third score, which put the Maize and Blue up 21-10, was reminiscent of DeVeon Smith vs. BYU in 2015.

Marshall was the best player on the field, accounting for 210 of Michigan’s 398 yards, putting the team on his back, along with the offensive line’s run blocking.

In many ways, Marshall and Haynes have kept Michigan’s season alive. Position coach Tony Alford has a heck of a group.

Craziest play

This has to go to Marshall for his Houdini act.

Jordan Marshall, looked like he'd get stuffed at the line, but Purdue couldn't bring him down — and he scores!pic.twitter.com/WcRRosMFpe

— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineOn3) November 2, 2025

Quickest drive

Michigan’s third possession went 79 yards in two plays, taking only 18 seconds — and it was all Marshall. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood found Marshall on a 25-yard screen pass out of a unique quads formation, before the running back took it 54 yards to pay dirt. The Wolverines led from that point on.

Worst mistakes

Michigan has only made 33 trips to the red zone this season, and finishing with touchdowns has been a bit of a struggle. Entering Saturday, the Wolverines had scored touchdowns on 64.3 percent of their attempts, tied for 62nd in the FBS. Michigan went 2-of-4 before the kneel-down possession at the end, but it was worse than just settling for field goals — the Wolverines didn’t score at all, due to turnovers from Underwood.

On his pick on third-and-6, Underwood had graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley wide open in the corner of the end zone but didn’t see him, plus he probably could’ve ran for a first down had he put his head down and plowed forward instead of pulling up to pass. He later had a fumble through the side of the end zone for a touchback, turning the ball over to Purdue.

Underwood has a lot to learn, but there have been several of these types of mistakes throughout the season. The Wolverines just aren’t maximizing their opportunities and, thus, haven’t really blown any teams out, including the bad ones like Purdue.

Perfect time for a bye

Michigan is extremely banged up, and the second bye week comes at a great time in that regard. Who knows if Haynes will be able to return at any point — that looks serious — but there are plenty others who likely will.

Versus Purdue, the Wolverines were without the following significant contributors:
• Junior running back Justice Haynes
• Sophomore tight end Hogan Hansen
• Junior left tackle Evan Link
• Senior linebacker Jimmy Rolder
• Sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan
• Graduate safety Rod Moore

Plus, senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham left the game after one defensive snap, and McCulley also exited early.

Best defender (again)

Senior EDGE Derrick Moore didn’t play to the whistle on a third-and-long scramble for a first down with Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne cutting back across the field for a big gain on third-and-9. But outside of that one rare error, he had another big game.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Moore ended Purdue’s first two drives with third-down sacks, the second of which was a strip that was recovered by graduate defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny, who also performed at a high level, registering 6 tackles and a QB hurry.

Moore finished with 2 sacks and 4 pressures. Over the last six contests, he’s tallied 8.5 sacks and 23 pressures.

Bad signs

Purdue is on a seven-game losing streak and hasn’t won a Big Ten matchup since 2023. The Boilermakers have played some close games, most notably against Rutgers and Minnesota, but have lost by two-plus scores to most everybody else with a pulse, including USC (33-17), Notre Dame (56-30), Illinois (43-27) and Northwestern (19-0).

Except the Boilermakers had the ball with a chance to take a lead at one point in the fourth quarter, before Michigan came up with a fourth-down stop. That’s pretty alarming and has a lot to do with the offense not giving the team much of a margin for error. The Wolverines have scored 30-plus points in just one of seven games against Power Four opponents, in a 31-20 victory over MSU last week.

Michigan’s passing offense produced only 145 yards, with Underwood completing 13 of his 22 throws. The Boilermakers have given up fewer than 145 yards through the air just twice this season — to Northwestern (132) and Ball State (87).

Michigan was at home but just not quite right, and now it’s fair to wonder if the pass game will ever click on a consistent basis. There are only three regular-season opportunities remaining, and one of them is Ohio State, where everything’s on the line.

Longest drive

Purdue marched 75 yards on 16 plays, chewing up 9:30 of clock time on a drive that spanned the end of the first quarter well into the second. The Boilermakers converted a third-and-3, a fourth-and-2 and a third-and-9 (thanks to a penalty) before scoring with running back Antonio Harris from 2 yards out.

That possession accounted for 75 of Purdue’s 155 first-half yards and kept the Boilermakers in the game at halftime, when Michigan led 14-7. With a stop and career-long 50-yard field goal from Spencer Porath right out of the gate in the second half, Purdue made it an interesting game, and frustrating for Michigan.

Purdue actually dominated time of possession until Michigan ran out the clock for the final six minutes. The Boilermakers had the ball for 32:55 overall.

Biggest mess

Michigan’s special teams remain a mess. The Wolverines saw junior Semaj Morgan return a punt minus-2 yards, freshman Andrew Marsh stumble and fumble a kickoff and junior Hudson Hollenbeck shank one punt and get another blocked.

It’s not even a trend at this point — Michigan’s special teams are bad in general. Junior kicker Dominic Zvada — the lone bright spot, despite his 4 missed kicks — has weirdly only had 14 field goal attempts on the season.

All over the field

Senior linebacker Ernest Hausmann played next to Barham for one snap before it became a rotating cast of characters at the WILL spot, with junior Troy Bowles and freshmen Chase Taylor and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng all seeing action.

The captain stepped up with 11 tackles, including 1 for loss on a screen pass he sniffed out. Hausmann has had his ups and downs this season but was dominant Saturday.

Best tight end

Michigan didn’t get its tight ends involved at all in the win over MSU last week, with senior Marlin Klein having 1 catch for 4 yards to account for all of the lackluster production.

Now, the best tight end in two of three games has been junior Zack Marshall, in a stunning development driven in part by injuries to Klein and Hansen.

Marshall led Michigan with 58 receiving yards on 3 catches, highlighted by a 37-yard grab along the sideline on a double flea flicker. In the 24-7 win over Washington Oct. 18, Marshall hauled in 5 grabs for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Unsung heroes

Sophomore safety Mason Curtis stepped up with Rod Moore out and played well, posting 6 tackles and a quarterback hurry. He also had the interception on Browne on Purdue’s two-point attempt that, if converted, would’ve made it a three-point game in the fourth.

Junior running back Bryson Kuzdzal, meanwhile, had some very important totes, finishing with 4 rushes for 23 yards. The pride of Ada, Mich., saw all of that production come in the fourth quarter as the Wolverines were milking the clock, and he showed some tough running and great ball security. His 7-yard run on second-and-3 from the Purdue 39-yard line was big. Marshall couldn’t do it all on his own.