By the numbers: The Big Ten East's dominance in Indianapolis, Michigan's perfect regular season and more

On3 imageby:Clayton Sayfie12/01/22

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Michigan Wolverines football destroyed Ohio State, 45-23, in Columbus last weekend, marking its second-straight victory over the hated Buckeyes. U-M hadn’t beaten OSU in consecutive years since 1999-2000. Now, Michigan is set for its second-ever Big Ten title game, with the chance to win the league two years in a row for the first time since 2003-04.

The Big Ten championship game has been held since 2010, but 2014 was the first year under the current format, with the East Division winner playing the West Division champion. Since then, the East Division representative has won all eight times, including Michigan over Iowa last season (42-3).

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Ohio State has won five times (2014, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20), and Michigan State (2015), Penn State (2016) and Michigan (2021) have taken home one crown each.

The East has beaten the West by a total margin of 283-123, or an average margin of 20 points per game. Three games have been decided by one possession, with the rest being massive blowouts.

If things play out the way the experts and Las Vegas oddsmakers expect them to, there could be another lopsided affair Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Michigan is 12-0, No. 2 in the country and a national title contender. Purdue backed into the title game, is unranked and had four regular-season losses. The Wolverines are favored by 16.5 points.

Michigan has already won 12 games for just the fourth time in program history and is looking to hit the 13-win mark for the first time. With a Big Ten title and national championship still out there to capture this season, the Wolverines could finish the year without a loss for the first time since 1997 and just the second time since 1948.

By the numbers: Michigan vs. Purdue

3 Purdue players have 4 or more sacks on the season — defensive ends Jack Sullivan (5.5), Khordae Sydnor (4.5) and Kydran Jenkins (4).

5.1 Yards per carry for Purdue running back Devin Mockobee, a former walk-on. He’s ninth in the Big Ten with 849 rushing yards, while adding 8 touchdowns on the ground.

7.5 Yards per carry for Michigan sophomore running back Donovan Edwards (687 rushing yards on 92 attempts), who’s added 6 rushing scores. He gained 216 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns — from 75 and 85 yards out — last week against Ohio State and will likely play a bigger role once again this week with junior Blake Corum injured. Corum has rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year.

9 Games of 30 or more points for the Michigan offense, including six of 40-plus points and four of 50-plus points. The Wolverines slot 24th nationally with 459.1 total yards per game, fifth with 244.5 rushing yards per game and 91st with 214.6 passing yards per game.

11-0 Beginning to sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy‘s starting career, the best of any Michigan signal-caller in history. The previous record-holder was Dennis Franklin (1972), who won his first 10 starts before suffering a loss.

24 Wins for Michigan over the last two seasons, a program-best in any two-year span. The Wolverines’ 14-game conference win streak is the program’s longest since a 16-game span from 1996-98.

30 Plays have gone for 20 or more yards against the Michigan defense this season, tied for the second-fewest in the nation. Purdue has only 42 20-plus yard plays from scrimmage as an offense this year, slotting tied for 108th in the land.

33rd In the sport in total defense is where Purdue checks in, giving up only 347 yards per contest. The Boilermakers are 41st in scoring defense, giving up 23.1 points per game, and rank 36th against the run and 59th versus the pass. They have 28 sacks (tied 47th) and 60 tackles for loss (tied 97th). The Boilermakers are tied for 66th with a 60 percent touchdown allowed percentage in the red zone.

39.8 Points per game for the Michigan offense, to go along with 12.7 points allowed per outing for the Wolverines’ defense. The Maize and Blue are one of two teams nationally ranked in the top 10 in both scoring offense (seventh) and scoring defense (third), along with Alabama, which slots tied for fifth and tied for 10th, respectively.

41.2 Pass attempts per game for Purdue, the seventh most in the sport. The Boilermakers average 280.7 passing yards per outing (21st). Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell leads the Big Ten with 284 passing yards per contest and has a 63.7 percent completion rate with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His 71.8 percent completion mark set the Purdue single-season record in 2021.

1,199 Receiving yards for Purdue wide receiver Charlie Jones, an Iowa transfer, this season. That total ranks fifth in the country. Jones has caught 97 passes, 12 of which have been for touchdowns. He had 2 receptions for 41 yards as a Hawkeye in last year’s Big Ten championship game.

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