U-M 43, Purdue 22 — Notes, quotes, and observations

By Chris Balas

A team that looked like it was limping to the finish and needed some time off — that was Michigan for much of the first half of a 43-22 win against Purdue. The Wolverines had a pair of outstanding series to start the game, one on offense and one on defense. They then showed uncharacteristic traits on offense and defense for the rest of a first half in which they were outplayed for much of it. 

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It made for a more uncomfortable-than-hoped-for win over a Boilermakers team with grit, but don’t blame them — laud them. In a sport that’s all about physicality, it’s those with great mental fortitude that often end up winning championships. 

This team has all of that, and a little bit more. It’s the first U-M team to ever start a season 13-0 … to ever win 13 games, period. Not all of them are going to be pretty, and this one wasn’t. 

But there was never the sense they were going to lose, even when they entered halftime up 14-13 and being outgained due in large part to a gutsy effort by Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell. The Wolverines hadn’t seen someone like him, or that offense, this year, and it took some adapting. 

The Boilers were confident at halftime, in fact, and they had the right to be.

“We were confident. We felt we played a good half, and obviously down one … but we needed a fake punt to put up points,” O’Connell said. “We felt like we were moving the ball and playing pretty good defense. Obviously, J.J. made some good plays scrambling, but we were moving the ball. We just needed some touchdowns. I think if we scored a couple of touchdowns early on instead of field goals, I think it feels a lot different.

“I remember in 2017 my freshman year we played Michigan, and we were up 10-7 at half, and it felt the same way … like we could hang with them.”

And then … lightning.

Depth is often the difference between great and good teams, especially this time of year. Having sophomore Donovan Edwards to step in for junior Blake Corum, who had surgery Friday on his injured knee, was a big difference. 

Like Michigan in general, Edwards sometimes takes a while to heat up. But on the first play of the second half, he made a man miss and exploded for 60 yards to set up a quick U-M touchdown. 

Like every game this year but Illinois, a 19-17 win, the Wolverines struck quickly in the second half and methodically pulled away. The play was set to get Edwards to the edge — where he’s proven he’s most dangerous — and make one guy miss.

He did, and he was off to the races.

Later, he showed off his patience, wiggle, and power on a 27-yard touchdown between the tackles that looked like a play Corum might make. He avoided two defenders and put the Wolverines up two scores. 

The Don. @DEdwards__ pic.twitter.com/hFdgO8qI5z

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) December 4, 2022

Purdue continued to fight, but at that point it was all but over. 

In a season of outstanding second halves, Michigan struck again. They’d still need to make a few key plays in the fourth quarter to maintain distance — frosh All-American (we said it) Will Johnson made one in jumping a route at the Purdue 16 to set up a touchdown, and linebacker-turned-running back Kalel Mullings picked up four big yards on a late fourth-and-2 — but a second straight title seemed like a lock. 

It also seemed, frankly, a bit anti-climactic after last week’s big win at Ohio State. That’s one of the downsides to a playoff. There’s the possibility of a rematch with the Buckeyes, for one. But whether it’s TCU or OSU in the Fiesta Bowl (most likely), they’re already looking ahead, still motivated by last year’s loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl semifinal. 

“I feel like it drove me so much that this victory tonight doesn’t really feel like anything,” McCarthy said. “[The Big Ten title] is something that’s really hard to come by — I mean, back-to-back Big Ten Championships is amazing — but just that feeling that we had last year, this is just in the way of making sure that feeling never happens again.

“It was just a drive and a fire inside of us that was just ignited, and it’s still burning.”

“More than culture” 

That’s what winners and champions do, after all. They long for more. Over the last several years, the Alabamas, Clemsons — yes, the Ohio States, and now Georgia — had something in addition to talent that set them apart: 

Losing was unacceptable. 

It was how it used to be at Michigan for so many years, ingrained by Bo Schembechler. Even Brady Hoke once said a season without a championship was a “failure,” and as sad as it seems, that’s the reality. 

We’re in an all-or-nothing era in college football … or, as Ricky Bobby would say and some fans would agree, “If you’re not first, you’re last.”

It doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate good seasons. Michigan football has only reached the pinnacle twice in the last 75 years, after all, but is still concerned an outstanding program historically. 

And anytime you beat Ohio State, it’s something to be celebrated.

But these guys want it all, and it starts with the quarterback. McCarthy had his moments, but he still only threw 17 passes for 161 yards. Three of them were incredible throws for touchdowns, showing again he’s got the ability if they need him in that capacity.

Other than a poor throw for an interception in the third quarter just when it seemed Michigan was ready to put it away, he managed an outstanding game. 

“The journey has definitely been a roller coaster. Just going back to my injury in the offseason and then obviously the competition with Cade [McNamara],” McCarthy said. “Cade is a great quarterback. A lot of it at the beginning of the year and fall camp was just focused on trying to beat him out.”

Now, it’s about leading this team to a title and building on what they accomplished last year, maintaining it. The saying, “It’s harder to stay at the top than get there” might be cliché, but it’s true. 

It takes that culture that was lacking for so many years between the last Michigan title in 2004 and last year’s, sure. But it’s more than that, Harbaugh insisted.

“It’s beyond culture. It’s a brotherhood,” he said. “Just … truly.

“I’ve talked about it being a happy mission, not a grim mission. It’s been a mission of God. I want to thank our parents for how they’ve raised these youngsters. They are amazing. The parents, what they’ve poured into these young men from such an early age … esteeming them when they’re young, and all the practices and everything they drove them to and took them to. Just the support and love that they give them.

“It’s an amazing group of players, and I just want the parents to take a deep long bow for the kind of young men that they’ve raised.”

Some will call that corny, but character is often the mark of a championship team. Analyst Doug Skene noted how the Wolverines got away from it a bit in their recruiting practices back in the mid-1990s, when some incredibly talented squads finished with four-loss seasons.

You need talent, of course. But that inner fire to take one last shot or sell your body out for one more hit when you don’t think you can is often the difference between winning and losing. 

It’s every man on every play and taking it personally when you don’t do your job and let your teammates down that matters as much as anything. 

That’s what these guys do, and why they’re one of four teams still playing. There are two games to go, and still a shot at immortality. 

No matter what, though, they’ve cemented themselves as champions. Even if they don’t win the ultimate prize, nobody can take that away. 

Notes following a 43-22 Michigan title win — Bring on the Buckeyes?

The debate started even before Michigan and Purdue kicked off — would Michigan play TCU or Ohio State in the semifinal?

That was assuming a U-M win over the Boilers and a Georgia win over LSU in the SEC title game, but both took care of business handily.

There are reasons to believe the Horned Frogs will remain at No. 3. For one, they’ve got one more win than the No. 5 Buckeyes, and they’ve played a tougher schedule on paper (beaten more ranked teams). They had to play in a title game while OSU stayed home after getting rolled by 22 at home to U-M, yet they still only have the one loss after an overtime defeat to Kansas State. 

The selection committee has made it a point in past years to avoid rematches when everything else is about equal — and in this case, between TCU and OSU, it really is. But it’s also part of their mission statement on their site under “responsibilities” that they avoid second meetings whenever possible: 

Responsibilities: Rank the top 25 teams and assign the top four to semifinal sites.

• Assign teams to New Year’s Six bowls.

• Create competitive matchups.

• Attempt to avoid rematches of regular-season games and repeat appearances in specific bowls.

• Consider geography.

But make no mistake — though the Michigan fan base might want to savor the win in Columbus for another year before seeing OSU again and let the Buckeyes contend with Georgia in a 1 vs. 4 Peach Bowl (most likely), the U-M players are all for a rematch.

“Please. Please,” McCarthy said.: “Bring it on. That would be truly a blessing if we get a shot to play those boys again.”

Others, like fifth-year center Olu Oluwatimi, were more diplomatic, but the message was the same: 

“Next.”

“That’s for the committee to decide,” he said. “Wherever they put us and whoever they put against us, at the end of the day, they’ve got to deal with Michigan football and the brand of football that we play, and we’ve got to deal with them.

“It’s going to be fun whoever we get.”

Observations

• Freshman Will Johnson has emerged as the top cover corner on the team. He made two of the game’s biggest plays with picks, one at his own 1 when Purdue was threatening to score and another that set up a Michigan touchdown when he jumped a route at the 16. 

Charles Woodson challenged him earlier in the year by telling him by wearing the No. 2, he “had to make plays.” Now, he’s following in Woodson’s footsteps in playing his best football at the end of the season on the biggest stages. 

“I was just so glad to see him get 2 picks today,” senior DJ Turner said. “We talked about it before the game. I knew he could do it.”

• Brad Robbins got his mojo back a bit Saturday, and it was big. One of the sixth-year punter’s kicks from deep in his own end was 49 yards and high, not returned. 

• O’Connell was the real deal in completing 32 of 47 passes for 366 yards, though his two picks were costly. He was dropping dimes to receivers, though, and it’s clear we didn’t give Charlie Jones enough credit, either. He caught 162 yards in passes and hauled in 13 while living up to his billing. 

O’Connell struggled through the death of his brother this week but played his heart out. 

“I shot him a DM earlier last week, just sending my love and prayers to him and his family. He is from Illinois, and that means a lot just seeing him and what he has done this year and what he has done through his whole career,” McCarthy said. “That kid is a fighter. He is a fighter, from the get-go he stepped on campus.

“I was just so proud to see him go out there and do his thing and play the sport that he loves, and he didn’t shake one bit. That quarterback fraternity, especially like us Illinois QBs, we stick together. We’re tight-knit. I love that guy. I truly do. I’m right beside him with everything he stands for, and I’m just really excited to see what he does with the rest of his career.”