Ann Arbor, MI- No.2 The Michigan Wolverines dismantle the Purdue Boilermakers as they move to 9-0 with a 41-13 home victory.
Purdue tried to stand its ground giving the Wolverines as much as they have handled all year. The defense stepped up with three sacks on Heisman candidate JJ McCarthy. Even recovering a fumble for another offensive series.
Boilermakers signal caller Hudson Card was only able to throw for 144 yards with a touchdown and an interception on 12/28.
“It’s the team defense just kind of having all the guys moving around and different people that are able to make a lot of big plays,” Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett said. “We’ve got a lot of great players on the defense — you can’t watch everybody at the same time
Receiver Deion Burks (4) lead Purdue with 3 catches for 43 yards and the only touchdown. Teammate Mershawn Rice (9) had big catch of the day with a single 43 yards reception.
The Wolverines ground games was the star of the afternoon with 5 touchdowns lead by Blake Corum (2) who reached endzone 3 times for 44 yards on 15 carries.
The Purdue defense was just over powered after the gameplan to slow down McCarthy went into effect. He was held to 355 yards in the air on 24/37 pass with no trips to the endzone.
“We were already super close as a unit, but with more stuff coming in — the noise — we just think of it as us against the world,” McCarthy said.
Michigan now 9-0 and will play No. 11 Penn State, Maryland, and No. 1 Ohio State to close the season, this matchup against the Buckeyes will deciding who will represent the East in the Big Ten title game in Indiana.
Purdue will host Minnesota Saturday November 11th with the opportunity to get back into the win column.
