Michigan football derails Purdue in return from bye week

The Michigan Wolverines moved to 9-0 on the season with a 41-13 win over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday night in Ann Arbor, coming off a bye week that felt longer than usual. A win is a win, but it was not always pretty.

Here’s the blow-by-blow recap of Saturday’s game at the Big House.

First quarter

Michigan won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, giving Purdue the ball to start the game. After five plays and 13 yards gained, the Boilermakers punted the ball away to Michigan down to its 24-yard line with 13:33 remaining. The Wolverines made quick work of things on their opening drive, going 76 yards in six plays – including a 20-yard completion to Roman Wilson and a 37-yard toss to Donovan Edwards – and got on the board first with a two-yard Blake Corum touchdown run, his 14th of the season. Michigan led 7-0 at the 10:30 mark.

Purdue came back with a three-and-out and punted the ball back to Michigan at its 33-yard line with 9:19 left in the quarter. The Wolverines kept carving up the Purdue defense, going 67 yards in seven plays and finishing things off with a three-yard Corum scoring run, his 15th. After the extra point, Michigan doubled its lead to 14-0 with 6:05 to go. Sophomore corner Will Johnson intercepted Purdue QB Hudson Card on the next offensive play from scrimmage, giving the ball back to U-M on the Boilermaker 12-yard line. However, Michigan would settle for a James Turner 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0 with 4:20 to go.

After another Purdue three-and-out, Michigan took over on its own 20-yard line. The quarter would end with U-M on its own 46-yard line with a 17-0 lead.

Michigan 17, Purdue 0

Second quarter

Michigan’s drive that carried over stalled out and ended in a punt down to Purdue’s 10-yard like with just under 14 minutes to go in the half. The Boilermakers went 50 yards in six plays, headlined by a 43-yard reception, but punted the ball back to Michigan down to U-M’s 20-yard line at the 11:42 mark. The Wolverines marched down the field but would settle for another Turner field goal, this time from 31 yards out. Michigan led 20-0 with 7:10 to go in the quarter.

Purdue went three-and-out on its next drive, but an unlucky bounce on the punt return allowed the Boilermakers to take right back over on offense with 5:12 to go. Purdue finally got on the board with a 32-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to 20-3 Michigan with 3:52 left in the half. On the next possession, Michigan gained nine yards on three plays, but went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 34-yard line and did not convert. This led to a 31-yard Purdue field goal that cut the lead to 20-6 with less than a minute to go. The Wolverines would attempt to put points on the board, but the clock ultimately ran out on the second quarter.

Michigan 20, Purdue 6

Third quarter

Michigan started on offense and gained 19 yards on six plays before punting away to Purdue at 11:18 down to the Boilermaker 12-yard line. Purdue matched with a three-and-out and punt of its own, then the Wolverines served one right back. Tommy Doman punted down to the Purdue 5-yard line with 8:59 left in the quarter. The Boilermakers went 20 yards in five plays before punting back to the Wolverines with 5:16 to go.

It was at that point the Michigan offense found a spark in freshman wideout Semaj Morgan. U-M went 62 yards in four plays and found the end zone on a 44-yard run from Morgan up the left sideline. The Wolverines led 27-6 after the extra point with 3:12 to go. Purdue went three-and-out again on its next drive, punting to Michigan’s Jake Thaw, who returned it 32 yards just past midfield. The quarter expired with Michigan’s offense having the ball at the Purdue 6-yard line.

Michigan 27, Purdue 6

Fourth quarter

With Michigan knocking on the door, Corum found the end zone from two yards out for his third score on the night and 16th on the season, extending the lead to 34-6 after the extra point with 14:18 remaining. The Boilermakers would respond with another three-and-out, punting down to the Michigan 39-yard line after the return. Outside of a 23-yard pass to Morgan, U-M didn’t get much of anything else on the next drive and punted down to the Purdue 3-yard line with 9:47 to go.

The Boilermakers went 19 yards in five plays and wound up punting back to the Wolverines, who took over at their own 43-yard line with 7:21 to play. Donovan Edwards finished the drive off with a one-yard touchdown run to put Michigan up 41-6 after the extra point with 4:30 to play.

Purdue was able to put a touchdown on the board with 18 seconds to go on a 24-yard throw from Card to Deion Burks, a Belleville, Mich., native. After the extra point, U-M led 41-13, a score that would hold as the clock hit zero.

Michigan football vs. Purdue final box score