In what’s scheduled to be their final night game of the season, the undefeated Michigan Wolverines welcomed 2-6 Purdue to the Big House after coming off their bye – and a week full of drama away from the football field. The outing offered the reigning Big Ten champs an opportunity to quiet the noise that continues to daunt the program. But instead, an even louder voice continues to thump at the door; one that asks only a singular question.
Has the whole season, to this exact point, been filled with empty calories?
This comment isn’t to suggest that the nine teams Michigan has beaten, each of them by at least four scores, are all bad. The source of concern is that this team, ten weeks into the season, has yet to face a single squad that can remotely match them from a pure talent/manpower criteria. A ‘decent’ or ‘uneven’ day for the Wolverines is still a 27+ point victory. At least it has been so far.
Against the Boilermakers, Michigan came out of the gate looking like they’d have access to the endzone all night. Roman Wilson could burn man coverage with ease on intermediate routes, getting 20-ish yard chunk plays that opened up the offense to go into motion. It only took the Wolverines six plays to find pay dirt on their first drive…then seven plays to do it again on their second. After going up 14-0 with more than 6 minutes left in the first quarter, Michigan would get the ball back in a hurry. Purdue’s Hudson Card sailed a ball over his receiver and into the hands of Will Johnson on the very first play of the drive. A drive that started on the Purdue 12 would go three and out – but give the Wolverines a 17-0 lead after a 30-yard field goal.
It seemed like the route was on…but that’s not quite what happened.
On a night where a lot of things felt like a dream we’ve lived on repeat, one thing felt meaningfully askew – JJ McCarthy.
We’ve seen the junior under center have off days. We’ve seen him throw picks and zig when he definitely should have zag, but that’s not what last night was. Instead, we saw one of the most talented players the Wolverines have ever had at the position, accompanied by a vaunted group of receivers, linemen, and backs – and none of them could get on the same page for a meaningful chunk of this game.
McCarthy’s cold spell was definitely the standout. At least four passes in the second and third quarters were well behind their receiver – and most of the time, they were open targets. But another blemish that deserves a raised eyebrow is the continued struggles of the offensive line to create lanes in the run game. Removing a 44-yard TD run on a pitch to Semaj Morgan late in the third quarter and an 18-yard sack of McCarthy that ended the first half, the Wolverines averaged less than 3.2 yards per carry on their first 25 attempts.
Corum remains a more-than-reliable asset at the goal line, and Edwards saw more usage as a downfield receiver, but the fact remains that this is a far cry from the dominant run game that the Wolverines have hung their hats on for the past two seasons. And with McCarthy’s struggles to find a balance between his traits in and out of the pocket, it’s going to be a linchpin that Michigan will want to get back in a hurry…as the secondaries of Penn State and Ohio State loom.
But this is far from a doom-and-gloom outlook. Michigan remains a dominant, smothering defense that can generate big plays at any moment. And along with a cadre of established starters for the offense, true freshman Semaj Morgan – who scored a decisive touchdown for Michigan on a 44-yard pitch and run, continues to be an electric game-changer anytime the ball is in his hands.
As for the attitude of the Wolverines as they head into their first matchup against a ranked opponent, and with the entire college football landscape quick to draw conclusions about the misdoings of the program – senior Donovan Edwards was quick to dispel the notion that his team is letting in the noise.
“We don’t gotta prove nothing,” Edwards says, “if there’s anything we have to prove, it’s to ourselves. To be honest, we don’t care about what outside people say. All we care about is what people in Schembeckler Hall say. That’s the people who actually know what’s going on inside of Michigan Football.”
Addressing the media at the postgame presser, he adds, “Ya’ll guys could say you know so much about Michigan Football, but in reality, y’all don’t. I don’t even know if y’all know how to block up an inside zone scheme.”
Michigan faces Penn State next Saturday, on the road in College Park.
