3 takeaways from Michigan's dominant win over Purdue
Michigan came off its bye week for a Week 10 matchup against Purdue. While the noise and attention on the Wolverines from outside has continued to grow, Jim Harbaugh’s program has not let it distract from the mission at hand on a weekly basis.
This week, that mission involved Purdue, a team that is playing under first-year head coach Ryan Walters. The Boilermakers were also overmatched from the opening kickoff.
By the time the second quarter had rolled around, Michigan already held a 17-0 lead against Purdue. That came as a result of Blake Corum scoring two touchdowns in the first 9 minutes of the game.
When it was all said and done, Michigan’s streak of dominance hit 9 games with a 41-13 blowout victory:
JJ McCarthy shines but without a TD
Following his last game played in Week 8, McCarthy had vaulted himself to the very top of the Heisman odds. McCarthy slid back behind Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels during the bye week, but he is likely to bounce back in those odds a bit after Week 10.
In fact, McCarthy went 24-for-37 with 335 yards against the Boilermakers. That gives McCarthy a new season-high for yards in a game and the second-highest mark in a single game for his career.
As usual, McCarthy spread the ball around with 7 Wolverine players registering at least 2 receptions. Roman Wilson led the way with 9 catches for 143 yards.
At the end of the day, it’s unusual to see a QB have the type of outing McCarthy did without a touchdown, but it doesn’t detract from his overall outing. The Wolverines offense was the juggernaut it usually is with McCarthy working efficiently throughout.
Michigan’s streak of scoring + points allowed comes to an end
Michigan’s string of dominance to start the season reached unprecedented proportions. Coming out of Week 8, the Wolverines had scored at least 30 points in every game and had yet to allow a team to score more than 10 in any game.
Unfortunately, that streak came to an end with Purdue scoring a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game. That touchdown gave the Boilermakers 13 points, the most scored on Michigan through the first 9 games of the season.
At the end of the day, that number does not mean much for Michigan with the score coming in garbage time. And a bigger picture likely involves the offense still firing on all cylinders.
With 41 points scored against Purdue, Michigan has now reached 40+ points in 5 straight games. The Wolverines continue to look better and better throughout the heart of B1G play, and now the program can turn its attention to the gauntlet portion of the schedule.
What allegations?
Just to be clear: Michigan knows all about the noise going on outside of Ann Arbor as it relates to the NCAA’s sign-stealing investigation. It’s hard to ignore, particularly with the recent resignation of staffer Connor Stalions who is at the center of the NCAA’s probe.
However, the Wolverines have shown zero cracks in two games since those allegations first became public knowledge. The noise is hard to ignore, and the players certainly hear it all, but there is no indication it is a distraction at this point in the process.
Part of that likely has to do with Michigan continuing to win. It’s easy to shut things out with things are going smoothly, but it could be a different story if Michigan struggles.
The Wolverines also get their toughest test to date next week when they travel to face Penn State. We’ll see if the program is able to keep shutting out the noise with a major top-15 matchup on deck.