Last Week at The Wolverine Den
Tailgate Attendance: 108
Michigan 36 - Purdue 14 (Homecoming)
Michigan Stadium
October 29, 2011 - 12 noon ET
Game Summary
Michigan returned to its winning form by dominating Purdue at the Big House on Saturday. The 22-point victory was magnified by the statistics – Michigan outgained Purdue 535-311 and piled up 339 yards rushing. After a first-drive touchdown by Purdue, Michigan controlled the game until giving up a meaningless score to the Boilermakers with 15 seconds remaining in the game. The game “turned” after the score was tied 7-7 early in the 2nd quarter. Michigan had just thrown an interception deep in Purdue territory. On the first play after the sudden change, Mike Martin broke through the line and sacked Purdue QB Caleb TerBush for a safety. It was the first safety for the Maize and Blue since 2003. What little momentum that had remained with Purdue was quickly erased. From that point forward, Michigan scored on 6 of their next 7 possessions while Purdue managed just 5 first downs until their garbage time touchdown at the end of the game.
The two keys to victory were a return of the Michigan rushing attack and a strong first half. Both were emphatically successful. Michigan’s 339 rushing yards was the 4th straight home game where the Wolverines amassed over 300-yards rushing. Fitzgerald Toussaint was the leader with a career high 170 yards on 20 carries. The 22-7 halftime score kept the Boilermakers from making any kind of 2nd half challenge.
Michigan is now tied for the lead in the Legends Division – with Michigan State and Nebraska. While it’s too early to discuss tiebreakers and possibilities, Michigan is pretty much in control of their destiny. Win out (or even a 3-1 record over the final four games) and Michigan will likely make a BCS bowl game. In the national polls, Michigan moved up to #13 this week.
The Wolverine Den Trivia
Q: While Denard Robinson leads the Big Ten in several statistical categories, he leads the nation in only one statistic - which one? (and we are not counting "starting QB that has played in front of the most fans"!)
A: Denard Robinson leads the NCAA in yards per completion. In the Purdue game, he had 170 yards on 9 completions for an 18.9 yard average. That raised his NCAA leading figure for the season to 16.7 yards per completion.
Tim's Prediction
38-14
Steve's Prediction
37-17
Craig's Prediction
27-20