Michigan eventually dealt with a Purdue team that hung tough

Jeff Brohm schemed things up, but so did Don Brown.

Purdue lead No. 8 Michigan at the half, 10-7. They would lose 28-10, but read that first sentence a few times and let it digest. It is the reality of our Saturdays now.

Every week, we get comprehensive and distinct evidence that this is not the Purdue of the last 15 years. Jeff Brohm has taken the program and in a matter of months, made it something that can challenge good teams and will back down from nobody, like we saw in Week 1 vs. Louisville. The final score became deceiving, because the Boilermakers hung real tough for a large part of this game.

It stands to reason that Michigan would be a stiff challenge for Purdue primarily because what the Wolverines sport up front in the trenches. But to Brohm’s credit as an offensive schemer, Purdue’s just not really running the ball. Out of 32 total first-half plays, the Boilermakers had 12 rushing attempts. Sacks count as rushes in college football, so if you take those out Purdue ran the ball only nine times. It knows where its bread is buttered and did what worked.

Quick hitting things like this:

In the end, depth showed itself and Michigan began to pull away. The Boilermakers just could not get anything going on third down especially. They went 0-12. That’s not gonna get it done against the Wolverines, but it’s progress at least.