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John O’Korn felt a little pent-up emotion bubbling inside him. Unfortunately for Purdue, he got a chance to let it out.

When the fifth-year senior quarterback finished shouting down and shutting up the Boilermakers, 28-10, Michigan stood 1-0 in the Big Ten. O’Korn — 270 passing yards, a TD and a rejuvenated offense to his credit — stood looking like a starting quarterback.

He was that, once upon a time, all the way back in 2013. The American Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Year, O’Korn passed for 3,117 yards and 28 touchdowns as the smoldering freshman hotshot behind center at Houston.

One year later, he lost his starting job. Houston assistant coach Tony Levine made that call.

Fast forward four years. Levine now roams the Purdue sidelines as special teams coordinator and co-offensive coordinator, along with tight ends coach. Want to know at whom O’Korn raged after Michigan scored its first touchdown against the Boilermakers?

Look no farther.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” O’Korn admitted. “Coach [Jim] Harbaugh talked me down. I was pretty emotional after a couple of drives, a couple of plays. I’m a human, and any time you get to go out and beat your former coach … it was his decision to bench me in the first place. It’s going to be an emotional night.”

Maybe Michigan needed that emotion, after getting off to a torpid start offensively against Purdue. The Wolverines trailed at the half, 10-7, in near-90-degree heat and appeared headed for a meltdown.

O’Korn didn’t let that happen. Taking over for the injured starter, redshirt junior Wilton Speight, O’Korn began making plays all over the field. He created time to throw with his feet, which in turn allowed receivers to get open.

He put the ball on the money, putting his money where his mouth was. He then got hit in the mouth, bit through his tongue and even advanced the ball that way. Scream a little, bleed a little, and send next-man-up Purdue and its sold-out stadium back to overheated also-rans.

“Even with the mouthpiece, I bit through my tongue,” O’Korn grinned. “I’ll take a hit like that if it gives us 15 yards and a first down, and helps us move the ball.”

He helped Michigan in a host of ways, just when confidence in the U-M offense appeared to be justifiably bottoming out. The Wolverines entered the game 1 for 10 in red-zone touchdown production and came out cold in Ross-Ade Stadium, despite the oppressive heat.

Sure, Michigan’s defense wasn’t going to let the Boilermakers get away, no matter how many tunnel screens, throwbacks and additional misdirections Purdue boss Jeff Brohm drew up. But without something else going their way, it looked like the Wolverines needed to toss a second-half shutout and score on defense to win.

They nailed down the shutout over the final 30 minutes, drawing some inspiration from Purdue chirping during the week about knocking off the No. 8-ranked team in the land.

“It’s funny how every team we play has got to say something,” sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr. said. “They always end up losing. We aren't going to say nothing. When they look at that film, they know what they see.”

They might have seen some spotty offense coming in. What they saw coming out involved O’Korn, raging and running, delivering to 10 different receivers. They saw sophomore running back Chris Evans step forward and rush for 97 yards, including TD bursts of 10 and 49 yards.

They saw a Michigan team that stands far from perfect, except for record. But it’s one that isn’t going down without getting in some swings.

“I found out this team, we don’t panic,” Bush assured. “We may be down, things may not be going our way, but we don’t panic. We always have a positive way about things. We keep pushing.”

On this day, O’Korn led the crucial pushes.

“I thought he played great,” Harbaugh said. “I’m really proud of him, proud of the whole team. When you go beat another man, you’ve got to do that in a football game, then you’ve got to go against the crowd, then you’ve got to beat the elements. Nothing will make you feel more like a man than that, all three of those things.”

What happens next? It’s not up to him, O’Korn stressed. He’s just on the journey, one that started with him as a freshman star, took him to Michigan as a hopeful transfer, saw him return to obscurity, then allowed him to show up at a crucial moment.

“It’s just seeing things come full circle,” he said. “It’s been a journey. It’s no secret. It’s been tough. Anybody that goes through that — I talked about it in camp. It’s the culmination of all those things. I’m just happy I could contribute to a big win on the road … and have a happy flight home.”

He enjoyed all of that, along with retribution both spoken and unspoken.

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