Michigan Football: Wolverines Get A Late TKO, 28-10
Michigan desperately needed a spark, even in near-90-degree heat. John O’Korn whipped out a flamethrower.
The fifth-year senior quarterback jumped in when injury demanded, and coolly reignited a U-M offense that seemed to be melting. O’Korn’s throwing effort — 18-of-26 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown— turned around Michigan’s scarily ineffective start and lifted the Wolverines to a 28-10 victory at Purdue.
The Wolverines rolled up 292 yards and 21 second-half points under O’Korn’s direction, while Michigan’s defense pitched a shutout over the final 30 minutes. The Boilermakers managed all of 10 second-half yards behind battered quarterbacks Elijah Sindelar (7 of 16, 103 yards) and David Blough (5 of 13, 32), who combined to go 12-of-29 passing for just 135 yards.
The duo might have racked up that many second-half bruises, the Wolverines clamping down after being down, 10-7, at the half.
At the end of a sweltering Big Ten opener, one team was left standing. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh grinned about that, and even the way it happened.
Harbaugh said he learned, “That they can win in the late rounds. That’s a great thing to learn about your ball club. You never know quite what the character is of the team when things get tough. A lot of people start groping for alternatives. Our guys dug deep and finished them off in the late rounds of the ball game.”
Michigan’s 53 yards gained in the first quarter wasn’t the worst news in the opening 15 minutes. Purdue slammed redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight to the turf on a sack, and an uncalled late hit after he was down kept him prone for several minutes thereafter.
When Speight finally sat up, trainers helped him to his feet and guided the clearly dazed QB straight to the locker room. O’Korn got the call from the bullpen and began immediately moving the Wolverines downfield.
He completed five throws of 10 yards or more in a 13-play, 84-yard drive, including a 12-yard play-action floater to redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry for the touchdown. O’Korn’s appearance snapped the third-down futility that saw Michigan and Purdue combine for zero conversions in seven attempts during the opening 16 minutes on those chain-moving downs.
His third-and-9 quick toss to sophomore tight end Sean McKeon (five catches, 82 yards) went for 10, setting up the TD. The scoring toss to Gentry (three catches, 48 yards) confirmed game-week rumors of plans to ramp up Michigan’s tight end use.
“We saw the specific defense they were in, and made a catch path,” Gentry said. "Coach Drev [offensive coordinator Tim Drevno] made a good call. Luckily, it popped open. I’m excited about it. It felt really good to get the first one out of the way.”
But Purdue struck right back with its own backup QB. Sindelar drove the Boilermakers 75 yards in only five plays, using screens and throwbacks to keep Michigan’s defense in chase mode. A 36-yard screen to wideout Terry Wright pushed the Boilermakers to the Michigan 10.
Sindelar then rolled right, stopped and fired back to the left, finding tight end Brycen Hopkins wide open for the easy score.
The Boilermakers thus shook their 20-minute offensive slumber to open the game, tying it at 9:45 of the second quarter. They, and a sellout crowd of 60,042, were about to bolt wide awake.
O’Korn fired a third-down throw to junior wideout Grant Perry, the ball deflecting off him and into the hands of Boilermakers safety Navon Mosley. The interception set Purdue up at the Michigan 27, and five plays later, placekicker J.D. Dellinger booted a 29-yard field goal, putting the Boilermakers on top, 10-7, with 6:04 remaining in the half.
It stayed that way at intermission, Purdue heading back to an air-conditioned locker room on a day when the temperature at kickoff stood at 89 degrees. The visitors’ locker room doesn’t feature AC, but that wasn’t the only reason the Wolverines were feeling the heat.
They’d managed 102 yards of first-half offense, 92 of it off O’Korn’s relief pitching.
“We had some guys cramping on the offensive side of the ball, then they were limping,” Harbaugh said. “Then they were back in. I was really proud of them. They weren’t looking for a soft landing place.”
The offense woes continued through the early part of the second half. But when it looked like the Wolverines weren’t going to generate anything, O’Korn literally spun Michigan’s fortunes around.
Backed to his own 7-yard line by a penalty, the veteran QB dug in and began hitting throws all over the field. A crucial third-and-six toss to Perry for 12 yards followed an 11-yard completion to Gentry, digging the Wolverines out of the hole and out to the 30.
The first of those plays saw O’Korn hit, nearly crash to the turf and spin out to find Perry. Moments later, he moved the chains again on third-and-six, connecting with McKeon on a crossing route for 30 yards into Purdue territory.
“Somebody asked me if that was a confidence-booster for me,” O'Korn said of the near-sack-turned-completion. “It was more of one of those plays where you surprise yourself, that you spun out of a tackle. You just keep your eyes downfield and find your guys.”
Boilermakers’ strong safety Jacob Thieneman then got tossed for targeting sophomore tight end Nick Eubanks. Four plays later, sophomore tailback Chris Evans (14 carries, 97 yards, two touchdowns) took a pitch and burst through a huge hole on the right side of Michigan’s line, racing in untouched for the 10-yard, go-ahead TD.
The 11-play, 86-yard drive pushed the Wolverines on top, 14-10, with 2:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Heat aside, O’Korn was just getting warmed up.
On Michigan’s very next series, O’Korn drove U-M 65 yards in nine plays for the touchdown to make it 21-10 with 10:36 left. Once again, he moved the chains five times on throws, including 23-yard tosses to Perry and McKeon. O’Korn also lofted a 25-yard toss to Gentry while getting hammered late by Purdue linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, the second Boilermaker tossed for targeting.
The combination set Michigan up at the Purdue 3, and two plays later, fifth-year senior tailback Ty Isaac burst over from a yard out.
Moments later, Evans raced away on a 49-yard touchdown run with 6:46 left, putting a capper on a second-half offensive outburst.
For a while, the Big Ten opener looked like a confidence closer. As it was, the Wolverines (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) all looked forward to the flight home.
“In camp, I talked about my comfortability with the offense and what [quarterbacks coach] Pep Hamilton being here has done for me,” O’Korn said. “You saw that today. They put me in situations to be successful and lead the team, and we came out of here with a big win. We get a nice flight home now.”
Five Best Players Of The Game
1. Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn: Michigan desperately needed a lift, and O’Korn proved to be the next man way up. His 270 yards passing with a touchdown rallied the Wolverines to a win following a slow start and a halftime deficit.
2. Redshirt junior defensive end Chase Winovich: Winovich mauled the Boilermakers’ offense all game long, posting three sacks and four tackles for loss among his six stops. While a strong effort from teammates opened the door, Winovich raced through it and beat Boilermakers’ QBs with the hinges.
3. Sophomore linebacker Devin Bush: Bush also made his presence felt on a day when it appeared early on that the defense would have to score for the Wolverines to win. He posted a sack among six stops, with a pass breakup that was a near interception.
4. Sophomore tailback Chris Evans: Evans has been playing in the shadow of fifth-year senior tailback Ty Isaac, but shone in the Big Ten opener. Evans’ 97 yards rushing and two touchdowns bolstered an offense that eventually produced 423 yards.
5. Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon: McKeon did plenty, making a team-high five catches for 82 yards. But he also represents a tight end breakout for the Wolverines, teaming with redshirt sophomore Zach Gentry to produce 130 receiving yards and Gentry’s touchdown.
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