Michigan struggled for a while throughout the second quarter and in the early parts of the third quarter, but a 44-yard end around touchdown by Semaj Morgan lit a spark under the Wolverines, who cruised to victory rather easily in the fourth quarter.

J.J. McCarthy didn't have his best stuff on the night, but he still finished with a respectable stat line. He completed 24-of-37 passes for 335 yards and a passer rating of 140.9.

Here are three takeaways from Michigan's 21st consecutive Big Ten win.

If you looked at the final score of Saturday night's game, you would have no idea that Michigan's Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback was far from his best. Michigan once again won by at least 24 points, an occurrence that has happened in all nine games so far this season.

However, those who watched the game saw McCarthy miss receivers, take a few unnecessary sacks and show bad form a time or two.

It was far from McCarthy's best game — in fact, it was probably his second-worst game of the season behind the Bowling Green game — but Michigan still rolled. The Wolverines only led by two touchdowns at halftime, but Morgan's touchdown, followed by Blake Corum's third touchdown of the game put Purdue away.

Obviously, Michigan wouldn't like to have many more rough nights from McCarthy, but it's certainly reassuring to know that even when No. 9 doesn't have his best stuff, Michigan will still be able to dominate.

Of course, Purdue is 2-7 and isn't a serious contender in the conference, but being able to score in ways other than using McCarthy is an important key for the offense going forward.

Jim Harbaugh said a few weeks ago that the amount of long, 40-plus-yard runs the Wolverines had last year was an anomaly. Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards continually gashed opponents for big play after big play last season, but it hasn't been as easy for the dynamic duo in 2023.

Edwards has no runs of more than 40 yards, while Corum has only two.

The duo combined for only 65 rushing yards on Saturday night, as rushing holes failed to open up on a consistent basis.

Going forward, Michigan will need to find the long distance magic it featured in 2022 if it wants to seriously contend for a national title.

Two of the team's final three regular-season games are against Penn State and Ohio State, which both feature significantly better run defenses than what the Wolverines have seen this season.

All season long, Michigan has been criticized for not playing tough opponents. Although the schedule and its strength is mainly out of the team's control, Michigan has constantly been told it's not as good as the nation's best teams because of its weak schedule.

However, that will all change next weekend when Michigan visits Penn State in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions are a top-15 team in the country, and it will undoubtedly be the toughest test for Jim Harbaugh's team so far this year.

Drew Allar and the Penn State offense are coming off a 51-point performance at Maryland, so Penn State will be firing on all cylinders when the Wolverines come to town.

With a statement win next weekend, Michigan can finally squash all the outside noise about the weak strength of schedule.

Next week's game will begin at noon and air on FOX.

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