Michigan started the game with a flawless 3 and out from their defense, and a 55 yard touchdown drive capped off by an incredible Colston Loveland touchdown grab. It felt like things would get out of control early, but Purdue not only fought back but largely controlled the rest of the first half.

The Wolverines finished the first half with only 45 yards on the ground on 15 carries. The passing game had moments, like the Loveland and Schoonmaker touchdowns, but only 90 yards from JJ McCarthy.

The Purdue connection of Aidan O’Connell and Charlie Jones led the way for the Boilermakers who were able to get chunk plays throughout the half against a Michigan defense that looked out of sorts.

As Michigan tends to do, they came out firing in the third quarter. Donovan Edwards broke loose for a 60 yard run to start the half. The 5 play drive eventually ended with a Kalel Mullings 1 yard touchdown. After a Purdue 3 and out, Michigan scored quickly on a long pass play to Luke Schoonmaker and an incredible 27 yard touchdown run from Donovan Edwards. Just like that the score was 28-13.

Purdue was marching looking to score when Will Johnson secured an interception just outside the end zone. From there, the Michigan offense struggled to end the third quarter, including McCarthy’s worst interception of the year. The defense held and Michigan took a 28-16 lead to the 4th quarter.

Purdue settled for another FG, the Michigan offense stalled, and Will Johnson secured his 2nd INT of the game giving the Wolverines a short field. McCarthy was able to hit Ronnie Bell on a 17 yard strike and Schoonmaker on a bizarre 2 pt conversion that seemingly put the game out of reach at 36-19 with 9:06 left in the game.

From there Michigan does what Michigan does and slowly drained the life out of Purdue for a second consecutive Big Ten Championship.

Michigan played the game with out the Big Ten’s running back of the year, Blake Corum. Donovan Edwards was once again RB1, but much like we saw against Ohio State, Edwards has the ability to hit the home run, but not get the consistent 3-6 yards on every rush.

After a sluggish start to the game, Edwards broke a 60 yard run that saw him more than double his yards per carry. He would finish with 25 carries for 185 yards and 1 touchdown.

Michigan gave 8 carries to Kalel Mullings in short yardage situations, the now former linebacker found the end zone twice. Freshman CJ Stokes got zero carries in the game. There was a thought Michigan would want to get him comfor

Coming in, we knew Purdue was going to throw the ball, and a lot. While Michigan gave up yards all over the field, they didn’t let the passing game beat them once Purdue got into the red zone. Michigan’s secondary looked lost throughout the game, but when the added defender of the back of the end zone came in to play, Michigan was able to hold strong. Purdue was forced to settle for 5 field goals, including 4 from the red zone. Mitchell Fineran set the record for field goals in a Big Ten Championship game. Not a record you want to hold in a loss.

In the secondary, Rod Moore finished the game with 12 tackles. When your safety is making that many tackles, you know your corners are having a tough day.

On a positive note, freshman Will Johnson secured two clutch interceptions that helped keep the Purdue air attack in check.

Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell finished 32-47 for 366 yards, but 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. Charlie Jones was incredible at receiver, finishing with 13 catches for 162 yards. The duo has been electric for the Boilermakers all season, but as we saw in this one, Purdue needs more from other players to be dynamic enough to win these types of games. Bookending their season with losses to Penn State and Michigan in similar fashion.

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