U-M puts away Purdue
ANN ARBOR -- Perhaps, just maybe, Michigan's offense is coming into its own.
The Wolverines used a balanced attack with 189 yards rushing and 269 yards passing in pounding No. 24 Purdue 48-21 on Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
It was the fifth straight win for the Wolverines (5-2, 3-0 Big Ten) while No. 24 Purdue (5-2, 1-2) dropped its second straight.
"You have to be able to be balanced against the good teams. They're going to try to stop the run and when they do they have so many people up there you have to be able to throw it. When you can do both you have a much better chance," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
Quarterback Chad Henne playing in his second straight complete game after coming off a knee injury, completed 21 of 28 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. (Actually backup Ryan Mallett saw some late action, but it had nothing to do with Henne's health.)
"We established the run again -- all year we've been great with the run and it's opened up some passing lanes for us today. (They) gave us one-on-one coverage and making those plays really helped us balance it up," Henne said.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 31-7 lead at the half with two touchdown catches by Mario Manningham (24 yards, 21 yards), two runs by Mike Hart (11 yards, 9 yards) and a 34-yard field goal by K.C. Lopata.
The Boilermakers took advantage of a Henne lost fumble on Michigan's 5, as quarterback Curtis Painter (17 of 28 for 113 yards, two interceptions) ran in for the first-quarter score. After that Purdue was held off the scoreboard until it scored a pair of touchdowns in the game's final minute against Michigan's backup defense.
In the second half Michigan was without Hart (21 carries, 102 yards) who stepped out of a pile-up and quite literally crawled to the sideline in pain near the end of the first half.
Carr told the Michigan Radio Network that he would know more about Hart's injury on Monday or Tuesday.
"It is the type of injury where dependent on how much swelling and how he feels in the next couple days will really be the determining factor on what it looks like in terms of him coming back to play,'' Carr said. "He's a tough guy, a quick healer and we'll just have to see.''
Hart did make it back onto the sidelines in sweats for the second half and was standing without the aid of crutches. Unconfirmed reports are that he rolled his right ankle.
"Mike's definitely a great competitor and a tough guy. He'll be in the training room. We're assuming he'll be back for Saturday," Henne said. Michigan plays next Saturday at Illinois -- ranked 18th before an upset loss to Iowa on Saturday.
Brandon Minor got the first call to replace Hart, but he was injured after just three carries and was carted off the field. No word on the seriousness of his injury.
Third-string tailback Carlos Brown stepped in and stepped up when Minor went down. Brown ran 29 yards for his first career touchdown and then had a 1-yard scamper for his second, both in the fourth quarter. It was a team effort for Michigan whose defense is healthier and improving each week.
"I thought defensively we took control of the game. ... I thought we did a great job with our run defense. I thought we put good pressure on the quarterback and I thought we did good job on the coverage,'' Carr said. "Of course, you take a team that's spread out like that -- I think we gave up two plays in there over 20 yards -- so that's a plus."
Michigan has had its troubles with a spread offense featuring a mobile quarterback, but Painter does not fit that description. The Purdue quarterback carried five times for negative-2 yards.
"Once you made him one-dimensional it helped you out a lot. You knew he was going to pass it, the front could get pressure and you can execute plays a lot better when you take the running game away," linebacker Chris Graham said.
For the second week in a row, Purdue could not get its running game in gear. The Wolverines' defense held the Boilermakers to 39 yards rushing (they had just 4 rushing yards the previous week in a loss to Ohio State). After three quarters, Purdue had just 32 rushing yards and 113 passing yards. They piled on more yards and two more touchdowns against Michigan's backups in the fourth quarter, finishing with 39 yards rushing and 253 passing.
Michigan's defense forced two fumbles and Brandon Harrison and Jamar Adams each intercepted Painter.
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