Michigan Football: Winners and Losers from Wolverines' Win vs. Purdue

Michigan was eager to prove that they had put their loss against rival Michigan State behind them and they could still dominate the rest of the season. 

If the Wolverines' 36-14 pasting of Purdue is any indication, Michigan will be just fine. 

The game was much more one-sided than the final score indicates. Michigan dominated almost every facet of the game. Purdue had the unenviable task of trying to get something going against a team determined to rebound from a tough loss. 

Michigan had much more success than Purdue, but the Wolverines still have some work to do if they want to finish the season atop the legends division in the Big 10.

Purdue did not look very good in this game, but the Boilermakers did have some bright spots. 

Here are the winners and losers from Michigan’s win over Purdue.

Winners: Michigan Defensive Line

Despite its preseason hype, Michigan's defense has been less than stellar this season.

Against Michigan State, the Spartans were able to find hole after hole in the Michigan front line and got a big play anytime they needed it.

Against Purdue, it was clear the Michigan defense was ready to respond. After the Boilermakers’ opening drive for a touchdown, the Wolverine defense clamped down, preventing Purdue from getting in any kind of rhythm. 

Led by defensive tackle Mike Martin, the Wolverines repeatedly got to Purdue’s quarterbacks and allowed less than 100 yards rushing for Purdue. Martin forced a safety after an ill-advised Devin Gardner interception, swinging the momentum back to Michigan.

Michigan’s defense kept the Wolverines ahead in the game, allowing just two touchdowns for Purdue—one on the opening drive and another in garbage time.

Losers: Purdue Third-Down Conversions

Purdue was a miserable three for 13 on third downs Saturday. The offense was never able to get into a rhythm because they could generate no sustained drives.

The Boilermakers gained just 192 yards through three quarters, with 67 yards coming on the game’s opening drive—by far their most successful of the night. 

For Purdue to have challenged Michigan, they needed to control the ball and the game clock. Their inability to convert on third down made it impossible to do either.

The more the football is in Denard Robinson’s hands, the less likely Michigan’s opposition is of winning the game.

Purdue found this out the hard way.

Winners: Fitzgerald Toussaint

The Michigan running back finally brought Wolverine football back to the basics—a pounding, running game designed to tire out opposing defenses.

The redshirt sophomore allowed Michigan to control the game on the ground, taking pressure off Denard Robinson and allowing Michigan's defense to rest.

Fitzgerald Toussaint rushed for a career high 170 yards and two touchdowns. He looked very comfortable in the open field, making great cuts and simply running away from Purdue defenders.

Michigan has felt the absence of a reliable running game all season. Robinson has accounted for Michigan’s most successful running and passing attack, but will clearly not be able to keep up his lofty statistics all season.

If Toussaint can build on this week’s performance and establish himself as Michigan’s go-to running threat, teams will be forced to back off of Robinson, thus spreading the field and giving the Wolverines an important advantage. 

Losers: Michigan Interceptions

Michigan's offense looked good on Saturday. However, there are still some problems that must be worked out before the Wolverines can truly excel against good teams.

Most notably, Michigan must cut down on its turnovers, especially interceptions.

Denard Robinson threw an interception in the first quarter that ended a promising drive and gave the ball back to Purdue with the game tied at seven apiece.

Robinson has already thrown 11 interceptions on the season, the same number he threw in all of 2010. Robinson needs to learn to take care of the ball and be more accurate with his throws.

If his receiver is not open, Robinson should scramble or simply throw the ball away instead of forcing a pass.

Devin Gardner had an interception of his own in the first quarter. The score was still tied 7-7, but Michigan was in the red zone. Gardner threw a ball into double coverage and it was picked off at the Purdue five-yard line. 

If the Boilermakers could have turned that interception into points, the momentum of the game would have shifted drastically. Instead, Michigan’s defense saved them, forcing a safety and giving the ball back to the offense.

Winners: Robert Marve

The quarterback has had a very mixed college career. He transferred from Miami, believed he could star on a lesser-known Purdue team, then tore his ACL twice before he could make a significant impact. 

Because his knee was still healing at the beginning of this season, junior Caleb TerBush was named the starter for Purdue and has not relinquished his status.

Marve has come in to play in most of the games this season, but has not been given enough reps to excel. 

Against Michigan, Marve finally began to assert himself. He was eight of 14, passing for 66 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His stats were not gaudy by any means, but Marve did have some success in sparking a very stagnant Purdue offense.

TerBush has played well on the season, but Marve is beginning to prove that he should be given his fair share of reps as well.

Losers: Purdue Rushing

Purdue rushed for a mere 89 yards on Saturday, certainly not good enough to win a football game.

Purdue has not been fantastic running the ball, but they certainly haven’t been bad. The Boilermakers average 182 yards per game on the season, which is in the upper fourth of FBS teams.

Purdue just simply could not get their offense going, facing a Michigan defense ready to prove itself.

A rushing game would have really helped the Boilermakers establish their offense, get into the flow of the game and pile up yardage. Instead, too much pressure was placed on the Purdue quarterbacks and the offense was unable to succeed.

Winners: Michigan Avoiding A Collapse

In the past two seasons, Michigan has looked like a force to be reckoned with coming into their game against rival Michigan State.

In 2010, the Wolverines were 5-0. In 2009, they were 4-0.

After losing to Michigan State both years, however, Michigan has come apart at the seams. In 2010, Michigan finished 7-6. In 2009, they were 5-7, losing their last five games.

This season, after another loss to Michigan State, many wondered if the Wolverines would succumb to the same demise that affected their previous two teams.

If the game against Purdue is any indication, Michigan is forgetting the loss to their rivals for the time being and focusing on the rest of the season. The Wolverines came out strong and did not allow Purdue to threaten after the first quarter.

Denard Robinson is too good to waste another year collapsing after one loss.