Preview: Purdue
The Essentials
| WHAT | Michigan vs Purdue |
|---|---|
| WHERE | Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI |
| WHEN | 12:00 EST, November 6th, 2009 |
| THE LINE | Michigan -6 |
| TELEVISION | Nationwide on BTN |
| WEATHER | Sunny, dry, mid-50s |
So, a bird dropped a baguette on the Large Hadron Collider, causing it to overheat. This is the thousandth thing that has gone wrong with the LHC in the past six months. A couple weeks ago some scientists suggested that the LHC could never be activated because the creation of a Higgs Boson—the thing the LHC strives to create—would not only destroy the universe but retroactively destroy the universe. Therefore the LHC's problems were an inevitable consequence of having a universe and that the universe would prevent the LHC from ever operating in order to protect itself. In effect, they argued that the Higgs boson was preventing itself from ever generating itself from the future. They were serious about this.
Theory: you can create the Higgs boson by combining three things: Rich Rodriguez, a Michigan windbreaker, and a bowl game.
Run Offense vs. Purdue
The issues that cropped up when David Molk got injured are likely to compound this weekend. Perry Dorrestein, who drew into the lineup when Molk went out, wasn't listed on the injury report this week but missed some time against Illinois with a back injury, and midweek his availability was in question:
“(His back problem) has been ongoing,” Rodriguez said. “He's been fighting it every week, and it flared up a little with him in last week's ballgame. He's been battling that the last couple weeks, really."
Patrick Omameh would replace Dorrestein if he can't go. Mark Huyge would kick out to tackle and Omameh would play RG. Omameh did okay in his first shot at playing time but is a redshirt freshman and a backup for a reason. That would probably ding the running game farther.
The Illinois stats are pretty ugly and the goal line stand that will live in infamy is the item that lingers in everyone's mind, but the running game has played a fair number of stiff defenses this year and done well; the Illinois game is an outlier. A scary, terrible outlier against a team that had been horrible against the run, but an outlier. Well, mostly an outlier: Michigan State also shut down Michigan's ground game. The running game was effective against Penn State and Iowa, however, and gets Brandon Minor back from his overwhelming ennui. Mike Shaw, who missed the Illinois game with a knee sprain, also returns.
Purdue, meanwhile, is a bad rush defense. They're 88th nationally and just finished having their head caved in by John Clay and a zillion other Badgers—Wisconsin ran for 266 yards on 53 carries. The week before, Mikel Leshoure ripped off a 65-yard run and Illinois picked up 180 yards on 37 carries. The week before that, Purdue totally annihilated Ohio State. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. But over the course of the season Purdue has proven itself pretty terrible.
Obvious riposte: so had Illinois. The Illinois game shouldn't be weighted too heavily—losing Minor meant Brown was forced into a lot of sub-optimal situations and Michigan lost its most effective runner by far—but it must be weighted. Michigan now has three good rushing performances in the Big Ten (Indiana, Penn State, Iowa) but no great ones—the long stuff has disappeared since the Indiana game. They also have two bad ones.
Purdue blogs say they're extremely susceptible to up-the-middle pounding…
As boilerdowd noted to me, UM is not a rough and tough team. They're a little more finesse. And if they play that way, Purdue can own 'em. However, if they punch Purdue in the mouth early, like Northern Illinois and Wisconsin did, Purdue may run away whimpering like my dog when I get mad.
…and say that Michigan is not a team to pound you, which is weird but on the radio Monday I argued with a guy who thought the problem with Rich Rodriguez was that he didn't run the ball enough and that running "side to side" gets people hurt. People think things and retroactively come up with reasons for them.
If Minor's back and healthy and Omameh can slot in this should be an effective, if uninspiring, day on the ground, with Minor getting 100 yards on 20 or so carries and other people chipping in to get Michigan near 200.
Key Matchup: Brandon Minor versus His Overpowering Ennui. His ankle has been sprained since the 2007 Purdue game.
Pass Offense vs. Purdue
Purdue's got a good pass efficiency defense, which I do not understand as a thing that is possible but there it is: 25th nationally. Their pass defense is 34th. Some of that has to do with the run defense. Scott Tolzien attempted all of 13 passes last week, and Adam Weber's preposterous stat line from a 35-point output was 5 of 9 for 74 yards and two interceptions. Um.
On the other hand, Jimmy Clausen had what was probably his worst game of the year against Purdue:
| # | Player | Att | Comp | Int | Yards | TD | Conv | Passing Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Jimmy Clausen | 26 | 15 | 1 | 171 | 1 | 117.9 | |
| 10 | Dayne Crist | 10 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 87.8 | |
| Totals | 36 | 20 | 1 | 216 | 1 |
There was some severe turf toe involved there, but Clausen would need one foot and half a hand to shred Michigan's secondary.
Purdue's also 25th in sacks, and Michigan's shuffling the offensive line again or playing a guy who was hurt and pretty poor against Illinois. This does not seem like a good matchup after Tate Forcier's last month of football and the problems the right side of the line's had in pass protection. Bonus negative: Martavious Odoms is definitely out for the second straight week. While Roy Roundtree had a nice day against Illinois, he lacks the quicks Odoms has on bubble screens and whatnot.
Forcier did have a nice day against Illinois but remains plagued with freshman inconsistencies and happy feet; this will be a secondary option given Purdue's apparent lack of run defense.
Key Matchup: This
UPDATE: …um, this nefangled offensive line pass protecting again.
Run Defense vs. Purdue
Purdue's Robert Bolden started the year off hot but as the competition has gotten better the Purdue run game has fallen off:
| Opponent | Carries | Yards | TD | YPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 24 | 92 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Northwestern | 25 | 74 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 115 | 0 | 4.1 |
| Ohio State | 30 | 84 | 0 | 2.8 |
| Illinois | 38 | 228 | 3 | 6.0 |
| Wisconsin | 26 | 82 | 0 | 3.2 |
These numbers correspond well to the quality of the opponent rush defense, and are uniformly terrible except for the Illinois bludgeoning. Purdue's early cupcake indicators have given way to the reality that the rushing game can't move the ball at all against quality teams.
Michigan, all you are well aware, is not a quality team. They languish 85th in rushing defense after taking a hammering from Illinois last week; the week before that Penn State racked up a bit over four yards per carry. Michigan's main issues have been terrible linebacker and safety play that causes good work from the defensive line to go to waste, and Robert Bolden is a fast bugger if you screw up like that.
On the plus side, Michigan did do good-to-excellent jobs on the two rushing-deficient Big Ten teams they went up against before the last two debacles. Purdue is evidently a rushing-deficient Big Ten team. Illinois played straight into their weaknesses, too: confusion, inability to maintain their assignments, safeties who have religious proscriptions against containing Juice Williams. Purdue's got a pocket passer and an run game that isn't nearly as good at getting really fast guys in open space one-on-one with guys who might well be chasing someone who doesn't have the ball. The numbers should come down, with an error here and there springing Bolden for a long run or two between a lot of 0-2 yard runs.
Key Matchup: Mouton and Leach versus cutbacks. Obi Ezeh lost his job because he attacks wrong holes all the time and Mouton only has his because Michigan doesn't have many other options. The numbers suggest there will be a lot of fouled running plays that either get crushed or break long.
Pass Defense vs. Purdue
This is where you go "urgh we die" except that Purdue has been crazily inconsistent all year here and it may be a game where Boilermaker receivers drop a thousand passes, as they did against Wisconsin, and Joey Elliott calls them out after the game, as he did after a game earlier this year.
I mean… Jesus:
| # | Player | Att | Comp | Int | Yards | TD | Conv | Passing Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Joey Elliott | 23 | 5 | 1 | 59 | 0 | 34.6 | |
| 19 | Caleb TerBush | 10 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 58.5 | |
| Totals | 33 | 9 | 1 | 81 | 0 |
That makes Denard Robinson look like Tom Brady. But then there's the Ohio State game, in which Elliott was 31 of 50 for 281 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception against the #8 pass efficiency defense in the country.
Which is it? Against Michigan, the probably the latter. Purdue still loves the short dink-and-dunk offense that Tiller deployed so effectively in the early part of his term and Elliott has been moderately efficient running it, racking up a zillion attempts that aren't as accurate as you'd think—58% completion rate—but are as dinky: 6.7 YPA. Boiled Sports on the dinky:
One of the biggest problems that I have with the Elliott-led offense this season is their lack of a vertical passing game. Granted, the simple fact that Purdue's receivers aren't really burners plays into the equation, but, both Valentin and Carlos have gotten behind the defense on numerous occasions this season only to be missed.
Elliott's also had an issue with interceptions, with 11 against 14 touchdowns.
Michigan's got a couple of decent cornerbacks and then hellish confusion all over the field; Purdue is a team that can exploit Michigan's inability to cover anyone with a linebacker or safety with any of their equally mediocre wide receivers—four guys already have over twenty catches. They'll be open, they'll drop some balls to kill drives, they'll be less likely to hit a big play than teams with more explosion at the position, they'll probably still get a couple because Michigan's starting two walk-ons and they're clearly better options than some other guys who are starting.
Key Matchup: Safeties versus enormous long touchdowns. Purdue looks like it will stab itself in the foot often enough if forced to march down the field for Michigan to give up a non-huge amount of points. They also appear to be a team that doesn't have a ton of big-play ability in the passing game unless Michigan gives them the opportunity, which they probably will. Just tackling guys as they grab the ball will be a win.
Special Teams
Hey, Jason Olesnavage and Zoltan Mesko are pretty good. Purdue's guys are not. The Boilers are 104th in net punting, 91st in kickoff returns, and dead average at punt returns. Slight advantage Michigan, I'd say, except that Michigan returners have muffed two punts in the last three games against real competition and let a lot of other punts drop to the turf.
Key Matchup: HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL
Intangibles
Cheap Thrills
Worry if...
- Anyone from Purdue shoots into the backfield like Corey Liuget did.
- Purdue decides to catch stuff.
- Minor limps off again.
Cackle with knowing glee if...
- Purdue leaves the sanity at home.
- Forcier can get time in the pocket.
- Suddenly it's next year.
Fear/Paranoia Level: 6 out of 10. (Baseline 5, –1 for We're Favored By Almost A Touchdown, +1 for Why Are We Favored?, –1 for Purdue Hasn't Won Since 1963 At Michigan Stadium, +1 for The Last Year And Half Has See A Lot Of "Since Impossibly Long Time Ago" Records Fall, +1 for they Spread And Throw At Our Weakness, +1 for And What The Hell Was That Last Week, –1 for Purdue Is Thinking The Same Thing).
Desperate need to win level: 9 out of 10. (Baseline 5, +1 for Bowl Game, Any Bowl Game, +1 for And Really If They Don't Win This Game It's Hard For Them To Not Go 5-7, +1 for And I Am Tired Of Talking People Off Ledges, +1 for Why I Am I Talking People Off The Ledge When I Want Them To Jump?)
Loss will cause me to... well, there's damn well going to be an otter picture, that's for sure.
Win will cause me to... start perusing arcane bowl rules in the hope that Michigan doesn't get dragged into the Alamo or something where someone will rain fury on them.
The strictures and conventions of sportswriting compel me to predict:
Does anyone get this line? I know the records are divergent but Purdue is outgaining opponents by 10 yards a game and hasn't played any I-AA opponents. Their nonconference schedule was two MAC schools, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Take away the Baby Seal U game and Michigan is getting outgained by 40 yards a game. I guess they've managed to be competitive until the last couple weeks, but despite Purdue's record I think they've proven themselves a better team over the course of the season. They could-have-should have beaten both Notre Dame and Oregon, they did beat Ohio State, and… well, they did lose to an eh MAC team. And just got crushed, but by Wisconsin, not Illinois.
Purdue's managed to get themselves crushed by making a crap-ton of stupid mistakes. They're turnover margin buddies with Michigan—M is 109, Purdue is 108. They've had punts blocked for touchdowns. They fumbled away the Oregon game. Etc etc etc. They're sort of a version of Michigan that's not quite as bad, despite the records.
I don't want to be over-reacting Straight Bangin' Award winner guy here, but I made a mistake before the Penn State game of not taking Michigan's yardage margins seriously and predicted a win despite Michigan getting seriously outgained in four previous attempts at BCS competition. That streak is now at six if you count Illinois as part of the BCS, which we have to and no one else does.
I mean, sure, Michigan can win if they stop making huge mistakes all the time, but why would that happen now? After the Iowa game you could say "oh, that's just an outlier"; now it's just life.
Finally, opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:
- 60+ yard Bolden touchdown.
- Shaw gets about as much time as Brown.
- Michigan is –1 in TO margin.
- Purdue, 30-28.
Michigan blowout. I'm calling it now. Everyone negbang me to hell if we lose, but...
Michigan 38
Purdue 13
The ForciEra has begun.
I've been wrong so far, so I'll keep going, UM 34 PU 28, won't watch it anyway because it's on BTN and I don't have it, so I guess I'll just have to spend time with the kids today.
si post fata venit gloria non propero...
Trust the Forcier we must.
The Jedi mind tricks are starting to work, right?
This is not the dong puncher you seek.
weather = good
forcier = return to form
34-20 UM
I think the weather today will be one of the most important factors in this game. The outlook is promising, I'm hoping for the best. GO BLUE!
HAIL.
Not my ride of choice. Maybe because I didn't really expect more than 6 or 7 wins this year, I think the team is about where it should be. The game tomorrow is 60 minutes, all that matters is that at the end Michigan has more points than Purdue. Which even this team is capable of doing, especially at home.
It will be a good game. I don't doubt that. I also don't doubt that Forcier and BOTH teams are going to make a lot of mistakes. I keep forcier by himself because he fumbled against Illinois without being touched. =/
Anyway, I really hope Michigan wins (of course). I agree with your final score, but I really think it could go either way.
GO BLUE!
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I got more and more depressed as this preview went on.
Kind of like this season.
I'm going to go listen to Elliot Smith and off myself.
B: Class-action suit? And the first thing you asked was whether or not they got that thing you sent them?
P: Check out the ha-has on Ms. Stenopad.
Always predict with heart...
michigan 34-31.
Love me some Michigan.
Constructive things I could do between noon and 3:30 tomorrow:
-Homework
-Go for a run
-Grocery shopping
-Laundry
-Clean my apartment
-Dust off the ol' guitar
-Charity work of any variety
-Stay completely sober
But I won't do any of those. Instead, I'm going to submit myself to three-and-a-half hours of nerve-wracking, gut-wrenching football mayhem, complete with fumbles and dropped passes and bad penalties and blown coverages. The stress will take six to eight months off my life, even though the outcome of this game has no tangible impact on my livelihood. Why do it? I don't know. I guess that's what fandom is all about.
But, it's all worth it if they win. And if they lose, well, that is just UNACCEPTABLE!!
Ann Arbor: now the permanent home of the Little Brown Jug
66-22-3 all-time
I thought I would be the only one around these parts who knew the LHC was shut down by a bird and a piece of bread. I was wrong.
Brian, you make us nerds feel right at home. Thank you.
MMB Altos 07-
Can we get muppets if we become bowl eligible?
We have to have some sort of good outlier event happen to us right? Right? Right?
Here's to hoping that we are in Purdue's backfield so much that they don't have much time to do anything.
Great analysis, Brian.
Jesus, why do I keep having these daytime terrors of Purdue WR Aaron Valentin scoring on a 70 yard touchdown bomb reception then celebrating and smiling in the Michigan end zone with the football in one hand and my still-beating, dripping heart in the other?
Aww man, somebody make it stop!
"Aw God it's so damn hot! Milk was a bad choice."
When Carcajous Attack!
http://whencarcajousattack.blogspot.com/
We scored 42 point against Purdue last year with Steven Threet at QB. Where's the faith?
lager86
and lost, in a game we left early because my friends wanted to beat the traffic. (I'm a Purdue grad and an Ann Arbor native, so my friends enjoy this for some reason.)
Last year's Purdue team didn't produce turnovers like a bakery at sunrise. Last year's team was also capable of completing long passes.
Good Purdue was used up against Oregon and Ohio State, and in the latter instance everyone was grateful. Bad Purdue has three more games to make an appearance, and sadly (for Purdue) I expect no less. (Please don't lose the Bucket.) Michigan is vulnerable for one of the rare times the Boilers call on Ann Arbor - the 5-0 game was painful for everyone who saw it - but this is not the right team to take advantage. All Michigan has to do on defense is not drop the interceptions and not let the fumbles go out of bounds.
Ralph Bolden hasn't done shit since I don't know when because defensive coordinators figured out that the passing game sucks, so they can put eight in the box and let Elliott throw to the other three. Works like a charm.
But hey! If the game comes down to a 50+ field goal attempt, I think Purdue has a chance.
As pointed out on both sites (I think), it's not a good sign when each fan base declares it will lose to the other. I hope the game is well played and that the better team wins. (Which would be the Maize and Blue. Computers don't lie, except about the pod bay door.) I fear it will stink like, well, things that stink.
I would like this game to hurry up and be over with so I can suffer while the teams lose separately. Watching them play each other when they both suck is really more than I can handle.
so I was completely wrong. I wish it weren't against Michigan. Why couldn't this have come against ND?
as long as we don't see the hook and lateral on Saturday, i will have faith....
If we win the turnover battle, we win the game....given Purdon't's amazing ability to lay huge freakin' eggs in the Big House, i have a quiet calm about tomorrow...
"Those Who Stay Will Be Champions"
is that we, for reasons of chance or a departure of the Angry Michigan Team Hating God, uncork a good game, with an absence of turnovers and a sudden ability to cover people.
Absent that, Purdue 36 Michigan 20
What if this TEAM decided,purdue is going down?
HELL! I believe in this TEAM... MICHIGAN WINS!
300 yards on the ground.
Endeavor to persevere...
I still think this team is pissed and will come out tomorrow and use some Minor Rage. Michigan 31 Purdue 20.
After watching this team the last 5 weeks, MY fear/paranoia level is 10/10. I always used to get a little nervous before big games in the past worrying if we'd win, but now I'm fearful of a horrible beatdown every week.
This week is no different.
Call me Ron.
for the name and avatar. honestly.
Oh, shut up.
Call me Ron.
Tate hasn't had a TD since MSU. The team hasn't forced a turnover sine Ricky Stanzi's pick 6 in Iowa City. Trends like these have to reverse at some point, right? Right. Michigan 28 Purdue 21.
--
antidaily.com
But I just feel like our offense is going to go out there tomorrow and administer a beat down in the first half. Like Office Space Copier beat down. Nobody's going to know what to do.
Then we'll barely hang on for the win. But I'm telling you, pride was damaged, and we're going to get SOME circle the wagons effect. We have to. This team isn't the wounded goat of last year. We CAN DO SOME THINGS DAMN IT.
first half? you mean first drive.
--
antidaily.com
See Above.
Forever remembering 11/22/03.
I would love to believe our defense can anyone to 30 points or less at this point. However, I just don't see that happening. If our offense doesn't score 42 or more in each of the next three games I don't see us winning any of them.
Can anyone come up with a reason we should be confident in our defense?
The line and corners.
I'm not sure it's so much confidence in our defense stopping them, as confidence in them screwing up a few times and stopping themselves.
I really feel that whichever team does a better job of limiting mistakes will win this game. I wish I felt as confident that that would be us.
I spent a good portion of my workday pondering the reality of home field advantage. I will start by saying I usually consider it a huge crock of shit.
But if you look at performance of this year's team thus far, it may be less fantastical than I initially thought. If we eliminate the "creampuff" non-conference teams of our schedule (WMU, EMU, DSU), our team is 2-1 at home. We were obviously overmatched (in retrospect) in our loss to PSU. However, we beat a very respectable ND team and an Indiana team that has proven itself to be far superior to Illinois.
As we all know, we are winless on the road. I personally believe that the MSU game would have gone differently had in occurred in Ann Arbor. Undefeated Iowa had to rely on 5 Michigan turnovers to pull out a squeaker. It took a meltdown, the degree of which I can't recall ever seeing, for Illinois to beat us.
Our team is young. We all know young players have a tough time playing on the road. But the Big House is our house, and our young players will fight to defend it, and vault us to a bowl game, come Saturday.
Final Score:
Michigan - 38
Purdue - 34
Forever remembering 11/22/03.
I've decided to take some hydrocodone Saturday to dull the pain enough that I can bear to watch. This sucks.
I'm headed straight for the coke and hookers.
The potential turnovers will make it interesting, but playing at home should help. Purdue has given up 36 pts/game on the road this year (against Oregon, Minny, and Wiscy, so take that with a grain of salt), and are only +25 yards total versus opponents over that stretch (and that number was depressed by being outgained by 241 yards last week). This strikes me as a team that will get its yards but shoot itself in the foot quite a bit, just like Michigan. That said, it seems like most of UM's troubles on offense have come from bad fumbles and not horrible INTs, meaning that the recent proclivity to fumble at the worst possible times might come back to the middle soon.
Of course, I'm also a blind optimist when it comes to Friday predictions; Saturday, I am a belligerent man drunk on broken dreams and goal line flubs.
it's tough to deal with the defensive breakdowns, 3 and outs, etc but those TOs are too much to deal with
btw, it's a sad state when even RR seems to anticipate these as was stated when he didn't call a time out before the half in the ILL game, thinking we may fumble the punt return
lack thereof, indicated the punt block was the focus. They didn't get it, though I believe they were close (couldn't bear to go back and replay any part of that game, so correct me if I'm confusing with another punt). It seems in a few games the staff has spotted some things in opponent's punt protection and have tried to exploit said things. Hasn't resulted in a ton of success, but in general, they seem to be getting more pressure on punters than I've seen since the days of Marquise Walker.
Now if we could only figure out the punt return ...
100
For Rich Rod, that is. They lose this one, and 5-7 is well within reach. Pending NCAA crap-ola. Could be trouble for Mr. Rodriguez and company.
Yikes. Doom and gloom already. Not good. :(
Lots of negbanging. I didn't realize this was the cheering section. More Kool-Aid over here please!!
if the higgs boson wasn't created after the Iowa TAINT where the pigskin bounced off of four bodies then I'm afraid the LHC project should be scuttled.
Boo Bill Simmons (recent, not old. Old was great).
This looks like a cripple fight, and when that happens you can just THROW OUT THE RECORDS.
God, I can't believe this team blew the Illinois game. I'm still not over that.
The Wolverine Liberation Army- saving Michigan fans one dick joke at a time.
I don't think there is any way to predict what either of these teams will do on a given day. Purdue is just as inept as Michigan at times, and has looked just as good at others. Thankfully Michigan has the home field and Purdue hasn't won on the road.
I get this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach wondering which team will show up. I just can't explain what it is...
When you reach the end of your rope tie a knot and hold on...
What's all this lying around shit? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Saturday could be the best day of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst.
"Ooh, we're afraid to go with you, Chunks! We might lose to Purdue!"
Well just kiss my ass from now on! I'm not gonna take 5-7!
Danny Hope, he's a dead man! Bolden, dead! Elliott...
Who's with me? (runs out of room yelling)
Got a quarter?
What is it with guys with "Chunk(s)" in their username that are absolutely full of win these last few days?
Rock bottom's where we live
And still we dig these trenches
its the collective resurgence of all the positive thoughts for this we upchucked in our living room's (or bars) after that horrible Illinois game.
Do you want to go kill a hooker?
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Sorry to curse for no reason, but Jesus, I agree with Brian that we likely will lose. It's hell when your Friday before a football game STARTS with otter ennui.
MGoBlog "Circle Jerker"
make our offense think that it is the first drive of the game every drive?