Michigan favored by 14 over Purdue
Not sure what to think about this game. Purdue looked great against Illinois but other than 2 years ago, Purdue hadnt won in Ann Arbor in a gazillion years. A month ago, I thought Purdue was similar to Minnesota but now they actually seem mediocre.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:27 AM ^
Personally I think we need to win by at least that. Because that will mean that we are getting back into a rhythm on offense and defense, hopefully.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:30 AM ^
I think Purdue is better than many/most of us were giving them credit. I think that if we can keep the Purdue Defensive line/LB's honest with the snap count we should win this one. They have a new QB that has been getting better each game, but not sure how much pressure he has handled to date. (Terbush is his name). Need to show some improvement and lessons learned after the MSU game and week off.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
The bye week is exactly what this team needed for the home stretch. They got to heal up and get coached up on some things that were slipping a bit. I think Purdue feels the wrath of a determined Michigan team this week end.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:53 AM ^
I like to look at games through the lens of Brian's fear/paranoia level. My take on Purdue:
BASELINE: 5; +1 for they just dominated a ranked Illinois team, +1 for Danny Hope really hates Michigan; -1 for they are still Purdue; -1 for they have a freshman QB and we know how that works, +1 for but he is improving every game; -1 for Denard's existence, +1 for tacopants' existence; -1 for we just came off of a bye, -1 for Purdue does not have the talent of MSU to stack 8-9 men on the line - total: 4 out of 10. Seems about right.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:00 AM ^
-1 for that domination of a ranked Illinois team only lasted a half. -1 for Illinois was very over-ranked because there was no one to put ahead of them in the polls until recently.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
Great additions, bringing their level to : 2.
I might add (just to keep some negatives, as well) +1 for we might be as over-ranked as Illinois.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^
I think we have to bump it back up one. None of Purdue's QBs (and by that I mean TerBush, Marve, and poor Henry) are freshmen. TerBush is a redshirt junior.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^
Maybe its overconfidence or Michigan Arrogance but I thought both Purdue and Illinois looked brutal Saturday. Purdue handled their business well but they scored three TDs early and did nothing after that. Illinois had no fight and looked completely hungover from the OSU game. I still think Purdue is awful. Not Minnesota's "historically-bad-poor-gophers" awful but not a good team.
One thing to remember about the PU/IU game: Ron Zook was still coaching Illinois. that's at least 10 point deficit in itself.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
I agree, both those teams looked like B1G ten dumpster teams this past wkend..
Purdue only score 2 legit touchdowns on longer drivers.. The other one was because ILL fumbled it on their 15 yard line so purdue punched it in a couple plays later..
ILL had 3 or 4 turnovers AGAIN this wk, they look like we did last year with how much they turn the ball over.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:10 AM ^
This game scares the pants off me. This defense isn't the same as '09 and '10's iterations, but it's hard to forget that specter and feel confident that their performance will be good if they can't force a bunch of turnovers. The offense is the more immediate concern. If one of Denard or Borges doesn't figure it out (that is to say how to throw the ball downfield or that throwing the ball downfield is a stupid effing idea respectively), the wheels are ready to fall off violently (that's probably not a real popular opinion, but I think the writing is on the wall).
The importance of this game cannot be overstated. A big win means things are back on track, and we're still in the hunt in the B1G. A loss, in my opinion, would bring 7-5 or even 6-6 into the picture.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
Michigan...and fergodsakes....
October 24th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
This is at best the 3rd or 4th best team Michigan's faced so far. Whatever it would have taken to lose to WMU/NW/SDSU is what it will take to lose this game.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:10 AM ^
Purdue has improved a lot since the beginning of the season, though. They are not playing like the team that barely beat Middle Tenn. and lost to Rice to start the season. Still, Michigan should beat Purdue by at least a touchdown.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:13 AM ^
I haven't seen if the game is on ESPN or BTN
October 24th, 2011 at 9:16 AM ^
Got bumped from ESPN in favor of MSU vs Nebraska.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:23 AM ^
The game will be shown on ESPN2
October 24th, 2011 at 9:14 AM ^
Remember that awful rainy day game last year? We couldn't get rolling against them and still pulled away? Then again, IMHO, Michigan is dramatically improved this year; at least in demeanor. The coaches always use the bye week to coach the basics, so the small errors shouldn't have such a great effect this week.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:34 AM ^
Purdue is better than we thought, but I still don't think handling them should be a problem. They scored all 21 points in the first half and then did nothing with the ball in the second. I'm more concerned about the offense beating itself than Purdue defending it.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:34 AM ^
October 24th, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
And deserve to be taken seriously. I have little concern that Hoke will have them ready to go... but this is another one of those games that will tell us something about how well the coaching staff will prepare the team to win games they are supposed to win.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:58 AM ^
You're saying this game will be telling?
October 24th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
If we win, it will be very telling.
If we lose, it will be very telling.
If it's a close game, it will be very telling.
If it's a blowout, it will be very telling.
If Denard can complete a pass, it will be very telling.
If Denard doesn't attempt a single pass, it will be very telling.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
Ahh, tell off.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^
This game will tell us a great deal about whether we have the makings of a 7-1 team or a 6-2 team.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
To see a thread involving Purdue!
I'm also a bit reserved about my expectations for this game. I still think we win, but I constantly have flashbacks of "hook and lateral" and a missed extra point whenever I see Purdue. But, as someone mentioned a few weeks ago, a blowout would be a great opportunity to rub in it Hope's face with a Bellomy to Roundtree TD! That should be motivation enough.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^
I agree, we will see if the staff has them prepared to take care of business against the teams we should beat. This is a trait missing for two regimes and it would be nice to see us back into the Bo and Mo level of preparedness.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
I dont remember Carr's teams not taking care of weak teams. Sure there were some tough losses but Carr had a higher winning percentage than Moeller.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^
Carr-led teams had trouble putting away EMU. They never threatened to win, per se, but I remember playing EMU and being completely underwhelmed with our performance.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Carr's results vs. Eastern:
1998: W 59-20
2005: W 55-0
2007: W 33-22
So, I'll give you the 2007 season as 'underwhelming', but with only three games played against Eastern, it's ridiculous to say that "Carr-led teams had trouble putting away EMU". Carr outscored Eastern 147-42 over his career.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^
Wow, we beat someone 55-0 in 2005?
October 24th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
Yep, on a nationally televised game on ESPN-Plus.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
The score was 55-0 at halftime. That was the longest game ever.
October 24th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
it should have only been 52-20....................
October 24th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
M owes those SOB's one of them too.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
but I think we win by moar than that. This is a "we're pissed, and somebody has to die" game.
Michigan by 20.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^
we overrated Illinois.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
I just was given two tickets for the game in Sec. 34 Row 44. I know Sec.34 is in the endzone but does anybody know how close row 44 is? are they pretty good seats?
October 24th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^
In the endzone, the higher up the better, in my opinion. That said, the seats aren't bad, but they're not great when the action is on the other side of the field.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^
Is true, but he DOES get to wave his arms back and forth to distract the opposing kicker during FGs/PATs, and that's a very important job. Hell, studies show that 60% of the time it works every time.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^
Appreciate it! GO BLUE!
October 24th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
About 44 rows back from the field.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
Agree. I would also add one row behind 43 and one ahead of 45.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Do you have any data to back this up or are you just throwing numbers around?
October 24th, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^
There is an A and B row.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
...anything closer than row 20 is poor. All one can hope is to be in row 1 and catch a "Lambeau Leap" or a stray kicked football.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
These are almost my identical seats to what I had for the Purdue game 2 years ago (yes, the missed extra point game :( ) They are your typical endzone seats, you actually do get a good view of the whole field, however its just hard to judge whether a play when for -5 yards or 10 yards. Overall, I liked the seats personally, but I will let you be the judge of seat location.
Enjoy the game!
October 24th, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^
October 24th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
I was never sold on Illinois. Western threw for nearly 400 yards on them. Northwestern had a 2 touchdown lead on them in the 4th quarter and only after did Dan Persa leave the game with an injury were they able to come back. They're not even close to being as good as their record. However, I don't think any of that matters when we play them. The game is in Champaign with their idiot fans who consider us a rival. The last time we played there, we got destroyed by a HORRIBLE Illinois team. It was our only loss there since 1983 but who could forget how that travesty of a game turned around after 4 failed attempts to score from the 1 yard line?
Purdue is better than we thought but they're still not a good team. Their most impressive showing was their 25-18 loss at Penn State. I watched part of that game. In the second half, PSU was driving down the field with ease on them and had a chance to all but end the game right there from the 15 yard line. But a tipped pass which was intercepted in the end zone and brought back 50 yards kept them within a touchdown to the end.
With the exception of games against horrible Minnesota and Southeast Missouri State teams, Purdue's offense hasn't put up huge numbers only averaging 18 points a game. I feel good about Mattison slowing them down. And as long as Denard doesn't do anything stupid and not throw off the back of his foot, I like our chances. I will be there and I expect to do a ton of cheering.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
Making my second trip ever to the Big House for this game. Since UM lost the first time around, I've been scared to make the journey again...until now. UM by 24!!
Go Blue!
October 24th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
...I'll be very pleased.