What They're Saying: Michigan 28, Purdue 10
Michigan trailed Purdue 10-7 at halftime on Saturday, but woke up in the second half and wound running away with the game to win 28-10.
The story of the contest was redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight's injury, and the subsequent play of fifth-year senior John O'Korn.
Speight left the game in the first quarter, and O'Korn wound up leading the offense to four scoring drives throughout the game. He finished 18-of-26 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown and a pick.
The defense was also played a huge role in the outcome, holding Purdue to just 10 yards in the second half and 189 overall.
Find out what media members are saying about O'Korn, the defense and much more below:
John Borton, TheWolverine.com: Michigan Football: Wolverines Get A Late TKO, 28-10
"Michigan desperately needed a spark, even in near-90-degree heat. John O’Korn whipped out a flamethrower.
"The fifth-year senior quarterback jumped in when injury demanded, and coolly reignited a U-M offense that seemed to be melting. O’Korn’s throwing effort — 18-of-26 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown— turned around Michigan’s scarily ineffective start and lifted the Wolverines to a 28-10 victory at Purdue.
"The Wolverines rolled up 292 yards and 21 second-half points under O’Korn’s direction, while Michigan’s defense pitched a shutout over the final 30 minutes. The Boilermakers managed all of 10 second-half yards behind battered quarterbacks Elijah Sindelar (7 of 16, 103 yards) and David Blough (5 of 13, 32), who combined to go 12-of-29 passing for just 135 yards.
"The duo might have racked up that many second-half bruises, the Wolverines clamping down after being down, 10-7, at the half.
"At the end of a sweltering Big Ten opener, one team was left standing. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh grinned about that, and even the way it happened.
"Harbaugh said he learned, 'That they can win in the late rounds. That’s a great thing to learn about your ball club. You never know quite what the character is of the team when things get tough. A lot of people start groping for alternatives. Our guys dug deep and finished them off in the late rounds of the ball game.'"
Ryan Zuke, MLive: 5 things being talked about after Michigan's 28-10 win over Purdue
"4. Michigan tight ends
"Michigan's tight ends figured to play a bigger role in the offense following an injury to freshman receiver Tarik Black last week against Air Force. That proved to be the case Saturday.
"Sophomore Sean McKeon led the team with five receptions for 82 yards, while Gentry had three catches for 48 yards.
"5. FOX broadcast
"It appeared Michigan fans weren't very pleased with FOX's broadcast of the game. First, the start of the game was moved to Fox Business Network after the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers went into extra innings.
"The complaints didn't stop there, though, as many fans weren't happy with some of the camera angles on the broadcast."
Trevor Woods, Maize N Brew: Takeaways from Michigan’s 28-10 win over Purdue
"Play-calling was fine
"The flow of this game wasn’t like that of a normal college Saturday, this seemed like an NFL game. With it, a more NFL-type flow of play-calling ensued. I checked in on the twitter-verse, and many weren’t happy with the plays during half one. I disagree. The runs early on that seemed pointless because they weren’t gaining yards had a lasting impact later on. And the play-calling also allowed for John O’Korn to throw for an abundance of opportunities to put the game square on his shoulders. I thought this was the best game of play-calling yet this season."
Ace Anbender, Mgoblog: Michigan 28, Purdue 10
"After averaging a woeful 3.7 yards per play in the first half, Michigan hummed along at a 7.3-yard clip in the second. O'Korn, despite a couple hiccups, looked like a completely different player from the one who underwhelmed when Speight was hurt last year. The defense, meanwhile, amassed five sacks, three of them by Chase Winovich, and took the run away from the Boilermakers entirely.
"After the game, Jim Harbaugh said Speight suffered a "soft tissue" injury and declined to give a timeline for how long he'd be out. With a bye week ahead to work with the first-team offense, however, it's hard to imagine O'Korn hasn't earned his shot to lead this team against Michigan State. A hit on Speight changed the fate of last year's team; perhaps this time around it'll do so in a much more positive way. At the very least, Michigan heads into their week off at 4-0 and finally carrying some momentum on offense."
"After a shaky first half, the third quarter belonged to the Wolverines. Michigan's defense limited Purdue to minus-four yards of total offense in the quarter, and the Wolverines finally found a way to push in front as Chris Evans capped an 11-play, 86-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to put Michigan ahead, 14-10.
"Earlier in the drive, O'Korn had perhaps the play of the game when he spun out of a sack near Michigan's end zone before hitting Grant Perry over the middle for a first down to keep the march alive.
"One possession later, O'Korn dropped the hammer — leading Michigan into Purdue territory again before he hit Zach Gentry over the middle on a beautiful 25-yard throw against a blitz. Purdue was flagged for targeting on the play and two snaps later, Ty Isaac scored from three yards out to make it 21-10 with 10:36 to play in the game.
"Evans capped the scoring with a 49-yard touchdown with 6:46 to go. Michigan outgained Purdue 423-189. The Boilermakers had just 10 yards after halftime."
Trevor Jossart, Saturdayblitz.com: Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from win over Purdue
"1. Receiver depth makes up for Tarik Black‘s injury
"The Michigan Wolverines learned that budding star and freshman wide receiver Tarik Black would miss extended time due to a foot injury sustained last week against Air Force. With an already shaky offense, many were curious to see how the Wolverines’ offense would respond without their top receiver.
"With a brand new starter at quarterback, Michigan’s receiving core stepped up big time as 10 different players had at least one catch and three had three receptions or more.
"Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon continued the importance of tight ends at Michigan, hauling in five catches for 82 yards in the team’s win over Purdue. McKeon had just five catches for 38 yards entering the game, doubling his season total in receptions in just one showing. Fellow tight end Zach Gentry also added three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, while wide receiver Grant Perry continued his fast start to the year with three grabs for 39 yards.
"Along with Black, Perry was the only player on the team to have more than 100 yards receiving through the first three games. While Perry should be the main focus of opponents’ secondaries, the tight end play of McKeon and Gentry will need to continue to step up and take pressure off whoever is under center, as well as the young receiving core."
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