Grading Purdue football's 41-13 loss at Michigan: Did the offense really get a double-F?

ANN ARBOR, Michigan − Purdue's fourth straight loss was difficult to watch.

But anyone tuning in to see NBC's primetime game of the week got to witness just how bad the Boilermakers are this season.

Michigan crushed Purdue football 41-6 on Saturday night at Michigan Stadium.

Just how bad was it?

Let's let the report card decide that.

More: Purdue football's moribund offense lets down Boilermakers in loss at Michigan

Offense

FF

There's two F's in offense, and one F doesn't seem like enough to explain how lifeless this offense looks. Deion Burks scored with 18 seconds left, yet another irrelevant touchdown that makes things not look as awful as they truly were. Same thing happened last month against Ohio State. Yes, the offensive line is, as Purdue football coach Ryan Walters put it after Saturday's loss, "paper thin," but the woes go beyond that. Purdue's 75-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes padded the stats, but even with the late score, the cumulative output was bad; though to be fair, Michigan was allowing 5.9 points per game coming in.

Defense

C+

The Boilermakers defense has come a long way. Purdue got Heisman candidate J.J. McCarthy out of sync, which few if any defenses have done this year. After scoring 14 points in its first 13 plays, Michigan got introduced to Big Ten sack leaders Kydren Jenkins and Nic Scourton. Blake Corum, Michigan's star running back, suddenly couldn't find a hole to run through. When Michigan finally got on track, it took a 44-yard touchdown on a reverse that was a blown assignment between two true freshmen on Purdue's defense. The defense needs the offense to catch up.

Special teams

B

Welcome back, Ben Freehill. Freehill actually came back from an injury at Nebraska last week, but his only field goal try was blocked, and it appears it was more of a snap-and-hold issue. Given two chances in the Big House, Freehill was right down the center from 32 and 31 yards. Caleb Krockover had a beauty of a kickoff to the pylon that forced Michigan to have to attempt a return up the sideline, where the coverage team swarmed. Jack Ansell was under fire from Michigan's punt-block attempts but was able to produce a 42.4 average. One hiccup, though. Tyrone Tracy brought the game's opening kickoff out of the end zone and got dragged down at the 12.

Coaching

C

Michigan has done what the Wolverines did to Purdue to each opponent this season. Once this game got out of hand in the fourth quarter, it felt like perhaps that was an opportunity to see what Bennett Meredith can do at quarterback, but Hudson Card did lead a touchdown drive late. After Michigan did seemingly whatever it wanted on its first two series, Purdue's defense adjusted and the Wolverines and Boilermakers took turns trading field goals and punts. Though the final seven points came in the final seconds, Purdue still scored more points against Michigan than anyone else this season.

Play of the game

Purdue had multiple opportunities to chip away at a 20-6 deficit, but couldn't move the ball against the Wolverines. Finally, Michigan popped off the game-changer when Semaj Morgan took an end around 44 yards late in the third quarter.

Player of the game

For lack of a better option, it's Michigan receiver Roman Wilson. The Wolverines jumped ahead early, and Wilson had a 20-yard reception on each of Michigan's first two touchdown drives. Wilson finished with nine catches for 143 yards.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Report card: Grading Purdue football's 41-13 loss at Michigan