Michigan Battles Back to Beat Purdue : Big Ten: No. 3-ranked Wolverines trail, 17-7, at halftime before backup Jesse Johnson, subbing for injured Tyrone Wheatley, ignites 24-17 victory.

Things weren’t looking too good for Michigan on Saturday when Tyrone Wheatley took the second-half kickoff and made it only to the eight-yard line before being hit and fumbling out of bounds.

The No. 3-ranked Wolverines were trailing Purdue, 17-7, at the time, and Wheatley, the team’s leading rusher, suffered a head injury on the play.

But both the Wolverines and Wheatley recovered.

Jesse Johnson stepped in for Wheatley and rushed for 111 of his season-high 118 yards in the second half, and the Wolverines rallied to win, 24-17.

Michigan, winning its 18th consecutive Big Ten game, improved to 7-0-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Purdue is 3-5 and 2-3.

The injury to Wheatley caused some concern.

“When he fumbled that ball down there, he was held out by a doctor because he did get hit in the head,” Michigan Coach Gary Moeller said. “Late in the third quarter, he wanted to go back in and I checked with the doctor, and finally he said it was OK.”

By that time, Johnson had rushed over and around Purdue to help give Michigan the lead.

After Wheatley went out, Michigan put together a 92-yard, 10-play touchdown drive, with Elvis Grbac passing 10 yards to tight end Tony McGee for the score.

Purdue was stopped on three plays, and after a punt, Michigan blended the running of Johnson with two completions by Grbac to move for the go-ahead score on a 76-yard, nine-play drive. Johnson, who picked up 49 yards going to the right side on the drive’s second play, ran up the middle for the final three yards.

On the ensuing kickoff, Michigan caught Purdue napping. A short kick was recovered by the Wolverines’ Dwayne Ware at the 20. Michigan moved to the five-yard line before settling for a 25-yard field goal by Pete Elezovic.

The Boilermakers, out of timeouts, made one final bid for victory in the fourth quarter as they moved from their 24 to Michigan’s 44 on their final possession. The drive ended when Pat Maloney intercepted Eric Hunter’s desperation pass at the 11-yard line with two seconds to play.

About the Wolverines’ slow start, Moeller said: “They were obviously ready for our initial game plan. We changed up and did some things differently.”

The 17-7 halftime deficit was the biggest faced by a Michigan team since the 1989 Rose Bowl when they trailed USC, 14-3.

“I was ready to go out there and just win,” said Johnson, who had only seven yards in two carries in the first half but 18 carries in the second. “When Tyrone got hurt, I knew I had to get the job done. . . . It was the line. The line blocked pretty good.”

Wheatley finished with 43 yards in 12 carries.

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto said: “We played as hard as we could play. We still don’t believe in ourselves. We’re sitting there at halftime, 17-7, and no one quite understands what that is. You know those good teams are going to come back.”

Purdue’s line opened huge holes in the first half as it accumulated 164 yards on the ground against a defense that began the day third in the nation against the run with a 79.3 average.