Michigan’s Staying Power on Display Against Purdue

Let’s see, in less than a month, Michigan put the nation’s most hallowed program on the road to anti-depressants and temporarily closed headquarters in two Heisman Trophy campaigns.

Anyone else want to belly up to the bar?

On Sept. 4, Notre Dame lost a last-second game here and then lost its way.

Last week, at Wisconsin, Ron Dayne entered the game in hopes of a stampede but left without gaining a second-half yard.

And Saturday, before a Michigan Stadium crowd of 111,468, quarterback Drew Brees went down in a cold rain.

It’s almost as if Michigan has a check list.

“It makes for a bigger challenge going into the week, a guy going for the Heisman,” Michigan linebacker James Hall said.

No. 11 Purdue threw Brees and everything else in its Marx brothers offense at the Wolverines, but No. 4 Michigan threw it right back, cruising to a 38-12 victory while looking forward to wrecking Michigan State’s season next week in a showdown of 5-0 teams.

The latest line from a Heisman wannabe read like this:

Brees completed 20 of 49 passes for 293 yards, with one touchdown and an interception. He was also sacked twice after having been sacked only once in four previous games.

His receiving corps was admittedly brutal, dropping at least eight passes.

“If I dropped that many passes, I’d sue for non-support,” Purdue Coach Joe Tiller said afterward.

Purdue receiver Chris Daniels, guilty as charged, wasn’t about to argue.

“There’s no excuse for dropping passes,” he said. “I didn’t see Michigan dropping passes.”

In fact, Michigan’s Marcus Knight caught five for 136 yards, one for a touchdown, while David Terrell caught two for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Still, Brees wasn’t all that sharp on a day he needed to be.

No one, though, will ever accuse the Boilermakers of being boring.

Purdue hoped its gimmick offense would catch Michigan on its heels as the Boilermakers raced receivers on and off the field like hockey players on a line change.

“You bring it out of the can and see if it can help you,” Tiller said.

But Michigan has dealt with these “Inspector Gadget” coaches in the past.

Remember the 1998 Rose Bowl? Washington State? Coach Mike Price’s spread offense? Quarterback Ryan Leaf and the Fab Five?

Michigan won that one, 21-16, to claim a share of the national title. Saturday it held Purdue to its lowest point total in Tiller’s two-plus seasons.

Michigan counters these trick offenses with superior talent on defense and plenty of offense of its own.

“It was crazy,” Michigan defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann said of Purdue’s schemes, “but the kids did a good job.”

To have a chance, Purdue needed to take advantage of every golden opportunity. The Boilermakers did everything but.

They were handed a gift on the game’s second play when Michigan tailback Anthony Thomas fumbled the ball at his own 36, but Purdue could only manage a field goal.

Trailing 7-3 later in the quarter, Purdue had a first and 10 at the Michigan 16 when Brees fumbled a bad center snap that Michigan recovered.

Late in the half, trailing 21-3, Thomas fumbled again deep in Michigan territory but, again, Purdue came away with only three points.

You don’t beat Michigan trading field goals for touchdowns.

Purdue got as close as 21-12 in the third quarter on a 66-yard scoring pass from Brees to Vinny Sunderland, but Michigan answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive and tacked on a touchdown and field goal in the final quarter.

How badly were Brees’ Heisman chances hurt?

Saturday, he wasn’t even the best quarterback on the field. That honor belonged to Michigan’s Tom Brady. The fifth-year senior completed 15 of 25 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns and played well enough to keep prized sophomore backup, Drew Henson, on the bench for the game’s most significant moments.

When someone mentioned after the game that Brady might be Heisman worthy, the quarterback responded with a shrug of the shoulders.

Brees, the real candidate, hid out in the shower for more than an hour after the game and answered a couple of questions before being rushed to the team bus.

Publicity aside to Brees: Heismans aren’t won in the shower.

“We’re going to fix all this, and get ready for next week,” Brees said.

We’ll see. Purdue plays at Ohio State, then closes the month at home against Michigan State and Penn State.

Tiller, in general, was disgusted with his team’s effort.

“We don’t have a football team in this locker room that is exhausted,” Tiller said. “In a game like this, I think you should be exhausted.”

Michigan appears to be the team going places. Next week, the Wolverines move cross-state to East Lansing for a game against Michigan State that, for a change, actually means something.

“You know if you lose that game you’re going to hear about it for 365 days,” Brady said of the impending showdown with the Spartans. “No one in this locker room wants to go through that.”