Tim says:
How many more ways can you say "Things don't look good this week." Against like opponents Purdue lost to Notre Dame and Illinois, while Michigan beat both of those teams. Purdue scored 22 points against those teams, while Michigan dropped 95 (albeit with a 3 OT game in there). No matter how you look at it, Purdue has not played well this year. Michigan is in the top 10 in the nation in rushing yards, #12 in points for, and #28 in passing yards. Their obvious weakness is the defense. I don't think Purdue has the tools to exploit that defense though. I expect to see a heavy dose of Denard Robinson, to the tune of 300+ yards of offense himself. In other words, nearly as many yards than the Purdue team.
Michigan 38
Purdue 13
J says:
Purdue has averaged less than 8 points per game in their last three games. Michigan scores...lots. Let's say Purdue triples their avg output for the past three games...that's maybe 24 points. Can the Boiler D hold Michigan to less than that? I don't think so. No matter what, though, I think this game will be tight at the half. The question is whether Purdue can maintain the intensity for four quarters. Against my instincts, I'm going to say they do. The Boilers know they need this game if they're going to keep bowl hope alive.
Purdue 29
Michigan 28
boilerdowd says:
If you listened to the HH, you know where I stand on this. Sure, UM's defense is deplorable. BUT, our Alma Mater's offense is still so green, that if they were running the offense against a walk-through defense, I don't think they could score 60+ in 60 minutes...and there's the rub. Michigan has only scored 17 or fewer points once this season, and has scored more than 28 points in every other contest...Purdue, conversely, has scored under 17 points 4 times and only scored over 28 points twice. Who know what might have been for Purdue's offense...but what's happening now is this offense just doesn't seem to be geared up for a shoot-out.
This one doesn't feel like an impossible win, but it doesn't feel too likely. Like last week, Purdue should be in this, or in the lead...for a half.
Michigan 35
Purdue 24
To Your Call Once More We Rally;
Alma Mater Hear Our Praise.
Where The Wabash Spreads Its Valley;
Filled With Joy Our Voices Raise.
From The Skies In Swelling Echoes
Come The Cheers That Tell The Tale
Of Your Vict'ries And Your Heros,
Hail Purdue! We Sing All Hail!
Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
All Hail To Our Old Gold And Black!
Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
Our Friendship May She Never Lack.
Ever Grateful, Ever True,
Thus We Raise Our Song Anew;
Of The Days We've Spent With You,
All Hail Our Own Purdue!
4 comments:
So ... basically what this comes down to is two things. Can Kerrigan and Short get to Robinson/Forcier/etc. in time? Can whoever is directing Purdue's offense force Michigan's defense to make plays?
I'm afraid the answer to both questions will be "not often enough". Purdue's defense did a fine job of shutting down Wisconsin's offense for one half last week, but they just couldn't hold on in the second half. The Badgers have the fourth-best offense in the country, according to FO's Brian Fremeau. Unfortunately, he has Michigan as the best, and it's really not that close. (FO's other system has the Wolverines' offense 3rd and Wisconsin's 17th.) Either way, they've put up some pretty scary numbers, and it's going to be really difficult for Purdue to slow them down.
Fortunately, on the other side of the ball, when Michigan's bad, they're very, very bad. They've made no shortage of terrible mistakes this year, which is the main reason they're a middle-of-the-pack team and not a conference contender. Purdue's offense has been, well, miserable (113th and 97th in the two systems above), but against a very movable object (109th/98th), there will likely be one of two results on each Purdue drive: a three-and-out or a quick TD.
If nothing else, the game will be a workout for the scoreboard operator.
Michigan 56
Purdue 34
27-16 Final.
Sheesh. If this team can get an offense, we'd be ok.
MSU is going to slap us around and while I predict we will win against IU, it's no consolation being 5-7...again. Both this year and last, it was the dang MAC school loss that plagues us.
I haven't given up on Coach Hope yet, but this is miserable. The silver lining is this is a young team, but is there really any promise shown that they will get better? The recievers do not come back to the ball, the O-line is hit-or-miss, the ground game is spotty at best, and we're seeing musical chairs with the QB rotation. This team is held together by will and duct tape.
I'm sticking with 'em, but man is this rough.
Yeah, the Siller thing was a mystery to me. He certainly didn't look 100%, so why put him in? Michigan's defense isn't good enough to need to be fooled by stuff like that ... I'm not big on the two-QB backfield either, not unless Hope somehow expects one of them to block.
The defense had another great game. This is the type of game where it would be nice to have more depth: Michigan has good depth at QB, RB, and WR, and it shows. If Purdue had more depth at RB and WR, maybe this would have been a game they could have won.
On the other hand, given what happened in this game and up in Madison, I do feel better about the Bucket. I think IU will be much less dangerous if Chappell isn't able to play.
Northern Illinois ROLLED Toledo....glad we didn't have to show our faces against them this year.
Nord has effectively found a way to rush the ball...but when you have 5 turnovers you shouldn't have a ball game...but they turned it over 5 times too.....4 yards per completion has got to improve as well as efficiency...... 50% completion in the passing game will not cut it.
But at least basketball season is upon us. What does a healthy 2011 squad look like? A 5-7 squad?
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