charlie jones

Watching Jim Harbaugh hoist the metallic football that is the B1G Champions Trophy last season felt like the coronation of a long, arduous journey. I felt a certain elation watching Michigan's destruction of Iowa, the feeling that we hadn't been there before. This year? Michigan's three touchdown defeat of Purdue felt almost ordinary, since we have been here before. That doesn't make it any less enjoyable. For the second straight year, your Michigan Wolverines are B1G Football Champions. After 17 years without a B1G title and 18 years without an outright title, Michigan has gone back-to-back in outright fashion for the first time since 1991-92. They have won 13 games for the first time in program history and are headed to back-to-back College Football Playoffs for the first time in program history. 

Pretty damn neat.

----

Michigan won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving Purdue the ball to start the game. It didn't go well for the Boilermakers. A screen pass to Charlie Jones was blown up by Will Johnson, foreshadowing a monster night for the true freshman corner. A screen for Devin Mockobee was stopped quickly and then Jaylen Harrell sacked Aidan O'Connell to cement a three-and-out. Michigan got the ball and asserted themselves quickly on offense. JJ McCarthy found Cornelius Johnson on a third down pass that went just enough for the first down and then connected with Ronnie Bell on an improvised 3rd & 6 completion that went for 16 yards. On the next play McCarthy jacked a ball up for Colston Loveland in the end zone. Loveland was double covered but the 6'5" tight end went up and got the ball. Touchdown Michigan, 7-0. 

Purdue's next drive was one to forget for the Michigan defense, a mix of zone coverage busts and blown tackles, with RJ Moten and Michael Barrett the worst offenders. Screen passes to Mockobee got Purdue going on the ground and then Charlie Jones started to settle in. Michigan's zone was the perfect recipe for Jones to get free, sitting down over the middle and QB Aidan O'Connell was laser-accurate in finding him. Jones had catches on three successive plays, going for 15, 14, and 17 yards and zooming Purdue deep into Michigan territory. A hand-off to Tyrone Tracy Jr. (with some trickery built in) got Purdue down to the 1 and Mockobee promptly punched it in to tie the score at 7. 

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan would go three-and-out on a drive set back by JJ McCarthy's attempt to throw the ball while past the line of scrimmage and Purdue embarked on another long drive. To be fair, it didn't look like it would be long at first. Michigan adjusted its coverage of Jones, bracketing him on a 3rd & 4 slant, producing an incompletion that made it seem as if the Wolverine defense was getting off the field. But Jeff Brohm dialed up a fake punt, one that juuuust got the first down, with Payne Durham barely getting the ball across the line to gain. Purdue's offense re-took the field, O'Connell hit Jones for 25, but once inside the red zone, Michigan clamped down. A botched hand-off at the mesh point got Purdue off their rhythm and a check-down pass on 3rd & long was bottled up by Johnson. The Boilermakers kicked a FG for their lone lead of the game, 10-7. 

The ensuing drive for the Maize & Blue would eat up 6.5 minutes of clock and see the Wolverines wrest control back. A balanced mix of rushing and passing got the Wolverines down into Purdue territory but the drive stalled out at the 30 as Purdue pressured McCarthy into a third down throwaway. Michigan sent out Jake Moody for a field goal, but Purdue would jump offsides and turn a 4th & 6 into a 4th & 1. This time it was the Michigan offense being given new life thanks to special teams and they re-took the field. With Kalel Mullings in as a mooseback, the Michigan OL gave him plenty of push for a first down. Donovan Edwards then got four straight carries, culminating in a 3rd & 4 from the Purdue 7 that saw McCarthy pressured, scramble, and completing a pass to Luke Schoonmaker for a TD. 14-10. 

Purdue would respond with their own clock-munching drive. They balanced the run and pass pretty well and converted a pair of 3rd & 1 plays with Dylan Downing rushes along the way. Faced with a 3rd & 12 a little bit later, O'Connell delivered a 20-yard strike to TJ Sheffield against Gemon Green. Michigan's defense slammed the door again after that and forced a long field goal for a shaky Boilermaker kicking game, but Mitchell Fineran drilled the 45 yarder to make the score 14-13. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]