jeff brohm

UFR Glossary: Here.

Substitution Notes: Lots of snaps to go around this week. Benny got more run in the DT rotation than normal. No Morris at DE meant a lot more snaps for D.Moore, Okie, and McGregor—Upshaw only got a handful on the edge in addition to his role as Racecar DT. Rolder also got in for about a third, mostly at the expense of Barrett, with Mullings not playing until late. Turner and Johnson got the bulk of CB with Green rotating with WJ and plus a few when Turner cramped. Moten got the start at FS but then got authoritatively benched, with Quinten Johnson seeing the field before Moten did in the 2nd half.

Formation Notes: Nothing that weird. I noticed too late that Purdue lining up the RB behind the tackles was a pass tell so it's not in the formation charting, but here's what that looked like.

Also for the sake of brevity and everyone's screens I shortened "Aidan O'Connell" to "AOC" in the charting. If you can't contextually tell Purdue's quarterback from a U.S. Representative from New York, you are officially too Online and this is your intervention. For the sake of the comments, please keep unclever observations about it to yourself.

[After THE JUMP: So many plays.]

12/3/2022 – Michigan 43, Purdue 22 – 13-0, 9-0 Big Ten, Big Ten Champions

After Will Johnson's second interception my twitter feed had consecutive tweets that were literally "Will Johnson has arrived."

One was in all caps.

It may have been last week when Will Johnson arrived since he started against Ohio State and your Will Johnson-related memories of that game do not exist. Johnson took 70 snaps against the Buckeyes and he did not get dunked on once. But there's arriving quietly, like an offensive lineman who refines his assignments, and then there's going Fury Road on a version of Aidan O'Connell with glowing eyes and electricity coruscating down his forearms. Johnson has now arrived, loudly. He has a hype man. It is the internet.

It is a late-season cliché to say that freshmen are no longer freshmen. Sometimes this is not true because the freshman in question is completely the wrong size or just doesn't have it yet. You cannot assert that CJ Stokes is no longer a freshman. But you can for Will Johnson. You can for Colston Loveland. You can for Mason Graham.

Meanwhile in the realm of no longer sophomores: Donovan Edwards seems fully leveled up from last year's pad-seeker into this year's slashing missile, and we have answers about what happens when you put a game on JJ McCarthy's arm. McCarthy made one very bad mistake in this game, because he is not a 35-year-old All Pro yet. He also threw enough dead on downfield balls that everyone looking at the box score this morning can't believe he only had 17 pass attempts.

Going into the Ohio State game Michigan had questions. A wonky passing game, an injured star, a looming matchup against a real quarterback. In each case they had a player step up. The questions are no longer whether Michigan can. It is now merely whether they will.

---------------------------------------------

[Patrick Barron]

Mix in the rapidly-arriving youth with Ronnie Bell, Mazi Smith, Jake Moody, Brad Robbins, and Luke Schoonmaker--guys who took the long way around to get here—and you stand here, atop the Big Ten for the second straight year. This feels different, though. Last year the OSU win was shocking but a clear example of OSU dysfunction catching up to them. This year it eventually became clear they were trying to catch up to Michigan.

Last year Michigan entered a game against Georgia's generational defense more in hope than expectation that success would follow. It didn't take long to cast Michigan as a team not on UGA's level, one just hoping to stay in contact with a series of breaks. Upset minded. This year they'll enter the semifinal touchdown favorites against a feisty, insane TCU team that will enter hoping that they can keep up with Michigan's pounding ground game. Maybe they will; maybe they'll find that they're in the same position Michigan was a year ago: not quit there.

Michigan is there, or at least as there as they're ever likely to be. They have their five star QB locked in with a five star running back. They've got a defense that doesn't have Aidan Hutchinson on it but maybe just got a star. There's no time like the present to recalibrate from "just happy to be here" to a team with expectations even at the playoff level.

Some got here fast, some took their time. But they're here, individually and collectively. Michigan has arrived.

AWARDS

Known Friends and Trusted Agents Of The Week

[Barron]

you're the man now, dog

#1 Will Johnson. Two interceptions, but that's not the whole story. Both were superior coverage on which Johnson had the route dominated and picked the ball off without any assistance. Since he's a corner the fact that he had just two tackles, one a third-down stop a yard downfield and one a screen TFL, is excellent. Johnson did get hit with a deserved PI and missed a tackle on a third down catch and run but two turnovers versus two instances of 15 yards is a massive win.

#2 Donovan Edwards. 25 carries, 185 yards, 7.4 yards a pop, two exclamation-point runs. On the first he dusted a cornerback and burst for 60 yards that could have been 70 but he ran out of bounds curiously early. The second was a ridiculous slalom through six Purdue defenders for a 27 yard touchdown. Project "quit running directly into guys" is a success. Imagine if he had two hands and was the receiving threat he was earlier in the year.

#3 JJ McCarthy. Just seventeen attempts, and did throw a turrible interception on one of those. Still managed almost ten yards an attempt; broke the pocket and created second chances on many of those. When he stood in the pocket he delivered at least three DOs, one on a rocket TD to Bell, the others on perfect arcing balls between levels in the Purdue zone. Elite business not that far away.

Honorable mention: Eyabi Okie had a couple of impressive QB pressures. Junior Colson was everywhere and didn't seem to have much blame for the early hiccups. The Offensive Line had some pass protection hiccups but my early take on their run blocking is that they were dominant and the only thing holding the run game down was free hitters. Mazi Smith consistently pressed the pocket, forcing a sack that Jaylen Harrell picked up; Harrell also had a solo sack of his own as he spun past the right tackle.

KFaTAotW Standings.

(points: #1: 8, #2: 5, #3: 3, HMs one each. Ties result in somewhat arbitrary assignments.)

51: Blake Corum (#2 CSU, #2 Hawaii, HM UConn, #1 Maryland, #2 Iowa. HM Indiana, T2 PSU, #1 MSU, T1 Rutgers, #3 Nebraska, #1 Illinois)
32: JJ McCarthy (#1 Hawaii, #2 UConn, HM Maryland, HM Iowa, #3 Indiana, HM PSU, HM MSU. HM Rutgers, #2 OSU, #3 Purdue)
24: The Offensive Line (#3 Iowa, #1 PSU, HM MSU, #3 Rutgers, #1 Nebraska, HM Purdue)
22: Donovan Edwards (HM Hawaii, T2 PSU, T1 Rutgers, #4 OSU, #2 Purdue)
18: Ronnie Bell (HM CSU, HM Hawaii, #1 UConn, #2 Indiana, HM PSU, HM Nebraska, HM Illinois)
17: Mike Morris (T3 Hawaii, HM Maryland, #1 Iowa, T1 Indiana, #3 PSU, HM Rutgers),
15:  Kris Jenkins (#3 UConn, T3 Hawaii, HM Iowa, T1 Indiana, #2 MSU, HM Rutgers, HM Nebraska), Mazi Smith (#1 CSU, T3 Hawaii, HM Maryland, HM Iowa, HM MSU, HM Nebraska, HM Purdue)
13: Mason Graham (HM Hawaii, HM Iowa, HM Indiana, #2 Nebraska, #2 Illinois)
12: Rod Moore(HM CSU, HM Indiana, HM MSU, T1 Ohio State)
11: Mike Sainristil (HM Maryland, HM Indiana, T1 Ohio State)
9: Cornelius Johnson (HM Hawaii, #3 Ohio State), Will Johnson (HM Rutgers, #1 Purdue)
7: Gemon Green (HM UConn, T2 Maryland, HM PSU), Jake Moody (HM PSU, #3 MSU, #3 Illinois).
6: Junior Colson (#3 CSU, HM UConn, HM PSU, HM Purdue)
5: DJ Turner (T2 Maryland), Luke Schoonmaker (T3 Maryland, HM Iowa, HM Indiana, HM MSU), Michael Barrett (#2 Rutgers), Eyabi Okie (HM CSU, HM Iowa, T1 Indiana, HM Purdue).
4: Jaylen Harrell (HM CSU, T1 Indiana, HM Purdue)
3: Derrick Moore (HM CSU, T1 Indiana)
2: Roman Wilson (HM CSU, HM Hawaii), Max Bredeson (T3 Maryland), Joel Honigford (T3 Maryland),
1: Braiden McGregor (HM CSU), Makari Paige (HM Hawaii), Rayshaun Benny (HM Hawaii), AJ Henning (HM UConn), Caden Kolesar (HM UConn), RJ Moten (HM Maryland), CJ Stokes (HM Nebraska), Andrel Anthony (HM Nebraska), Colston Loveland (HM Illinois)

Who's Got It Better Than Us(?) Of The Week

Johnson's second interception sets up a short-field touchdown and Michigan clinches a second consecutive Big Ten championship.

Honorable mention: Johnson's first interception. McCarthy's laser TD to Bell. Edwards's slaloming TD run. Edwards busts outside for 60.

?MARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.

Purdue's second drive is a mess of missed assignments and tackles, setting them up with a touchdown and announcing this was not going to be an Iowa 2021 walkover.

Honorable mention: Any of several different O'Connell throws that were eyepopping, or any of several Chuck Sizzle moments that were similarly eyepopping.

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]