2009 Week 10

Today, the Wolverine running game hit its stride as they ran left, right, around, through, and over the Boilermaker defense. When it was all said and done, the Wolverines had tallied 311 rushing yards while holding the Boilers to a humiliating -10 yards rushing. The stats tell the entire story in this game. In addition to the rushing stats above, the Wolverines scored on 7 rushing touchdowns had averaged very nearly 8 yards per carry. They amassed 476 yards of offense compared to only 196 for Purdue. Thanks in part to 10 touchbacks on 10 kickoffs, Michigan nearly tripled the boilers in total yards, 563 to 196. They also had 3 times as many sacks as the Boilers, 6 to 2, including 1 by NCAA leader, Brandon Graham who picked up his tenth of the season. 2 more sacks and he will tie the school record for sacks in a season.

While the running game was churning away, the Wolverine passing attack was efficient when called upon. As was expected, junior Nick Sheridan got the start over freshman Denard Robinson in place of injured starter Tate Forcier. Sheridan completed 8 of 11 passes for 165 yards. That's over 20 yards per completion. Sheridan has been a pleasant surprise in the limited playing time that he has seen this season. He has a gaudy 250.9 QB rating, has thrown 3 TDs without an interception and has completed 81% of his passes. He hasn't been throwing little dinks and dunks either as he is averaging 18 yards per completion.

The Wolverines will be anticipating their next game as it will be against Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin and their new coach Raz. It is still uncertain whether or not Forcier will make it back in time for this game as he was still questionable against Purdue. Coach Briggs knows that he has his work cut out for him going into Madison, and this game will be a good indicator as to whether or not they've improved since their week 2 humiliation against Notre Dame.