Observations on the first half with Purdue, 22-7

The Wolverines come up with 3 red zones for 17 points; the Boilermakers one red zone resulted in a turnover and no points. Michigan earns 7 points off one Boilermaker turnover, but Purdue can't score off two Wolverine turnovers.

Denard Robinson was 8 of 13 for 156 yards, and ran 12 times for 35 yards and a TD. Fitzgerald Touissaint had 9 carries for 75 yards and a TD. Offense rolled for 294 yards, 138 on the ground, 15 first downs, 6 of 9 on 3rd and 4th down conversions and gained a 9:30 time of possession advantage. Jeremy Gallon has 2 catches for 65 yards, and Roy Roundtree also caught two for 61 yards.

Defense came up big after starting the game giving Purdue a TD on a 48 yard screen pass. Troy Woolfolk looked bad at safety on the play. Mike Martin led the defense with 4 tackles including a safety, the first since 2003, and two sacks. Thomas Gordon, Ryan VanBergen and Craig Roh had three tackles each. Purdue has 119 yards of total offense, 36 on the ground and only 6 first downs. The Boilermakers are 2 of 6 in 3rd down conversions. TerBush and Marve have combined for 6 of 10 for 83 yards and a TD plus a pick by Courtney Avery.

Special Teams have been great! Brendon Gibbons has two field goals, no punts and great kickoff coverage. Purdue was expected to really have an advantage here, but their punter, Cody Webster, is only averaging 36.3 on 3 punts. Matt Wile has 2 touchbacks on 4 kickoffs.

Apparently, Jordan Kovacs hurt his knee in practice and won't see action today. This means Troy Woolfolk, Carvin Johnson and/or Marvin Robinson may see more action with Thomas Gordon moving from Free Safety to Strong Safety at times. Also, Desmond Morgan will start over Brandin Hawthorne at WILL Linebacker.

Second Half starts with us getting the ball! We need to maintain at least a two score lead; otherwise, this one could be a nailbiter. Go Blue!