Michigan fends off Purdue, repeats as Big ten champ; Playoff is next

Indianapolis — Only one goal remains on Michigan’s checklist.

The Wolverines set out this season with a list of four items they hoped to accomplish. During the regular season, they checked off two of them with wins over rivals Michigan State and Ohio State, and on Saturday, they crossed off a third.

Michigan remains unbeaten at 13-0 after winning its second straight Big Ten championship — goal No. 3 — this time defeating Purdue, 43-22, before 67,107 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Boilermakers under Jeff Brohm, entered the game 3-1 against top-five teams, kept things close in the first half, but in the end settled for five field goals and fell to 8-5.

Now, the Wolverines turn their focus to a national championship, the last goal they set out to achieve this season. They are No. 2 in the College Football Rankings and await their national semifinals opponent and destination on Sunday during the CFP television reveal.

BOX SCORE: Michigan 43, Purdue 22

“I love our chances,” sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy said “Last year it was kind of the bright lights, everything was new, Big Ten Championship, College Football Playoff.

“Going into the offseason it gave us so much momentum, and we knew that we could get there, and we could get back. Ultimately, this whole offseason it was about winning it. So at the end of the day everything is great that happened today, but job is not finished. We've got a lot bigger plans in mind.”

Running back Donovan Edwards, carrying the workload now with leading rusher Blake Corum recovering from knee surgery he underwent last Friday, rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“I mean it’s kinda self-explanatory what our goals are,” Edwards said on the field at the trophy presentation. “I believe we’ve talked about it all year. And it’s not really much more that needs to be said.”

Michigan lost in the semifinals last year to eventual national champion Georgia. Several of the players, including Edwards and sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy, stood on the field and watched the celebration.

“We want revenge. We want to make up for our run last year,” said tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who had three catches for 56 yards and one touchdown and caught a two-point conversion. “I know everyone’s got that in their minds. This is amazing. I have no words for tonight. I’m so proud of everybody. But I know in the back of everyone’s heads, we know what we need to do.”

Edwards, his right hand in a cast, broke six tackles on his way to a third-quarter 27-yard touchdown. Including his 216-yard performance at Ohio State last week, that included touchdown runs of 75 and 85 yards, he has rushed for 401 the last two games. He has had to take over since Corum, injured three weeks ago against Illinois, had two carries at Ohio State before having to shut it down.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said there has been no drop-off with Edwards taking over.

“Blake is so good, it's not a next man up, but when this is the next man up, it's that good,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said laughing at the post-game podium with Edwards to his left and McCarthy to his right.

McCarthy was 11-of-17 for 161 yards, one interception and three touchdowns, 25 yards to Colston Loveland, seven yards to Schoonmaker and 17 yards to Ronnie Bell. Kalel Mullings, a linebacker most of the season, had two short-yardage scores. On defense, freshman cornerback Will Johnson had two interceptions.

The Wolverines carried a 14-13 lead into halftime and had to rely on their bread and butter – a stingy second half. McCarthy has crowned Michigan the “best second-half team in the country” and the Wolverines relied on their second-half flex yet again. The Wolverines held Ohio State to three points last week in the final two quarters and in the previous seven games had held a 157-20 second-half advantage. They outscored Purdue 29-9.

Michigan jumped out to a 28-13 lead behind two quick scores. Edwards ran 60 yards on the Wolverines’ first play in the half and Mullings, who is shoring up Michigan’s short-yardage run game, scored on a 1-yard run. Edwards had 37 yards in the first half and broke out in the second half, as did the rest of the team.

“I rise to those occasions,” Edwards said. “I thrive for that. It's just easy, too, when I have tremendous teammates that I call my brothers around me. They show me love. They believe in me.”

The defense also came up big especially in the red zone. Purdue had five field goals in the game, including three after the offense stalled inside the 20-yard line. Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who was 32-of-47 for 366 yards, credited Michigan’s defense.

“That’s a really, really good football team,” O’Connell said. “Once you get inside the 20, it's tough to run the ball in the first place on them, and then, secondly, they tighten up the coverage. And they did a good job. We couldn't score touchdowns, and we tried. So they stopped us, and, unfortunately, it for sure hurt us. Field goals aren't going to be good enough to win in those type of games.

“Those are things that you have to look at and figure out what maybe we could have done different, but I'm going to have to give them a lot of credit. That's a good football team. We found a way to move the ball up and down the field a little bit, but they stiffened up once we got inside the 20, and they did a good job. I give them a lot of credit.”

And now Michigan has unfinished business to tend to and one more item to check off the list.

achengelis@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @chengelis