8 - Friday, November 12, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.comI
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Blue prepared for injury-plagued Boilermakers
ByRYANKARTJE quarterback Sean RobinsonAagainst
Daily SportsEditor Michigan's anemic secondary this
Saturday. But the Wolverines know
There's no doubt that the Wol-
verines' defense, and especially
their secondary, has been ravaged
by injuries this season.
But when looking at Purdue's
offense, another injury-depleted
corps, Michigan's defense should
definitely be counting its blessings.
The Boilermakers lost their No.
1 quarterback, Robert Marve; No. 1
running back Ralph Bolden; and No.
I wide receiver, Keith Smith, all to
ACL tears this season. Then, after
mobile quarterback Rob Henry took
over for Marve, he suffered an inju-
ry himself and is still dealing with a
hand laceration that has bothered
him for more than two weeks.
So Purdue coach Danny Hope
will test third-string, true freshman
their track record with young,
unheralded quar-
terbacks after a
certain loss to a
walk-on quar-
terback on a dif-
ferent team hurt
by injuries (Penn
State).
"They've had
some injuries at
quarterback,"
Rodriguez said in
his Monday press
conference. "But
Michigan
at Purdue
Matchup:
Michigan 6-3;
Purdue 4-5
When: Satur-
day 12 P.M.
Where: Ross-
Ade Stadium
TV/Radio:
BTN
due's offense hasstruggled mightily after last week's 67-65 marathon
this season, often unable to move win. They remember how last sea-
the ball, especially against tough son's hopes of a postseason basi-
Big Ten defenses. The Boilermakers cally went outthe window with last
(2-3 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) are dead year's loss to the Boilermakers.
last in the Big Ten and 104th over- "Everybody's just clueless,"
all in the NCAA for total offense. then-junior cornerback Troy Wool-
Compared to the Wolverines' fifth- folk told the Daily after last year's
ranked offense, Purdue probably 38-36 loss. "We're trying out there.
won't make similar fireworks on We still go back every Monday and
that side of the ball, even with Mich- study. But game day, we just seem to
igan's weak secondary. forget stuff. I'm not sure what it is.
But Rodriguez refuses to count We're gonna get it fixed."
out Purdue because the Boiler- The Wolverines have had some
makers have upset the Wolverines similar problems this season, espe-
in their past two meetings. Pur- cially on defense, but after Rodri-
due also knocked Ohio State out of guez clinched his first six-win,
national title contention last year. bowl-eligible season last week
And after Michigan (2-3, 6-3) against the Illini, the problems
blew a 24-10 second-half lead last don't seem as serious for Michigan's
season in embarrassing fashion, coach.
Rodriguez said Monday that his And with sophomore quarter-
players won't be riding too high back Denard Robinson back and
Ryan Tim
Kartje Rohan
healthy this weekend, some of the
problems on defense might not mat-
ter much. Robinson is averaging 41
more yards per gamethan the entire
Purdue offense this season.
Rodriguez said this week that
Robinson had experienced symp-
tomsofa concussionagainsttIllinois,
and that was why the Wolverines
held him out. I
"He had some signs or symp-
toms of not being completely there,"
Rodriguez said Monday. "Certainly
for precautionary reasons, the
trainers wanted to hold him out."
But he'll be OK for this week-
end's matchup, and with Michigan
focused on improving their bowl
standing, this matchup with Purdue
may be its best chance to put anoth-
er 'W' on its resume before the sea-
son ends.
INJURY UPDATE: Rodriguez said
during Wednesday's teleconfer-
ence that the Wolverines could be
without senior linebacker and Big
Ten tackling leader Jonas Mouton,
who's dealing with a chest injury.
He's listed as questionable on this
week's injury report.
"I don't think there's structural
damage," Rodriguez said. "But
there's muscular issues that are
causing some pain, and it's kind of a
day-to-day thing. He's -a tough guy,
and if he can play and is cleared by
the trainers, he'll be ready to go."
Redshirt freshman running
back Fitz Toussaint may also get
his first action in a while after
he practiced this week, despite
his ailing shoulder. He's listed
as probable ... Junior nose tackle
Mike Martin has been hobbled by
injuries and limited this week but
should play on Saturday.
they've got some
fast, skilled kids on their perimeter
and they play extremely hard, espe-
cially at home."
With that many injuries, Pur-
STAFF PICKS
The Daily football writers do their best
to predict, against the spread, what Nicole
happens in the 2010 football season. Auerbach*
I
Lee Quackenbush
Joe Men's Glee Club
Stapleton President
Michigan (-13) at Purdue
No.1 Oregon (-20) at California
No. 2 Auburn (-8.5) vs. Georgia
No. 3 TCU (-25) vs. San Diego State
No. 4 Boise State. (-30) at. Idaho
No. 5 LSU (-31) vs. UL-Monroe
No. 6 Stanford (-7) at Arizona State
No. 7 Wisconsin (-23) at Indiana
No. 8 Nebraska (-32) vs. Kansas
No.9 Ohio State (-17) vs. Penn State
No.10 Oklahoma State (-6.5) at Texas
No.12 Alabama (-14.5) vs. No.19 Mississippi State
No.13 Iowa (-10) at Northwestern
No.14 Utah (-4) at Notre Dame
No.15 Arkansas (-28) vs. UTEP
No.16 Oklahoma (-14) vs. Texas Tech
No.17 Missouri (-14) vs. No. 24 Kansas State
No.18 Arizona (-4.5) vs. USC
No. 20 Virginia Tech (-3.5) at North Carolina
No. 21 Nevada (-7) at Fresno State
No. 22 Florida (-7) vs. No. 23 South Carolina
No. 25 Texas A&M (-3) at Baylor
Last week
Overall
Michigan
Oregon
Auburn
TCU
Boise State
LSU
Stanford
Indiana
Kansas
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Mississippi State
Iowa
Utah
UTEP
Oklahoma
Missouri
Arizona
North Carolina
Nevada
Florida
Texas A&M
8-11-1
109-77-8
Michigan
Oregon
Auburn
TCU
Boise State
LSU
Stanford
Wisconsin
Kansas
Penn State
Oklahoma State
Alabama
Iowa
Utah
UTEP
Texas Tech
Kansas State
USC
Virginia Tech
Nevada
South Carolina
Texas A&M
11-8-1
100 -86-8
Michigan
Oregon
Auburn
TCU
Boise State
UL-Monroe
Stanford
Wisconsin
Kansas
Penn State
Oklahoma State
Alabama
Iowa
Utah
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Kansas State
USC
North Carolina
Nevada
South Carolina
Baylor
13-6-1
101-85-8
Michigan
Oregon
Auburn
TCU
Idaho
LSU
Stanford
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Alabama
Iowa
Utah
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Missouri
Arizona
Virginia Tech
Nevada
Florida
Texas A&M
8-11-1
103-83-8
Michigan
Oregon
Auburn
TCU
Boise State
LSU
Stanford
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Mississippi State
Iowa
Utah
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Missouri
Arizona
Virginia Tech
Nevada
Florida
Baylor
9-10-1
55-41-6