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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | September 25, 2017
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» SportsMonday Column
Page 2B
Redemption
On Saturday afternoon in
West Lafayette, John O’Korn
found more than a victory, as
his winding path of a college
career finally received some
closure. » Page 4B
WEST
LAFAYETTE
—
The
biggest
crowd
at
Purdue
in nearly a decade
watched in silence
as Michigan redshirt
junior
quarterback
Wilton Speight laid
motionless
on
the
ground.
Speight
had
been
slammed for an 11-yard
sack, and a second hit
from behind crunched
Speight’s neck as he fell
to the ground.
Speight
left
injured
midway through the first
quarter, but led by fifth-
year
senior
quarterback
John O’Korn, the eighth-
ranked Wolverines (1-0 Big
Ten, 4-0 overall) rallied
for a 28-10 win.
With
Speight
out,
O’Korn
completely
took
over.
He
completed 69 percent of his
passes for 270 yards and one
touchdown.
“I thought John really
played great,” said Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh. “He
was seeing things really
good right from the time
he came into the ball game.
(He) ran the offense well,
made the big plays.”
On the first scoring drive,
O’Korn went 5-for-5 in the
air for 61 yards and ended
the drive with a 10-yard
touchdown pass to redshirt
sophomore tight end Zach
Gentry.
And each drive, O’Korn
continued to improve in the
pocket.
On
the
Wolverines’
second
scoring
drive,
O’Korn went 5-for-9 with 73
passing yards. Sophomore
running
back
Chris
Evans capped the drive
with a 10-yard rushing
touchdown, going straight
up the gut for the score.
On
Michigan’s
third
scoring
drive,
O’Korn
connected on all three of his
passes for three first downs
and 65 yards. Another fifth-
year senior, running back
Ty Isaac, dove one yard for
a touchdown.
To put the game out of
reach, Evans rushed for his
second touchdown in the
fourth
quarter,
breaking
past the line of scrimmage
for a 49-yard score. Evans
ended with 97 yards on 15
carries.
For the first time this
season,
the
Wolverines’
offense
excelled,
and
it
started with O’Korn.
Though
Michigan
had
struggled all season in the
red zone, it was perfect
against the Boilermakers
(0-1, 2-2). The Wolverines
converted
all
three
of
their
red-zone
trips
for
touchdowns.
They
were
1-for-10 in that category
prior to the game.
“It
was
nice
to
see
something that was stressed
so much all week carry into
the game,” O’Korn said.
“We were 3-for-3 in the red
zone, and the work we put in
as a team paid off.”
Depending on Speight’s
diagnosis, O’Korn may be
called upon again.
He proved capable of
commanding
the
pocket,
and displayed an ability
to
slip
past
tackles
to
gain yards in seemingly
disastrous situations.
And O’Korn saw plenty
of them. He faced pressure
from Purdue’s defensive line
all day, as the Wolverines’
offensive line showed their
inexperience.
The Boilermakers sacked
Michigan’s
quarterbacks
four times. This defensive
pressure
helped
Purdue
through the first half. At
the end of two quarters, the
home team led, 10-7.
The Boilermakers’ two-
quarterback
system
had
troubled the Wolverines’
defense
early
on,
but
Michigan cleaned up the
mistakes and held Purdue to
just 10 yards in the second
half.
Purdue
quarterbacks
Elijah
Sindelar
(7-for-16,
103
passing
yards,
one
touchdown)
and
David
Blough (5-for-13, 32 passing
yards) continuously used
trick plays and throwback
passes
to
confuse
the
Wolverines.
Eventually
Michigan’s defense caught
on.
“They caught us off guard
(early),”
said
sophomore
linebacker
Devin
Bush.
“They kept doing it, but we
just hunkered down and
played our man.
“… We knew towards the
end of the game they were
going to pull out more trick
plays.”
Redshirt junior defensive
end Chase Winovich led
the defense with six tackles
and three sacks. Bush also
continued
his
successful
year with six tackles and a
sack of his own.
Despite
those
early
scares,
the
Wolverines
prevailed.
The extent of Speight’s
injury is still unknown,
and when the starter went
down, O’Korn ran onto the
field to help him up.
“Just
lead
the
team,”
Speight told his teammate.
“Do what you do.”
So
O’Korn
went
out
and put on a show, giving
Michigan it’s first Big Ten
win of the season.
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
O’K
Michigan 28
Purdue 10
Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn stepped in
for an injured Wilton Speight midway through the second
quarter, leading the eighth-ranked Wolverines to victory
with 270 yards and a touchdown.