ANN ARBOR - Two teams coming off their most humiliating losses of the season.
Not exactly a compelling endorsement for someone to tune into the Big Ten Network for today's game between Michigan and Purdue.
But although neither team is playing well, both will be playing with a certain level of desperation making this game intriguing from various angles.
With a loss, the Boilermakers (3-6, 2-3) will be eliminated from bowl contention in the inaugural season under coach Danny Hope. The stakes aren't as severe for UM - barely. The Wolverines (5-4, 1-4) have already blown two chances to become bowl eligible and today appears to be their best opportunity to seize a sixth win. A visit to Wisconsin and a home game against Ohio State loom.
Even though his team has played poorly over the last two weeks and hasn't defeated a Bowl Subdivision team in 42 days, UM coach Rich Rodriguez says there is no feeling of desperation hanging above the football complex in Ann Arbor.
"What is desperate?" Rodriguez said. "I've never ever used that. You want to have a hungry team, but I think you want that whether you're winning or losing."In that case, perhaps Rodriguez should be concerned because his team didn't seem to have much fire in last week's 38-13 loss at Illinois, which rattled off 31-unanswered points after halftime. It was the third straight game in which the Wolverines did not force a turnover, and they are now last in the Big Ten in turnover margin at minus-10. Purdue is a spot above at minus-8 after giving the ball away three times in last week's 37-0 setback at Wisconsin when the offense accumulated only 141 yards - the worst single game output for the program since 1995.
Neither Purdue nor UM plays good defense, ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Big Ten in yards allowed per game. The Wolverines have given up 30 or more points in all but one conference game and have registered just one sack by a nonlineman.
"A lot of people just need to trust and believe in coach and know he's going to put you in the right situation," defensive end Brandon Graham said. "I think a lot of people want to try to make other people's plays instead of doing their assignments first. That's what I see on defense."
Purdue has had mixed results ranging from an improbable win against Ohio State to a loss at home to Northern Illinois. The Boilermakers have been competitive in losses to quality teams, falling by two points early in the year at Oregon and losing to Notre Dame by three. So what was the issue Saturday in Madison, Wisc.? No one seems to know.
"I can't even speculate something, or I can't even make something up for you to write about," said Hope, who served under Joe Tiller previously. "I don't know what we could have done any different."
Contact Ryan Autullo at:
rautullo@theblade.com
or 419-724-6160.
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