Postgame Notes: #2 Michigan 43, Purdue 22
12/3/2022 11:59:00 PM | Football
• For the second straight year, the Wolverines earned a win in the Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Wolverines now have a league-leading 44 Big Ten titles.
• U-M reached 13 wins for the first time in program history.
• It is the fifth season of 10-plus wins in eight years under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Michigan's 25 wins over the last two seasons (2021-22) represent the highest combined total over any two-year stretch in program history.
• The Wolverines are Big Ten Champions in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2003-04. The last consecutive conference titles came in 1991-92.
• In 60 all-time meetings with Purdue, U-M has improved to 46-14 overall after today's win. U-M has won five straight games in the series and both games under Harbaugh (2017).
• The game was attended by 67,107, marking a sellout at Lucas Oil Stadium. Only last year's Big Ten Championship game was better attended (67,183).
• The Boilermakers have a penchant for knocking off top-ranked opponents, but U-M is 11-2 in 13 meetings with Purdue when U-M is a top-10 ranked team.
• U-M's 15-game conference win streak is the program's longest since a 16-game conference win streak spanning 1996-98.
• Quarterback J.J. McCarthy has begun his career as a starter with a 12-0 record, setting a new standard for most wins to begin a starting quarterback's career before his first loss. The previous record-holder was Dennis Franklin (1972), who won his first 10 starts before suffering a loss.
• McCarthy matched a career-best mark with three touchdown passes. He also threw a successful two-point conversion.
• The Wolverines averaged nearly six yards per carry and out-rushed the Boilermakers, 225-90.
• For the fourth time this season, the Michigan offensive line did not permit a sack.
• U-M's first points of the day came from a 25-yard passing connection between McCarthy and tight end Colston Loveland. It was Loveland's second career touchdown after he caught one at Ohio State last weekend.
• Tight end Luke Schoonmaker added a score of his own, and a career-long 40-yard catch later in the game. He later caught a two-point conversion.
• Running back Donovan Edwards recorded a 60-yard carry to begin the second half. It marked Edwards' fifth career run of 50-plus yards and the first that was not a touchdown.
• Edwards went over 100 yards rushing for the fourth time this season and the second week in a row (216 yards at Ohio State).
• Edwards also set a new career-high In carries (25). His previous career-high was 22.
• Swiss-army-knife linebacker/running back Kalel Mullings' second-quarter touchdown run was the first score of his career and he added a second rushing touchdown with 1:22 to play in the fourth quarter.
• McCarthy was intercepted late in the third quarter, snapping a streak of 148 straight attempts without an interception. It was the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
• Two Wolverine defenders set new career-highs in tackles: Junior Colson (15), Rod Moore (14, 9 of which were solo.
• Four different players combined for four sacks and seven total players combined for seven tackles for a loss on defense.Â
• Defensive back Will Johnson made a key interception with the Boilermakers in the red zone with less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter. He then added another with under 10 minutes in the fourth quarter while Purdue was backed up against its own end zone. Johnson has three interceptions since joining the starting lineup at Rutgers last month.
• Edge rusher Jaylen Harrell recorded his first career multi-sack game with 2.0 in the first half.
• U-M has scored points on its opening possession in 11 of 13 games this season (eight touchdowns, three field goals).
• Kicker Jake Moody recorded five PATs today, giving him 58 for the season to break his program record set last season (56).
• No team has reached 150 yards on the ground against Michigan this season.
• Moody's 132 points this year are just six points shy of Desmond Howard (1991, 138 points) for the single-season record for points scored.
