Lucas Oil Stadium / Indianapolis, Ind.
Saturday, Dec. 3 | 8 p.m.
Television: FOX | Radio: Learfield Michigan Sports Network
• Michigan is 12-0 for the first time under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
• U-M has won more games (24) over the last two seasons than any two-year stretch in school history.
• The Wolverines have a 45-14 record against the Boilermakers.
• Michigan is making its second straight appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game.
• With a victory over Purdue, U-M would capture its league-leading 44th Big Ten Championship.
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• Michigan will be making its second appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game since the conference switched to the two-division alignment in 2011.
• U-M is looking to capture its league-leading 44th Big Ten Championship and second in as many seasons.
• The Wolverines won the Big Ten East Division crown and advanced to the title game with a 45-23 victory at No. 2 Ohio State.
• Michigan finished the conference season with a 9-0 mark to win its first outright Big Ten East Division title.
• U-M won a share of the 2018 and 2021 Big Ten East Division titles with Ohio State; the Buckeyes went to the championship game by virtue of their victory over the Wolverines in 2018 and Michigan returned the favor in 2021.
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• Saturday’s contest will be the 60th meeting between the two programs and the first-ever neutral site match-up between the Wolverines and Boilermakers.
• Michigan leads the all-time series, 45-14, and has victories in eight of the past 10 games.
• This will be the 37th time that Michigan has been ranked for a game against Purdue.
• When ranked, the Wolverines have a 31-5 record in the contests against Purdue, including a 10-2 mark when U-M is ranked in the top five of the AP poll.
Series vs. Purdue: Michigan leads 45-14
Series Streak: Michigan won 4
Last Meeting vs. Purdue: 2017 – U-M 28, PUR 10
Last Michigan Win: 2017
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• For the 13th straight week, U-M is ranked in the top five of the national polls.
• The Wolverines list No. 2 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and Associated Press Media Poll following their 45-23 victory against Ohio State.
• U-M lists No. 2 in the current College Football Playoff rankings.
• Michigan (Penn State, Ohio State) and South Carolina (Tennessee, Clemson) are the only teams in the nation to have two wins against opponents ranked in the current AP Top 10.
• Michigan began the season ranked sixth in the coaches poll and eighth in the AP rankings.
• U-M is ranked in the top 10 of the polls for the 25th straight rankings, including the final 11 of the 2021 season.
• Michigan has achieved its first 12-0 season under head coach Jim Harbaugh. It marks the fourth season in program history with at least 12 wins (1905; 1997; 2021). Thirteen (13) single-season wins would be a program record. The program’s 24 wins over the last two seasons are a program-best in any two-year span.
• U-M’s 14-game conference win streak is the program’s longest since a 16-game conference win streak spanning 1996-98.
• Michigan is seeking the program’s first back-to-back Big Ten titles since 2003-04.
• U-M played spoiler to the Buckeyes last weekend, who had won every game this year by double-digit points. U-M also ended Ohio State’s 29-game home Big Ten winning streak which dated to the 2015 season.
• Quarterback J.J. McCarthy has begun his career as a starter with an 11-0 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.
• U-M is scoring 39.8 points per game and allowing 12.7 points against, on average. Michigan is one of two teams ranked in the top 10 in both scoring offense (seventh) and scoring defense (third), along with Alabama (tied-fifth, offense; tied-10th, defense).
• Michigan leads the country in scoring differential (+27.2). Georgia (+26.4) and Ohio State (+25.3) are the only other teams in the country with average scoring margins above +25 points per game. U-M (+326) and Georgia (+323) are the only teams to have outscored opponents by 305-plus points cumulatively this year.
• U-M has scored points on its opening possession in 10 of 12 games this season (seven touchdowns, three field goals).
• The Michigan defense has forced 46 three-and-outs on the season, including 18 in the last four games. In 12 games, the opponent’s first second-half possession has resulted in a change of possession 11 times (five three-and-outs, four punts, one turnover).
• Dating back to this time last season, U-M has averaged three rushing touchdowns per game (48 rushing TDs in 16 games). The team has 35 in 12 games of 2022 (tied-No. 3, NCAA) and scored 13 in the final four games of 2021.
• Blake Corum ranks eighth in the country in rushing yards (1,463), the highest total by a Wolverine since Denard Robinson’s 2010 season (1,702 yards) and the most by a U-M back since Mike Hart’s junior season of 2006 (1,562 yards). All this despite seven games where Corum has no touches in the fourth quarter.
• Donovan Edwards leads the nation in yards per carry (7.47) with 687 yards on 92 carries. He is an explosive-play machine with four career touchdown runs of 50-plus yards, including two in Columbus last weekend, plus one touchdown pass and one touchdown catch of 70-plus yards.
• Edwards is the first player in Michigan history with a touchdown pass (75 yards), touchdown catch (77 yards) and touchdown run (75 yards, 85 yards) of at least 75 yards in his career.
• Corum is third in the nation in total touchdowns (19). He has picked up 96 first downs for the Wolverine offense, good for second-most in the nation. His streak this season of eight straight games with 100-plus rushing yards and one-plus rushing touchdown is the longest in the last 25 years at U-M.
• PFFCollege credits Corum with 73 missed tackles forced on 247 carries this season, eighth-most in the country and second-most in the Big Ten (Chase Brown, 78). Corum has 81 fewer carries than Brown. The service grades Corum as the highest-rated player in the FBS at any position, offense, or defense, (95.9).
• So far this season, the offensive line has paved the way to an average of 5.97 yards per sack-adjusted carry, and 6.6 yards per play overall. U-M (459.1 yards per game) has outgained opponents (262.2) by nearly 200 yards per game, on average.
• The men up front have permitted just 55 negative plays on 840 offensive snaps (4.5 per game on 70 offensive snaps). The unit is a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, won in 2021, which has never been awarded to the same team in consecutive seasons.
• Opponents have pressured a U-M passer 28 times (13 sacks, 15 hurries) in 12 games. When the line does allow a sack against starter J.J. McCarthy, it comes on an average of 4.60 seconds to throw, the tied-seventh-most time when considering passers with at least 100 dropbacks.
• McCarthy is among the most efficient passers in the nation, ranking 26th in that statistic (153.2) and he’s even better on play action, averaging an FBS-best 13.2 yards per attempt on such plays.
• When McCarthy starts and finishes a Michigan drive, U-M has produced 44 touchdowns and 22 field goals on 107 possessions, translating to points on 62 percent of drives. In his 11 starts, the team has scored in 48 of 52 red zone trips (92.3 percent) with him on the field, scoring 39 touchdowns.
• Receiver Ronnie Bell leads all pass catchers in catches (51) and yards (687), while Cornelius Johnson holds the lead in receiving touchdowns (six). Nine different players have at least one touchdown catch.
• With touchdowns of 69 and 75 yards last weekend, Johnson became the first Wolverine to catch two passes at least 69 yards in the same game since Jeremy Gallon against Indiana in 2013.
• Tight end Luke Schoonmaker entered the 2022 season having never caught more than three passes in a game but has four or more catches in four games this year. He established new career highs in catches (nine at Indiana) and yards (72 vs. Maryland) during conference play.
• U-M’s high scoring rates have Jake Moody (131 points) leading the nation in points with Blake Corum (114) in sixth.
• The defense is No. 2 in total defense with top-five ranks in scoring, rushing, pass efficiency (third), and first downs allowed (fourth) with a No. 11 ranking in passing yards allowed.
• No team has reached 150 yards on the ground against Michigan this season, and nine of 12 teams have been kept below 300 yards of total offense (Maryland, Illinois, Ohio State). U-M has held five of the last eight teams at or below 75 yards rushing with three opponents under 40 yards.
• Mike Morris leads the team in TFLs (10.5) and sacks (7.5) and ranks second in the Big Ten despite missing the last two games. Morris has PFF’s No. 3 pass-rush productivity grade (PRP, minimum 65 pass rush snaps) in the Big Ten.
• Morris is credited with 35 combined sacks, hits, and hurries in true pass-rush sets — tied-fifth-most in the conference — on 206 pass-rush snaps. The four players with more combined sacks, hits and hurries than Morris have 236, 258, 333, and 383 pass-rush snaps, respectively.
• Kris Jenkins ranks second among all FBS defenders with a 15.3 run stop percentage. Run stop percentage is a metric by PFF that measures the percentage of a player’s defensive snaps that result in a stuff on a run play. Mazi Smith (12.6 percent) is also a standout in this category, giving U-M the only pair of teammates in the FBS’ top-20 ranked individuals.
• Defensive back Rod Moore (three interceptions) leads the team in turnovers. Seven different Wolverines have at least one pick, and 17 different players have at least one pass breakup.
• Among punters with at least one punt per game (12), Brad Robbins‘ 4.34-second hang time is the best in the country, according to PFFCollege. He is one of three punters above 4.2 seconds and the only Big Ten punter above 4.1 seconds. The average among Big Ten punters who meet the same qualifications is 3.80 seconds.
• With Robbins directing the unit, no opponent has registered a punt return of 10-plus yards since U-M played Ohio State in the 2017 season (118 punts).
• Twenty-nine (29) of Robbins’ 34 punts have been downed, fair caught, or rolled out of bounds. The other five have been returned for a combined total of 17 yards.
• Robbins’ special teams partner Jake Moody has helped the Wolverines achieve a top-10 kickoff coverage unit, with opposing returners gaining 17.6 yards per return attempt. Moody has kicked off 87 times and leads the country in combined touchbacks (58) and fair catches (10) with 68.
• Moody is the third player in Michigan history to record consecutive 100-point seasons, joining Anthony Thomas (1999-2000) and Tom Harmon (1939-40). His 131 points this year are just seven points shy of Desmond Howard (1991, 138 points) for the single-season record for points scored.
• Moody’s 66 career made field goals are a Michigan record. He’s also made 26 during the 2022 season, a single-year record. His 15 career field goals from 40-plus yards are also a program record.
• Moody is also up to 53 PATs this season, just three shy of his single-season record set a year ago.
• Moody is the second-highest scorer in program history (339 career points). Only Garrett Rivas (354 points) has scored more points in his career for Michigan Football.
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