Michigan Sports
Michigan football really needs victory over Purdue
AP
The slumping Wolverines (5-4, 1-4 Big Ten) host Purdue (3-6, 2-3) on Saturday, desperately needing a sixth win to become bowl eligible to avoid possibly turning a strong start into an ugly ending.
‘‘Hopefully after we beat Purdue, it will come down and we’ll have some pressure off,’’ defensive end Brandon Graham said. ‘‘We know we let a couple games slip.’’
Michigan started 4-0 with all home games in September, then hit the road — and the skids.
The Wolverines have lost four straight Big Ten games. If they lose to Purdue at home for the first time since 1966, a 5-7 finish is realistic with a game next week at Wisconsin and the traditional finale against Ohio State in Michigan Stadium.
‘‘People thought it would come easy,’’ offensive guard Steve Schilling said. ‘‘We had a lot of confidence when we had four straight wins and things were going well.’’
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez acknowledged his players lost confidence after they couldn’t score from the 1 at Illinois last week and ended up losing 38-13.
Rodriguez, though, said it’s important that the Wolverines learn from their mistakes and move on.
‘‘You don’t want that game to beat you twice,’’ Rodriguez said. ‘‘Bad game, bad half, particularly the second half. We’ve got to learn from it and move on and press forward, and I think we’ll do that.’’
Purdue coach Danny Hope said many of the same things this week, coming off a 37-0 loss at Wisconsin.
The Boilermakers responded from a 1-5 start well enough to stun Ohio State and beat Illinois in consecutive weeks, only to get routed by the Badgers.
Purdue can still qualify for a bowl by winning at Michigan, against Michigan State and over rival Indiana on the road.
That puts them in desperate company with the Wolverines.
‘‘They’re a lot like our team,’’ Hope said.
The Boilermakers plan to stick with senior quarterback Joey Elliott after he played the worst game of his career against Wisconsin.
‘‘He’s always done a great job of bouncing back from any adversity we’ve had all,’’ Hope said.
The Boilermakers have faced a lot of adversity at Michigan Stadium, going home winless in 16 straight games since quarterback Bob Griese led them to victory.
Did Hope plan to bring up that fact with his players?
‘‘Well, they can read, so they’re fully aware of it,’’ Hope said. ‘‘To me it makes it more exciting. It makes it a greater challenge. It makes it a bigger coup, a bigger stake.’’
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