Michigan Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Purdue in Week 4
2. Michigan’s secondary will struggle early against Purdue
After the first three weeks of the season, Michigan’s young secondary has absolutely shut down opposing receivers.
Currently ranked the 12th best passing defense in the nation, the Wolverines have only allowed opposing quarterbacks just a 40 percent completion rate (30-for-75) for 377 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Wolverines have yet to face off against an aerial assault quite like the Boilermakers’.
So far in 2017, the Boilermakers’ aerial attack has averaged 285 yards and the offense averages 36 points per game and has scored 10 total touchdowns through the air.
New head coach Jeff Brohm’s 2016 Western Kentucky squad’s offense ranked fifth in the nation in passing yards per game and first overall in scoring offense and his offensive approach has been an absolute revelation in West Lafayette.
Brohm’s aerial philosophy has given junior quarterback David Blough, who threw 21 interceptions in 2016, a new lease on life, and turned the Boilermakers into perennial up-setters.
Which is a scary thought, considering Michigan’s new-look secondary has yet to be truly tested.
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While the Wolverines could conceivably continue to field one of the best secondaries in the Big Ten, a feat they accomplished last season, it’s impossible to know just how they will fare against Purdue’s big play offense after going untested for the previous three weeks.
Michigan’s first three opponents — Florida, Cincinnati and Air Force — are currently ranked 90th, 111th and 121st in the nation in passing offense, respectively. While the Wolverines secondary surely helped to contain their respective offenses, that fact that none of these teams did much of anything in their other games is a telling depiction of their respective offenses lack of firepower.
If defensive coordinator Don Brown’s secondary struggles to contain Brohm’s Purdue offense, it could spell disaster not only in Week 4, but in the Wolverine’s future contests against Penn State and Ohio State.