On Saturday, December 3, 2022 the Michigan Wolverines took on the Purdue Boilermakers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Big Ten Football Championship.
The Purdue Boilermakers needed to play the game of their lives if they wanted to top the Wolverines who were in the Big Ten Championship for the second year in a row. If somehow Purdue were to win, then the fight for the playoffs would be on. Number 3 TCU and #4 USC both lost earlier in the day, and several teams are looking to fill in the rest of the College Football Playoff bracket.
At kickoff, Michigan won the coin toss and deferred, giving Purdue the ball to start the game. Michigan forced a quick three and out forcing the Boilermakers to punt. On a controversial play, the refs overturned a complete pass to an incomplete pass that would have gotten Purdue 19 yards. The call didn't matter though, because just three plays later, Wolverine wide receiver Colston Loveland grabbed a 25-yard touchdown pass to give Michigan the lead. Purdue showed up the next drive with Chuck Sizzle (Charlie Jones) grabbing four catches for 41 yards and Devin Mockobee running the ball in for a touchdown to tie up the game.
Purdue forced a three-and-out and got the ball back. The Wolverine defense forced a fourth down, but the Boilermakers did a little trickery with a fake punt that resulted in enough yards to get a first down. At the end of the first quarter the game was tied 7-7.
The Boilermakers came to play by taking the ball down to the Wolverines 16 yard line, where Mitchell Fineran kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Purdue the lead 10-7. Michigan came back with a passing touchdown on a fourth-down conversion to take the lead 14-7. Mitchell Fineran came in clutch again, squeezing in a 45-yarder to bring Purdue within one point. At the end of the first half, Michigan had a slight lead 14-13 over Purdue.
The third quarter started out with a bang. The Wolverines marched down the field with an explosive play by Donavan Edwards getting them 60 yards, and then Kalel Mullings rushing it in from one yard out to give Michigan a 21-13 lead. The Wolverines struck again with a 27-yard rush by Donavan Edwards for the score to widen the lead to 28-13. Chuck Sizzle and the rest of the Boilermakers were driving until Will Johnson picked off Aiden O'Connell at the Michigan one yard line. Purdue forced a three-and-out and had good field position at their 40 yard line. The Purdue offense charged down but could only muster a 43-yard field goal to close the gap to 28-16. Late in the third quarter, Michigan quarterback J.J McCarthy threw the ball right to Jamari Brown of the Purdue defense for the interception. At the end of the third quarter the Michigan Wolverines led the Boilermakers 28-16.
The fourth quarter started off with a pair of spectacular plays by Andrew Sowinski and Mershawn Rice to get the Boilermakers a field goal, narrowing the score 28-19. Purdue got the ball back quickly after a three-and-out, but then Will Johnson intercepted Aidan O’Connell again! Michigan made quick work of the Purdue defense, and J.J McCarthy delivered a strike to Ronnie Bell for a touchdown. Michigan got a two point conversion increasing the score to a 36-19 lead. Purdue struck back with a 32-yard field goal that Mitchell Fineran nailed to cut the lead to 36-22. Michigan just kept adding to the pummeling with another touchdown by Kalel Mullings from 3 yards out. The final score was 43-22 Michigan Wolverines, and the Wolverines hoisted the Big Ten Trophy for the second year in a row.