Oral history of Michigan vs. Purdue 2017 – John O’Korn’s biggest game

The former Michigan football QB joins us to share what it was like coming off the bench to have his biggest game wearing maize and blue.

First Half

You did obviously see the field really early and it was no surprise to me that there were some of the same struggles offensively.

I had been pretty open about the offensive line – now, a lot of those guys on that offensive line ended up going on to be pros, 3-of-5 starters in that game went on to be pro players – but at that time in the season and with Tim Drevno being the co-offensive coordinator there, it didn’t seem like it was jelling. It seemed like that played a big role in the offensive struggles, and we saw that in the hit that ended up taking Wilton out.

Guy goes unblocked up the middle and then another guy comes in unblocked after the play is dead and hits him. When he goes down, what’s running through your mind when you see Wilton down on the ground, unable to get up?

Wilton and I had quite a complicated relationship throughout our college career, but I will say that we remained friends largely through the most of it. I never wanted to be the guy who saw the field because his teammate got hurt, but that’s just how it happened several times for me throughout my football career. So my first thought honestly was, ‘Is he OK? Get up!’ When that didn’t happen, your focus quickly shifts to consoling. I think there were several of us that went out and stood around as close as we could to support him as he was lying there, getting up and walking off the field. I remember him shaking my hand and saying, ‘Go take care of business,’ as he walked off. And your focus – a switch has to flip in that moment, and you have to go from consoling a teammate — and you don’t know what’s going on with them — to running an offense. Running the Michigan offense on the road.

Your focus very quickly shifts to, ‘OK, it’s go time.’ Thankfully for me, in that moment, you don’t have time to think about the situation or what’s going on, you’re just thrown into it. And that’s always my favorite to come into games, being thrown into a fire. The defense hasn’t prepared for you, the playcalling on offense is extremely organic, because there’s not a game plan built around you or what the coaches think your strengths or weaknesses are. It’s just very organic. And I felt like we got into a really good flow as soon as I came in, and we were able to do some good things on offense.

Considering Wilton was 2-for-4 for 10 yards, you come in and your very first pass attempt, you hit Nate Schoenle, former walk-on. How did that feel once you got that first completion done on that day?

That’s a huge confidence-builder. The coaches really just gave me an opportunity to go out and shine that day. I felt like they just put me and the rest of the guys in a position to be successful and move around complete some passes. I think we threw – it might have been when we came out for the second-half, but I think we threw like 18 of the first 20 plays I was in, or maybe it was the first 20 plays of the second-half. But we threw a lot, so to complete that very first pass obviously was a confidence-builder. After one game, the Indiana game the year before, in a blizzard, the past three years, to get a few completions on the opening drive was huge for confidence builders and a recalibration of sorts back onto the field.

The offense caught fire in a way that it hadn’t. Six straight completions to start off your tenure there and you helped give Michigan an early lead, 7-0. But, you weren’t the only replacement in that game, as Brad Robbins replaced Will Hart at punter.

Was there some need for fresh blood in this game?

I didn’t feel like in that moment there was necessarily a need for fresh blood or change. I just really knew we weren’t playing up to our standard or what we were capable of, by any means. So any time I had an opportunity to come in, make a difference or change that, I did the best that I could. And thankfully that day we were able to change things and have a lot of success on offense.

You got rolling offensively, then you throw that interception near the end of the first half. What’s going through your mind after you threw that pick?

That was one that was miscommunication between Grant and I, if I remember. We read the leverage of the defender a little bit differently. It’s frustrating, because we had been moving the ball so well and then an interception, just giving the ball to the other team. I wanna say it was in our territory, too, or around midfield. You gotta protect the ball at all costs. It’s unfortunate, but thankfully I always had a short memory throughout my football career and was able to move on and rebound from things. Thankfully, we were able to do that that day.

Purdue ended up taking the lead as a result of that. You go into halftime down 10-7. What was the tenor in the locker room?

Honestly, I do not remember any of that!

NEXT: The Wolverines come back in a big way.