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.

Second Half

Photo: Isaiah Hole

You guys come back out of the locker room –

This is when we threw 18 of the first 20 plays or something like that.

I wonder if part of that had to do with Karan Higdon, who was the main back at the beginning of the game. He fumbled and gave the ball back to Purdue. It seemed like when the offense started to get going again, you were nearly sacked on a 3rd and 6. But you scrambled around – they literally had ahold of you – and you hit Grant Perry for a first down.

How big was that play to get back in rhythm?

Something like that, that play specifically – I’ve had a few of them throughout my career – and they’re kind of out-of-body experiences. You’re just trying to find a way to make a play. For me, I didn’t really feel like it was a confidence-builder – I was just trying to get a first-down. But I think when your teammates see you make a play like that, it certainly gives them the confidence that they can go out there and trust in you as their quarterback and give them a lot of energy and renewed sense of hope, when you go out there and make a play like that. So I think it was huge in helping us right the ship at that point. I think we were down 10-7. Regardless, we’re backed up into our own territory, it’s 3rd and long, and we convert and went down and scored on that drive – the one that Chris ran in.

The very next play – because that’s what I was getting to – you had a 29-yard pass to Sean McKeon. Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry were absolutely huge for you. How important was having them on the same page as you all game?

Huge. I love those guys, stay in touch with them to this day. They’re gonna be lifelong friends. Again, one of the reasons I came to Michigan was to play with these big-body tight ends that are athletic and can go up and get the ball across the middle. Throughout that day, you saw those guys make play after play. I really just felt that we were dialed in and on the same page that entire game.

Before Evans’ TD, there was a targeting call, which extended the drive. It wasn’t the only one. Purdue had a couple targeting calls and you had the Wilton injury play, which there were no flags on. Was there any kind of feel that the defense was playing dirty or did it seem football as usual?

You can certainly argue they were playing dirty when you bring out numbers like that and look at the tape. But you don’t have that feeling while you’re in it. It’s a vicious sport you’re signing up for. We can take the hits, as we did that day. We can take the hits and dust ourselves off. But, unfortunately for them, when you play that way, you get kicked out of the game – which happened a couple times that day.

We’ll get back and dust ourselves off. It ends up playing to our benefit.

Evans got that TD on that drive, and then there’s another similar situation. You rolled out, hit Grant Perry. Again, a situation where you were feeling that pressure. How much did it help to have a guy like Grant Perry who was able to keep routes going?

I think you saw me go to him time-after-time in that game, because we had built such a great relationship while I was there. This goes back to my first offseason and literally his first day at Michigan. I remember throwing to him inside of Glick in the summer. He and his dad walked into Glick – I was out there doing some drills or something. He came out and ran routes, and ever since that moment, for the two years that led up to that game at Purdue, we maintained that relationship. We’re close off the field, as well.

The plays in the offense – he was obviously a major part of that as well – but whenever you’re forced into pressure and outside the pocket, you’re looking for familiar faces. And I just continued to find him that day and he made some great plays with the ball – and on that catch.

Ty Isaac scored on that drive to make it 21-10. How much of a sigh of relief was it to go up two scores after the game had been as close as it had been up until that point?

It’s never a sigh of relief until the game’s over. Certainly you like to see it on the board, but like I said, it was a hard-fought game. I think I took another targeting call to the face right before that touchdown run! And Zach made a helluva catch adjusting to the ball on that play. But it was great to see Ty getting into the endzone. Another great guy and a warrior who kind of had his ups and downs in dealing with coaches in his time at Michigan. Played exceptionally well in a lot of games, and in my opinion, doesn’t get enough credit for that. That was a huge touchdown to widen the gap.

The defense didn’t give up much, but early they didn’t look like they were going to be as vicious as they ended up being, especially given that it was 95-degrees, and it felt even hotter on the football field.

How much did you feel they gave you than chance in that game to be able to extend the lead?

All year long. Don Brown’s defense – I can’t say enough good things about Don Brown or the group that we had on the defensive side of the ball that year. So many studs. I’m sure you know the number of how many of those guys are in the NFL, but it seems like pretty much all of them.

Yeah, we had a terrific defense that year, and that was just another moment where the defense stepped up. They gave us – the fact of the matter is our entire offense that year was really young. You look at guys like Donovan, Tarik, Nico, Sean and Eubanks – we were coming off an incredible run the year before where so many guys graduated and moved onto the NFL. We’re still early in the season where a lot of these guys were still getting their feet under them. Some of these guys were still 17-years old, stepping out on the field for their first road game. Obviously we played in Dallas for a neutral site game. But first road game, first conference game. The defense really bailed us out, not just then, but throughout the year as we worked through our issues offensively, trying to get in-sync. The defense really bailed us out and this was just another one of those circumstances.

The last big play you had in the game was a 10-yard run. It might seem a 10-yard QB run isn’t a big play, but you ran right into the heart of the defense and they hit you about halfway through, but you dragged them across the first down. That was a level of grittiness that people maybe didn’t realize you had in that you just tucked the ball and you went. It didn’t matter there were all those guys there to try to take you down, you managed to extend the drive and it led to Chris Evans’ long touchdown a couple plays later.

For me, I always, and especially now that I’m removed a few years from the sport, I’ve always seen myself as a football player more than a quarterback. I think that part of that is growing up in a blue-collar family in Central Pennsylvania. From a young age, that was always my playing style. As a Division I athlete in a small town, I was bigger, stronger, faster than a lot of people and could afford to make those sorts of plays. So that was always part of my playing style, whether people saw it or not. Really, probably was emphasized the most my senior year of high school. Ran a ton, and developed more – probably for the first and only time in my career – more of a dual-threat quarterback. And once I got to Houston, again, I was under-sized, and couldn’t take the hits as an 18-year old, true freshman starting at U of H. But once I got to Michigan and matured and got into the Michigan strength program, I at least thought I was able to take some of those hits.

Personally, I feel like that playing style ultimately ended my career before it probably should have. The very next week, I’m diving for a first down and take a helmet to the ribs against MSU and (injured) my ribs – which nobody knew about the rest of the year. Ultimately, I feel like that playing style, as we talked about before, it can ignite a lot of hope and energy into an offense. But it can also do a lot of damage, too. I think the perception of myself and understanding that I need to protect myself as an asset to the team as a quarterback rather than putting my body in harm’s way like that, probably would have played out differently. But you can’t take that natural instinct out of it.

Last question for you: there was a moment, I’m not sure when it happened, but you said in the postgame that you looked over at your former coach on the sidelines. Tell me about that moment, and did you talk at all in the aftermath of that game?

I think on the field, your emotion certainly kicks in, and anyone I ever played with will tell you I’m the ultimate competitor. Will win at any cost and let you know it after the fact, no matter what you think.

There were certainly several instances where I probably got a little carried away shouting or looking over at the opposing sideline that day. I even remember the ref saying something to me and Coach Harbaugh telling me to cut it out. But nobody in West Lafayette, Indiana understood what that day meant for me. But he and I did. So the emotions take over and sometimes you get carried away a little bit and it’s all in the spirit of competition.

After the fact, couldn’t have had a better conversation. He gave me a big hug and told me he was proud of me. We stayed in touch the rest of the year. Definitely a major full-circle moment. Emotions carry me away. He certainly knows that I was not doing anything in ill-will. I was just glad that we could go out and get the win. For me personally, it was a special day as well.

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