WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield
entered Saturday’s game as the Big Ten’s all-time
leader in receptions with 274. His 11 touchdown catches in 2004
were the most in the nation, and he averaged 101.3 receiving yards
per game — second in the Big Ten.

But the 6-foot-1, 182-pounder finished yesterday’s game
— maybe the most important game of Purdue’s season
— with just one catch for 10 yards thanks to Michigan’s
forgotten superstar, Marlin Jackson.

Two years ago, the No. 3 jersey had a presence on campus that
rivaled the Von Dutch hat. Big-name players Chris Perry, John
Navarre and Braylon Edwards had yet to fully realize their immense
talent, so Michigan’s sophomore shutdown corner became the
fan favorite — and possibly the most recognizable player on
the 2002 squad. But last year’s move to safety wasn’t a
great fit, and fans quickly forgot about Jackson.

Jackson’s relocation to safety somehow erased the
dominance he displayed during his freshman and sophomore years
— at least in fans’ eyes.

This year, Jackson returned to his old position and picked up
right where he left off — playing like an All-American corner
(which, in case you forgot, he was in 2002). But his excellent play
prior to the Purdue game went largely unnoticed because Michigan
hadn’t faced any team with a stellar passing attack, and
Jackson had rarely been thrown at.Against Purdue, though, Jackson
was given a chance to make fans remember No. 3.

Purdue’s dangerous spread offense led by Heisman trophy
candidate Kyle Orton forced Michigan to employ “cover
one” in heavy doses.

“If you don’t get any pressure on a good
quarterback, it doesn’t make any difference,” Michigan
secondary coach Ron English said. “So you gotta play
man-to-man.”

And Jackson was given the tough assignment of shadowing the Big
Ten’s most explosive receiver (at least outside of Ann Arbor)
for basically the entire game — a challenge that he warmly
welcomed.

“To have an opportunity to go against a team that passes
and being on the No. 1 guy, it was great,” Jackson said.
“I’m a competitor, and I love things like that —
it was a lot of fun.”

In the first quarter, Stubblefield drew two pass interferences
against Jackson (the second one being a very suspect call). But,
besides a single late-game grab, Purdue’s top target was
completely shut down for the rest of the day. Jackson was
brilliant. In bump-and-run coverage for most of the game, the
Sharon, Pa., native overpowered the slighter Stubblefield and
rarely let him get into his route. In the few times that
Stubblefield got off the ball cleanly, Jackson used his superior
speed to obstruct any path from Orton to Stubblefield.

Jackson’s superiority over Stubblefield had a chain effect
on the Michigan defense and the Wolverines held a team that was
averaging 485 yards and 38 points per game to just 263 yards and 14
points.

“For my job, it makes it a lot easier because I really
don’t have to worry about Marlin,” Michigan free safety
Ryan Mundy said. “I can be back there and I can kind of float
over to the other side because I know Marlin’s going to do
his thing.”

Following the game, nobody in maize and blue seemed surprised at
how one-sided the game’s biggest matchup turned out
being.

“I knew Marlin was going to shut down Stubblefield,”
Michigan strong safety Ernest Shazor said. “He’s just
not an NFL type of receiver. He’s a great possession
receiver, but Marlin Jackson is a first-round draft
pick.”

Jackson said he never looked ahead to this week, but claimed he
was thrilled when the coaching staff told him on Monday that
he’d be manning up Stubblefield for most of the game.

“When the day came for this game — when we got to
this week — I really just wanted to focus in and have my best
game of the season,” Jackson said.

And he did.

But after the game, some bitter Boilermakers were far from
congratulatory.

“If I was Michigan, I’d have done the same
thing,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. “Even if they
call (pass interference on) you, they’re only going to call
(it on) you once. They ain’t gonna call you twice or three
times or four times. I’ve never seen it as long as I’ve
been in football. So it’s a good strategy by them to come up
and physically mug the receivers.”

Orton who, thanks to Jackson, is now as far from the Heisman
trophy as Chris Rix, mirrored his coach’s resentful
feelings: