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Last week against Illinois, the Michigan football team collapsed in the third quarter, giving up almost 230 yards and 21 points to statistically the worst offense in the Big Ten.

With a 24-10 lead coming out of the break on Saturday against Purdue and the offense clicking for the first time in weeks, the Wolverines’ bowl-clinching sixth win looked like an inevitability.

But those third-quarter woes reared their ugly heads once again. Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier’s option pitch was deflected to start the second half, which led to an easy Boilermaker touchdown.

Then, Purdue cruised down the field on a 14-play, 91-yard drive that kept the Wolverine defense on the field for six-and-a-half minutes. And10 seconds later, after a tricky onside kick, Cortez Smith hauled in a 54-yard touchdown.

Purdue took the lead, and Michigan’s bowl hopes slipped a little further away.

And when Boilermaker quarterback Joey Elliott scampered into the end zone on an eight-yard keeper in the fourth quarter to extend Purdue’s lead 38-30, it all but sealed the Wolverines’ fate.

Michigan lost 38-36 and fell to 5-5 overall. Purdue is the fourth team this season to notch two straight victories over the Wolverines since Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez took over in Ann Arbor (Michigan State, Penn State and Illinois are the other three).

“You score 36 points, you ought to be able to win it,” Rodriguez said. “Again, we had opportunities missed there as well. Offensively, we had some execution issues. We can't do that and expect to win.”

With Michigan’s two remaining games on the road against a tough Wisconsin team and at home against Ohio State, which has beaten Michigan six straight times, a bowl might not be in reach this season.

“You’re right there, and you see it, and it’s in your sights and it’s slipping away from you every game,” left guard Steve Schilling said when asked about being just one win away from bowl eligibility. “We’re going to keep fighting. We’ve got too much heart. And I’m pretty confident in our team and that we’ll be able to get to a bowl.”

“I mean, we want to get to a bowl. That’s our goal.”

In the beginning, it looked like Michigan would have another long day against a mediocre Big Ten team. The Boilermakers (3-3 Big Ten, 4-6 overall) easily marched down the field on their first drive, capped by a 35-yard touchdown catch by Purdue running back Ralph Bolden.

Bolden leaked out of the backfield, unnoticed by the defense. The touchdown marked the third consecutive game that the Michigan defense gave up seven points on the opponent’s opening drive.

After the breakdown, sophomore linebacker J.B. Fitzgerald went in the game for starter Jonas Mouton. The Wolverine defense calmed down, holding the potent Boilermaker offense to just three more first-half points.

Meanwhile, Forcier looked better than he has in a month, completing 10-of-14 first-half passes for 139 yards and his first touchdown pass since Oct. 3 at Michigan State.

Senior running back Brandon Minor, who has battled a pesky ankle injury all season, also had a solid first half, bowling over Purdue defenders for 126 yards. It was his first 100-yard game since Michigan beat Notre Dame on Sept. 12.

Minor scored twice in the game’s first 30 minutes, including a career-long 55-yard sprint that gave Michigan a 17-10 lead.

But while the offense looked smooth, the defense proved it still has a lot of work to do. The Boilermakers gained almost 500 yards of offense, including big-play scores of 19, 35 and 54 yards.

“The effort may be good but the execution’s not,” Rodriguez said. “And you just can’t give up cheap touchdowns. Guys running free, and I know there were two times I think we were in man coverage and the guys that had man had their eyes somewhere else.
“They were too late. Those are avoidable mistakes and I wish I could tell you why they happen. They certainly can’t happen.”