As Wilton Speight lay on the field, sacked and then hit by a second Purdue defender, his parents urgently made their way toward the locker room.
Bobby and Martha Speight, worried about their son, could not have anticipated what would transpire over the next few hours, when they thought the Michigan quarterback’s potentially serious injury was not treated with the necessary urgency.
Wilton Speight suffered three fractured back vertebrae in that game in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 23. He has not played since.
Two days after the game, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke at length about issues that concerned him regarding Purdue: the lack of adequate cooling in the locker room, limited shower space and his disappointment in the medical facilities at Ross-Ade Stadium.