game recaps
taco charlton
ryan glasgow
jabrill peppers
john o'korn
deveon smith human woodchipper
2016 indiana

Michigan 20, Indiana 10 Comment Count

Ace


De'Veon Smith's diving touchdown put Michigan up for good. [Eric Upchurch]

For 40 minutes, Senior Day at Michigan Stadium couldn't have gone much worse. The offense had nothing going with John O'Korn, who looked hesitant and flustered in Wilton Speight's stead. Indiana led 10-6 and looked poised to upset Michigan for the first time since 1987.

O'Korn had thrown for all of 46 yards when he dropped back on third-and-eight from the Michigan 36 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Indiana got instant pressure and O'Korn broke the pocket, jetting down the sideline for 30 yards, Michigan's longest play from scrimmage to that point.

"The opportunity presented itself. I thought I was going to score," O'Korn said, cracking a smile. "Then I got tackled from behind."

De'Veon Smith would not be denied in such fashion. He broke through the line, fended off a tackler, and scraped the ball along the top of the pylon for a spectacular 34-yard diving touchdown.

Following a short Indiana punt against the wind two drives later, Smith burst untouched into the secondary, and tiptoed down the sideline past a dominating block from Kekoa Crawford for a 39-yard score.

"Grinding out first downs. Grinding meat. De'Veon," said Jim Harbaugh, succinctly describing Smith. "It felt like old-fashioned, slobber-knocker football."

Smith accounted for over half of Michigan's total yardage with a career-high 158 yards on 23 carries. As Michigan Stadium turned into a Winter Wonderland in the fourth quarter, his punishing runs salted the game away on a 15-play, 51-yard drive that took nearly nine minutes off the clock and left Indiana with no shot at a comeback.


Michigan Stadium as snow globe. [Bryan Fuller]

While Michigan's offense scuffled early, the defense and special teams kept the Wolverines close enough for the eventual comeback. The defensive front, led by seniors Taco Charlton and Ryan Glasgow, ran rampant in the Hoosier backfield; those two accounted for 5.5 of Michigan's 12 tackles for loss. Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray both had excellent games, and the secondary shut down the passing game, holding the Hoosiers to 6.4 yards per attempt.

While Jabrill Peppers couldn't get much going in his few snaps on offense, he made his presence felt in the other two phases. He repeatedly gave Michigan great field position by fielding IU's line-drive punts, and a pad-popping stop on Richard Lagow in the backfield for one of his two TFLs helped hold the Hoosiers to a field goal on what would be their only scoring drive of the second half.

Special teams played a big part in this victory beyond Peppers's returns. Kenny Allen used the elements to his advantage, pinning Indiana inside their 20-yard line on four of his six punts, and he calmly connected on both of his field-goal attempts. When Peppers wasn't fielding punts, Michigan was blocking them; Michael Jocz and Khaleke Hudson got their hands on a punt apiece to help swing the momentum in Michigan's favor.

That proved enough for Michigan to avoid an upset. A much larger test looms next week in Columbus, of course, with the stakes about as high as they could be. It's yet to be seen if Michigan will have their starting quarterback on the field for the program's most important game since 2006.

"We'll see," Harbaugh said regarding Speight's status this week. "He's day-to-day."

Comments

maineandblue

November 19th, 2016 at 11:41 PM ^

Umm, Speight had some clutch passes last year against Minnesota. Did O'Korn complete anything other than a couple of screens? Not a single throw impressed me, and that makes me really worried if Speight can't play next week.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3085

CompleteLunacy

November 20th, 2016 at 12:04 AM ^

The whole team was playing timid and unsure. It didn't help that O'Korn struggled, but really it was up to the OL to give him time and they did a terrible job in tehf irst half. 

The 2nd half kinda started similarly, but something changed on offense after O'Korn got the 30 yard scramble. They regained their confidence and churned out enough yards on teh ground for a couple of TDs with some clock bleeding. I remember exclaiming in the live blog "Somebody needs to step the f*&% up and make a play". Because it felt like the team, collectively, especially on offense, was playing below their standards.

So kudos to O'Korn - he had a rather bad day, but he made a big play that helped turn momentum in our favor.

And game ball to Smith. We needed a playmaker to step up...and thankfully, he did. Fantastic effort on the go-ahead TD run. 

I don't feel particularly confident about next week with O'Korn. But we have all week to overanalyze those worries. For today, the team did enough to win against a tricky opponent. The D did a great job to keep an explosive offense mostly in check.

Joined: 11/13/2010

MGoPoints: 12910

CompleteLunacy

November 20th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^

Emotions are an important factor...I didn't say anything about Indiana, but since you bring it up...Indiana came out fired up as if they have nothing to lose. So yeah, they played a role in how the 1st half went. Also Michigan played tight (timid, unsure, whatever you want to call it). They didn't seem to have the confidence tt we've seen all year from them. Thankfully they found it after a key 2nd half scramble by O'Korn shifted momentum, and they began asserting themselves.

Joined: 11/13/2010

MGoPoints: 12910

Rasmus

November 20th, 2016 at 9:10 AM ^

Let's not forget that this was the first "win or go home" game this season -- like all of the remaining games will be if they keep winning. So the whole team being tight should have been expected even with a healthy Speight. Actually "win or lose control of your destiny" but you get the idea. Nobody wants to be sitting around next Saturday after beating Ohio State in Columbus, hoping Dantonio can take down Penn State.

Joined: 07/02/2009

MGoPoints: 2412

micheal honcho

November 20th, 2016 at 12:50 AM ^

Wind played havoc with JOK today. Tough to get any sort of passing groove going in such unpredictable conditions. Let's not crucify him for this tough day. He may well be far more capable than conditions would allow for today.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 10/27/2010

MGoPoints: 2768

Rasmus

November 20th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^

The wind was a big factor before it started to snow. Watching at home, it seemed like the wind died down when the snow began and both teams became more of a threat to pass, thereby opening up the scrambling/running game for O'Korn/Smith. Don't know if the booth talked about it -- we had it on mute after the first half.

Joined: 07/02/2009

MGoPoints: 2412

Bertello NC

November 20th, 2016 at 1:00 AM ^

Ya I'm not going to chastise Okorn for much tonight. The only thing I have a slight issue with is:
throughout the season when we were obliterating people Harbaugh seemed inclined to keep the starters in when it was 37-0 after half time. To me there is no reason that at least 50% of both the offense and defensive starters should be off of the damn field. Like wtf. You're still building for the future. Even if they score a TD who the hell cares. I've been really puzzled by that this year.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 09/13/2011

MGoPoints: 958

Wolfman

November 20th, 2016 at 1:53 AM ^

The fact that the qb race went down to the wire should answer your questions for you. If Wilton had already started for a season I could see the logic behing your concerns. However, given the fact that O'Korn already had a season + under his belt at the D1 level, albeit at a lesser conference should indicate to you that Wilton needs all the work he can get and, prior to the Iowa game was growing by leaps and bounds. Now next season, and we will have a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball you could very well see a lot of Peters in games that are already decided. Wilton will have a great deal of experience but this season has been about putting the finish on a not as yet completed project. 

Like you, I had some concerns then I  remembered who  the  hell our coach was. it wasn't about running up the socre. It was about the fact that with each repition you become better and better, and that, my friend takes time. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 8259

snarling wolverine

November 20th, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^

The only thing I have a slight issue with is: throughout the season when we were obliterating people Harbaugh seemed inclined to keep the starters in when it was 37-0 after half time.
I don't quite agree here. I would say Harbaugh pulled his starters fairly early on in a lot of blowouts, especially Speight. I've seen other coaches leave them in longer. There's a balancing act here: you want to play the young guys, but also prepare the starters for a four-quarter game down the road. If most of your wins are blowouts and your starters are getting pulled with a half to go, are they going to be ready for a tight game?

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 97963

Bertello NC

November 20th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^

Ya that's a good point. Good points by many. It is a balancing act like you mentioned. You want to try to put some of those guys who will be heavily called upon next year into some situations where, not to say the game is still in question, but still a situation where you need ultimate focus. I also think that when inserting those younger guys later in the game they might come in with greater focus, intensity, trying to prove themselves worthy. Whereas the starters have played 3 quarters of dominating football, I think they can get a bit complacent.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 09/13/2011

MGoPoints: 958

autodrip4-1968

November 20th, 2016 at 7:58 AM ^

win for the Wolverines. Dominating performance from the defense. O'Korn managed the game well in awful weather conditions. Meat grinder Smith was magnificent. A fan can tell by watching the last two or three game's of various football team's that player's look tired and beat up. November football must be tough for the player's after all the pounding they take in fall camp and in season practice and the game's themselves. I salute them all. Love football in the snow. Go Blue beat the buck's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joined: 10/20/2014

MGoPoints: 831

treetown

November 20th, 2016 at 8:41 AM ^

Statistically the defense again played well enough to win. In Iowa the unit only gave up 11 points (don't count the safetey against them) and against a potent Indiana attack, only 10 points, and in both games, fewer points in the second half than the first.

Michigan came alive and the running game bailed out the offense. O'Korn looked rusty and it has been a while since he faced real game time speed. The mop time against Rutgers and other games really aren't the same thing.

In the stands when the game was 6-10 Indiana and the temperature dropping below freezing Harbaugh and the Wolverines had to make a decision. Do they stick with O'Korn, depend on the defense to hold and hope you could come up with enough for a score? Or do they yank him for Morris knowing that once that happened, they really can't go back to him in the game and really puts things in turmoil heading into Columbus.

The Wolverines pulled together and gutted it out. They came out with fire and O'Korn himself led the way. He scrambled and committed to the run and showed some real speed. That was the spark. He showed he hadn't given up and he wasn't demoralized. That was the big lift.

It is always fun to crush teams like Rutgers, Illinois and Maryland but these harder games, Colorado, Wisconsin and Indiana really showed that this team has great heart!

Sorry about the long post - one last thought.

Jim Harbaugh was hired to make Michigan Football relevant again. In two years he did it. Year 1, he got them double digit wins. In Year 2, he has them in the top 3-5 and in the National Championship chase. Great Job!

Joined: 11/10/2010

MGoPoints: 6325

Amaznbluedoc

November 20th, 2016 at 9:15 AM ^

"Jim Harbaugh was hired to make Michigan Football relevant again. In two years he did it. Year 1, he got them double digit wins. In Year 2, he has them in the top 3-5 and in the National Championship chase. " Absolutely and I think many of the sentiments arose from a variety of factors including 1) M was a laughing stock for 7 years thanks to RichRod and Hokester, 2) Our early run was so dominant and impressive that many of us were buying into the hype. We forget that Harbaugh is an outstanding football coach and not a miracle worker. What he has managed to accomplish is nothing short of A-maz-ing! Go Blue, beat ohio!

Joined: 09/27/2015

MGoPoints: 2240

ak47

November 20th, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^

Time for Harbaugh to prove the x' o's side. He has a week to put together a gameplan that takes advantage of the weapons we have.  Last two weeks have been ass on the coaching level as well as the playing level.

Joined: 05/05/2011

MGoPoints: 33614