This one was a sleepy game, and by sleepy, I mean that I almost fell asleep watching it. Between a lack of wake-you-up plays, long injury-related timeouts, and the typical deluge of excruciatingly long commercial timeouts at the behest of our corporate sponsor overlords, this one trudged along at the meandering pace of a 160-year-old tortoise. It was never in doubt, but it was not a total blowout until the fourth frame, hence the sleepy nature of the contest. Indiana, very good at not being competitive, but also not being run off the field, did the same in this one. Maintaining their pride, but never really within striking distance. In the end, Michigan claimed a 29-7 victory, and moved to 8-1 on the 2021 season. 

Speaking of injuries, this one was rough for both sides. Your author summed it up at one point accordingly: 

So who on Michigan and Indiana haven’t gotten hurt yet?

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) November 7, 2021

For Michigan, the list of casualties was long, including (but not limited to) Blake Corum, AJ Henning, Andrel Anthony, and Gemon Green, while Cade McNamara spent a series in the tent. Indiana's list was probably even longer, but I don't track that because I am not paid to write about Indiana football. At one juncture it seemed like both sides may have just preferred the game to end prematurely, rather than risk losing any more bodies. 

The game started out with Indiana stitching together a decent drive before succumbing to a punt. Michigan's first drive was uninspiring but their second series went much smoother. A 4th down sneak kept the chains moving, and another 3rd & short conversion by Haskins got Michigan firmly into Hoosier territory. A 34-yard FG by Jake Moody got Michigan on the board, and they led 3-0. 

You don't want to see David Ojabo bearing down on you [Bryan Fuller]

As I predicted in FFFF, the Hoosiers were not particularly interested in letting freshman QB Donaven McCulley air it out much, leaning on his legs as a major component of the offense. When they did let McCulley throw, the pressure came in a hurry. While Aidan Hutchinson is the name everyone knows, David Ojabo had a monstrous effort to continue putting his name out there. Your author is begging that NFL scouts are not some of the people who learn about Ojabo's name. The Scottish DE delivered a thundering strip sack of McCulley on IU's third offensive series and after Chris Hinton recovered it, the Wolverines got great field position. A Hassan Haskins hurdle and then a goal line dive later, Michigan led 10-0. 

Indiana's next offensive series was their best. A trick play ended in a pass from McCulley to TE Peyton Hendershot, and then a long McCulley run on 3rd & 5 after Junior Colson lost contain put the Hoosiers at the goal line. Davion Ervin-Poindexter scored from a yard out and Indiana trailed only 10-7. 

Any thought that the game might be a fight was quickly erased by a 62-yard Hassan Haskins run through a huge hole opened by Ryan Hayes and Trevor Keegan. That put the Wolverines in the red zone, and a Cade McNamara roll out pass to Luke Schoonmaker put the ball in the end zone, and Michigan led 17-7. That play in particular seemed to be a savvy call from Josh Gattis, as Michigan had issues picking up IU's varied blitzes. McNamara faced considerable heat, and a QB rollout pass was an astute counter that worked out. Both teams traded punts before the first half ended. 

Cade McNamara was very solid, per usual [Bryan Fuller]

The second half was far more one-sided. Though Michigan's first drive ended in disappointing fashion, the next three Wolverine possessions ended in points. A JJ McCarthy-led drive got Michigan a FG off of Jake Moody's foot, and then a McNamara-led drive tacked another FG on the board after Hoosier pressure stalled it short. Red zone (in)efficiency remains a bugaboo for the Michigan offense. They did cash in on their next red zone trip, though, as Cade McNamara's best deep ball since Wisconsin landed in the arms of Cornelius Johnson for a 50 yard gain, setting up a TD pass to Luke Schoonmaker. At that point, it was 29-7 Michigan. 

Michigan was able to build such a large lead because Indiana's offense flopped around like a fish out of water in the second half. The Indiana offensive line was predictably unable to block Michigan's pass rush whatsoever, limiting their downfield passing attack and shutting down any hope of moving the ball on the ground. In totality, Indiana ran 24 plays in the second half, and gained 53 total yards, scoring 0 points. Their first four drives were three-and-outs, while the fifth drive (then against a mixture of reserves and starters for Michigan's defense) came to a close rather deep in Michigan territory after a Vincent Gray PBU on 4th down forced a turnover on downs. JJ McCarthy and Michigan's offense (also a mix of reserves and starters by then) drained most of the fourth quarter on the subsequent drive, and that was more or less all she wrote for this one. 

Hassan Haskins was Michigan's biggest star offensively, rushing 27 times for 168 yards and 1 TD. After Corum exited the game with an apparent lower body injury, it was all Haskins on the ground for Michigan. No other player attempted more than three rushes for the Wolverines. McNamara was rather quiet but effective, going 10/18 for 168 yards, 2 TDs and no turnovers, dodging pressure, taking care of the ball, and moving Michigan down the field. McCarthy was more erratic, 5/10 for 55 yards and an interception, showing that there remains a real gap between the two on the depth chart.

Luke Schoonmaker had a nice game [Patrick Barron]

Cornelius Johnson hauled in 5 catches for 108 yards, including the 50-yard deep shot. Luke Schoonmaker had arguably the best game of his career, catching two TD passes out of his three total receptions. Roman Wilson, finally working back from his wrist injury, made three catches of his own and carried the ball on an end around. The offensive line had a spotty day, struggling at times with Indiana's complex blitzes, but also opening several notably big holes to allow Haskins to gash the Hoosiers on the ground. 

Defensively, it's hard to argue with the results. IU gained 202 yards on 3.4 yards per play, scoring 7 points. Michigan held McCulley to 11/25 through the air on a pitiful 3.6 yards/attempt. Taylor Upshaw, who had a strong game, added Michigan's only sack outside of Ojabo, but the story was Michigan's ability to generate pressure, even if few plays ended in a sack. Junior Colson led Michigan with eight tackles, narrowly ahead of Josh Ross and Dax Hill, who had seven. It was a strong bounce back effort for Mike Macdonald's crew after last weekend's disappointing loss to Michigan State. 

Michigan moves to 8-1 on the season and their B1G hopes are still alive, thanks in part to MSU's loss this afternoon to Purdue. If the Wolverines win the next two weeks, and Ohio State beats Michigan State, then The Game on November 27 in Ann Arbor would be for the B1G East title and a trip to Indianapolis. Of course, the first part of that sentence is a rather sizable "if". Michigan has to go to Penn State next week and face a Nittany Lions team that, while struggling offensively, is playing great defense. The Wolverines have not won in Happy Valley since 2015, Jim Harbaugh's first season as head coach. A game time has not yet been announced for that one. 

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