Michigan 39, Indiana 14
Today presented many of the requisite elements for a Stupid Indiana Game. The dreary, cold weather eventually turned to snow. The officiating could be described as uneven. Michigan's coaches screwed up the end of the first half, again. The ESPN broadcast was barely paying attention to the game, which didn't impact the outcome but added to the potential distress. And, of course, there was the presence of one of the better football teams in IU history.
The Hoosiers even struck first. After IU took the opening kickoff, quarterback Peyton Ramsey led a methodical ten-play, 75 yard drive capped by a one-yard Stevie Scott touchdown dive. Shea Patterson hit right back, finding Giles Jackson out of the backfield for a 50-yard wheel route before connecting with Ronnie Bell from six yards out for the sophomore receiver's first touchdown catch of the season.
DPJ's touchdown featured ludicrous body control. [Bryan Fuller]
That's when the game threatened to go off the Bloomington rails. Daxton Hill, starting in place of the injured Brad Hawkins at safety, intercepted a Ramsey pass greatly impacted by both Carlo Kemp and Aidan Hutchinson. With a chance to take an early lead, however, Michigan went backwards, and Patterson took an intentional grounding on third and 20. Will Hart's ensuing punt traveled only 31 yards. Seven plays later, Ramsey sneaked into the end zone for a 14-7 Indiana lead.
In past years, or even earlier this season, this becomes a campy horror movie of a football game, with Michigan narrowly yet predictably surviving in the end. Instead, the carnage was limited to the Wolverines tearing Indiana's secondary limb-from-limb.
Donovan Peoples-Jones knotted the game with a remarkable diving grab after Patterson had failed to complete two should-be touchdown passes earlier in the drive. A few drives later, Patterson completed all three of his throws to Nico Collins, who finished the drive with an unguardable 29-yard fade for the go-ahead score. After some strange end-of-half decisions, Michigan took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
please be 100% next week [Fuller]
The third quarter was everything Michigan fans have wanted to see. They came out aggressive, with a 41-yard bomb to Peoples-Jones setting up a short Quinn Nordin field goal. The defense got the ball back when Mike Dwumfour shot a gap on fourth-and-one, drawing a holding flag and forcing a punt. Two plays later, Collins snagged a post route, made a safety miss, and outran the IU defense for a 76-yard touchdown. Dylan McCaffrey ran in a two-point conversion to make it 32-14. Why and how? No idea. ESPN missed the play and never showed a replay.
Any chance at a silly finish evaporated at the end of the quarter. Josh Uche, who'd been dominant off the edge all afternoon, beat his blocker clean for the pass-rush hat trick of a sack-strip-recovery on Ramsey. On the very next play, Patterson found Collins running free in the end zone, and a conventional extra point gave us the game's final score of 39-14.
The fourth quarter passed without incident beyond an injury scare to Uche, who went down with an apparent leg injury but walked off under his own power. At the time of publication, there wasn't an update on him, though Michigan made him available to the media after the game, which is a very good sign.
didn't catch him [Barron]
The numbers look very, very nice. Patterson threw for 366 yards and five touchdowns on 32 attempts with one late, meaningless interception. Collins pulled in six of his seven targets for 165 yards and three TDs; the lone incomplete target should've been another long touchdown. Peoples-Jones added five receptions for 73 yards and a score. Michigan's rushers were chipping along at around five yards per carry before short-yardage and garbage-time carries took that down to 3.9 on a day the ground game took a back seat. Indiana scored on two of their first three drives; their next six full drives went for a total of 50 yards.
Next week is The Game. A juggernaut Ohio State squad, arguably the best team in the country and perhaps even recent Buckeyes history, will take the field at Michigan Stadium. An upset felt like an impossible dream mere weeks ago. Now, with Patterson dealing downfield to his incredibly talented group of receivers, there's a real glimmer of hope.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
November 24th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
As an engineer AND former track athlete - I was doubly offended.
WTF - miles per hour?
November 24th, 2019 at 7:42 AM ^
At least here in Detroit, their broadcast missed a kickoff. Could have been to start the second half.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
I believe it’s more than a glimmer.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:55 PM ^
> 1 glimmer, precisely
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
Throwing for 750 yards and 9 TDs on 11 YPA in two weeks will do wonders for the ol' season stat line. Years from now, people will look at Shea's stats and wonder why anyone ever complained about him.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^
I'm curious now about people's recollection of John Navarre.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:01 PM ^
I don’t know his stat line. I know that I’d rather have Shea.
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:20 PM ^
Yeah, Big John is like 40 and hasnt played in a while, Shea is probably more ready to go.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:10 PM ^
Trust me, I was in school for Navarre. He was just as he's remembered.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
No, he wasn't. His senior year he set records for passing yards in a season and in a game, threw 24 TDs vs 10 INTs, led Michigan to it's biggest comeback in history, and engineered wins such as 38-0 over a crap Notre Dame team and 35-21 over a good OSU team, giving Michigan a B1G title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Navarre was a solid Michigan QB.
Had a 3 year NFL career to boot.
People remember him negatively because he got thrown into action before he was ready thanks to Drew Henson's delusion that he could hit Major League curveballs.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
Yeah, everyone remembers the mediocre Navarre from 2001 and forgets that his upperclassman self was much better.
November 24th, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
Prominent OSU booster George Steinbrenner gave Henson 23 million reasons to not care whether he could hit curveballs or not.
November 24th, 2019 at 6:55 AM ^
I agree with most of what you said, but am troubled by one thing. Why do we give guys credit for large comebacks (Navarre and Braylon for example), without recognizing the fact that they were part of the reason the comeback was necessary?
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:03 PM ^
We will break Fields in Q1. Easy from there.
November 24th, 2019 at 1:36 AM ^
A fully functional Dobbins and any OSU back up QB could be 11-0 right now. And let me say that effing sucks that its true.
November 24th, 2019 at 7:52 AM ^
I don't know if they win yesterday with their backup QB. Who even is the backup? I was under the impression that they were a bit light in the depth there.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:04 PM ^
That was one of the more convincing Michigan wins I've seen. Indiana came out super fired up on their home field and played impeccably for a quarter. Then Michigan dominated for the last 3 quarters, with the type of offense -- passing to superlative athletes -- that can win against good teams. Have we ever had a better group of receivers? Collins, Peoples-Jones, and Bell are having great years, while Black, Sainristil, Jackson, Eubanks, and McKeon are solid contributors. Tough to defense this team when we throw the ball the way we have the last 2 weeks. This is what we were hoping for going into the season.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:06 PM ^
Beat Ohio.
November 24th, 2019 at 7:55 AM ^
FUCK Ohio!
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:06 PM ^
Hail to the Victors!
Good to see the team rebound after a shaky start.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:06 PM ^
Shit game plan. Shea saved the day with a 203.9 QBR despite the coaches craping the bed.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:10 PM ^
So . . . you don't like when we throw it to our 6'4", 220-lb monster of a WR frequently?
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:21 PM ^
We could have dominated this game but Gattis went back to that shit inside and outside zone run game that got stuffed yet again. This is JUST A FUCKING WASTE OF TIME AND YARDS SO ... PLEASE STOP !!!
Coach Ed needs to get control of this shit.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
Not sure what game you watched... The run plays were meant to do nothing more than keep the defense honest, so it couldn't tee off on pass rushes. It worked quite well.
Why is that Michigan fans have to manufacture things to be pissed about?
November 24th, 2019 at 7:34 AM ^
IU DL does not tee off against anyone.
Every QB has pretty much has their seasons highlight game in comps/tds against them
Shea had easily 4-5 seconds of no pressure. It let alot of slow developing routes finally showcase our WR.
Next week, 2.5 seconds and the ball needs to be out. Long game will not be in play.
Coaches know this, and gameplan will be heavy RPO with Shea running on 3rd down.
November 24th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
A better way would be to run our best run plays, rather than lighting downs on fire. That shit reeked of "body blows".
Run your best stuff. Get better at it. Profit.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:30 PM ^
We could have dominated this game
Like 39-14?
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:50 PM ^
Someone needs to get control of his shit.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:21 PM ^
Please explain - I don't understand. I would really like to know why a game plan that netted 39 points, 366 passing yards, and 5TDs is shitty.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:25 PM ^
You forgot to add "on the road, to a team that has taken Michigan to overtime the last two times Michigan played there". </fixed>
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:47 PM ^
And with a season record of 7-3.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:24 PM ^
Craping or creping?
Creeping or crapping?
November 24th, 2019 at 7:54 AM ^
A 25 pt road win against a team just a hair outside the top 25. You are clueless and your posting rights should be revoked.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:10 PM ^
Good.
Beat Ohio.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:13 PM ^
First time in TV history a 2Pt conversion wasn't replayed? Seriously, why did we do that and why didn't they replay it so we could at least see it from a normal angle? That's some B1G Network shit right there!
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:18 PM ^
Gotta make sure they show the Dr Pepper commercial again.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^
Fansville needs some community mental health services. That town is Effin nuts.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
Never mind. I agree that it was BTN-level broadcasting.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:27 PM ^
At least OSU can't prepare for it?
November 24th, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
IU will surely give them the All-22 film.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:28 PM ^
I'd love to see how the play started, because it looked like McCaffrey was considering throwing to Cheeseman. Is the center eligible if he's the last on on that side of the line?
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:15 PM ^
Hart’s punting has me concerned. If he has a game like this next week and gives OSU short fields all day long, that will not be very helpful. Need him to boom his punts the way he used to.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:29 PM ^
Michigan could also play so well on offense that they don't have to punt. Problemo solved.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:18 PM ^
The 2-pt conversion was shown, but they quickly cut to a commercial. He took a shotgun snap and rolled right with an H-back out front and maybe waiting for a pitch. McCaffrey kept it and waltzed into the end zone untouched.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:16 PM ^
Here's the very first frame of what they showed of the two point conversion. The play is already underway, there's shenanigans afoot, but it's hard to say exactly what, and then it's over and they don't go back to it.
Given that we were lined up in what must have been a very strange formation it should have been immediately obvious that something was going down and it was time to point the cameras at the field.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:41 PM ^
That reminds me of Oregon under Chip Kelly (no idea if they still do it now). They would line up in odd formations after a score. If the opposing team didn't look like they would cover whatever play they have called, they would run it instead of motioning into a PAT formation.
November 24th, 2019 at 7:57 AM ^
I assume this was 100% done to give OSU one more thing to waste their preparation time on.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:22 PM ^
Didn't have too much issue with the end of the first half. Seemed like they were trying to take their time getting past the 50 to make sure Indiana couldn't respond if they forced a punt and got good field position. Not going for it on 4th was kinda weak, but we did get the ball to start the 2nd. With the game still tight and after a slow start, I can see making sure IU doesn't get momentum points to end the half.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^
I'm going to disagree. To me, it showed a lack of killer attitude and poor clock management - again - at the end of a half. With the ball, and moving it quite easily at the time, why not use the TO's and put another score up? Foot to throat and keep them down. As it was, if they had got a stop after the half, it could have been a tie game. Why give them the chance to stay in it?
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
Exactly. We have the ball at midfield and three timeouts -- wasted opportunity to score (even a field goal) before the half. Dreadful clock management and bizarre play calling.
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