Indiana*: The Second Scariest CFB Team With a Losing Record

A) Indy? It's IU or Indiana, not "Indy".

B) have you watched Michigan this year? Harbaugh's teams have been in EVERY single game. At the beginning of the year it was we should pull out 7-8 wins with not even being on the same field as MSU-- yet we controlled that game.

Harbaugh has the old Bo mindset- "No game is more important than the next one." A literal week to week focus. IU's Defense is VERY suspect. Therefore, long drives (which were previously mentioned) will be what keeps this game manageable. IU may score in the first half / quarter, but I expect our secondary to keep their receivers in front of them and manage this game.

C) as for "trap games" or looking ahead, there will be no such thing under Harbaugh this year (if ever)!

it is going to be hard to beat Andrew Luck. I mean they just upset Denver.

I hope we (legally) deceive the crap out of them.

OSU is obvious, but the other two teams as well.

Indiana has a great RB that can keep defenses honest and a QB (when healthy) that can make all the throws. They spread out the field, they hit quick passes in rhythm, and actually, their DL isn't half bad. Michigan is going to need to score some points here, both because Indiana has a good offense, and because they want to let their defense rest a little bit before coming back out there. Offensively at least, Indiana matches up very well with Michigan's defense.

PSU's defense matches up very well with Michigan's offense. A very strong DL and a solid group of LBs will make it very difficult for Michigan to run the ball. On the back end, they have some athletes that can make some plays. Get a few turnovers, and they can be in position to do some things. I still think this PSU team is improving on offense, despite their performance against Northwestern. They have a good (but injured) group of RBs, and a good group (that sometimes suffers from drops, but they do get open) of WRs. And Hack has the capability to make all the throws. PSU's biggest issue all year has been their OL, which bodes well for Michigan, but their weakest link has been LT, and Michigan doesn't have a true edge rusher  that can get by with speed moves. If Hack can get rid of the ball before freaking out, they have some talent to score at least some points, and a defense that can stop the opponent from scoring a lot.

Michigan is far from "OSU beat MSU and then it's for the BTTG against the Buckeyes". They have two more tough games before then on the schedule.

The team saw MSU lose on Saturday night, and they know that they likely control their own destiny in B1G once again.

I have a feeling that's going to give them a renewed energy and purpose, as it helps exercise the loss to sparty in some small way.

Michigan takes care of business the next two weeks and plays well in The Game. Not sure if they win it, but I expect a close game.

I agree that we shouldn't take Indiana lightly, but I also think Indiana is a story of season part 1 (non-conference) and season part 2 (conference). Their offensive numbers are inflated (hence the #20 offense ranking in S&P+) by the fact that they put up a crapton of yards against what are barely Division I teams in non-conference play. While their passing offense has held up somewhat in conference play (though average passing yards is down about 40 yards), their rushing offense has collapsed (with the exception of Rutgerz but ... Rutgerz), and I expect that will hold against Michigan.

Am I concerned about them getting a couple of decent passes in that translate into a couple of first downs? Sure, but it seems unlikely that they can use that to put together more than a couple scoring drives, because hello Jourdan Lewis. Also, they've thrown at least 1 interception in 6 of their games (2 against Rutgerz, but ... Rutgerz).

At the end of the day, Harbaugh doesn't let the team look past seemingly inferior opponents, so I'm confident the team will be prepared. I'm less concerned about our ability to play on the road after Minnesota (as weird as that might sound) because I think the team now recognizes that it can come back and win tough battles away (if it comes to that, which I certainly hope it doesn't). Indiana isn't going to be playing at night for their recently retired coach. Yes, they'll be playing for the postseason, but I don't see that as enough to pull off the win.

I agree with others who predict something like 45-21.

 

I think it will be a lot tougher game than some around here want to admit. My girlfriend is from IU, so I have watched them more times than I care to admit this season. They play hard. They play fast, and they are a competitive group. They really, really want to get to bowl eligibility, but I think Harbaugh will have the guys ready to roll.

Michigan 37 - Indiana 24 

We have won 19 games in a row against Indiana. That included the Brady Hoke and Rich Rod years. Do you really think a top 15 ranked Harbaugh team is going to be the first to lose to them since the 80s? Possible, but very unlikely. 

Then again each of them is a possible win.  My pre-season pickes were:

Indiana - win

Penn St. - loss

Ohio St. - loss

I am now inclined to think we probably beat Penn St.     Coach Harbaugh will have the team ready to play tough opponents each week.  

Little doubt in my mind that the team is fixing what broke down last week (Special teams, the D-line gaps, etc.).

FWIW I'm at least a little bit scared every week (see Michigan St. at Nebraska).

Indiana can play pretty close for about three quarters, then it just falls apart. No depth, only a couple of playmakers. 

has to be running out of gas soon.

If their offense matches up well to our defense in personnel and scheme and they get hot on the day, it could mean trouble. Our defense is not without vulnerabilities against accurate, medium-range passing. Take that and the potential for our offense to sputter and/or even just depend on the ground game too much and you have a recipe for disaster. If this turns into a race and Indiana gets hot along with a few lucky breaks from the refs (which seems to be the norm these days), a few turnovers, or just strange bounces of the ball, we could be in trouble pretty easily. Think Minnesota game with a high octane offense on the field.

I'm also pretty nervous. I'm honestly shocked that their record is what it is. They're shockingly good this year.

I think it will be another passing attack by us. They'll see the best secondary and defensive line that they've played all year. Our backs need to finish interceptions.

im glad i wasn't the only one who was confused when he called them "indy"

I have a case of old school, Schembechlerian paranoia about this game. I always toook Bo to heart when he would say things like, "You'd better watch out for Navy" or "You'd better not take Northwestern lightly." The good thing is that JH heard Bo say all these things too and will have them white hot and ready. 

Games against Indiana have been stressful for a while now. They humiliated our defense (in particular the secondary) in 3 of our last 4 meetings getting nearly 500 yards of offense every time.

We finally have a better defense but I'll always fear someone pulling a Minnesota on us.

Throw in the horrible officiating of the B1G refs, and this could be nerve wrecking.

Indiana was 9 yards from going to overtime against the Buckeyes with their backup QB.

I'm nervous.

Indiana may not have won a Big Ten game this season, but three of their losses have come to (at the time) top-10 teams. Still expecting a win, but they're not going to be a pushover. Hopefully we're not sweating this one out in the fourth quarter.

This is a very dangerous team.  Fear level at 6.  We will go 2-1 over the next three.

They can score a lot of points. They can't stop anyone from scoring a lot of points. It will be closer than truly comfortable, but we should still win by more than a touchdown.

As I see it, the two things that really put pressure on M's defense are (1) extremely accurate QBs and (2) good QB running offenses. Sudfeld isn't going to beat us running the ball. He is very accurate, however--so the keys to shutting IU down will be pressuring Sudfeld and covering his receivers. I'm pretty confident we can handle that.

After all these crazy endings so far I have come to believe that there are football Gods out there and Indiana is due for a reward from them. They have hung with all the good teams this year besides PSU and have been really close to winning some of these games. I just hope the football Gods dont use our game as THE rewarding game for Indiana.

Playing Sink the Biz during this game with some IU fans. Hope I make it to the 4th.

One year at Michigania (M alumni camp) I became friendly with Jim Hermann, when he was our defensive coordinator during Carr's best years, and we were talking about the difficulty of Big Ten games.

I made the mistake of saying that games against teams like Indiana were probably gimmes, as we were blowing them out year after year. He became very adamant, and said, "You have no idea how difficult it is to prepare and to consistently win against Big Ten teams, any Big Ten teams. We have to work really hard for every single game."

He told me about thd difficulty of preparing for a different team each week, the overall talent level in the Big Ten, keeping the players engaged, etc. He was very serious, and I believed him. 

I do think Harbaugh knows that, because he's been there as a player and a coach. He'll have our guys prepared to win games they should win. But there still aren't any gimmes.

not to let them hang around for any length of time at all.  Defintely a game to get up, get your boot on their neck, and press hard.

with the victor determined by who wins the turnover battle.

Indiana may not even be the scariest team with a losing record in the Big Ten. Nebraska and Minnesota have arguments in their favor.

Nationally, I can think of a lot of teams with losing records as scary or scarier than Indiana. Washington, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Kansas State all come to mind. Add in that IU doesn't have an intimidating home field advantage, and I don't think the argument for IU is very strong.

Matchup wise for Michigan, Indiana is a little more dangerous because of their offense. Any team that can threaten to score a lot of points will be dangerous to Michigan because Michigan's offense can struggle at times. That is my only fear in this game, but it is fairly small given IU's defense.

I mean the problem with Indiana is they have a solid, above-average Oline but their defense is terrible. They can't stop anybody. So, if you stop them offensively, you can beat them by being on the field for too many plays than the defense can handle. The other issue with their offense is despite a tempo attack, the Hoosiers don't have any great speed or a quarterback who can run. So, running a spread offense with tempo and a qb you don't have to account for like Mitch Leidner, makes them a more conventional offense that likes to run a lot of plays.

If you stop them, then you put their defense in jeopardy. And so what happens then is, the defense gets exposed because it's forced to stay on the field longer than it should.

If you play a ground control and clock-killing offense and limit their offensive possessions and plays, you just wear down their defense and then you take advantage of their secondary. Basically, they are Minnesota or Maryland with a better quarterback who can't run.

teams would find a way to lose a game like this to a team like this.

 

This Indiana game scares me more than the Penn State game...we won't take Penn State lightly at all.

didn't lose to IU.  I'm not worried about Harbaugh losing to them. 

Indiana can score points and absolutely can beat us.  They are due to to knock somebody off  this year and I am nervous ... but then I'm nervous about every game!

I take great comfort in knowing our coach is a technical savant who will study Indiana to the smallest detail and prepare a customized battle plan.  I am so grateful to have JH here because I know that, win or lose, he views every single game as life or death important.

It was only the fourth time in the last decade Indiana's beaten a top-50 team (per Massey).

That sounds like snark but it isn't really. The rest of the team may not be much but Doughty's the real deal--they'd probably be a middling B1G team and for IU that's a good win.

Saw them play this weekend. Looked physically outmatched EARLY against Iowa. Punter was able to pin deep but it did not look or feel like a physical not speedy team. They seem in between years when it comes to the style they want versus what they have to do