Michigan 31, Indiana 20
Every. Single. Year.
Indiana came to the Big House having given up 482 yards to Minnesota and 542 yards to Maryland in their two games this month while putting up 385 and 374 yards, respectively. Tonight: 507 yards ceded, 385 yards gained. The yardage pattern continued for Indiana, though this time Indiana’s offense put up 5.1 yards per play on a defense that previously was allowing just 3.82 yards per play, the best in college football.
But even in a game that was a one-score contest for all but about six game minutes, the story tonight was less about what happened defensively and more about Michigan’s offense in the red zone and the players that had to be helped off the field.
Jake Moody, who found out that he was going to be the field goal kicker in the locker room before the game, converted all six of his field goal attempts. Moody hit from 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, and 23 to set a single-game Michigan record, and his reliability proved critical in a game that was as close as a typical Michigan-Indiana contest.
Michigan’s offense took just six plays to move from their 25-yard line to Indiana’s 13-yard line before two Karan Higdon runs went for –1 yards and a Shea Patterson pass to Higdon fell incomplete, leading to Moody converting his first kick of the night. A similar scenario played out on Michigan’s third drive, with a defensive pass interference call against Andre Brown on an attempted pass from Donovan Peoples-Jones to Zach Gentry moving the offense to Indiana’s 18-yard line before two short runs and an incomplete pass led to another Moody field goal.
[Injury updates woven into the narrative after THE JUMP]
[Bryan Fuller]
A 31-yard post to Ronnie Bell off play-action moved Michigan to Indiana’s 15; Tru Wilson ran for two yards, a ball went off Sean McKeon’s hands in the end zone, a bullet to Grant Perry on the sideline was knocked away, and Moody again trotted out and connected. Michigan’s offense had one more big play in the first half, a 41-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Nick Eubanks (thanks to a little help from Zach Gentry’s route-running) for the first of his career. Patterson went back to Eubanks on the two-point conversion attempt but the ball glanced off his hands, an unsurprising incompletion as Eubanks wasn’t more than 20 yards downfield—the big-plays-only tight end has four games this year with such a reception.
Another 40+-yard completion to a tight end, this time Gentry, moved Michigan down the field in a hurry on their next drive, the final drive of the first half. The run game went to work from there, with two Chris Evans carries and a Ben Mason carry moving Michigan to Indiana’s three-yard line. Patterson looked for McKeon on a quick out with mere seconds remaining, a play that Jim Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference they expected would either hit him in the end zone or with a chance to get out of bounds. McKeon was brought down in bounds, and the ensuing ball placement went awry when an Indiana player kicked the ball after the ref set it on the turf. Harbaugh was told by the umpire that there was no penalty on the play because the player did not kick the ball intentionally, and the clock ran out with Michigan down, 17-15.
The game provided some likely anomalous deep shots on which Patrick Ramsey dropped glorious deep shots from the heavens into a basket, but it also gave the defense a lot of film to work on cleaning up short crossing crossing routes over the middle. Indiana seemed to come in with the idea that they could test Michigan’s safeties (didn’t work) and move the secondary off the line with deep routes and hit a drag over the middle, which Khaleke Hudson was picking up repeatedly by game’s end. The defense's yardage numbers aren’t as gaudy as usual, but tonight gives Michigan recent in-game experience with some of the ways man coverage is tested underneath before coming up against Ohio State’s dink-and-dunk, screen-heavy, pass-heavy offense.
[Upchurch]
Michigan’s defense was once again boosted by Don Brown’s preternatural ability to make in-game adjustments, with the defense allowing just one score in the second half, a 36-yard field goal with six minutes to go in the game. Devin Bush Jr. led the team with 11 tackles and added 0.5 sacks, 1.5 TFLs, 1 PBU, and a QB hurry. He was deadly on a twist that brought him off the edge, a game in which most linebackers wouldn’t have nearly enough speed to partake. Indiana also tried to test Bush on the edge and gained as much as other teams that have done the same this season: nothing. Indiana attempted to convert a 4th-and-10 at the onset of the fourth quarter with a fake punt, snapping to one of the players who normally comprises the shield and having him flip the ball on an end-around. Bush read the flip and got to the sideline in time to tackle the ball carrier; on replay, he appeared to teleport into the frame.
Cramps were the only thing that slowed Bush down tonight, and he was far from the only one. Khaleke Hudson, David Long, and Josh Metellus also cramped up and had to leave the game for brief periods, though all four returned.
[Fuller]
Two players, however, were injured and did not return to the game. Chase Winovich was rushing the passer on 2nd-and-6 in the third quarter when Indiana lineman Simon Stepaniak shoved him from the side, then fell on him late in the play after Winovich was already on the ground and Ramsey had stepped up in the pocket. Harbaugh said that X-rays at Michigan Stadium and the hospital were negative, as was a CAT scan. Harbaugh declined to name what exactly Winovich injured and added that he thought they were in a good place considering the test results.
The most frightening moment in the game came on Michigan’ kick return after Indiana’s fourth-quarter field goal. Berkley Edwards was leapt into by Cam Jones, who was called for targeting, as the returner ran past. Edwards was on the turf for minutes that felt like an eternity as a silence unlike anything I’ve ever experienced fell over Michigan Stadium. Trainers and the team’s medical staff were eventually able to transfer Edwards to a board and cart him to an ambulance. He has feeling in his extremities and though Harbaugh said he suffered a significant concussion he was reportedly responding well to other tests.
With relatively good news on the injury front, Michigan escapes another bizarro Indiana contest with a win and all their goals in front of them. For the second time in three years, Michigan travels to Columbus with the division and a shot at the Playoff on the line. The Revenge Tour commences once more in 157 hours and 48 minutes.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:32 PM ^
Hopefully, Winovich is good to go by Saturday. Thank God the Edwards injury wasn't much worse. Any update on Solomon?
All of the goals are still attainable, but there's work to do.
Go Blue! Beat Ohio!
November 18th, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^
Unless it’s a very severe injury, I would bet dollars to donuts Winovich is on that field in Columbus. The leader of the revenge tour isn’t going to miss the ultimate revenge! Hope he’s okay.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:32 PM ^
Harbaugh should send film of the two hits by Stepaniak to the Big Ten office. They were similar shoves from behind that occurred after the play. Those plays happened in the same series. That guy deserves to sit out next week.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:12 PM ^
Harbaugh probably will...and the Big 10 will probably say "nothing to see here.".
November 17th, 2018 at 11:31 PM ^
Just like they did last year on the hit that Spieght took in the Purdue game.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:38 PM ^
BEAT OHIO STATE!
November 18th, 2018 at 7:36 AM ^
Beat Ohio State and Big Ten officials.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:38 PM ^
Everyone's freaking out about the game, and I obviously wasn't happy about the performance during, but lets take a step back.
On offense we moved the ball at will. We struggled finishing drives but we did all this playing a relatively vanilla game plan without our starting RT who should be good to go next week. We got to see a competent kicking game as well. OSU's defense is putrid and we should obviously have a fully weaponized game plan ready for them next week. There's no reason to think we can't move the ball on them.
Defensively, we're freaking out over a 20 point game, with only 3 in the second half. We gave up 400 yards but only 5.1 yards per play. And this is what we consider a bad performance. Look at OSU today for an actual bad performance. Once again, we probably played a relatively vanilla game plan considering Indiana has a very similar game plan to OSU offensively, so you don't want to put on tape how you want to stop it a week before playing OSU. There were definitely some issues and things to work on, but now we know what those are and have a week to fix them. Trust in Don Brown, he's had a stellar game plan for every other big game this year.
The only real concern is injuries. Luckily Berkley seems to be okay all things considered. Bush, Long, Metellus and Hudson are all fine. Solomon much hasn't been said, he should be fine but if he's not we have 4 good DTs besides him against a shaky OSU line. JBB should be good to go and if he's not Stueber played well. And the news on Chase makes it seem like he could reasonably play this weekend.
It's hate week. Indiana got our hate juices flowing a few hours early, but this team is the same as it was prior to the Indiana game. That's a better team than OSU and a team that should run them off the field if we play our best vs their best. Now lets get it.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:59 PM ^
Agreed, also Peyton Ramsey was having one of those games that random QBs like to have against us where he drops absolute dimes that our defense can't really do much about
November 18th, 2018 at 7:21 AM ^
Um, Haskins can do that even better. He's more accurate and has a quicker release. Ramsey hit some lasers, but he also missed at least 3 wide open receivers for scores by my count.
Haskins does not run as well as Ramsey, but most of Ramsey's runs were just running out to wide open vacated field. He wasn't Denard out there.
The fact is, Ramsey was the first QB we have faced in months that was not physically or mentally broken. I don't think Ramsey's game against us was random at all. And Haskins will up that performance significantly.
There is no "bad luck resorting to the mean" here. We have work to do.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:52 AM ^
I did not see three missed scores. I saw three missed passes, but then every QB does that. Even Haskins. Pass defense wasn't the issue. It was run defense which has been atrocious two straight weeks.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:43 AM ^
This is what I mean by people are freaking out. Ramsey averaged 5.6 YPA. That's a bad number. A worse number than he averaged against Iowa, MSU, PSU, OSU, Maryland, etc.
Sure, he missed open throws like you said. That happens, Haskins missed open receivers down field multiple times against Maryland.
He also hit some dead on throws like that fade to Timian. If you're going to say we got lucky on some of his misses, by the same regard he got lucky with some of the ones he hit.
Ramsey had some big scrambles. But that's not Haskins game. Haskins scrambled more today so maybe he will against us, but in the second half we started spying Ramsey and those were shut down on plays we did. If Haskins scrambles against us, that will happen quickly and shut those down.
And once again, this was us most likely playing a vanilla coverage scheme with a vanilla pressure package.
People are freaking out because of 5 YPP and 20 points. That's not a bad performance, it's just bad relative for the best defense in the country. People's views are warped because we gave up some first downs. 20 points and 5 YPP while now having a weel to fix for OSU and playing a vanilla game plan is fine.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:51 AM ^
Ramsey was not benefitted by his receivers who dropped multiple passes.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^
Everyone's freaking out about the game, and I obviously wasn't happy about the performance during, but lets take a step back.
Everyone?
I think a lot of us are more upset about IU's dirty play and the O'Neill crew's continued incompetence.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:40 AM ^
Exactly my sentiments. Thank you.
November 18th, 2018 at 12:11 AM ^
Yeah all of this is spot on. I choose to believe that Brown had a response for their passing success but decided to keep it hidden in order to bait OSU. Brown has been really good at predicting what the opposing OC is gonna call and dialing up a response. He knows what he's doing, it's 20+ points for only the 3rd time all year, relax people.
Offense was a little out of sync, and ideally we wouldn't have seen any Shea runs but I think they felt they needed a spark because of the red zone struggles.
That game was close but it never felt like Indiana was in control. Every top team came out sluggish today, Alabama was tied with citadel, Maryland lost that game by choking more than OSU won it.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:07 AM ^
You think Brown intentionally let IN score and keep it close to hide our scheme against OSU? Seriously?
November 18th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
Holding back some of the defensive playbook =/= intentionally letting the other team score.
November 18th, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
I'm not buying all the happy homer talk that Michigan was giving up crossing patterns and QB runs and one on one passes because we weren't really trying to stop them.
That we were just sitting on a vanilla scheme and watching Indiana stay within a score while our offense was struggling in the red zone because we're Michigan and we'll always beat Indiana for ever and ever Amen. We don't really need to try.
Coaches don't think like that. They remember that one time in 198X where something broke down and they lost a game because they didn't take something seriously enough, and by damn that will never happen again.
Michigan gave up those crossing patterns and QB runs and one on one passes because they finally faced a QB that was not a physical or mental empty shell. Not because of some vanilla scheme.
We have been feasting on weak QBs for months and it has masked some defensive issues. The exact same issues that Haskins exploited last year when he came into the game unexpectedly.
He is very capable of exploiting them this year too.
There is some legitimate work to do on defense, and it's not "freaking out" to realize that.
November 18th, 2018 at 12:18 AM ^
Exactly - for everybody criticizing the defense, it reminds me of a Bill Simmons story about Greg Popovich. During some playoff series, a team pulled out something new in Game 1 and was blowing out the Spurs. Instead of revealing his counterpunch that game in a likely lost cause, Popovich waited until the next game to make the adjustment and the Spurs went on to dominate the rest of the series. Similarly if it looks like we're going to win this game in the 2nd half, why reveal to OSU our adjustments to stop a short passing game?
November 18th, 2018 at 12:39 AM ^
"We got to see a competent kicking game as well."
This is a pretty big deal. Knowing you've got 3 points in your back pocket changes what you can call once you get near the red zone. And you know opposing defenses were aware of those struggles, too, and what they mean you're likely to try to do to compensate.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
+1 Insightful
I'm far less confident about Winovich, though I really hope he is able to play.
Go Blue. Beat Ohio.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
Underwhelming, but a win - so everything is still there, waiting to be taken. Pretty clear view of a team overlooking an opponent, then scrambling to stay in the dogfight. WV did the same thing, but they lost. OSU did the same thing, and barely survived. Oklahoma has given up 32 points to Kansas. Does Kansas even have an offense?
The point is, nothing has changed. Beat OSU, beat NW (again), and confidently stride into the playoffs on a 12 game winning streak. This team will be ready for OSU next week - to the point that OSU will give up on themselves during the game. I'm not changing my prediction from last week - Michigan is going to beat the living shit out of OSU Saturday.
November 18th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
I expect the same. I think Ohio will play well, and we will still murder them. 35-17.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
Bring on the Buckeyes.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:43 PM ^
Did not kick the ball intentionally! The ball just happens to be kicked once in the game, and it just happens to be when it can run out the half for Indiana, and the ref says it wasn’t intentional. That insults our intelligence.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:24 AM ^
Even if the ref thought it was "unintentional" the proper response would be to immediately stop the clock and place the ball with the clock not starting again until it was ready to be snapped.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^
Don't know about yall, but BPONE is back in full effect I expected a somewhat close game, my prediction was 38-17, but I figured it would be 38-3 going into the 4th quarter and our backups would give up most of the points.
Our defense will get shredded by Haskins if we play grab ass like our DBs did today. You know the officials in Columbus will call PIs on our secondary ten times. Can't leave it up to the refs. Yes I know OSU shit the bed today too, but at least their offense can finish drives. Ughhh I need to get some muscle relaxers or weed for next week...
November 18th, 2018 at 12:59 AM ^
Jesus man. These types of games happen to every really good team every year. It's not exactly noteworthy. Get a grip.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:53 PM ^
Vada Murray vs. O State in 1989. Same kind of complete quiet by 100000+ concerned fans.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:15 AM ^
Or Zia Combs around 10 years ago. Will never forget the image of Marlin Jackson trying to lift up his limp body by his arm.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:28 AM ^
I thought the same thing. I was there and the silence was eerie. It took so long and there were so many people circling around his still body, I honestly thought he was dead.
I thought to myself, "What is the protocol for a thing like this? Will they just cancel the rest of the game and send us all home? Who can play football and cheer football after that?"
November 18th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Still saddened about Vada. RIP.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:01 PM ^
Is Patrick Ramsey the son of Rob Ash?
November 17th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
Was Nordin hurt? He didn’t take any practice kicks at all before the game. I did see him walking around in his uniform with his helmet in his hand though.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:25 PM ^
He took practice kicks. They showed his last one on TV. It was a knuckleball that barely made it in. I guess people are saying he was sick, but even if he was, I'm not sure he's the starter now.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:45 AM ^
If the excuse is that he was sick, then I guess he's been sick for most of the season.
November 18th, 2018 at 2:40 AM ^
I think Nordin lost his job to Moody. At least we found a more dependable FG kicker in this game.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:31 AM ^
They might bring Nordin in if we need a desperation 50-yarder. Moody is more accurate, but his range is more limited.
Of note, at least 3 of Moody's FG's made it through the uprights just before drifting wide right or wide left. They would not have been good from 40 yards.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
All of his field goals were chip shots, with the longest being 33 yards. At least two of those just barely made it inside the uprights, as did the extra point, if I recall correctly. Does he have Nordin's range?
November 18th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
True. Made them but sort of finessed a couple through. Not confident in him at 35 plus. Especially in the game. Is Hayden Epstein or Ali Haji Sheikh still eligible?
November 18th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
It looks like he lost his confidence big time. Like a golfer who can’t make an easy putt. He’s gonna need some time to get right. Maybe see a sports psychologist. Thank God for Moody.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
He did practice before the game. His kicks looked like wounded ducks barely clearing the cross bar. Harbaugh put in Moody instead.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:15 AM ^
This is a perfect example of Harbaugh’s philosophy that you earn your spot to play every week. This motivates the back ups to work hard. Great move by Jim.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
Nope, Moody was fine: 6/6
November 18th, 2018 at 8:42 AM ^
He took practice kicks and was doing poorly. The y showed one during the game.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:26 PM ^
The Edwards injury sounds eerily similar to the kind of awfulness in the building for the Zia Combs injury in 2002. I've never seen or felt anything like that at the stadium. The worst part was that they unscrewed his facemask and left his helmet on during the evaluation on the field, and after they got him off the field, two team managers had to come on the field to find the screws.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:52 PM ^
I heard that same awful quiet in a huge crowd of people twice - the first time was 1997, at PSU, when Daydrion Taylor hit Bob Stephenson; and in London on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attack.
Don't ever want to hear that silence again...
November 18th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Taylor never played again. First time I experienced such eerie silence I was a junior in high school in a large assembly program when the principal announced JFK was dead. 11-22-63. 55 years ago this Thursday. Man, does time fly or just evaporate?
November 17th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
Since when did IU become a dirtier program than sParty, ND, and ohio combined? Cheap shots, hits after the whistle, shots oob, not to mention the kick, Edwards, Winovich, etc. Add in the urban paid officiating, and this game stank to high heaven. Now just destroy the wife beating s-its in ohio. Go Blue!
Comments