Hoosiers’ Offense Vanishes in the Second Half Against Michigan

Written by Matt Smith

Following a bounce-back game for the Hoosiers offense, the unit came into Ann Arbor on Saturday with some momentum. However, the momentum did not last very long as the offense struggled again against the Wolverines.

In his second career start, Donaven McCulley had a huge challenge playing at Michigan, the number seven team in the country with a very talented defense. The freshman quarterback was rushed through his progression multiple times.

The Wolverines have a very talented front seven and they dominated the Indiana offensive line throughout the entire game.

The Hoosiers’ offense put together a very impressive drive during the second quarter following a Michigan touchdown that was the result of a fumble on the drive before. 

McCulley led the Hoosiers down the field, highlighted by an impressive 20 yard rush that put the Hoosiers within the five yard line. Chris Childers scored the lone Hoosier touchdown of the day to cap off the drive.

Following that drive it was all Wolverines for the rest of the game.

McCulley threw for 88 yards on 10 of 24 throws. He also was the teams leading rusher with 14 carries for 37 yards.

Allen said there were many ups and downs for McCulley throughout the entire game. 

The Hoosiers run game could not get going, especially with Stephen Carr going out with an injury early in the game. The offensive line could not create holes for the running backs.

According to Allen, the Carr injury was an ankle injury. 

On the receiving side, Peyton Hendershot led all receivers with 3 receptions for 34 yards.

At the end of the day, the Hoosiers offense was overmatched by the talented Michigan defense, and could not come up with a response in the second half. This loss, put the Hoosiers out of bowl contention as well. 

“Our kids are gonna come back tomorrow and go back to work,” Allen said.