Indiana's Defense Held in the Red Zone, But Big Pass Plays Doom Hoosiers

Written by Rylie Kyhn

Indiana knew they were going to have a game on their hands traveling to Ann Arbor and stepping into the Big House and they played to the test. This team seems to perform at times to the level of the competition they face and that is exactly what they did against the Michigan Wolverines. They stepped up to the task and despite playing a well-rounded, hard fought game, they fell just a bit short, but the stand was impressive nonetheless.

The young Hoosier defense held the high-powered Michigan offense to only two touchdowns and forced them to kick field goals for the rest of their 31 total points. The red zone defense was nothing short of impressive. The first three Michigan possessions, they held them to only a field goal on every drive.

“Our red zone defense is really getting better and better all the time. They kicked six field goals today and those field goals gave us a chance. If those field goals would have been touchdowns, it would have been a long day at the office,” said Coach Allen.

After holding them to those three field goals, Shea Patterson hit Nick Eubanks for 41-yards and a touchdown to give Michigan the lead but they decided to go for two and the Hoosiers came up with a huge stop to make it 15-10 and kept them from going up by 7. Indiana scored on the following possession and right before half Michigan had one final drive. It looked like they were going to score in the final seconds of the half but Devon Matthews came up with a huge play and it allowed the Hoosiers to keep the lead heading into the third quarter.

Despite retaining the lead heading into the second half, they ultimately couldn’t hold on to it for much longer. Michigan took the lead in the third quarter after the defense couldn’t hold them and they scored another touchdown. This time it was Karan Higdon who ran it in for two yards. Michigan held the lead for the rest of the game after that, but the defense didn’t allow another touchdown. They allowed only three more field goals, but it was enough for Michigan to get the win.

They gave up 507 yards of total offense which makes it seem like the score should be much higher but their ability to hold Michigan to field goals is what kept them in the game. They only had one takeaway, an interception by Marcelino Ball who also led the defense with 10 total tackles, six solo.

The Hoosiers now sit at 5-6 and they need one more win to make them bowl eligible. If they play the way they did this weekend against Purdue next weekend, they will give the Boilermakers a game.