IU Defense “Weighed Down” by Wolverines

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

It was never going to be an easy task for Indiana to go into the Big House and steal a victory from national-championship-hopeful Michigan. Heck, the Fox Broadcast even showed a graphic showing that the last time Indiana had won at Michigan, Tom Allen was not even born.

But for a quarter, the Hoosiers looked like they were up to the task. A 7-0 lead that could have been more and the Indiana defense had held the Wolverines to just 17 yards through a quarter, including two three-and-outs to start the game.

Everything unraveled after that point, however. In their next eight drives, Michigan scored seven touchdowns and a field goal, a 52-0 scoring run.

“Defensively, it was third downs for me,” said Tom Allen in his postgame presser. “We had several third downs where we got them where we wanted to be in regards to third and seven plus, and didn’t get off the field.”

The Hoosier defense allowed the Wolverines to convert on six of their 11 third downs and both of their fourth down attempts. Michigan executed on key downs and were clean throughout the entire game, committing just two penalties and never turning the ball over.

The Indiana offense could not say the same; after a great couple of opening drives, the offense went on to turn the ball over four times (two fumbles, two interceptions).

“We gotta stack plays together, have all three phases working together, which we didn’t, we weren’t able to do that,” Allen added.

Great teams like Michigan will take advantage of these mistakes.

“A team like that, playing like they are right now, you can’t give them anything. And we obviously did. They weigh you down, that’s one of their strengths as a team. That’s why it was so critical we didn’t give them a chance to pull away.”

JJ McCarthy finished the game with as many touchdowns as he did incompletions, going 14-of-17 for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was under duress a bit more than he has been most of the season, as Indiana tallied four sacks today after the Wolverines had given up just three the entire year. However, his services were once again not needed in the fourth quarter, as the Wolverines turned to Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle in relief duty. Blake Corum added two touchdowns as well, and Michigan rolls on as just the third team since 2000 to win each of their first seven games by 24-plus points.

Indiana will face Rutgers next Saturday for their homecoming game. The “easier half” of their schedule awaits, but if things do not immediately improve internally, the team on the opposing sideline will not matter.