Wolverines Survive Hoosiers in Two Overtimes

Indiana's Jordan Howard scored on a 24-yard touchdown run and then added the two-point conversion. The eight points put the Hoosiers ahead 34-27 with 2:30 remaining. Jake Rudock led the Wolverines down the field and they appeared poised to punch it in for the tie. However, IU's defense offered some resistance and forced a fourth down with six seconds remaining. Jake Rudock found Jehu Chesson for his fourth touchdown catch of the evening and with two seconds left, Michigan tied the game and forced overtime.

The Wolverines won the toss for overtime and elected to play defense first. Indiana, once again, relied on the strength of Jordan Howard and he continued to roll over the stout Michigan defense. He leaped into the end zone on fourth and goal from the half-yard line to put the Hoosiers ahead 41-34 and forced Michigan to respond with a touchdown. Jake Rudock was able to do just that as he found Jake Butt for a wide open touchdown from 21 yards out. Michigan began the second overtime with the ball and it took all of one play to move ahead 48-41 as Rudock found Amara Darboh for the 25-yard touchdown. The Indiana Hoosiers advanced to the two-yard line but a fourth down pass to Mitchell Paige fell incomplete and the Michigan Wolverines survived and left Bloomington with a thrilling 48-41 victory in double overtime.

Jake Rudock led the Wolverines with an impressive 440 yards and six touchdowns to go along with 71 rushing yards. Jehu Chesson caught 207 of those yards and four of the touchdowns. Jordan Howard had an incredible day on one of the nation's best rushing defenses as he tallied 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with one receiving touchdown. On average, teams were only gaining 80 yards on the ground against this Michigan defense but Indiana racked up 307 rushing yards in defeat. In total, Indiana gained 527 yards on 89 plays. However, they surrendered 581 yards to the Wolverines and ultimately fell. For the Hoosiers, it's another "close but no cigar" game but it's clear this program has drastically improved. Michigan remains in contention for the B1G East championship while Indiana will need to beat both Maryland and Purdue to reach bowl eligibility. 

Observations

-Jordan Howard and the IU offensive line had an amazing game. This was billed during the preseason as the strength of the team and they have not disappointed. 

-IU was forced to settle for a few field goals on early chances in the red zone. Those missed opportunities (Michigan's defense is very good in the red zone so they deserve credit) proved to be costly later on.

-IU's secondary continues to get abused by opposing passing games. Jake Rudock was spectacular but he's merely the latest in a growing line to have a career day against IU's porous pass defense. I'm in favor of giving Kevin Wilson an extension right now, regardless of the outcomes of the final two games, but I think there needs to be some changes made to the secondary coaching staff. I know this unit is young but they have been absolute abused by nearly every opponent.

-The offensive pass interference against Andre Booker was a mind-boggling call. I have no clue what Booker did to receive the penalty and it cost IU four points they could have used dearly later on.

-IU outscored Michigan 10-0 in the third quarter as they continue to dominate coming out of the locker room. The Hoosiers entered the day as the B1G's best team in the third quarter and today only increased what was already an average of +7 points per game in the quarter. This speaks well to the adjustments being made by the coaching staff.

-This was a particularly gutting game for fans (and I'm sure for players and coaches as well). That being said, this team is SO close and they are continuing to fight against what has turned out to be a brutal schedule. If IU can play close to this level (which won't be easy) in the final two weeks, they'll finish 6-6. Here's to hoping they can do just that because we could all use a win.