Game Wrap and Reaction: Michigan 20 Indiana 10

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: Michigan Wolverines
Location: Saturday November 19th, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Why They Played:  The Hoosiers and Wolverines meet annually as Big Ten East foes
What The Game Meant:
Once again Indiana was trying for their sixth win of the season and their first triumph in Ann Arbor since 1967 while Michigan was trying to stay atop the race for the Big Ten East Title and in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot.

Top Offensive Performers

Richard Lagow, QB, Indiana- The Hoosiers didn’t muster much on the offensive side of the ball gaining just 255 yards of total offense, but Richard Lagow continued his solid play and handled the snow and wind as well as anyone could ask him to. He completed 14-of-29 passes for 191 yards with no interceptions. However he was sacked three times and did not throw a touchdown.

De’Veon Smith, RB, Michigan- The big back from Michigan had his way most of the afternoon against IU as he found the holes that Indiana’s defense didn’t have against Saquon Barkley. He carried the ball 23 times for 158 yards and two second half touchdowns that iced the game. 

Top Defensive Performers

Marcus Oliver, LB, Indiana- The redshirt junior led the Hoosiers with 12 tackles (8 solo). He added 1.5 tackles for loss and for the most part of the game helped Indiana stay within striking distance of Michigan.

Tegray Scales, LB, Indiana- Scales added another great game to his list as he finished with 10 tackles (7 solo) including a tackle for loss. Scales and Oliver may be the best linebacking duo in the Big Ten.

Ryan Glasgow, DT, Michigan- Michigan’s defensive line is so good because any one of six linemen can be the guy on any given day. On Saturday it was Ryan Glasgow who finished with seven tackles (5 solo), 3 tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. He was a major reason why IU could not get anything going in the running game. 

Special Team Performance

For what seems like the millionth time this season, the Hoosiers just could not put together a complete game on special teams. This week’s failure came in the punt game as Joseph Gedeon looked overwhelmed with the conditions, venue, and having to kick to Jabrill Peppers. Gedeon was awful on Saturday as he had two punts blocked that resulted in punts with a net gain of 12 and two yards. When his punts weren’t blocked he was kicking low line drives. On the seven punts he got off cleanly he averaged just 36.1 yards, that’s including a 47-yard boot, and not much hang time. He gave Jabrill Peppers four opportunities to return punts and that resulted in 29 more yards for Michigan. Overall Gedeon punted nine times for with a net average of 26.4 yards per punt. That performance set up Michigan with great field position all game. Michigan started drives with an average field position at their own 38-yard line, and really sealed the deal for the win.
Outside of the punting performance, the special teams were ok. Griffin Oakes hit his lone field goal in tough conditions and that should boost his confidence a little bit and the there were no critical errors in either return game.

Key Stat(s):
17-3

The Hoosiers took a 7-3 lead into half time and everybody was feeling pretty good about their performance, however a 17-3 third quarter in favor of the Wolverines put the game just far enough out of reach that the Hoosiers never really challenged after that.

Turning Point

With Indiana up 10-6, just answering a Michigan field goal with one of their own, the Hoosiers had the Wolverines set up with a third-and-eight from the UM 36. Michigan quarterback John O’Korn looked like he was going to be sacked for a big loss when he shook a tackle and sprinted 30 yards down the sideline to set up the Wolverines go ahead touchdown. If Indiana makes the stop their, they would have had all the momentum and the ball with the lead as the Big House would have become even quieter.

I Knew it Was Over When…

De’Veon Smith converted a fourth-and-one after Indiana burned all their timeouts with 3:49 left in the game.

Players of the Game

Richard Lagow, Indiana- Lagow gave the Hoosiers a shot to win with his performance, even though it wasn’t all-world. He took care of the ball in rough conditions and made some really good throws when the Hoosiers did move the ball well.

De’Veon Smith, Michigan- Smith was the difference for what looked like an offense that dropped off a cliff with John O’Korn at quarterback. Smith carried the ball 23 times for 156 yards and two scores.

What I Took Away From the Game

This game highlighted just how far Indiana has come under head coach Kevin Wilson and how much farther they have to go to become a big boy in the East. The difference Saturday showed up in the punting game and in each team’s depth. Indiana came into the Big House with just two scholarship running backs dressed, missing two starting tackles, and down a tight end, and receiver while Michigan could cover up the loss of their starting quarterback with strong line play on both sides of the ball and a punter who controlled field position. But the reason Michigan is sitting at number three in the Playoff polls and Indiana is at 5-6, comes down to years of recruiting and developing highly talented players. While Indiana has recruited better than ever under Wilson, you can still see the talent gap between them and Michigan. We’ll have more recruiting coverage later, but let’s get down to the game right now.

The Hoosiers held their own against a very good Michigan team, and came out fairly healthy it seems, even though it was learned after the game that Devonte Williams was sidelined with an ankle injury and his status is unknown. They looked to fix their fumble issue, as they did not turn the ball over against a very aggressive and physical defense. It was no surprise to us that the run game would be tough to get going and that totally stopping Michigan’s running game by committee was nearly impossible. If the Hoosiers play with the effort and fight that they brought Saturday, they will beat Purdue and get win six.

However, there were some issues of concern. First and foremost is the performance of punter Joseph Gedeon who consistently put the IU defense in bad position with awful punts. He also had two punts blocked as well. It’s tough to ask your defense to try and stop the opponent from scoring when they are starting at their 38-yard. Gedeon has a big leg at times, but he is not consistent enough to be a real weapon for IU. The second concern I had was with Jonathan Crawford getting flagged for a late hit on O’Korn with IU down 10 and the Michigan quarterback essentially giving himself up for no gain running out of bounds. That’s the kind of play that has kept Indiana from winning in the past and that had been pretty much missing from this year’s team. As I was driving home and listening to another game on the radio, the SMU radio announcers said something that holds true to teams like IU. In order to build a winning program, a team has to stop making the plays that lose games before they can start making plays that help win games. Indiana has made some winning plays this season, but there are still more times that they make the losing play. It will take time for that change to fully develop, but the improvement in that area has been pretty evident. IU is making more winning plays, but is still being held back, by a few losing plays.

My final concern, and it has been a concern all season, is the play calling in the red zone. IU had two trips inside the Michigan red zone and scored 10 points, which is great considering how the season has been going. However, Indiana had a chance to go up 14-6 and really put the screws to Michigan. On their lone touchdown, the Hoosiers lined up Camion Patrick in the backfield as a running back, which is where he was slated to play before a major knee injury in the spring. Patrick took a hand off and ran like a hot knife through butter to get the six. On their second red zone chance IU, chose to run Devine Redding twice for a net of a yard while Richard Lagow tried to sneak by Michigan defenders with a quarterback keeper on the read-option. The play calling wasn’t great and personally, I’d like to see IU throw the ball a little more inside the 10-yard line. To me there is too much over thinking by either Wilson or Kevin Johns, probably both, but to me there is just too much thinking involved in the play calling. They need to trust Lagow and his receivers to make the play, something that had been rocked after Lagow’s red zone pick against Wake Forest. If they’d rather run it against Michigan’s defense, then do what worked the first time and try and give Camion Patrick another shot at the score instead of having Redding and Lagow try and run it up the gut. No slight to Redding, he will get to 1,000 yards rushing this year, but he just doesn’t have the burst to get through the small holes that were there on Saturday. 

The Hoosiers will now have to regroup and turn their focus to Purdue, whose season has been circling the drain for a few weeks. But this is Bucket Week, the biggest rivalry game IU has, and Purdue would like nothing more than to end the losing streak to IU and prevent them from getting bowl eligible. So, gear up IU fans. It’s Bucket Week 2016 with a bowl berth on the line.