Game Wrap and Reaction: No. 13 Michigan 39 Indiana 14

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: No. 13 Michigan Wolverines

Location: Saturday November 23rh, 2019 Bloomington, Indiana

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Wolverines continue to meet annually as Big Ten East Division foes.

What The Game Meant: In the grand scheme of things, the outcome this game meant very little outside of bowl resume boosting. Ohio State had clinched the Big Ten East earlier in the day and the loss for IU set them back to 7-4.

Top Offensive Performers:

Peyton Hendershot, TE, Indiana- It was a rough day for the Indiana offense, but Hendershot played well. He caught six passes for 62 yards to lead the Hoosiers.

Shea Patterson, QB, Michigan- Patterson looked like the quarterback Michigan thought they were getting when he transferred from Ole Miss. Patterson tossed for five touchdowns and 366 yards.

Nico Collins, WR, Michigan- The former four-star recruit showed why he was rated as the 138th player in the nation coming out of high school. Collins had 165 yards and three touchdowns on just six catches.

Top Defensive Performers

Micah McFadden, LB, Indiana- The only Hoosier defender who remotely belongs here is McFadden who is having a stellar season. On Saturday he mad six tackles, including one for a loss, and picked off a pass.

Daxton Hill, DB, Michigan- Hill led Michigan in tackles with six and picked off a pass.

Josh Uche, LB, Michigan- The back-up linebacker was all over the field for the Wolverines making five tackles including two for a loss and a strip sack that set up Michigan’s final touchdown.

Special Team Performance

The kick return game was a non-factor as the Hoosiers did not attempt a return. Whether that was due to playing a team like Michigan or facing cold, wet conditions was not entirely clear, but the Hoosiers were content with taking the ball at the 25-yard line.

For the first time all season, the kick-off duo of Jared Smolar and Nathanael Snyder did not record a touchback.

Punter Haydon Whitehead struggled again, but the punt unit may  have been more concerned about getting the kick off against a fierce Michigan punt block team. Whitehead had a net average 37.6 yards on five punts, but pinned Michigan inside the 20-yard line just once and booted two punts for touch backs.

Logan Justus did not have an active day, but hit both of his extra points.

​Key Stat(s)

32-0

After IU took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter Michigan went on a 32-0 run the rest of the game, including a back breaking 18-point third quarter.

Turning Point

I believe the game changed when Peyton Ramsey was crushed on a hit to his mid-section that caused him to let go a duck that was intercepted early in the second quarter. While Indiana did go on to score a touchdown on the next drive the Hoosiers only managed 234 yards the rest of the game (that includes 48 yards with Jack Tuttle at QB). Ramsey said he was well enough to play after the game, but it was clear he was not the same player after the hit.

I Knew it Was Over When…

After an Indiana fourth down conversion was wiped out by a holding penalty the Hoosiers punted and put Michigan at their own 20-yard line. Two plays after the punt Shea Patterson hit Nico Collins for a 76-yard touchdown pass that punt the Wolverines ahead 32-14. The sequence probably took points off of the board for IU and gave Michigan an 18-point lead.

Players of the Game

Peyton Hendershot, Indiana- There were not a whole lot of options here, but Hendershot continued his terrific season with six catches for 62 yards.

Shea Patterson, Michigan- Patterson showed why he was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. He torched the Hoosiers for five touchdowns and 366 yards.

What I took away from the game

Saturday was not a good day for the Indiana football team on many fronts. Not only were fans kept away by Thanksgiving Break, a nasty, cold rain, those fans who did show up saw their team get hammered by a very good Michigan squad. Adding injury to insult, the Hoosiers saw Ty Fryfogle, Peyton Ramsey, Stevie Scott and Matthew Bedford all down on the field at various times. Fryfogle and Ramsey returned to play, but Scott limped off and never returned and Bedford had to be carted off the field after unsuccessfully trying to get off the field with the help of two trainers. It was a poor performance that turned into a really bad day for the Hoosiers.

I’ll admit it, I picked IU to knock off Michigan on the pretenses that Michigan was overlooking IU and that the Hoosiers have been playing well for most of the season. On paper Michigan is a far more talented team and has depth the Hoosiers just don’t. Talent and depth played a huge role in Saturday’s game as multiple Hoosiers went down and IU just could not keep up. The Hoosiers made far too many mistakes and most of their eight penalties either took away a big play for the offense or gave Michigan big yards on offense.

IU’s fortunes changed when Peyton Ramsey was smashed while releasing a pass and the offense never looked the same. The short drives were doomed with failed first down plays and put Indiana’s defense on the field far too often. It was a defense that was bullied by Michigan’s receivers and had trouble putting any kind of pressure on Patterson.

So, does this loss wipe out everything Indiana football has done in the 2019 season? The simple answer is no. The longer answer is that while the loss, outside of the injuries, is not a season-killer it does show just how far the Hoosiers still have to go to beat one of the big four in the East. The Hoosiers have indeed taken a huge step forward this season as they have won seven games with two left to play and while many people, fans included, have discounted those wins since those teams that IU has beaten have had poor seasons. What needs to be understood is that the next logical step for this program was to win the games that they were supposed to win and not get tripped up by an inferior opponent as they have in so many years past. Many fans and experts predicted that this team would win four or five games and many said publicly that the Hoosiers would not win a game after Rutgers. This season is a big step in the right direction for the program. The team is still extremely young in a sport that is mainly dominated by upperclassmen. That makes qualifying for bowl games, yes even those so called “low talent” bowls, even more important as the Hoosiers will get 15 extra practices to develop their youth.

The Hoosiers will head up to West Lafayette to face off against the Boilermakers who sit at 4-7 and would love nothing more than to put a damper on IU’s season with a Bucket Game win. The Hoosiers cannot take this one for granted. The Bucket has been with Purdue the last two seasons and IU should be starving to get it back and reclaim momentum in the series.