donovan peoples-jones is five-star steve breaston

Today presented many of the requisite elements for a Stupid Indiana Game. The dreary, cold weather eventually turned to snow. The officiating could be described as uneven. Michigan's coaches screwed up the end of the first half, again. The ESPN broadcast was barely paying attention to the game, which didn't impact the outcome but added to the potential distress. And, of course, there was the presence of one of the better football teams in IU history.

The Hoosiers even struck first. After IU took the opening kickoff, quarterback Peyton Ramsey led a methodical ten-play, 75 yard drive capped by a one-yard Stevie Scott touchdown dive. Shea Patterson hit right back, finding Giles Jackson out of the backfield for a 50-yard wheel route before connecting with Ronnie Bell from six yards out for the sophomore receiver's first touchdown catch of the season.

​DPJ's touchdown featured ludicrous body control. [Bryan Fuller]

That's when the game threatened to go off the Bloomington rails. Daxton Hill, starting in place of the injured Brad Hawkins at safety, intercepted a Ramsey pass greatly impacted by both Carlo Kemp and Aidan Hutchinson. With a chance to take an early lead, however, Michigan went backwards, and Patterson took an intentional grounding on third and 20. Will Hart's ensuing punt traveled only 31 yards. Seven plays later, Ramsey sneaked into the end zone for a 14-7 Indiana lead.

In past years, or even earlier this season, this becomes a campy horror movie of a football game, with Michigan narrowly yet predictably surviving in the end. Instead, the carnage was limited to the Wolverines tearing Indiana's secondary limb-from-limb.

Donovan Peoples-Jones knotted the game with a remarkable diving grab after Patterson had failed to complete two should-be touchdown passes earlier in the drive. A few drives later, Patterson completed all three of his throws to Nico Collins, who finished the drive with an unguardable 29-yard fade for the go-ahead score. After some strange end-of-half decisions, Michigan took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.

please be 100% next week [Fuller]

The third quarter was everything Michigan fans have wanted to see. They came out aggressive, with a 41-yard bomb to Peoples-Jones setting up a short Quinn Nordin field goal. The defense got the ball back when Mike Dwumfour shot a gap on fourth-and-one, drawing a holding flag and forcing a punt. Two plays later, Collins snagged a post route, made a safety miss, and outran the IU defense for a 76-yard touchdown. Dylan McCaffrey ran in a two-point conversion to make it 32-14. Why and how? No idea. ESPN missed the play and never showed a replay.

Any chance at a silly finish evaporated at the end of the quarter. Josh Uche, who'd been dominant off the edge all afternoon, beat his blocker clean for the pass-rush hat trick of a sack-strip-recovery on Ramsey. On the very next play, Patterson found Collins running free in the end zone, and a conventional extra point gave us the game's final score of 39-14.

The fourth quarter passed without incident beyond an injury scare to Uche, who went down with an apparent leg injury but walked off under his own power. At the time of publication, there wasn't an update on him, though Michigan made him available to the media after the game, which is a very good sign.

didn't catch him [Barron]

The numbers look very, very nice. Patterson threw for 366 yards and five touchdowns on 32 attempts with one late, meaningless interception. Collins pulled in six of his seven targets for 165 yards and three TDs; the lone incomplete target should've been another long touchdown. Peoples-Jones added five receptions for 73 yards and a score. Michigan's rushers were chipping along at around five yards per carry before short-yardage and garbage-time carries took that down to 3.9 on a day the ground game took a back seat. Indiana scored on two of their first three drives; their next six full drives went for a total of 50 yards.

Next week is The Game. A juggernaut Ohio State squad, arguably the best team in the country and perhaps even recent Buckeyes history, will take the field at Michigan Stadium. An upset felt like an impossible dream mere weeks ago. Now, with Patterson dealing downfield to his incredibly talented group of receivers, there's a real glimmer of hope.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

It was a game made for GIFs: a points-in-all-three-phases blowout with two expressive coaches and you don't have to hear Tim Bra--

Hold on, do you still work here?

I think so! I'm evidently using the company rhetorical device.

That's dehumanizing.

I'm sorry. Anyway, I couldn't let something like Donovan Peoples-Jones proving me oh-so-right about the punt returner situation pass by without making an appea--

JUST POST THE GIF.

Are you my alter ego or Brian's? Either way, you make a point.

Hot damn.

Hot damn.

[Hit THE JUMP for more hot damn.]