Michigan 39, Indiana 14
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.]
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
Nice gamer, Ace
November 24th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
I like the Count von Count reference in the picture at the top.
November 24th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
Three moar TD's next week would be great.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
"The officiating could be described as uneven"
Too kind by half
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:30 PM ^
M: 6 penalties for 49 yards
IU: 8 penalties for 86 yards
How is that uneven?
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
Because it doesn't take into account actual fouls committed. Did you watch? Are you dense?
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
I did watch and I am not dense. I am also not someone who thinks the refs are out to get us. I quit doing that around 8th grade.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:19 PM ^
No one said they are out to get us. They said the game was called unevenly. If you watched, it's not hard to support that statement. Luckily, Michigan played well enough for some swing calls not to matter.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:07 PM ^
The game was not called unevenly. M fans say that every single game, and it’s embarrassing.
Furthermore, who gives a shit? We won convincingly.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^
Called unevenly doesn't mean that it was for or against either team. Some things were called, the same things weren't called later. Good officiating is like good safety play, ideally it should be largely invisible.
Few adult members of the Umich fanbase believe that the refs are, "out to get" M, but if you believe the refs can't fuck up well enough to impact the game *cough* PSU *cough*, then you need to return to 8th grade and slap that kid. Call the penalties, don't mess up much, don't mess up important calls, that's all we ask. There's some grounds for letting teams decide things on the field, but if it's a foul, it's a foul, don't call it now, not call it later -- that's uneven. And when it does get called on one team, but not the other, that's unacceptable - again, see the PSU game for obvious and egregious examples thereof.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
*yawn*. Look at the IU message boards (if there are any). I’m sure the IU fans were bitching about the refs too.
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:17 PM ^
This is a weird semantic hill to die on
November 24th, 2019 at 1:34 AM ^
Yeah, I’ll gladly die on the hill of fighting against absurd homerism. Neg me to Bolivia...oh wait.
November 24th, 2019 at 3:57 AM ^
How is La Paz in November cue?
Good grilled meat country?
November 24th, 2019 at 12:06 AM ^
Perhaps they are complaining about the officiating being uneven.
November 24th, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
I have to think there are more than a few adults who think Harbaugh somehow inspires some crappy officiating calls. If he's not hated by at least a few officials that is quite a run of lopsided officiating.
November 24th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
I give two shits. I was there and the first BS PASS INTERFERENCE not only was wrong it led to a direct score and momentum. You never know how that can impact the game. You’re talking about how it affected us after the game. Those REFS weren’t out to get us,”they just sucked!” But not as bad as the refs in the TCU game.
November 24th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
Barret didn’t get the first down.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
Haven't quit doing the strawman argument thing, though.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:42 PM ^
So last you’re saying, last year?!
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
Last year, eh??
November 24th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
You must've been in 7th grade, November of 2016.
November 24th, 2019 at 1:28 AM ^
Well actually that is exactly the definition of uneven. Maybe not in the way the previous poster intended but it is, to the letter of the law, uneven.
November 24th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
That over-exaggerated intentional grounded flag drop had me cracking up. Hahah are you kidding me with that?
November 24th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
That dipshit is a flamer.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
I know better than to have hope going into next week.. but the last two weeks (opponent caveats aside) at least have me peering my head out of the BPONE to see what's outside.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
A New Hope if you will.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
Just need a lucky shot to take out the Death Star
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
May the Force be with us
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
"Stay on target!"
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:46 PM ^
I say give Ohio State a money shot
November 24th, 2019 at 7:01 AM ^
"I don't believe it"
"That...is why you fail"
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:53 PM ^
This is now a pass first team.
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:52 PM ^
As it should be. Our WRs are impossible to defend. It feels like #speedinspace is finally and fully weaponized.
November 24th, 2019 at 4:02 AM ^
I'll reserve judgement on how "fully weaponized" it is until after the next game, if you'll permit...
November 24th, 2019 at 7:05 AM ^
My biggest fear is Ohio State's pass rush is not going to give Shea time to get the ball off. My your cojones be made of stone, Shea...
November 24th, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^
Yeah. Did you watch them yesterday? Holy hell Chase Young is fierce.
November 24th, 2019 at 4:18 PM ^
He's going to have to run on Saturday...a bunch.
Let's hope he reads the defense well.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
We all know the last game of the season is Indiana.
November 24th, 2019 at 12:58 AM ^
Yeah, for my mental health, I may have to miss the broadcast for this one.
November 23rd, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
Terrible broadcast. In addition to not showing the two point conversion, there were tons of controversial penalties, potential fumbles, and injuries all deserving of clarification via replay that never came.
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
This was the worst I've ever heard those two call a game. They were cliché-driven and looked like they didn't do any real homework on Michigan. Like a teenager cramming Cliff notes before a test. My son had to mute the TV for the last few minutes because they were so clearly expecting a worse Michigan team and a better Indiana one. Looking at the empty stadium (save the Michigan fans who were heard loud and clear in the broadcast), I think these two schmucks felt it their duty to cheer on the mighty Hoosiers and their near quarter century of futility against Michigan. And let's not even start about deer-in-the-headlights ref...
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:10 PM ^
My biggest annoyance was when they started talking about how Don Brown wanted a faster defense, and put up that graphic alleging to show the speed of the Michigan defensive position groups, stated in Miles per Hour. What? Have you ever seen the speed of a professional athlete listed in miles per hour, with no context? Is that fast? Is it faster than last year? Is it faster than the teams we're competing with?
Statistics are meaningless without context and oh look now you've offended the engineer.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:55 PM ^
How about the ‘Harbaugh Sucks’ graphic? Record against top 10 teams. Record against ranked teams on the road. No conference championships. No wins over perennial National Title contending rival.
I am so sick of that shit. They pulled that right out of the Pete Finebaum playbook. Let’s beat OSU and all these ESPN and FOX assholes can go fuck their mothers!
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:50 PM ^
So you guys are sick of the fact that the media keep talking about the FACTS of Harbaugh's tenure here?
And you want the media to be sycophantic, like maybe a blog about Michigan?
Look, these guys aren't fans of Michigan. It's a national broadcast. Everyone, including ESPN is waiting for the UM-OSU matchup. This game was entertaining until Michigan got the ball with 3 minutes to go in the first half.
Then it seemed over. Over and Boring.
We all have what we want now. UM-OSU. Both teams playing their best ball of the season. Michigan with as good a chance as ever to win this game. It will be in Ann Arbor.
It is time for Harbaugh to put up or for us all to shut up.
November 24th, 2019 at 1:01 AM ^
Look, these guys aren't fans of Michigan
Are you?
November 24th, 2019 at 10:43 AM ^
No, he’s an MSU fan who recently started pretending to be an M fan for some reason. He created his account to experience the slaughter that was 2 weeks ago lol
November 25th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Agreed. I looked at his comments since joining and a few of them have indications he actually is a Michigan fan but a jerk. However, as I got deeper into the comments there are definite signs that he is a troll.
November 24th, 2019 at 1:02 AM ^
I'd say we had a better chance in 2016. Until the refs were announced...
November 24th, 2019 at 7:08 AM ^
Oh shit...who are the refs for this game???
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