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Michigan is coming off a huge 44-10 win over rival Michigan State last week. This week they travel to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers in a game that is tougher than it looks for the Wolverines.
Michigan is 8-2 as they head into the game with their Big Ten Championship hopes destroyed, but with a minuscule hope of reaching the College Football Playoff if crazy things can happen in the next three weeks. The Wolverines’ main goal is to reach a New Year’s Six Bowl right now and to do that they need to keep winning.
Check out my main three things to watch this week against Indiana.
1. Will the offense be able to keep up their hot streak?
Against Penn State in the first half, the Wolverines looked lost on offense and could only put up seven points. They discovered something in the second half and came up short of forcing overtime as wide receiver Ronnie Bell dropped the game-tying touchdown. Since that loss to Penn State, the Michigan offense has kept up their play from the second half in that game.
In the Big Ten, Michigan is second in points per game, averaging 42.3 points, first in opponent points per game with 10.3 points, second in points per game difference with +32 points, second in yards per game difference with +200.7 yards, and tied for first in turnovers with just one.
The lack of turnovers has been huge for the offense to find some life and finally show everyone what they were supposed to look like in their Week One game. Along with the lack of turnovers is the playcalling seems to have been shaken up somewhat by offensive coordinator Josh Gattis as we’ve seen more RPO getting used.
Michigan is taking on the 18th ranked defense in Indiana and it could be a challenge for the offense to keep up their hot streak against a feisty Indiana team that has been giving the Wolverines a challenge for years. If the offense can keep their hot streak up against Indiana, that would be a huge boost for the team.
2. The close games between the two schools must stop
The past four years, Michigan has had trouble beating Indiana with ease. In 2015, Michigan needed double overtime to beat Indiana 48-41. In 2016, Michigan won 20-10, in 2017 Michigan won 27-20 in overtime, and last year Michigan won 31-20 as kicker Jake Moody kicked a Michigan record six field goals in that game.
This year the trend since head coach Jim Harbaugh has arrived needs to die. Indiana gave Penn State problems last week and only lost 34-27. Michigan doesn’t need to just win this game, but they need to blow Indiana out like they have to Maryland, Notre Dame, and Michigan State. They can’t make Indiana look strong.
By blowing Indiana out, it will demonstrate just how explosive the offense has been, and how tough the defense still is behind defensive coordinator Don Brown. Another close win against Indiana shows that Michigan is still having trouble with the Hoosiers but barely gets the edge in the end.
3. Michigan can’t overlook Indiana
For the third time since Harbaugh has arrived in Ann Arbor, Indiana plays Michigan a week before Ohio State. It can be hard for players to not take their eyes off the Buckeyes, but the game before the Buckeyes is one that can always be labeled as a trap game. Indiana happens to be the common opponent in the yearly game before Ohio State.
Michigan can’t overlook Indiana and while they have yet to lose to them when they play them before Ohio State under Harbaugh, the close score of the games shows that they are a problem every year. This is why Michigan needs to blowout the Hoosiers, to show that they didn’t overlook them and are surprised by the tough competition.
That doesn’t mean that the close wins in the past mean they overlooked Indiana. Winning big and not having issues with Indiana can show that they were focused on stopping them. Penn State could be accused of overlooking Indiana and look what happened there. Why would they overlook Indiana? Because Penn State takes on Ohio State this week. Michigan can’t fall for the same trap, even if they overcome it.