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Coming off a disappointing 27-24 loss to Michigan State, Michigan has to go on the road and take on Indiana as an underdog. Yes, Michigan will be the underdog this week as it travels to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the undefeated Hoosiers.
While the Wolverines are coming in at 1-1. Indiana is 2-0 with wins over Penn State and Rutgers. Indiana always puts up a good fight when taking on the Wolverines, but now as the favored team, how will the Hoosiers react? Michigan hasn’t come in as an underdog against Indiana in a long time, and not only do the Wolverines need to silence the critics, but they also have to do it on the road.
There are plenty of things to focus on when Michigan takes on Indiana, but I’ve narrowed it to three:
1. How does the team react after the loss?
Losing games hurts. That isn’t what you train to do and what you tell your players and coaching staff to do; everyone knows that. What’s more important than learning and recovering from the loss? It’s how you react to it. Not only do the Wolverines need to win this game, but they also need to show that the mistakes they made last week have been corrected.
Winning this game by a few points will be great for the team, but it will not feel as great as if it can win by double digits. Michigan’s reaction to a loss to a rival it had no excuse losing to should light a fire underneath it. This team needs to be angry, upset and disappointed in itself. It needs to take that out on the rest of the teams it plays this season.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh needs to prepare his players better than last week, better than last year, better than yesterday. If Harbaugh’s team comes out flat, with nothing seeming to have changed from the loss to Michigan State, then that loss has taken it over. Losing sucks, but letting it dwell and become bigger than just one loss, is what can hurt a team for an entire season.