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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When going up against a team that hasn’t beaten you since 1987, with arch-rival Ohio State up next, it’s easy to see why some see Michigan’s upcoming contest at Indiana as something as a trap game.
But that’s not how the Wolverines see it.
All four times that Michigan has taken on the Hoosiers in the Jim Harbaugh era, it’s been a tight affair, especially the two in Bloomington. Those two went to overtime, though the maize and blue emerged victorious both times.
The Wolverines are heading to Bloomington once more, but this time, instead of Indiana being a middling team, it’s sitting at 7-3, and gave Penn State all it could handle in Happy Valley a week ago.]
So when running backs coach Jay Harbaugh was asked if he believes in such a thing as ‘trap games’ he agreed they exist, but that Saturday’s matchup doesn’t qualify for that moniker.
“I guess, yeah – I don’t think this is one, by any means,” Harbaugh said. “Our players all know what type of program Indiana is. They’re a program that’s put a lot of guys in the NFL. They’ve played a lot of guys tough, they’ve played us extremely tough. No one in this program has ever been in a game with any real separation against those guys, player or coaches. Our guys know we have to be at our best, players and coaches. And, on top of all that, this is the best team that they’ve had, and that doesn’t go unnoticed on our side of the division. You see them play against common opponents – you can’t help but notice that type of stuff. We’ve been kind of noticing as the year goes on this is the type – this is always a big game. It’s probably going to be an even bigger one now this week.”
Defensive line coach Shaun Nua sees a particular challenge in facing an explosive Hoosiers offense.
Indiana comes into the contest with the second-most prolific offense in the Big Ten, just behind OSU. The Hoosiers average 448 yards-per-game, and are tops in the conference putting up an average of 314 passing yards each week.
That presents a particular challenge when it comes to getting to QB Peyton Ramsey, the incumbent starter who took over for injured Michael Penix Jr. midseason.
“Really, really good team,” Nua said. “Really good quarterback. Everybody (thought when) the first quarterback that went out they were gonna take a step back, but this other quarterback is just as good. He’s a tough, tough player. They spread out the field, they use every inch of that football field and try to make you run. We’re excited for the challenge.”
The game is set to kick off at Memorial Stadium at 3:30PM on Saturday.
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