3 Things to Watch for Against Indiana

Michigan football is looking to get past a pesky Indiana team this week. What are the three biggest things headed into Saturday’s matchup?

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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.

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Michigan’s 44-10 win over MSU a glimpse into future of rivalry

Michigan football took down MSU 44-10 on Saturday. With how Michigan played and how MSU is right now, a trend could start in this series.

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Ann Arbor, MI —When Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh as their next head coach for the football program, he was brought in to help rebuild the Wolverines. One of the things that were expected out of him from fans was to start beating Michigan State and regain control of the rivalry.

The two previous Michigan football head coaches were 1-7 against MSU and suddenly it became a daunting task to try and upset the Spartans every season. It started out rough in 2015 as Michigan had the game won and all they had to do was punt the football away and possibly defend one more pass. We all know what happened then, a fumble that would be recovered by MSU and scored for a touchdown to win the game.

Harbaugh would get his first win against MSU in 2016 as Michigan won the game 32-23. 2017 a tsunami landed in Ann Arbor, as Michigan lost 14-10 in the rain-filled game that caused multiple turnovers for the team and Harbaugh was outcoached by MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. 2018 we saw a defensive battle where Michigan held MSU to just 94 yards of offense and won the game 21-7.

2019 was projected to be a Michigan win as the Spartans were on a downward trend, but the win was bigger than anyone expected, as Michigan won 44-10. The feeling after this game was different than the 2016 and 2018 victories.

The game wasn’t close like those two were, and MSU had a worse team in 2016 and a better team in 2018. MSU is having some issues on their side of the field, with multiple players transferring from the program, their winningest head coach in school history Dantonio being questioned as if he should be the head coach next year, and they have multiple seniors graduating.

MSU is going through its own rebuilding phase, and whether it is with Dantonio or not this team isn’t going to flip the script on this season and come out undefeated in 2020. If they are somehow able to, then kudos to Dantonio or whoever is the coach next season.

While MSU is in the mix of trying to rebuild its football program, Michigan is reloading at multiple positions despite seniors leaving after this year. Their head coach isn’t going anywhere, and players aren’t transferring out of Ann Arbor left and right.

Michigan’s victory today could be a glimpse of what the future holds of this rivalry between the two Michigan schools. Harbaugh is now 3-2 against MSU and he doesn’t plan on that slowing down anytime soon. Michigan has improved since the beginning of the year, and if they can keep the success they have this year into next and so on and so forth, this could be another long winning streak for the Wolverines.

While Harbaugh has his coaching staff and players, Dantonio is losing his players to other schools, and his coaching staff could be shaken up after this season and that includes Dantonio. How MSU is right now is how Michigan was in 2008.

This win wasn’t just a close win against a rival, it was a beatdown. A message was sent in this game. Harbaugh didn’t just show MSU that they weren’t winning this game, he was showing them to get used to this feeling because it’s going to last a long time as long as he’s around Ann Arbor.

Michigan has regained control of the rivalry between the two schools, and they don’t plan on giving the reigns back to MSU anytime soon. This two-game winning streak could extend for a while as long as Harbaugh is the head coach at Michigan.

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5 Takeaways from Michigan’s 44-10 win against Michigan State

Michigan football destroyed Michigan State today 44-10. What are the main five takeaways from the Wolverine’s big rivalry win over MSU?

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Ann Arbor, MI — After a bye week Michigan came into this game against Michigan State refreshed and ready to go. They didn’t play like it though to start the game as within the first five minutes the Wolverines had three penalties called on them. Michigan soon figured out the MSU offense and calmed themselves down to dismantle MSU, winning 44-10.

The offense had themselves a good day against a top 25 defense in MSU as quarterback Shea Patterson seemed to be insulted that MSU took the lead at first 7-0. He looked really well today as the offense was executing on all cylinders and the defense was able to force MSU to air it out as the running game wasn’t working for them.

Check out my five takeaways from the big Michigan victory in the annual in-state rivalry game.

1. The offense has finally bought into Speed in Space

To begin the season we saw some different plays from the Wolverines offense, but nothing was notable as a big change. There was more RPO involved, but nothing that looked like this was a different style of offense. Then after some poor execution, it seemed like Michigan was reverting back to last year’s offense where it was run-heavy.

Ever since the second half against Penn State, Michigan has seemed to have adjusted their offense to the kind offensive coordinator Josh Gattis wanted to have when arriving in Ann Arbor. Today against MSU, we saw the offense look really different and knock out some solid plays against a top 25 defense in MSU, putting up 467 total offensive yards.

Patterson has been playing some good football lately and today was another solid performance by the senior, going 24/33 for 384 yards and four touchdowns. He has transformed as the season progressed as his fumbling issues are behind him, along with the nagging injuries. Patterson has finally been looking like his old self from last season. This was his first-ever 300+ yard passing game at Michigan, something people were expecting out of him this season.

2. The Kicker battle is over

The season-long battle at kicker between Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody seems to have finally finished. While the position started with a rotation between the two kickers, it would then move to Moody having the job for two games straight. After going 1-3 on field goals against Penn State, Notre Dame, and Maryland though, the job looked to be back open as Nordin finished the Maryland game as the kicker and was 2-2.

During the bye week, a big question would be if the rotation would return or if Nordin was able to pull ahead over Moody due to his recent struggles. That question was answered in the first half as Nordin was out for both extra-point attempts and he was the kicker for the 28-yard field goal attempt, which he made.

It seems like Nordin is now the Michigan kicker for the rest of the season unless he starts to struggle, then Moody could be put back in. Nordin finished the game going 3/3 on field goals, his longest from 49 yards out along with being 5/5 on extra-point attempts.

3. Ronnie Bell looks like the number one wide receiver

Despite receiving a lot of unneeded hate after dropping the game-tying touchdown against Penn State, wide receiver Ronnie Bell has exploded onto the scene as a clear number one receiver in this offense this season. All the talk before the season was about the trio of Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, and Tarik Black at wide receiver. There was the chatter of Bell having an impact, but nobody expected this kind of result.

Today against MSU, Bell led the team in catches and receiving yards, finishing with nine for 150 yards. So far this season, Bell has 35 catches for 610 yards and while those numbers aren’t earth-shattering they are still impressive for a player who was looked at like the number four option heading into the season.

This offense uses the speed of the wide receivers effectively and Bell is possibly the fastest wide receiver on the team. Collins is a big man, and Black and Peoples-Jones are quick but don’t have the type of separation that Bell can have. 2020 with these four wide receivers could be really special as the team seems to have grasped the offense Gattis has tried to implement.

4. Jim Harbaugh finally gets back-to-back wins over Michigan State

For the first time since 2006-2007, Michigan has won back-to-back games against MSU. From 2008-2011 MSU went on a four-game winning streak. Michigan got a win in 2012, but then MSU went on a three-game win streak from 2013-2015. Since 2015 when Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, the away team has won each game and neither team won back-to-back games.

That changes this year and now Harbaugh has a winning record over the Spartans as he is 3-2 in this rivalry game. Fans were tired of being beaten by MSU and Harbaugh was brought in to regain control of the rivalry, along with the Ohio State one but that hasn’t been done yet.

MSU is in rough shape for their future, with multiple players transferring, multiple seniors graduating and with their head coach Mark Dantonio on the hot seat possibly, Michigan might be in the driver seat with this rivalry for the next few years. This two-game winning streak could be the beginning of another long one for the Wolverines.

5. While it wasn’t 94 yards, Michigan’s defense contained MSU’s offense

Last year, the big talk after the game besides the pre-game antics by both teams, was how the Michigan defense held MSU to just 94 yards of offense. MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke didn’t play well at all and seemed to be playing injured. This year Lewerke was healthy and despite him playing better, MSU wasn’t able to move the chains besides on two drives against the Wolverines.

Lewerke finished the game going 17/30 for 166 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, along with 13 carries for 12 yards. The rushing attack for MSU couldn’t get the ball moving either, as the team finished with 54 rushing yards on 30 carries. The defense also blocked a punt in the fourth quarter from linebacker Khaleke Hudson to help set up a touchdown from Patterson to Collins to put Michigan up 34-10.

Michigan overall held MSU to 220 yards of offense and while that isn’t overly impressive, the two interceptions and the blocked punt were huge as they gave Michigan more time with the football. The defense did allow two solid drives by the Spartans, but on the second one, the Wolverines didn’t break as they held MSU to a field goal. After Michigan figured out the MSU offense after the touchdown, they were able to contain it for a majority of the game.