Keys to the game: Michigan Wolverines football vs. Indiana

It’s the first game after Michigan Wolverines football’s initial loss, and many are anxious to see just how Jim Harbaugh and his team respond. Tom Allen and Indiana have taken a significant step back after surprising with a 6-2* record in a COVID-shortened campaign, but they’ve played a few teams tougher than expected despite their 0-5 Big Ten mark.

You are what your record says you are, but whatever it’s been and no matter the year, the Hoosiers always seem to play Michigan tough. From a double-overtime U-M win in 2015, Harbaugh’s first year, to last season, when Indiana finally won for the first time since 1987, it’s been a battle.

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The one that wasn’t — 2019, when the Wolverines hammered Allen and Co., 39-14. This Indiana group is banged up and looks similar to that squad, but Harbaugh isn’t taking anything for granted.

“[That’s a] good, good football team,” he said. “They’ve always had a good, strong running game. They throw the ball downfield effectively. Defensively, both linebackers are extremely good … high volume of blitz. They’re coordinated well on special teams.”

They’re also missing their top two quarterbacks, though, and have struggled with injuries.

Here’s what Michigan has to do to come out of Saturday night’s game with a victory:

Michigan football key: Bring the energy and focus from the start

There’s a reason the Wolverines are favored by 20 points or so. They’re much more talented and have the advantage at just about every position.

A slow start, though, is one way to let a significant underdog hang around. We’ve only seen it once this year — a 10-7 halftime lead on the way to a 33-7 win over Northwestern — but it was closer than it needed to be due to mistakes, missed assignments and the like. A big running play before the half on a poorly fitted play accounted for the Wildcats’ only points.

The Hoosiers played Michigan State to a virtual standstill in a 20-15 loss by sticking around early, and they still have several players left from last year’s team that learned how to win big games.

Allen gets his guys fired up for the winged helmets — the Wolverines need to match that energy from the start.

Michigan football key: Make quarterback Donaven McCulley uncomfortable

McCulley is being forced into action, his second consecutive start, due to injuries to Michael Penix and Jack Tuttle. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-35 loss to Maryland. While he got help from his running game — 136 yards and two touchdowns from back Stephen Carr — he hit some big plays and was solid for a second start.

“Donaven is the healthiest right now, and he is the guy that we’re getting ready to play,” Allen said. “To me, he obviously showed a lot of positive signs of things that I expected him to be able to do. I know not everybody saw that against Ohio State [in a 1-for-6, 30-yard showing], so that was kind of frustrating because I knew he was a different quarterback than he showed.”

But he tends to get happy feet when he’s pressured, which he was against the Terps (sacked four times) and OSU (twice). Mike Macdonald’s defense is tough to figure (when it’s set and ready), which should play to U-M’s advantage.

Let him get comfortable or hit some big plays, though, and you never know.

Michigan football key: Be prepared for tempo

Had Macdonald and Co. been more prepared for Michigan State’s tempo, the Wolverines would be flying in to this one with an 8-0 record. Instead, he got caught with his pants down and helped gift the Spartans two scores by not having his defense set.

“We can’t substitute when they’re in tempo and not substituting,” Harbaugh said Monday (paraphrasing).

It’s a teaching moment for Macdonald, and it literally cost them a game (or was one of the significant factors, at the very least). Macdonald has told people it will never happen again, and we believe him.

At the same time, Allen’s group is known for going faster than anything the Wolverines have seen this year, and you can be sure he and his staff will test this.

Michigan’s defense has given up too many big plays on busted coverages this year — Nebraska, MSU, Northwestern. While you can get away with it against lesser teams, that won’t be the case against the Penn States and Ohio States.

Now is the time to fix it.

The Breakdown: Michigan Wolverines football vs. Indiana

What once looked like one of the tougher games on the schedule now appears to be an easy win. The Hoosiers are banged up and vulnerable, look nothing like the connected and disciplined team they were last year in playing Ohio State tough for 60 minutes, and don’t have a lot of playmakers.

U-M’s defenders need to keep an eye on receiver Ty Fryfogle, the Hoosiers’ most dangerous playmaker, and tight end Peyton Hendershot, and not give up big plays. Do that and come to play, which Harbaugh believes they will, and they’ll be fine.

“I’ve seen the team for a long time now, the way they respond,” Harbaugh said of his Wolverines. “Whether it’s a setback or chatter, I know how they’re going to respond.”

Play a solid game, and the Wolverines will head to Penn State next week with an 8-1 record and all their goals still within reach.