Michigan football rolls Indiana after slow start, moves to 7-0

The Michigan Wolverines are 7-0 after putting together another dominant effort, beating the Indiana Hoosiers 52-7 on a cold, damp day at the Big House.

The game was sloppy early with Indiana taking a 7-0 lead and completely owning the first quarter of the game, outgaining Michigan 141 to 17 in total yards. From there, it was complete and total domination for the Wolverines, led by J.J. McCarthy. He finished the day 14-for-17 for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Here’s the blow-by-blow recap of the game.

First quarter

Michigan won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Very quickly, Michigan forced Indiana off the field after three plays and, after a shanked punt, took over on its own 48-yard line with 13:51 on the clock. The Wolverines responded with a three-and-out of their own, taking a sack on third down that set up a punt on fourth-and-21. After Tommy Doman’s first punt of the game, Indiana took over at its own 24-yard line with 12:19 to go.

The Hoosiers responded with a solid drive on their next possession, going 60 yards in 12 plays before a false start on third-and-7 and an interception by junior safety Rod Moore on third-and-12. Moore returned the pick to the U-M 41-yard line with 6:35 to go in the quarter. However, U-M squandered the opportunity and went three-and-out for the second time on the day. Doman punted down to the Indiana 23-yard line with 5:08 remaining.

Indiana finished the deal this time, going 77 yards in 7 plays and scoring on a 44-yard double pass from IU’s Donoven McCulley to tailback Jaylin Lucas. The Hoosiers led 7-0 with 2:13 to go in the first quarter after the extra point. The quarter would end with Michigan driving at its own 48-yard line.

Indiana 7, Michigan 0

Second quarter

Michigan responded with an 11-play, 77-yard touchdown drive of its own, capped off by a Blake Corum run from one yard out, his 11th of the season. The game was tied up at 7-7 with 11:19 remaining in the half.

Punched it in pic.twitter.com/DzCWEhBv24

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 14, 2023

Indiana went 20 yards in five plays on its next drive, but stalled out and punted to Michigan down to the 13-yard line with 8:53 to go. From there, U-M put together another long drive, going 87 yards in 11 plays and closing things out with a two-yard strike from J.J. McCarthy to Roman Wilson on fourth-and-2, their ninth scoring connection of the year. Michigan led 14-7 with 3:24 to go in the first half.

Indiana went three-and-out and lost six yards on its next possession, which led to a 27-yard punt return from Tyler Morris to the IU 46-yard line. Six plays later, Corum found the end zone from one yard out to give the Wolverines a 21-7 lead with 11 seconds left in the first half. That’s how the first two quarters of play would end.

Michigan 21, Indiana 7

Third quarter

Michigan started with the ball on offense on its own 35-yard line after a nice return from Semaj Morgan to open the half. U-M began with a bang with McCarthy finding sophomore tight end Colston Loveland on a rollout on third-and-10, which resulted in a 54-yard score for the Wolverines. Michigan led 28-7 with 12:22 to go in the third quarter. After another Indiana three-and-out, Michigan took over at its own 48-yard line with 10:46 remaining.

Michigan put together another snappy scoring drive, going 52 yards in five plays and finding the end zone on a seven-yard pass from McCarthy to freshman wideout Semaj Morgan. After the extra point, U-M led 35-7 with 8:28 on the clock. The Wolverines took back over quickly after a fumble recovered by Michael Barrett at the Indiana 15-yard line. Michigan would settle for a 28-yard James Turner field goal to take a 38-7 lead with 5:18 to go.

Michigan 38, Indiana 7

Fourth quarter

It was more of the same type of domination for the Michigan squad in the fourth quarter. With the team starting to empty the bench, Michigan fed the ball to Donovan Edwards late in the contest to try and get him his first touchdown of the season and finally succeeded. Edwards found the end zone from two yards out with 12:02 to go to help extend the lead to 45-7.

With the reserves in the game, Michigan backup QB Jack Tuttle found freshman wideout Karmello English from four yards out with a little over six minutes to go to extend the lead to 52-7 after a Keon Sabb interception.

That margin would be how the game would end.

Michigan 52, Indiana 7

Michigan vs. Indiana final box score