Best and worst from Michigan's loss to Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan Wolverines football fell to Indiana, 20-15, Saturday in Bloomington. Here are the best and worst from the game.

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Biggest rarities

Indiana football is 10-0. Today is the first time in history that statement is true, with the Hoosiers not only winning their first 10 games but also breaking their program record for victories in a season.

Indiana football beat Michigan. That’s been true before, but only three times since 1968. Michigan had won 42 of 44 meetings coming into Saturday, dominating the series. IU has only won 11 times versus the Maize and Blue.

The script has flipped, at least for this season. Indiana — the FBS program with the most losses in history — is looking to earn a CFP bid. Michigan, meanwhile — the sport’s winningest team — is now 5-5 and still a win away from achieving bowl eligibility.

Red (flag) zone

Michigan went 3-for-3 in the red zone, but its play in that area of the field was one of the most disappointing aspects of the game. The Wolverines settled for two field goals down there, and needed a fourth-down run by graduate running back Kalel Mullings to punch it in for their lone touchdown.

In the red area, Michigan went with junior quarterback Alex Orji — a runner — on a second-down handoff once and a third-down rush for no gain later on. He still hasn’t thrown a pass since being relegated to a rotational player after the Oct. 5 Washington game, so defenses are keying in on the run when he’s in the game.

Orji also lost a fumble on a first-down play in the second quarter, before the Hoosiers capitalized with a field goal.

Michigan’s Orji usage was questionable, and so was the lack of leaning on Mullings in the low red zone. The Wolverines didn’t turn to him until third and fourth down on their one touchdown-scoring drive, and he had only 10 carries for the game. Mullings was actually the third running back in the outing for Michigan, behind senior Donovan Edwards and sophomore Benjamin Hall.

Best half of the season

Michigan’s defense came out of the locker room with juice and easily put together its best half of the season. The Wolverines allowed only 18 yards, 3 points and 4 first downs after halftime, with the defensive backs making plays and the defensive line taking over.

Indiana averaged 46.6 points per game entering Saturday but was held to 20. The Hoosiers had season lows in total yards (246) and rushing yards (40).

Michigan’s defense played well enough to win, but the offense was another story. The Wolverines drove down for a field goal on their first drive but didn’t have another possession that lasted more than six plays and 16 yards until late in the third quarter.

Even for a Michigan offense that has been bad all season, this was a new low point. The Wolverines were held to a season-low 206 total yards — 137 passing and 69 rushing.

Head-scratching decisions

There were multiple decisions by the Michigan staff that were questionable, including its choice to run on third down from the Indiana 46-yard line, pick up 4 yards and then punt in the third quarter. The run play call pretty much indicated that the Wolverines would go for it on fourth down, but they chose to pin Indiana instead.

Michigan wound up getting an interception by junior cornerback Zeke Berry on the first play of Indiana’s backed-up drive, so punting certainly wasn’t the wrong call, but keeping it on the ground seemed to be.

Michigan also let 31 seconds come off the clock before calling a timeout after Indiana gained 8 yards on first down, a play that ended at the 1:28 mark of the fourth quarter. Michigan had all three timeouts and had to stop the clock to potentially get the football back. The Hoosiers picked up the first down on the next play, after Moore eventually did call timeout with 57 seconds remaining, but it was still a head-scratcher.

Position group struggling the most

Michigan’s offensive line had a rough day in both pass protection and run blocking.

Michigan senior quarterback Davis Warren, who finished 16-of-32 passing for 137 yards with no turnovers, had some time to throw on the first drive, but Indiana did a great job of getting pressure after that. Warren had men in his face on almost every dropback, forcing him to move run around, which caused some inaccurate throws. Warren missed his fair share of passes, but many were due to pressure, at least in part.

There was nowhere to run, either. Michigan rushed only 34 times for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Of Michigan’s 31 rush attempts that weren’t touchdowns (1) or sacks (2), 18 went for 3 yards or fewer.

Best position group

The entire defense played well, particularly in the second half as mentioned above, but the defensive line was the best position group. It was disruptive in living in the backfield but also prevented Indiana from getting anything going on the ground. The Hoosiers totaled only 40 rushing yards — their fewest in a game since 2022 — on 28 tries.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke faced constant pressure, and he went 3-of-10 passing for 16 yards after halftime. Michigan senior EDGE TJ Guy, who posted 2 sacks and 2.5 TFLs, said he thought Rourke was rattled.

Michigan totaled 8 tackles for loss, including 4 sacks. Guy (2.5), junior linebacker Jaishawn Barham (2) and sophomore EDGE Cameron Brandt (2) each registered multiple tackles for loss.

Hardest hits

Michigan sophomore safety Brandyn Hillman made some statement hits, bringing the boom for the Wolverines in the first half. On clean hits, he knocked out both Indiana running back Justice Ellison and wide receiver Myles Price — both of whom went down with injuries. Ellison returned to action later on.

#RAMTRUCKED @PatMcAfeeShow Brandyn Hillman pic.twitter.com/qm1muDxAyd

— Shawn Hillman (@RR_HENNO) November 10, 2024

Freshman with some juice

Michigan freshman running back Jordan Marshall returned to playing after missing most of the season with a lower-body injury. He had 4 kick returns, averaging 25 yards per attempt, with a 37-yard long. He was close to breaking two of them, including potentially going for a touchdown on his longest one.

Marshall, a former four-star, top-100 recruit has a bright future, and it’s great to see him with the ball in his hands early in his career.