Staff predictions: Michigan football at Indiana

It’s the second of two straight road trips for Michigan, which heads to Bloomington to face Tom Allen and his Indiana squad. The Hoosiers are 1-1 in conference play after a season-opening win over Illinois (that probably shouldn’t have been) and a loss to a Nebraska team that’s so bad, it fired its coach three games into the season.

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With only one “gimme” on the schedule — a Nov. 19 game with Michigan State, of course — and a toss-up with Rutgers, the Hoosiers are going to have a hard time staying out of second-to-last in the Big Ten East.

At the same time, they fight, and Tom Allen’s teams play hard. They also tend to bring it against Michigan, as the Hoosiers have for all but a couple games since Jim Harbaugh came back to coach his alma mater. Sometimes that means playing after the whistle or pushing the envelope, something Allen won’t apologize for, and it often makes for a more interesting than expected game.

This year — we’re not seeing it. The Hoosiers have issues up front on the offensive line and an inconsistent offense overall. They’re 83rd in total offense, 87th in scoring offense, and 116th in rushing offense. The Michigan defensive backs are going to get their work in — the Hoosiers will put it up 50 times or so — but Indiana doesn’t do much in the way of “complementary football” to protect its defense. That group ranks No. 107th nationally, 116th in pass defense.

In short — they kind of suck.

But you never take a Big Ten road game for granted, and Harbaugh and his coaches won’t. As we saw last week in Staff Picks, when our John Borton backdoored his way into a victory, anything can happen on any given week (make no mistake — we’re happy for the veteran. It had been wearing on him).

This week’s winner receives the Lizard Neck Light (as seen on TV. Perfect for crafters, knitters, hobbyists, sportsmen, fishing, DIY home projects, and so much more!). Also, as a bonus, two tickets to the next Detroit Lions home game or a $1 off coupon for laundry soap, whichever he deems more valuable.

The picks:

CHRIS BALAS: Bloomington is always a great trip. The weather is usually beautiful, the campus is gorgeous … and the game is often stress-free.

That should be the case this year, as well. Michigan is simply better on both sides of the ball. The “wait ’til basketball season” comments start coming out in the third quarter — of course, those have been empty threats for the better part of three decades, too. Michigan 41, Indiana 19

JOHN BORTON: In football as in staff picks, winners win, and losers decry circumstance.

No crying in football this week. Michigan 38, Indiana 13

CLAYTON SAYFIE: After Michigan had a workmanlike offensive performance against a very good Iowa defense last week, Indiana brings a breath of fresh air. The Hoosiers haven’t been able to stop anybody worth a darn on the ground or through the air, and they’re one-dimensional on offense. Look for Michigan to hit on some explosives, with Indiana having allowed 27 plays of 20-plus yard gains this season.

The Hoosiers will have some success through the air on a few drives — will Michigan’s pass rush be able to get home, and consistently? — but they won’t be able to catch up to a Wolverine offense that explodes for 40-plus points. Michigan 45, Indiana 16

ANTHONY BROOME: Some late tomfoolery from the Wolverines and Hawkeyes cost me a shot at winning a staff pick here for the first time since joining a year ago Oct. 4. It is by far the biggest monkey on my back at The Wolverine. But … just have to keep plugging away and hope for the best.

National pundits wanted to see Michigan tested after a historically light non-conference schedule. In a weird way, there is some rust still being knocked off by going almost a month without playing a competitive game to start the season. Over the last two weeks, we have seen Maryland and Iowa test the Wolverines in different ways, and each time Michigan faced adversity, the team counterpunched and eventually landed the knockout blow. Now that we are into October, it is time to start separating and continuing to grow as a football team.

This is probably a 5-6 win Indiana squad, at best. Bloomington has produced some weird games in recent years and the Hoosiers have a way of creating chaos, but this feels like a game where we will see Michigan start to announce itself as a legitimate threat to come out of the Big Ten East again. Look for crisp showings on both sides of the ball. Michigan 45, Indiana 13

DOUG SKENE: Seems like this game at Indiana could be a letdown game after last week’s big road victory against (what was expected to be) a tough Iowa team. I’ll be interested in seeing how the rest of Iowa’s season goes in the B1G West as a gauge to see how good this Michigan team really is.  

This week’s test at Indiana will be one that Michigan will ace. I’m expecting the Michigan offensive line to continue developing that nasty attitude to bludgeon opponents and control the game. Blake Corum will continue to roll 150-plus yards, and the defensive line should be able to make the Indiana quarterback uncomfortable. Michigan 38, Indiana 14