What they're saying, predicting before Michigan football vs. Indiana

Michigan Wolverines football is back at The Big House, slated to take on Indiana Saturday afternoon. Here’s a look around the internet at what they’re saying before kickoff.

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Media predicts outcome of Michigan vs. Indiana

TheWolverine.com
Chris Balas: Michigan 38, Indiana 6
John Borton: Michigan 38, Indiana 6
Clayton Sayfie: Michigan 31, Indiana 0
Anthony Broome: Michigan 31, Indiana 3
Doug Skene: Michigan 48, Indiana 9

Wolverines Wire
Isaiah Hole: Michigan 35, Indiana 3

Detroit Free Press
Tony Garcia: Michigan 42, Indiana 3
Carlos Monarrez: Michigan 52, Indiana 6
Rainer Sabin: Michigan 49, Indiana 6
Jeff Seidel: Michigan 37, Indiana 7
Shawn Windsor: Michigan 45, Indiana 10

MLive
Andrew Kahn: Michigan 38, Indiana 3
Ryan Zuke: Michigan 41, Indiana 10
Aaron McMann: Michigan 38, Indiana 6

The Detroit News
Angelique S. Chengelis: Michigan 41, Indiana 3
John Niyo: Michigan 42, Indiana 7
Tony Paul: Michigan 52, Indiana 13
Bob Wojnowski: Michigan 48, Indiana 10

Indy Star
Michael Niziolek: Michigan 41, Indiana 10

The Athletic
Bruce Feldman: Michigan 52, Indiana 6

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Wojo’s Pigskin Picks: Shhh, but Michigan sure has look of a championship team

You want to say it; a lot of people want to say it. But you can’t; you won’t. If you do, NCAA guidelines require you to add a qualifier, or a clarifier, or an apology. At great risk, I’ll say it softly and quickly, then duck.

Doesn’tMichiganlooklikeanationalchampionshipteam?

To be clear, I’m asking a question that can’t be answered for more than a month, when they face an actual functioning opponent. But, in an unorthodox twist, I’ll offer some evidence.

The Wolverines are 6-0, ranked second and winning by an average score of 37.3-6.7, give or take a decimal. They’ve outscored opponents, 76-0, in third quarters and are No. 1 in ESPN’s SP+, which considers all factors, including awful opponents and cool helmets. J.J. McCarthy is the nation’s top-ranked quarterback with a QBR of 93.6, but usually can be found at Ann Arbor’s Pizza House shortly after halftime. He has thrown four fourth-quarter passes all season, which effectively bans him from Heisman consideration in southern states and half of Canada.

(Now, the legal disclaimers).

I understand they haven’t proven a $%&*#% thing yet, and am reminded daily by polite fans. Their schedule has been cushier than Charmin Ultra Soft Mega Rolls. My god, they trailed Rutgers, 7-0, one minute into the game! Outside of the top three teams, the Big Ten reeks of desperation and dirty socks, with a hint of smoke from the $95-million bonfire in East Lansing. Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State are the only ranked teams, unless you count Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA, which the Big Ten has petitioned to start counting immediately.

Bill Connelly, ESPN.com: Ranking the 14 remaining undefeated college football teams

1. Michigan Wolverines

With the obvious acknowledgment that Georgia is the two-time defending national champion and could jump to first if it shows us what we saw on Saturday more frequently, I’m going to stick with the team that has looked nearly that good all season. Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines have the best defense in the country, a genuinely nasty unit that ranks first in points per drive, first in success rate allowed (first rushing, second passing), first in red zone touchdown rate and 19th in sack rate despite rarely blitzing. They also have an offense with one major issue: The backups don’t do much in garbage time.

J.J. McCarthy is first in Total QBR, Blake Corum is averaging 6.0 yards per carry, and Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson are combining to average 18.1 yards per catch. They’re hitting every major note, and they’re beating teams by an average of 37-7. Both the offense and defense outscored Minnesota on Saturday, which is just showing off.

The schedule has obviously been lacking. The Wolverines currently rank 114th in SP+ strength of schedule and will only rise to 63rd looking at the full schedule. But they’ve played against three straight top-50 defenses and averaged 43 points per game, and the three good teams at the end of this year’s schedule — Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State — are a combined 0-6 against the Wolverines over the past two years. They have a track record, which surely eases SOS concerns, right?

Michael Niziolek, Indy Star: Indiana football vs. Michigan: Scouting report, prediction

Rod Carey and Tayven Jackson: Match made in heaven?

Former Indiana offensive coordinator Walt Bell’s struggles as a play caller were hurting Jackson more than anybody. He did very little to take advantage of the quarterback’s mobility and seemed at a loss for how to get him into a rhythm in the passing game. 

The Hoosiers performance in the second half against Louisville seemed like a proof of concept for the offense, but Bell abandoned what worked in that game. 

Jaylin Lucas acted more as a receiver against the Cardinals and had 10 catches on 12 targets, but had five targets combined over the next two weeks and the routes out of the backfield they relied on developed way too slowly. 

Jackson was really effective against Louisville by taking timely deep shots when he saw man coverage down the sideline. He was 3 of 3 with 95 yards and a touchdown on throws of 20-yards or more. He was 2 of 14 and had 80 yards over the next two games on throws in that same range. 

Can Carey put together a more effective game plan? 

He had success throughout his tenure at Northern Illinois with dual-threat quarterbacks and his coaching staff got consistent production out of them in the ground game. Carey called plays in 2012 when Jordan Lynch had 4,953 total yards (1,815 rushing) and 44 touchdowns. 

No one is expecting Jackson to put up numbers like that, but it shows Carey knows how to identify his offense’s strengths and lean on what works. 

Nick Baumgardner, The Athletic: 2024 NFL Draft roundtable: Brock Bowers in the top 5? Which QBs could stay in school?

The loaded 2024 QB class could crowd out a couple of prospects. (There are eight QBs in this week’s poll.) Which quarterback could benefit most from returning to school next season?

I’m old enough to remember when a whole bunch of smart NFL people were convinced C.J. Stroud was going back to Ohio State last winter. Sanders, McCarthy and Ewers all play in situations where they could stay in college and make a lot of money next year — albeit, likely not as much as they could earn in the NFL.

Still, those players have enough talent to be toward the top of any QB draft board, but each also has inconsistencies they need to work on. McCarthy feels more ready than not, and Ewers has a member of the Manning family behind him. Sanders, though, could be a real candidate to return in 2024 — if that’s what he wants.

Austin Meek, The Athletic: Michigan football midseason report: MVP, top newcomer, amazing stats and more

The big picture

This is pretty much the best-case scenario for Michigan after six games. The Wolverines scuffled a bit early in the season but found another gear once Big Ten play arrived and Harbaugh returned from his three-game suspension.

Michigan is remarkably healthy, in part because its starters have had such a light workload. You can nitpick Donovan Edwards’ production or a few coverage busts from the secondary, but realistically, it would be hard to script a better start to the season.

No matter how you slice it, winning every game by four touchdowns or more is better than playing poorly. Will it translate when the Wolverines face better competition? That part is difficult to predict, but Michigan’s consistency is a positive sign. After 22 consecutive regular-season victories, this level of success is nothing if not sustainable.

“Guys are really, apparently, locked in,” Harbaugh said. “You see that in practice and games. I feel like we can keep on that trajectory.”