a r r'". v w W- U, 9 Parents' Weekend: Where there is an abundance of food, a plethora of drunk middle-aged tailgaters trying to stumble back toward the glory days and way too many people who forgot how to drive a car in a college town. Hope everyone is ready for things to get real weird. Everett Cook, Zach Helfand, Matt Slovin and Liz Vukelich. TABLE OF CONTENTS This is the page where you chuckle (or giggle) and mock Everett for how bad he's doing in Staff Picks. See where Michigan's advantages lie in this week's breakdown. Here's a hint: Sat- urday is going to be a shootout. Devin Funchess is evolving into a wide reciev- er before our eyes, but that process might have started before he ever put on a winged helmet. Cover photo by Adam Glanzman 2013 Schedule Central Michigan (Aug. 31): Michigan beat the Chippewas by their largest opening-day margin since 1905. Notre Dame (Sept. 7): Eminem is still in the ESPN booth, wondering where he is and where all the people went. Akron (Sept.14): Unfortunately, Akron is chick- ening out of this great rivalry after this year's game. Connecticut (Sept. 21): UConn lost to Buffalo. Buffalo. Bufflalo. But almost beat Michigan. Buffalo. Minnesota (Oct. 5): Against Michigan last year. Minnesota promoted epilepsy awareness. For information, visit: epilepsyfoundationmn.org. Penn State (Oct. 12): Unhappy Valley! Crappy Valley! Funny play on words! -I Am Indiana (Oct.19): When is the last time anyone in Ann Arbor felt this uneasy about Indiana? Indiana! Michigan State (Nov. 2): Michigan State's defense is really good. Michigan State's offense is really not. Nebraska (Nov. 9): The problem with Nebraska fans is they're much too nice to hate. Unless, of course, the 'Huskers win again this year. Northwestern (Nov.16): Nice kitty. Iowa (Nov. 23): Vodka Sam! Ohio State (Nov. 30): The Game is past its peak -- the rapper, that is. Breakdown: Indiana FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @MICHIGANDAILY IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL By EVERETT COOK Daily SportsEditor Michigan pass offense vs. Indi- ana pass defense As always, Michigan's offense lives and dies with redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner. He's going to make spectacular plays and get his yards, but if he turns the ball over as much as he has been, the final score is going to be a lot closer than it should be. If Gardner can keep the ball out of the Hoosiers's hands, the player to watch is sophomore tight end Devin Funchess. The decision that offensive coordinator Al Borges made to move Funchess into more of a wide receiver role has really paid off - Funchess has 11 receptions for 263 yards and three touch- downs in his last two games. Indiana's secondary has an issue with finishing tackles and plays mostly a man-to-man defensive scheme, so the 6-foot-5 Funchess should have a field day if the Hoosiers's secondary can't wrap him up. While underrated, Indiana's secondary shouldn't be able to stop Gardner, Funchess and Co., unless Gardner is handing the ball over. Advantage: Michigan Michigan rush offense vs. Indi- ana rush defense Other than Gardner, this hasn't been a bright spot for Michigan. Fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint is averaging just 3.4 yards a carry and was bot- tled up in Happy Valley, rushing 27 times for 27 yards. Most of the woes can be blamed on the offensive line, which has been an utter disappointment so far, so much so that a player Hoke recruited as a left tackle, redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson, could be in the mix at left guard this weekend. While highly recruited, Magnuson also weighs 285 pounds and doesn't have the mobility of a typical guard. In better news, Hoke said that his All-American left tackle, fifth- year senior Taylor Lewan, will be playing this weekend after sitting out the second half in State Col- lege, which should help Michi- gan's ground attack. This also isn't a juggernaut defensive line - Michigan State ran for 238 yards against Indiana last week and is allowing 4.6 yards per carry this season. So if Borges does what he said he would do this week with Gard- ner - which was run his quarter- back as much as he could in order to win the game - Gardner will have a big day on the ground. And as we've seen with this Michigan team, if Gardner has a good game on the ground, it doesn't really matter what the running backs are doing. His good performance will mean a good game for the rushing offense in general. Advantage: Michigan Indiana pass offense vs. Michi- gan pass defense Indiana's offense is almost the exact opposite of Michigan's. The Hoosiers rely on two quarter- backs, Nate Sudfeld and Tre Rob- erson, and the offense runs almost entirely from the spread. Sudfeld - who is projected as the starter on Saturday - is the more tradi- tional passer, while Roberson has just four more passing attempts than rushing attempts on the season. He plays mostly in short- yardage and goal-line situations, so in terms of the secondary, Sud- feld is the man to focus on. Sudfeld has had a very steady year, completing almost 62 per- cent of his throws, though-his interception-to-touchdown ratio (6:13) is high. Indiana has a complementary group of wideouts, six of whom have more than 10 catches on the year (for comparison, Michi- gan has two). The Hoosiers also have one of the biggest downfield threats in the Big Ten in wide receiver Cody Latimer, who is averaging more than 15 yards per reception. This is a sneakily underrated offense that has scored less than 40 points in a game just twice this season and put up 44 points on Penn State and 28 points on Michigan State. Defensive coor- dinator Greg Mattison is going to No.3clemson(+3)vsNo.5FlordiaState No.4 Ohio State (-17) vs lowa No.6LSU(-8.5)at Mississippi No.7 TexasA&M(-13)vs No.24TAuburn No.8 Louisvlle -14)vs centralFlorida No.9 UCLA (+6) at No.13 Stanfordd No.10Miami(FI)(-9)atNorthsCarolina No.14 Missouri (+3) vs N5.22 Fordia FaiaMas~ No.16 Texas Tech (-6)vat West irginia No.17 FresnoState (-25)vs UNLv va No.18 Oklahoma(-23)at Kansas No.20washington(+3)atArizonaSattate No.21 Oklahoma Statea(-7.5)vs TcU No.23 NorthernIllinois(-6)at centralMichigan No.25 Wisconsin -4)at llinois Northwestern(-12.s)vsMinnesota Michigan State (-27)vs Purdue Michigan (-10) vs Indiana Overall Clemson Ohio State LSU Texas A&M Central Florida Stanford Miami South Carolina Baylor Florida Georgia Texas Tech UNLV Oklahoma Washington Oklahoma State Northern Illinois Wisconsin Northwestern Purdue Michigan 90-70 Florida State Ohio State Mississippi Texas A&M Louisville Stanford Miami South Carolina Baylor Florida Georgia Texas Tech UNLV Oklahoma Washington Oklahoma State Northern Illinois Wisconsin i Northwestern Purdue Indiana 81-79 Florida State Ohio State LSU Texas A&M Central Florida UCLA Miami South Carolina Baylor Missouri Georgia Texas Tech UNLV Oklahoma Arizona State Oklahoma State Northern Illinois Wisconsin Minnesota Purdue Indiana 101-59 Florida State Ohio State LSU Texas A&M Central Florida Stanford Miami Tennessee Iowa State Missouri Georgia Texas Tech Fresno State Oklahoma Arizona State Oklahoma State Northern Illinois Illinois Minnesota Michigan State Indiana 87-73 Oregon Florida State Ohio State LSU Texas A&M Louisvitle Stanford Miami Baylor Florida Gaorgia Texas Tech UNLV Oklahoma washington Oklahoma State Northern Iltinois Wisconsin Northwestern Purdue Michigan TERRA MOLENGRAFF/Daily Michigan coach Brady Hoke has many tough decisions to make on Saturday, including how to counter Indiana's up-tempo attack. have his hands full against a team defensive line handle a completely Across the board, Indiana's that forces defenses to stay disci- mobile quarterback? special teams are pretty average. plined, something the Wolverines Along with Roberson, Indiana It's attempted three field goals have struggled with this year. also has a main running back, on the year and is averaging a Advantage: Indiana Tevin Coleman, who has already little more than 17 yards per kick Indiana rush offense vs. Michi- rushed for 557 yards and eight return, around 40 yards per punt gan rush defense touchdowns while averaging more and more than 15 yards per punt than six yards per carry. return. Solid, if not unspectacular. Defensively, this is going to be On the year, opponents are Advantage: Michigan an interesting matchup for Michi- averaging less than three yards Intangibles gan. Against Penn State, the Wol- per carry against Michigan, and verines struggled greatly against a Indiana's offensive line has strug- Indiana hasn't beaten Michigan hurry-up offense that didn't allow gled at times, particularly last since 1987, and not in Ann Arbor for the mass defense rotation that week against Michigan State. since 1967. Read that sentence Mattison likes to employ. But Michigan hasn't had an again. And if that hurry-up burned opponent with this many ground It's impossible to tell how Mich- Michigan several times last week, threats this season or for that mat- igan is going to respond to a heart- it's only going to be exasperated ter, a team that likessto hurry it up breaking loss in Happy Valley. The against an Indiana team with the as much as the Hoosiers do. How Wolverines have weathered bad type of tempo that the Wolverines Mattison and the defense reacts performances this season (Akron, haven't faced all year and with the could decide this game. Connecticut) but had stayed scot- type of running quarterback they Advantage: Indiana free until last weekend. Before the haven't seen all year. Michigan's constant defensive Special teams line rotation is going to be slowed on Saturday. If Mattison isn't able Fifth-year sen to cycle through fresh bodies as dan Gibbons is g usual, the Wolverines on the field for his follies i are going to tire out faster than where he missed usual. end of regulation Plus, we've seen how Michigan time, all three t struggles against semi-mobile Gibbons is going quarterbacks (Minnesota comes misstep shouldn' to mind), so how will a tired reputation. ior kicker Bren- oing to take flack n State College, a field goal at the and two in over- o win the game. g to be fine. One I destroy his solid season, this game was seen as a pushover for Michigan, an auto- matic 'W' to pencil in. Now? It's not so clear. This might be the most scared Michi- gan fans have been about a three- loss Indiana team in a very, very long time. Advantage: Push Prediction: Michigan 38, Indiana 34 I I II5 I I8-7 2 tFootballSaturday - October 19, 2013 3 1 FootballSaturday - October 19, 2013