8A — Friday, November 13, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Fifth-year senior Jake Rudock is coming off his best game of the season.
FOOTBALL
Breakdown: ‘M’ vs. Indiana
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
For most of its season, the
Indiana football team has had to
settle for “close.”
Already
this
season,
the
Hoosiers
(0-5
Big
Ten,
4-5
overall) have lost to then-No. 1
Ohio State by seven points and
then-No. 9 Iowa by eight points.
They trailed then-No. 7 Michigan
State by just five with five minutes
remaining, but couldn’t keep it
together, losing by 26. They were
in every one of those games. They
just couldn’t finish.
So when No. 14 Michigan goes
to Bloomington on Saturday, the
Wolverines will be taking on a
team that’s better than its record
suggests.
Here’s how the Daily breaks
down the upcoming matchup.
Michigan pass offense vs.
Indiana pass defense
Fifth-year senior quarterback
Jake Rudock isn’t the nation’s
most exciting signal-caller, but
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
said Rudock has stepped his
game up lately, even saying he has
resembled an NFL quarterback
this week.
Rudock had a career-high 337
yards against Rutgers, throwing
for two touchdowns and running
for one in his best game of the
season. Indiana has given up the
second-most passing yards per
game in the nation the season,
ahead of only Kansas.
Junior tight end Jake Butt
had a big game last week for
Michigan, racking up 102 yards
on four catches, and is a threat
to replicate those numbers any
given week in Harbaugh’s offense.
Outside of Butt, redshirt junior
wide receivers Amara Darboh and
Jehu Chesson have developed into
reliable targets on any down. Add
in a screen game that continues
to pay big dividends, and the
Wolverines have many weapons
at their disposal.
Edge: Michigan
Michigan rush offense vs.
Indiana rush defense
On
the
surface,
Indiana’s
48th-ranked rush defense doesn’t
look too bad. But that average is
buoyed by games against Florida
International, Western Kentucky
and Wake Forest. Outside of those
games, the Hoosiers have been
susceptible to the ground game.
Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott
rushed for 274 yards and three
touchdowns
against
Indiana.
Rutgers’ Robert Martin ran for
124 yards and three touchdowns.
And Southern Illinois gained 248
yards rushing as a team.
The Hoosiers are giving up 161
yards and two touchdowns on
the ground to ranked teams this
season, which could play well for a
Michigan team that likes to pound
the football and has the weapons
to do so.
Redshirt
junior
running
backs De’Veon Smith and Drake
Johnson provide a speed/power
combo that, if both are healthy,
can keep opposing defenses off
balance.
Unless Indiana can play its
best defensive game of the year,
Michigan should be able to do
what it wants on offense, and that
starts with the running game.
Edge: Michigan
Indiana
pass
offense
vs.
Michigan pass defense
Though
Michigan’s
pass
defense is giving up the third-
fewest yards per game in the
nation, it has been vulnerable
against great quarterbacks this
season. Michigan State’s Connor
Cook and Minnesota’s Mitch
Leidner all threw for big yards
against the Wolverines, and both
would have beaten them had the
Golden Gophers not been stopped
on a last-second goal-line stand.
With that in mind, Michigan
will
need
to
limit
Indiana
quarterback Nate Sudfeld to have
success on Saturday.
Sudfeld has thrown for 2,229
yards through nine games, and
wide receiver Ricky Jones has
totaled 708 receiving yards. That
means junior cornerback Jourdan
Lewis will likely be tasked with
covering Jones, fresh off a week in
which Lewis broke the Michigan
single-season record for pass
breakups.
Lewis has been burned in only
one game this season — when the
Spartans’ Aaron Burbridge caught
nine passes for 132 yards — and
even then, he made his impact felt,
breaking up six passes.
Edge: Michigan
Indiana rush offense vs.
Michigan rush defense
If running back Jordan Howard
can get going, the Hoosiers offense
becomes
quite
intimidating.
Indiana plays the fastest tempo
Michigan will face all year, and
if the Hoosiers can combine their
tempo with a productive run
game, the Wolverines could get
worn out.
Howard has been steady in
nearly every game this season
except against Ohio State, when
he was held to 34 yards on 14
carries,
and
Michigan
State,
when he gained 78 yards on 11
touches. He has gained over 140
yards every other time out, but his
subpar showings against two rush
defenses on Michigan’s level do
not bode well for him going into
Saturday.
Keeping Howard in check
will be a concern all game for
the Wolverines, and it will only
be tougher if redshirt junior
defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow
can’t play. Glasgow’s status is
uncertain after being in a sling
this week, and if he can’t go,
Michigan’s depth at the position
could become a problem.
Still, the Wolverines have the
nation’s No. 3 rush defense, and
they should be plenty capable
of staying tough, even without
Glasgow.
Edge: Michigan
Special teams
Behind new special teams
coach John Baxter, Michigan
has turned its special teams into
one of the nation’s best units.
Chesson has already returned
one kick for a touchdown, and
redshirt freshman safety Jabrill
Peppers has been close on
numerous punts and kicks. It
feels like the Wolverines could
break a big play on special teams
at any time.
Michigan
and
Indiana’s
punting units are separated by just
0.1 yards per punt, but Indiana’s
Griffin Oakes gives the Hoosiers
a slight edge in the kicking game,
hitting 12 of 14 on the season.
Still, Michigan is ranked first
in the country in special teams
efficiency, and Indiana is 79th.
That should tell you all you need
to know.
Edge: Michigan
Intangibles
The Hoosiers are talented
enough to knock off any team in
the conference, and the fact that
they’ve fallen short so many times
could boost their motivation
against
their
final
ranked
opponent this season.
Harbaugh
has
had
the
Wolverines prepared for every
game so far this season, but if
Indiana can finally put it all
together, the Hoosiers could be a
big problem.
Edge: Indiana
Prediction:
Michigan
34,
Indiana 20
Indiana trip opens
final stretch of year
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
The doldrums of the college
football season are a thing of the
past. The final three weeks of
the schedule typically represent
a time of chaos, rankings turned
upside down and upsets left and
right.
The
No.
14
Michigan
football
team,
as
evidenced
by last-second
finishes against
Michigan State
and Minnesota,
has
already
endured
its
share of drama
this
season.
Now,
with
two
games
remaining
before
that
big
one
on
Thanksgiving
weekend,
the
Wolverines will be tasked with
staying on par for the course.
First up for Michigan is Indiana
(0-5 Big Ten, 4-5 overall). The
Hoosiers, despite their lackluster
conference
record,
have
presented a challenge to some
of their most difficult Big Ten
opponents this season. Indiana
took No. 3 Ohio State down to the
wire, falling by just seven points.
The Hoosiers also hung with No.
13 Michigan State well into the
second half last month before the
Spartans turned the game into a
blowout late in the fourth quarter.
Indiana is largely a threat to the
Wolverines because of its offense.
The Hoosiers have accumulated
the second-most yards and fifth-
most points of any team in the Big
Ten this season, hardly statistics
for a cellar dweller. The Hoosiers
have scored fewer than 26 points
on only one occasion this season,
when Penn State limited them to
just seven on Oct. 10.
Though Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh said Monday that he
would make sure his team was
aware of the larger implications
of the final three games of the
season, his players feel as though
Indiana is enough of a challenge
to keep them from worrying
about conference championships
and the slim possibility of a
playoff berth just yet.
“Everything boils down to this
game,” said redshirt sophomore
defensive tackle Maurice Hurst
on Tuesday. “We can’t focus on
what’s up next, especially when
we’re playing a team like Indiana
that’s scored on everybody.”
The
Hoosiers’
defense,
however, hasn’t lived up to its end
of the bargain. The unit is last
in the Big Ten in points (37) and
yards (504) allowed per game.
Indiana’s
porous
defense
will give Michigan’s offense the
opportunity to build off of its
performance
against
Rutgers
in which it compiled 487 yards.
Fifth-year
senior
quarterback
Jake Rudock played his best game
of the season, completing 18 of his
25 passes for 337 yards and two
touchdowns.
Rudock’s performance inspired
high praise from Harbaugh.
“He even looked like an NFL-
type quarterback,” Harbaugh said
Monday. “You know, somebody
who would have a future playing
in that league.”
This is a welcome development
for the Wolverines, particularly
after Rudock struggled from
bouts with turnovers early in
the season. A second straight
good
performance
against
Indiana would inspire further
confidence as Michigan heads
into the home stretch.
A win against the Hoosiers
would keep the Wolverines alive
in the Big Ten race. Then comes
another road game at Penn State,
a place where Michigan has had
some trouble in recent memory.
And then, if things hold to form and
the Buckeyes defeat the Spartans
next weekend, the Wolverines
will play their chief rival for the
division title on Nov. 28.
But things rarely tend to work
out as planned toward the end
of the college football season.
Michigan will look to take care of
its part Saturday.
Michigan
at Indiana
Matchup:
Indiana 4-5;
Michigan 7-2
When:
Saturday
3:30 P.M.
Where:
Memorial
Stadium
TV/Radio:
ABC
What to Watch For Saturday
‘M’ prepares to face
Indiana’s up-tempo
offense in fourth
road game of 2015
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
The home stretch of the season
has arrived, and the Michigan
football
team’s
goals
are
suddenly within reach. The Nov.
28 rivalry game against Ohio
State looms larger than ever, but
first the Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten,
7-2 overall) must take care of
business on the road.
They play at Indiana (0-5, 4-5)
on Saturday and at Penn State
next weekend. The first test in
Bloomington could be tricky,
considering the Hoosiers have
the offense to pile up points
against anybody, even on a five-
game losing streak.
Indiana has been on the brink
of an upset multiple times this
season, but historically, upsets
have not come against Michigan
for the Hoosiers. The Wolverines
own the all-time series, 54-9,
and have won 17 straight dating
back to 1988. Even during their
lean years in 2009 and 2010, they
escaped with 36-33 and 42-35
wins, respectively.
But once again, a victory on
the road is no sure bet. With a few
unknowns remaining, there will
be plenty to watch for Saturday.
Here are a few highlights.
1. Tempo, tempo, tempo.
Indiana
may
not
be
the
toughest test Michigan’s defense
will face this season, but it will be
unique. The Hoosiers’ no-huddle
attack runs 2.73 plays per minute,
ranking 17th in the nation. The
Wolverines have not seen an
up-tempo offense since their
first two games against Utah and
Oregon State.
To
make
matters
more
complicated,
redshirt
junior
defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow
left last Saturday’s game with
a shoulder injury and had his
arm in a sling this week. If he
can’t play Saturday, redshirt
sophomore Maurice Hurst is
the only nose tackle left on the
depth chart. The Wolverines
rotate often on the defensive
line, so that could mean a bigger
workload for redshirt juniors
Matt Godin, Chris Wormley or
Willie Henry.
On offense, Indiana has enough
weapons to spread the field and
test Michigan’s defense. Nate
Sudfeld, a third-year starter at
quarterback, is healthy and has
averaged 278.6 yards in eight
games. Running back Jordan
Howard, who missed two games
earlier in the season, has rushed
for 961 yards at 6.1 yards per carry.
No
team
will
run
the
Wolverines’ stout defense off the
field, but the Hoosiers could at
least make things interesting.
2. How does Michigan look on
the road?
The Wolverines’ results away
from home have run the gamut.
They opened the season with
a sluggish, three-turnover loss
at Utah. They dominated an
outmatched
Maryland
team
four weeks later, 28-0. And they
escaped with a hard-fought 29-26
win over Minnesota two weeks
ago in the most tightly contested
of the three.
The
matchup
with
Ohio
State on Nov. 28 only matters if
Michigan can remain unscathed
until then. Though Bloomington
doesn’t fit on the same level as
the top schools in the Big Ten
when it comes to hostile road
environments, the Wolverines
must be wary. And they must
make another trip to Penn State
next week.
The Hoosiers have lost five in
a row, but they have been within
one possession of a top-10 team in
two of them.
3. Where on the field is Jabrill
Peppers?
The
hype
surrounding
Michigan’s redshirt freshman
safety has only increased as the
season has gone on and Peppers
has played more roles. In the
past three games, he has made
an impact in all three phases,
and he now ranks third on the
team with 470 all-purpose yards
despite spending most of his time
on defense.
Last week, the coaches rolled
back Peppers’ workload for the
first time this season, putting
junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis
on the kick return team in his
place. He also sustained a thigh
contusion last Friday on a collision
in practice. Lately, Peppers’ snap
count has risen, and against
Indiana’s up-tempo offense, that
might be tough to sustain. How
much rest the Wolverines give
him remains to be seen.
4. Can Jake Rudock keep
making strides?
The
fifth-year
senior
quarterback’s
teammates
and coaches have been vocal
all
season
about
Rudock’s
improvement, but the praise was
louder than ever after Rudock’s
career-high 337 passing yards
against Rutgers last week.
Michigan’s defense has played
the biggest role in the team’s
success this season, but Rudock
will be counted on most during
the final three games. If Saturday
turns into a shootout, he may
have to air the ball out. Indiana’s
pass defense ranks 126th in the
country and has allowed an
average of 339 yards over the past
three games. If Rudock carries
over last week’s success into this
week’s game, the Wolverines will
be tough to beat.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Redshirt junior defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow is questionable for Saturday’s game with an injured shoulder.