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TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
‘M’ ready for new-look Indiana team
Though the Michigan football
team hasn’t lost to Indiana (3-4
Big Ten, 5-5 overall) since 1987,
a win over the
third-ranked
Wolverines
would
mean
more
to
the
Hoosiers
this
week.
Michigan
(6-1,
9-1)
is
in
College
Football Playoff
contention,
and
Indiana
will try to take
advantage
of
the Wolverines while they’re still
reeling from their first loss of the
season.
On top of rebounding from
last
Saturday,
Michigan
also
likely faces a major change on
its offense. Redshirt sophomore
quarterback Wilton Speight has
grown leaps and bounds over the
last nine games, but now reports
say he may not play for the rest
of the regular season. Harbaugh
said the injury is day-to-day, and
if Speight doesn’t take the field
on Saturday, redshirt junior John
O’Korn should do so instead.
Though O’Korn hasn’t started
a game this season, he has played
plenty in garbage time. He also has
over a year of starter experience
from his time at Houston, so there
may not be as much of a decline as
some fans are bracing for.
Running backs coach Tyrone
Wheatley hasn’t noticed much of
a change in practice this week,
with O’Korn and redshirt junior
quarterback Shane
Morris
taking
most of the reps.
“We don’t look
at it as a drop-off,”
Wheatley
said.
“We
don’t
look
at it as anything
different. It’s the
next guy in. Game
normal. We don’t
look at it as, ‘Hey,
now it falls on us.’
To be honest with
you, hell, it always falls on us.
That’s the way I always like to look
at it. It’s nothing different.”
Senior running back De’Veon
Smith told some of his teammates
that they needed the loss and
could grow from it after the
group rushed for just 98 yards and
averaged 2.8 yards per run in their
loss to Iowa.
If the defense is as effective as
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
has praised it to be, then the
Wolverines may see a replay of last
week’s rushing game.
“(Indiana coach Kevin Wilson
is doing) well, really coaching a
good football team,” Harbaugh
said. “Doing a very good job.
The defense is an aggressive,
athletic, fast (group). They create
turnovers,
they
tackle
extremely
well, they cover
a lot of the field
physically. Really
good
defensive
linemen.
Active,
athletic
backers
that cause a lot of
the havoc and very
good players in the
secondary.”
But
Indiana
ranks
55th
in
overall team defense, allowing
156.2 yards per game on the
ground, so the Wolverines will
still have plenty of opportunity to
create space.
On the offensive side of the
ball, the Hoosiers are just one
slot
behind
the
Wolverines
in total offense. This can be
mostly attributed to quarterback
Richard Lagow, who has thrown
for 2,866 yards already this
season. Though he has thrown
13
interceptions,
he
has
a
completion rate of 61 percent.
“They’ve got a good offense,”
said defensive backs coach Brian
Smith. “They have one of the best
receiving corps that we’ve faced so
far. The quarterback’s got a strong
arm. He can throw it deep. He can
make all the throws. Just know
that their tempo and different
things that they do schematically
can pose different problems for
you, so we’ve got our hands full
this week.”
Indiana has its work cut out,
but its fast pace can throw off
opponents. It worked against
Michigan
State,
Rutgers
and
Maryland, but it wasn’t sufficient
against Big Ten powerhouses
Penn State and Ohio State.
The Wolverines will certainly
be occupied on Saturday, but they
should easily be able to escape the
scrappy Hoosiers.
Wolverines may start O’Korn on Saturday against Hoosiers, who also feature new starting quarterback
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Jim Harbaugh’s (top) team prepares to bounce back from its first loss, and it may
start John O’Korn (bottom) at quarterback in place of the injured Wilton Speight.
KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
“They have
one of the best
receiving corps
that we’ve faced.”
Indiana at
Michigan
Matchup:
Indiana 5-5;
Michigan 9-1
When: Saturday
3:30 P.M.
Where:
Michigan
Stadium
TV/Radio: ESPN