BLOOMINGTON 
— 
Before 

Indiana even left its locker room, 
they were celebrating here.

The students weren’t allowed 

into Memorial Stadium, but they 
showed up in the parking lot to 
sing their fight song, to chant “We 
Want Bama,” and to serenade 
Michigan goodbye. Here, on a 
night where a 24-game losing 
streak was snapped, there will be 
COVID-19 safety protocols broken 
and memories made.

The Wolverines will be left to a 

long, silent trip back to Ann Arbor 
and a handy 38-21 beating at the 
hands of Indiana (3-0), a school it 
has dominated for three decades, 
to reflect on. 

“You 
push 
forward, 
with 

toughness,” Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh said. “Every single 
guy here, every single player 
here, every single coach here 
has experienced that in their life 
where they’ve taken the adverse 
and turning it into an advantage.”

But after a week filled with 

cliches and insistence that the 
Wolverines (1-2) would bounce 
back from their loss to Michigan 
State, they came out flat, and 
now stare down the possibility 
of a calamitous season. It is their 
second straight loss, both as 
favorites, both games in which 
Don Brown’s defense seemed 
overmatched and unequipped to 
deal with a better, faster offense. 
And it was evident from the jump.

In the first half alone, Indiana 

completed drives of 74, 75 and 96 
yards for touchdowns. All featured 
Michigan 
repeatedly 
jumping 

offside when the Wolverines tried 
to time the snap count, handing 
Hoosier 
quarterback 
Michael 

Penix Jr. free plays, two of which 
resulted in touchdown passes. All 
featured the defensive backs that 
got beat in coverage by the likes of 
Ricky White last week struggling 
to keep up with Ty Fryfogle and 
Whop Philyor. None featured a 
sack. Michigan’s defense has now 
gone two games without one, 
and saw star defensive end Aidan 
Hutchinson leave Saturday’s game 
in the first quarter.

Asked 
about 
the 
team’s 

struggles, 
particularly 
in 
the 

secondary, 
Harbaugh 
said 
it 

was about players trusting their 
technique and ability — what he 
at one point called their “innate 
greatness” 
— 
so 
that 
strong 

performances in practice would 
translate to the games. 

“Third downs we had many 

opportunities to get off the field,” 
sophomore safety Daxton Hill 
said. 
“Penalties, 
lackadaisical 

things, we do need to fix those and 
play the ball a lot better.”

The 
offensive 
side 
wasn’t 

blameless 
either. 
Junior 

quarterback Joe Milton finished 
18-of-34 for 344 yards and was 
lucky not to have thrown more 
than 
his 
two 
interceptions. 

Michigan ran for all of 13 yards. 
An offensive line that was missing 
two starters in tackles Ryan Hayes 
and Jalen Mayfield struggled all 
day, particularly in the run game. 
The Wolverines repeatedly put 
themselves into third-and-longs, 
then struggled to convert.

And 
when 
Michigan 
most 

needed Milton to step up, the 
deficit at 10 early in the fourth 
quarter and the defense having 

finally gotten a stop, he threw 
an ugly interception to Indiana’s 
Jaylin Williams. “Every snap he 
takes … he’s getting a lot put on 
him,” Harbaugh said. “Playing 
from behind and having to play in 
those kinds of situations.”

Nobody 
labored 
under 
the 

illusion 
that 
beating 
Indiana 

would be easy this year. Still, that 
does little to brace the impact of 
this.

Asked about the mood of the 

team, receiver Cornelius Johnson 
— the only offensive player to speak 
on Saturday — took a long pause. 
“I don’t really feel like answering 
that question right now, if that’s 
OK with you,” he finally said.

Brown, in particular, will be 

under pressure to turn things 
around after Saturday. Since 2018’s 
62-39 loss at Ohio State, there have 
been whispers about his ability to 
ready his defense for big games. 
Now, there will be shouts about his 
ability to ready his defense, period.

“Yeah, I do, very much so,” 

Harbaugh said when asked if he 
had confidence in his defensive 
coordinator. “I love all of our 
coaches. Every coach on this staff. 

They work extremely hard. Their 
schemes are really good. And they 
coach them good.”

Finding positives to harp on will 

be laborious for the coaching staff. 
The Hoosiers scored 38 points and 
gained 460 yards from scrimmage.

After Michigan opened the 

second half with a composed 
scoring drive to cut the deficit 
to 10, the defense kept itself on 
the field by committing pass 
interference on third down. Then 
it left Indiana’s Jacolby Hewitt 
open for a 32-yard catch, setting up 
running back Stevie Scott to punch 
in a touchdown from a yard out.

That was the first of two second-

half touchdowns for Scott. The 
next came after Milton’s second 
interception, when Michigan had 
a chance to make it a one-score 
game.

After 
completing 
the 

processionary 
eight 
minutes 

and 40 seconds of football that 
followed, 
the 
Wolverines 
left 

Memorial Stadium with their 
heads hung, leaving behind a town 
in celebration and looking toward 
a season in desperate need of a 
turnaround.

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF INDIANA ATHLETICS

18 — Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

