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