JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Editor

B

LOOMINGTON — Trap 
game is a term that 
gets tossed around a lot 
in college football. In a sport 
where one or two losses define 
the season for the upper echelon 
of teams, it can be detrimental 
to overlook certain opponents 
for more tantalizing matchups 
that loom beyond.
It’s 
difficult 
to 
pinpoint 
exactly what defines a matchup 
as a trap game. But for the No. 
4 Michigan football team, a 
bout with a middling Indiana 
squad — sandwiched between 
its resounding win at Kinnick 
stadium and its upcoming top-
10 
showdown 
against 
Penn 
State — had the chance to fit 
that billing. 
The Wolverines (6-0 overall, 
3-0 Big Ten) struggled in the 
first half, but ultimately used 
a strong final 30 minutes to 
escape a sound effort from the 
Hoosiers (3-3, 1-2) with a win, 
31-10. 
“We felt like we could move 
the ball on them the whole 
game, especially the first half, 
but it just wasn’t clicking,” 
sophomore 
quarterback 
J.J. 
McCarthy said. “We weren’t in 
a rhythm. And once we got into 

a rhythm in the second half, it 
was over.”
On 
the 
opening 
drive, 
Michigan 
appeared 
poised 
to keep the trap door sealed 
shut, marching right down for 
a touchdown punctuated by a 
50-yard 
zigzagging 
scamper 
from junior running back Blake 
Corum. 
But as trap games go, it was 
never going to remain that 
simple.
Adversity first struck off the 
field, when Michigan running 
backs coach Mike Hart suffered 
a seizure on the sidelines and 
had to be taken to the hospital. 
Fortunately, 
at 
halftime 
Hart was reported to be in 
good spirits; after the game, 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
confirmed that Hart is stable. 
On the field, the Wolverines 
looked rattled — and costly 
penalties 
and 
a 
stagnating 

offense kept the Hoosiers afloat. 
Indiana began to take the fight 
to Michigan, exploiting its soft 
secondary with outside throws 

and tying the game up at 10 
early in the second quarter. 
The remainder of the first 
half turned ugly, punctuated 
by an exchange of blocked field 
goals. 
The Wolverines, a team that 
has preached a blue collar work 
ethic and operated with 
machine-like efficiency 
all year, appeared to 
have a few screws 
loose. 
Fitting 
the 
overall 
discombobulated 
nature of the half, 
the 
usually 
reliable 
Corum was stuffed for 
a turnover on downs on 
fourth-and-inches in Indiana 
territory with less than a 
minute remaining. 
Michigan jogged off the field 
still tied, a situation that seemed 
improbable after a dominant 
opening drive. But inside the 

locker room, there was no panic 
about the sluggish start. 
“There wasn’t (any) ‘deer in 
the headlights’ or concern,” 
graduate 
wide 
receiver 
Ronnie Bell said. “It was just 
like, ‘Alright, this is what’s 
happened. This is what we gotta 
do.’ And I feel like the offense 
did a good job of just attacking 
it like that.”
Whether the second half 
would tell a similarly chagrined 

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

Regardless of what elements 
define a trap game, getting a 
win is ultimately what 
matters most.

tale was immediately put to 
the test: The Hoosiers pinned 
the Wolverines on their own 
2-yard-line to open the second 
half. 
Then, the resolve Michigan 
had hopelessly searched for 
in the first half finally shined 
through. McCarthy dissected 
the Indiana defense, dotting the 
ball up the field and culminating 
an 11-play, 98-yard drive with 
a touchdown to junior wide 
receiver Cornelius Johnson. 
“That was probably the 
most exciting drive of the 
game,” Bell said. “We 
communicated 
that this was a 
chance to 
make 

a 
statement. 
We knew we 
could 
move 
the 
ball, we knew we could 
score. And I think everybody 
answered the bell just right. We 
drove right down the field and 
scored.”
The offense answered the 
bell a couple more times in the 
second half, stringing together 
two more touchdown drives. 
With the Hoosiers successfully 
plugging up the run, McCarthy 
flaunted his abilities through 
the air — finishing 28-36 for 304 
yards and three touchdowns. 
But a stellar passing day 
didn’t 
remove 
all 
concern 
about the Wolverines’ offense. 
As the game ebbed into the 
fourth quarter, they only clung 
to a meager seven-point lead. 
Indiana didn’t look threatening, 

MICHIGAN 31 | INDIANA 10
MICHIGAN 31 | INDIANA 10

LATE
BLOOM
BLOOMER

Michigan struggles early, ultimately pulls away against Indiana

but Michigan’s own ineptitude 
— 
including 
a 
McCarthy 
interception, 
offensive 
penalties and uninspiring play 
calling — kept the chances for 
an upset in play. 
It wasn’t until senior tight 
end Luke Schoonmaker found 
the end zone with under 10 
minutes remaining to extend 
the lead to 14 that all doubt 
clouding the game could be 
removed. 

Much of the success was 
attributed 
to 
the 
defense, 
which played arguably its most 
complete half of the season. 
The unit displayed a suffocating 
fortitude, pitching a shutout 
and piling up four sacks. 
“In the first half they hit 
a couple of big plays,” junior 
edge 
rusher 
Jaylen 
Harrell 
said. “We just changed a couple 
things, made some halftime 
adjustments, listened to our 
coaches and did what we had to 
do in the second half.”
The Wolverines looked out of 
sorts much of the day, making 
routine plays look difficult and 
letting a mediocre opponent 
hang around. But in the second 
half, Michigan toughened up 
and pulled out a win.
And 
regardless 
of what elements 
define 
a 
trap 
game, getting a 
win is ultimately 
what 
matters 
most.

SARAH BOEKE/Daily | Design by Lys Goldman

