By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
The #6 Indiana Hoosiers will look do something has not been done since 1967 and that is beat the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The Hoosiers and Wolverines will meet on Saturday in Michigan Stadium also known as the “Big House” at Noon on FOX.
Michigan dominates the all-time series 62-11 and the Hoosiers are 7-41 in Ann Arbor and the last time Indiana won in Ann Arbor was October 21, 1967, when the Hoosiers beat the Wolverines 27-20. Since that meeting Indiana has beat Michigan three times all in Bloomington. The Hoosiers won 14-10 on October 24,1987, 38-21 on November 7, 2020, and 20-15 on November 9, 2024, which was the last time these two programs met on the gridiron.
Indiana’s won in Ann Arbor in. 1928, 1944, 1945, 1954 and 1958. The Hoosiers only win in Bloomington before 1987 came on November 14, 1959, when the Hoosiers beat the Wolverines 26-7. The Hoosiers are an eight and half point favorite coming into this game and will have a massive chip on their shoulders as they head North.
The Hoosiers lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 19-15 last Saturday at sold out Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. Ohio State ended Indiana’s 22 game winning streak and a 19-game home winning streak handing Curt Cignetti just his second regular season loss in three years and his first at home. Ohio State is the only team to beat Cignetti twice and it was the first time in 666 days the Hoosiers lost a football game going to back to 27-17 loss at Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff First Round on December 20, 2024.
Indiana is 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten and still have hopes of making the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row. Indiana had a chance to win at the end of the game when on a fourth down Josh Hoover had Nick Marsh in the end zone and Marsh caught the ball, but his left foot was out of bounds by an inch.
“That is what it is. It’s a game of inches; we will get better Indiana Wide Receiver Charlie Becker said after the Ohio State game. Becker had 9 receptions for 165 yards and Nick Marsh caught three passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Curt Cignetti met with the Media on Monday for his weekly press conference and he said that the final play was not Marsh’s fault. “”We got a lot of guys hurting after this game and that play wasn’t all on Nick. There are three, four things that happened on that play that led to a break down in execution.”
Nico Radicic missed two field goals, and the Hoosiers fumbled the ball twice but the chance to win the game at the end that will be moment fans will remember for a long time and Curt Cignetti believes that his Wide Receiver will be fine moving forward. “Nick will be fine. He played well. He had one or two plays he would like to have back, but he had some pressure on that play in Josh’s face and Josh’s drop wasn’t exactly corrected and then he punt faked it, so he could have gotten out a little quicker but it was definitely a layup.”
Josh Hoover was 20-40 for 296 yards with a one touchdown pass and no interceptions. Through seven games the Hearth, Texas Native has completed 108 of his 169 passes for 1,660 yards with 18 touchdown passes and no Interceptions along with one rushing touchdown.
Running Back Turbo Richard has 643 yards on 87 carries and 6 touchdowns. Lee Beebe Jr. has 575 yards on 107 carries and four touchdowns as the pair has combined for 1,218 yards of the 1,401 yards on the ground and 10 of the 12 touchdowns. Wide Receiver Charlie Becker has 39 receptions for 694 yards, and 8 touchdowns and Nick Marsh has 32 receptions for 585 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Michigan enters the game with a record of 4-2 and 1-2 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines are coming off a 21-18 home win against Penn State. The Wolverines lost at home to Iowa 20-19 on a hail Mary and at Minnesota 20-14. Michigan won the season opener over Western Michigan 13-12 that ended in controversy when an extra second was back on the game clock when the Wolverines were given one last play and won on a hail Mary.
Quaterback Bryce Underwood is 72-124 for 924 yards passing with 5 touchdown passes and 6 interceptions along with 2 rushing touchdowns. Underwood struggled against Penn State going 5-11 for 43 yards and throwing 2 interceptions. Tommy Carr came in and was 5-7 for 47 yards. Carr is the Grandson of former Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr he completed both his passes for 23 yards, and a touchdown pass in the 52-17 win over UTEP on September 19.
Jordan Marshall is the leading rusher with 69 carries for 293 yards and 4 touchdowns. Michigan has run the ball 211 times for 886 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wide Receiver JJ Buchanan has caught 27 passes for 482 yards and 4 touchdowns. Kicker Trey Butkowski is 4-4 on field goals and 16-16 on extra points.
On defense Troy Bowels has 50 total tackles with 25 solo and half a sack along with a fumble recovery. Safety Rod Moore Jr. has an interception. The Wolverines have 15 sacks, 6 interceptions with 2 returned for touchdowns, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham is in first season at Michigan after a 20-year run at the University of Utah with 177-88 record and conference record of 109-70 between the Mountain West, the Pac 12 and the Big 12. Whittingham’s overall record 181-90 and 11-6 in bowl games including 26-24 win over Indiana in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara California. The 66-year-old played Linebacker at BYU from 1978-81.
Indiana has to bounce back after their first loss in 666 days, and Wide Receiver Charlie Becker told the media Tuesday Night the team has moved forward since the loss to Ohio State. “I think after the loss, the guys were just a little pissed off. Anybody would be pissed after losing a game. We’re really just taking it one week at a time. We’re not looking at last week anymore. We’re fully on the mission.” The Misson for Indiana is simple win at Michigan for the first time 1967 and keep their focus on making the College Football Playoff for the third in a row.