BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Michigan continued its late-season surge when it visited Indiana. Michigan beat Indiana 39-14 Saturday.
The Wolverines’ offense has come to life in the last month after a slow start under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, as they have averaged 42 points in wins against 15th-ranked Notre Dame (45-14), Maryland (38-7), and Michigan State (44-10), and hope to keep rolling by knocking off the Hoosiers for the 24th consecutive time in the rivalry.
"What I've seen is tremendous effort by our team and once you get that then you can get everything else," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters. "The team's just been improving and getting better as you can't plant potatoes one day and expect to eat potato salad the next." Indiana made its first appearance in the Top 25 since 1994 before suffering a 34-27 loss to No. 9 Penn State in Week 12. The Hoosiers went toe-to-toe with the Nittany Lions on the road, but couldn't deliver the knockout blow in their bid to upset a Top 10 team for the first time in 32 years, and they hope to get over the disappointment by ending their losing skid against Michigan, which dates back to 1987. "We got to play our best football on Saturday," Indiana coach Tom Allen told reporters. "You go and play a team that's one of the top in the country and then you got to go back and do it again but that's part of being in this conference."
ABOUT MICHIGAN (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten)
Shea Patterson was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after throwing for a career-high 384 yards and four touchdowns in the win against Michigan State to improve to 13-0 at Michigan Stadium. Ronnie Bell hauled in a career-best nine passes for 150 yards against the Spartans, which was the most by a Wolverine player since Amara Darboh finished with 165 on Oct. 29, 2016. Donovan Peoples-Jones caught an 18-yard touchdown pass, which is his second in as many seasons in the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy while Nico Collins added a 22-yard TD grab to take his season total to four.
ABOUT INDIANA (7-3, 4-3)
Peyton Ramsey did an admirable job filling in for the injured Michael Penix Jr. as he threw for a career-high 371 yards and a touchdown to go along with a pair of rushing scores in the loss to Penn State. Wide receiver Whop Philyor, who leads the the Hoosiers in receptions (61) and receiving yards (863), is questionable for Saturday’s clash after suffering a concussion against the Nittany Lions. Ty Fryfogle stepped up in Philyor’s absence as the junior wide receiver caught five passes for 131 yards and a touchdown to register his first 100-yard receiving game while Nick Westbrook needs one yard to move into eighth-place on the program’s all-time receiving yards list.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Michigan has won 10 straight road meetings against Indiana.
2. The last three meetings between the Hoosiers and Wolverines in Bloomington have been decided by seven points.
3. Michigan has gained over 400 yards in four of its last five games.