IU Tests No. 4 Host Michigan, Stays On-Mission

Saturday, November 17

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4 p.m.

Indiana University

5-6 , 2-6

Michigan

10-1 , 8-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Indiana

Michigan

11/17/2018 11:22:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – "Let the whole country see who we are! Together! Today! We're going to attack them for 60 minutes! From the start to the finish! Attack, attack, attack!"

That was Indiana football coach Tom Allen addressing his Hoosiers in the pre-game locker room Saturday at Michigan.

His Hoosiers heeded him. Pretty much to the hilt. Pretty much all day.

IU got or retook the lead three times in the first half – taking a 17-15 edge into intermission against the No. 4-ranked Wolverines – and was within one score midway through the fourth quarter before ultimately falling, 31-20.

Allen's post-game assessment on the IU Radio Network:

"A ton of disappointment right now (but the) kids played their hearts out. Man, played hard. Tough. One-possession game there in the fourth quarter.

"Tough place to play. Haven't won up here in 50 years. Bottom line is I love this team. I love our guys, and they battled today."

They did, indeed, in a way few recent Wolverine opponents had done. Michigan, winner of 10 straight, had clocked its five previous foes by an average 37-11 score (including a 42-7 waxing of Penn State in its previous outing at Michigan Stadium).

Michigan's defense entered allowing foes just 219.8 yards per game, best in the nation. Indiana gained 385. Michigan had allowed just 103.8 yards rushing per game, but surrendered 190 to the Hoosiers. U-M, also No. 1 nationally in pass defense coming in (116.0), gave up 195 Saturday.

The Wolverines hadn't allowed more than 10 completions in five straight games before redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey posted 16.

And while Michigan eventually amassed 507 yards total offense, Indiana's defense was stalwart in the red zone for a second straight week. The Wolverines were compelled to kick six field goals (in six tries without a miss, a
NCAA freshman record for Michigan's Jake Moody).

"We were a little more aggressive this week in our (defensive) calls, and some of the structural stuff that we did, but the objective is not to give up touchdowns," Allen said. "We've improved tremendously in red zone defense."

That tone was set immediately.

Indiana's defense bent but didn't break on the game's first series, relegating Michigan to a 32-yard Moody field goal. And on the second Wolverine possession, IU didn't bend at all, forcing a 3-and-out.

IU's first possession was foiled on a tipped interception after Ramsey had pulled a Houdini act to keep the drive alive by turning what initially appeared a 3rd-and-7 sack into a 15-yard scramble.

Nothing stopped Indiana on its second series as it ripped off 80 yards in just six snaps.

True freshman back Stevie Scott – destined to tie and set school freshman rushing records this day – roared off left tackle for 35 yards and, two plays later from the Michigan 42, Ramsey came up with a great, shifty scramble for 29 yards to convert a 3rd-and-11.

Scott scored the TD untouched from the 13 right up the middle on the next snap and IU led, 7-3, at 4:14 of the first. The blocking was tremendous on the TD play and on the drive as a whole.

IU took that lead into the second quarter when the Hoosier defense again proved stingy under its own goal posts and Moody booted his second field goal to draw Michigan within 7-6 with 14:55 left in the half.

Another Moody field goal, this one from 31, gave the Wolverines the lead back at the 9:59 mark. But Michigan was just 1-of-6 on third-down conversions at that juncture.

A great throw and catch from Ramsey to Luke Timian set up an IU field goal as Logan Justus connected from 41 yards. That flipped the lead again, making it 10-9, Indiana, at 7:39 of the second.

Michigan finally found the end zone as tight end Nick Eubanks got wide open over the middle for a 41-yard TD pass from Shea Patterson, but the Wolverines' attempt for a 2-point conversion fell incomplete, leaving the U-M lead at 15-10 with 4:46 left in the half.

Indiana responded with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown march fueled by a clutch Ramsey scramble to convert a third down and a 42-yard bomb down the sideline to Nick Westbrook to set up a 1st and goal.

Two snaps later, Ramsey found Ty Fryfogle on a back-shoulder throw, and Fryfogle made a fine grab to make it 17-15, Hoosiers, at the 1:33 mark.

Michigan had enough time to drive and create a 1st-and-goal of its own, only to be denied by a "monster" play.

The Wolverines ate up clock with runs inside the 10, then found tight end Sean McKeon in the flat with a pass only to see IU true freshman safety Devon "Monster" Matthews rocket in to blast McKeon to the turf at the 2.

Time expired before the ball could be reset for another play and the Hoosiers were ahead at halftime.

Indiana trailed slightly in total yards at that point, 276-249, but the Hoosiers had already amassed 144 yards rushing on 22 carries (6.5).

"They're very physical and fast, but we were able to run it effectively," Allen said. "You always want to run it more effectively, but Stevie (Scott) had some big runs and the offensive line did some good things.

"So that's a huge testament to our offense. That's a great (Michigan) defense, now. I had to temper it a little bit when I talked about it, pre-game, but that's as good a defense as I've seen in a long time.

"They just smother people. Nobody has moved the ball on them hardly at all, or scored many points on them. So, yeah, our offense did some great things, and those windows (of opportunity) are really, really small."

And those windows closed almost completely for most of the third quarter.

The first two IU possessions after halftime were 3-and-outs, and the third ended on a lost fumble by Scott.

Michigan, meantime, regained the lead – for good, as it turned out – as Karan Higdon scored from the 2 with 9:44 left in the third. And after a big hit by IU true freshman linebacker James Miller stalled the next Wolverine drive,
Moody connected from 25 to make it 25-17, Wolverine, at 2:08 of the third.

When Moody's fifth field goal made it a two-score game with 9:55 to play, 28-17, it was imperative that the IU offense answer, and it did.

A 22-yard crossing-pattern completion to Reese Taylor helped set up a 36-yard Justus field goal that pulled Indiana back within 28-20 with 6:10 left.

By that time, Ramsey had run five times to convert third downs into first downs in the game, and Scott had exceeded 100 yards rushing for the fifth time this season.

That tied Scott with Hall of Famer Anthony Thompson for most 100-yard games by a true freshman at Indiana, and Scott has now broken Mike Harkrader's true freshman school season rushing record with 1,033 yards.

"Not surprising, man," Allen said of Scott's marks. "Heck of a season for him. Against this defense, to rush for over 100 yards, is a great testament to our offensive line.

"Stevie is going to be a really good player for us. Really proud of the guy."

And the Hoosiers played with pride to the end, holding the Wolverines out of the end zone one last time as Moody booted his sixth field goal with 2:37 left for the final margin.

So, Saturday, the country saw an Indiana team willing and able to go toe-to-toe for the duration with a nationally elite foe – a team presently listed to get one of only four berths to the College Football Playoff.

The country and IU fans have seen that before.

What the country and Hoosier fans didn't see last year was Indiana come up big against in-state rival Purdue to secure a bowl bid.

That is what is on the line again this Saturday, when the Hoosiers host the Boilermakers for a noon kickoff, as both teams enter 5-6.

That and a certain Bucket.

"Even in our post-game challenge, when I talked to our boys from the heart, I quickly moved on to Purdue," Allen said. "We know what's at stake, what's on the line.

"We're on a mission."