How to Watch Indiana's Matchup Against Michigan on Saturday
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's most daunting opponent comes to Bloomington on Saturday for a Noon ET kickoff at Memorial Stadium.
No. 4 Michigan lost Heisman finalist Aidan Hutchinson to the NFL and has a new quarterback under center, but the Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh are off to a 5-0 start after last year's College Football Playoff berth.
Indiana started the season with three wins, but the Hoosiers dropped consecutive road games at Cincinnati and Nebraska. With full Big Ten East slate and the Old Oaken Bucket, a difficult road lies ahead for the Hoosiers.
"I'm excited for this football team to be able to continue to battle through the challenges that either we've created for ourselves and others will create for us moving forward," Allen said. "That's what this team is all about. We have to understand that, embrace that and do everything we can to be able to do our job whether that's a coach or a player to get our guys ready to go."
- *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game starts, follow all the action on our live blog. To read that story, CLICK HERE.
How to watch Indiana Hoosiers vs. Michigan Wolverines
- Who: Indiana Hoosiers (3-2, lost 35-21 at Nebraska in Week 5) vs. No. 4 Michigan Wolverines (5-0, won 27-14 at Iowa in Week 5)
- What: Indiana's homecoming game and the halfway point of the regular season. Indiana is 45-57-6 in homecoming games.
- When: Noon ET on Saturday, Oct. 8 (FOX Big Noon Kickoff pregame show begins at 10 a.m. ET live from Memorial Stadium.)
- Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind.
- TV: FOX
- Announcers: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst), Jenny Taft (sideline)
- Stream: Watch fuboTV
- Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network, Sirius/Online: XM (133 or 196) // SXM App (958)
- Radio Announcers: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Rhett Lewis (analyst), Joe Smith, John Herrick
- Point spread: Michigan is a 22.5-point favorite over Indiana, and the over/under is 58.5 points as of Friday morning, according to the SIsportsbook.com website.
- Season totals: Indiana's 2022 regular season win total over/under was 4 prior to their 23-20 win over Illinois in Week 1, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook.
- Last season's records: Indiana was 2-10 overall with a 0-9 record in Big Ten play in 2021. Michigan was 12-2 with a 9-1 record in Big Ten play in 2021.
- Series history: Michigan leads the all-time series 60-10. Indiana has one victory over Michigan in the last 26 contests, a 38-21 win on Nov. 7, 2020.
- Last meeting: Michigan defeated Indiana 29-7 in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 6, 2021. Donaven McCulley made his second career start at quarterback for Indiana, and his fumble on the third drive set up the first touchdown of the game, a 2-yard Hassan Haskins run to give Michigan an 10-0 lead. Haskins ran all over Indiana in this one, totaling 168 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries. Indiana scored its lone touchdown of the game midway through the second quarter on a 1-yard run from Chris Childers. McCulley's 24-yard run on this drive was one of his top highlights of his true freshman season. McCulley completed 10-of-24 pass attempts for 88 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions, and he ran the ball 14 times for 37 yards. Raheem Layne led Indiana with eight tackles, and Weston Kramer, Micah McFadden and Bryant Fitzgerald each recorded sacks. Cade McNamara started at quarterback for Michigan, completing 10-of-18 pass attempts for 168 yards and two touchdowns. With Michigan commanding a big lead, J.J. McCarthy entered at quarterback and connected on 5-of-10 passes for 55 yards and an interception to Devon Matthews. Aidan Hutchinson, the eventual No. 2 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, finished with four quarterback hurries.
- Coaches: Jim Harbaugh holds a 66-24 record in his eighth season at Michigan. He led the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff last season, where they lost 34-11 to the eventual national champion Georgia Bulldogs. Michigan defeated Ohio State 42-27 to win the Big Ten East division, followed by a 42-3 win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game for the program's first conference title since 2004. Harbaugh has led Michigan to four 10-win seasons and six bowl games. Tom Allen is entering his sixth season as Indiana's head coach with a 29-34 overall record. His 29 wins rank seventh among all-time Indiana football coaches, behind John Pont's 31 wins from 1965-72. Allen's 26 wins over his first five seasons were tied for the most by a Hoosier head coach with the program's all-time winningest coach, Bill Mallory. Allen was the 2020 AFCA National Coach of the Year. He is 0-3 in bowl games, most recently losing 26-20 to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021.
- Weather: According to weather.com, at Noon ET in Bloomington, Ind. it's going to be 53 degrees and mostly sunny with a 0 percent chance of rain and winds from the northwest at six miles per hour.
Three things to watch from Indiana in Week 6
1. Containing an efficient offense
Blake Corum stepped into lead-back duties for Michigan after losing 1,300-yard rusher Hassan Haskins from last year’s College Football Playoff team, and it’s been a seamless transition so far. Corum’s 6.6 yards per carry have led to 611 total rushing yards, and he leads the Big Ten with 10 rushing touchdowns. Linebacker Aaron Casey said one of Indiana’s keys to victory this week is stopping the run, which will be a tough task against an experienced Michigan offensive line. In the loss at Cincinnati, Indiana succeeded in its commitment to stopping the run, but its defensive backfield was left in vulnerable one-on-one matchups, leading to big plays through the air. The Hoosiers will have to find a better balance in this regard on Saturday against Michigan, whose quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, leads the nation with a 78.6 completion percentage.
2. Get healthy, start fast
If Indiana has any chance of keeping this game close, the Hoosiers have to do something they haven’t accomplished all season – score a first quarter touchdown. Indiana’s offense has gotten off to abysmal starts in all five games, scoring just nine of its 136 total points in the first quarter. A major factor in reversing this trend will be the health of Cam Camper (non-COVID illness) and D.J. Matthews (hamstring), who did not play at Nebraska last week. Allen said on Thursday both players will be game-time decisions. Indiana plays an uptempo offense in an effort to keep opposing defenses off balance, and quarterback Connor Bazelak will need Camper and Matthews back in order to sustain drives against Michigan.
3. A major challenge up front
Mazi Smith, a 6-foot-3, 337-pound senior nose tackle anchors the Michigan defensive front. Not only is he a size mismatch for any opponent, his combination of power and quickness landed him No. 1 on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List.
Kris Jenkins plays next to Smith at defensive tackle, and he's shared Michigan's Defensive Player of the Week Award twice already in wins over UConn and at Iowa. He made a career-high seven tackles against Georgia in the College Football Playoff last year.
Senior edge rusher Mike Morris stands at 6-foot-6, 292 pounds and leads the Wolverines with four sacks and six tackles for loss through five games. On the opposite end, 6-foot-4 Jaylen Harrell has a team-high four quarterback hurries, as well as 2.5 tackles for loss.
That's just Michigan's starters up front. Defensive lineman Mason Graham comes off the bench as a 6-foot-3, 317-pound true freshman, and he's proven to be more than ready for Big Ten football. Just watch his first career sack at Iowa last week.
On the flip side, Indiana is still trying to find its best five offensive linemen. Last week at Nebraska it was – starting at left tackle and moving right – Luke Haggard, Zach Carpenter, Mike Katic, Tim Weaver and Parker Hanna. Carpenter started the first two games at center, but he returned last week to play left guard as he deals with a thumb injury that limits his ability to snap the ball. We've seen Khalil Benson rotate in at right guard with Weaver throughout the season, Caleb Murphy made two starts at center and Josh Sales has seen some time at right tackle.
We'll see on Saturday which five Indiana goes with, and whoever that proves to be will have their toughest challenge of the season against an impressive Michigan defensive line.
Related stories on Indiana football:
- AJ BARNER, JAYLIN WILLIAMS JOIN PODCAST: Watch Episode 6 of the Hoosier Roundtable Podcast featuring Indiana tight end AJ Barner and defensive back Jaylin Williams, who discuss the loss to Nebraska and preview what's to come with Michigan for Indiana's homecoming. Read the transcript summary, or watch the full episode attached inside. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA WEEK 6 DEPTH CHART, INJURY NOTES: Indiana (3-2) plays No. 4 Michigan (5-0) on Saturday in a Noon ET kickoff from Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. Here's Indiana's Week 6 depth chart, as well as a few injury notes. CLICK HERE
- MICHIGAN PLAYERS TO WATCH, HARBAUGH'S COMMENTS: Indiana football (3-2) hosts No. 4 Michigan (5-0) on Saturday at Noon ET. Here's what coach Jim Harbaugh said about this Week 6 matchup, as well as key players to watch in this game. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA TO INCREASE JAYLIN LUCAS' ROLE Jaylin Lucas' electric 34-yard run against Nebraska confirmed the hype he generated in fall camp. And now, Indiana coaches Tom Allen, Walt Bell and Craig Johnson are making it a priority to get Lucas the ball moving forward. CLICK HERE