In what was Indiana's first true close game of the season, it defeated the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines 20-15.
A solid first half, followed by a poor second half allowed for the close game, but the defense came up clutch on multiple occasions, leading to the victory that send IU to 10-0.
This is the first time in its history that Indiana has achieved 10 wins in a season, continuing the record breaking year the Curt Cignetti's group has had.
The Hoosiers won the yardage battle 246-206, Kurtis Rourke throwing for 206 of those, also adding two touchdowns, one to Omar Cooper Jr. and one to Elijah Sarratt.
This wasn't the greatest showing from IU, yet the Hoosiers sit at 10-0. There's a lot to unpack here so, without further ado, here's how it happened:
IU RESPONDS AGAIN AFTER TRAILING EARLY IN FIRST HALF
For the second straight game Indiana trailed to open up the scoring yet, for the second straight game, it responded extremely well.
Michigan got on the board early with a field goal that followed IU's opening drive that resulted in a punt, the Wolverines moving the ball significantly better in its first series compared to IU.
Indiana, though, immediately responded with a scoring drive of its own, this one ending with a TD pass to Omar Cooper Jr. for seven yards.
This put IU in front, but it wouldn't stop there as, after a three and out forced by the defense, Kurtis Rourke found Elijah Sarratt for a 36 yard TD, putting the Hoosiers up 14-3.
After tacking on a Nicolad Radicic 40 yard field goal, IU would lead 17-3 going into halftime, drastically different than the 3-0 Michigan lead that was on the scoreboard after each team's opening drive.
This was the second straight week of Indiana getting down early, yet responding extremely well immediatly after, although this time around it was only after one series each rather than the two that was seen at Michigan State.
This first half response created a lead in which Indiana would never give up, allowing IU to continue it's momentum in the second half and defeat the Wolverines.
OFFENSE GOES SILENT FOR MAJORITY OF 2ND HALF
After having a successful first half on offense, Indiana went completely dormant after the break, only having 18 yards of total offense in the second half, Rourke throwing for just 16.
In the third quarter, Rourke passed for exactly zero yards, rushing for just seven in what was an overall abysmal quarter for the IU offense.
This allowed Michigan to get back in the game, as a comfortable lead quickly evaporated because of the poor play from Rourke and company.
On the first play of IU's opening drive of the second half, Rourke threw an interception that set up Michigan at the Hoosiers' seven yard line and, while the defense held Michigan to a field goal, it was still easy points for the Wolverines.
The next two offensive drives resulted in two punts, and then Michigan scores. First, another UM field goal and then a Wolverine Touchdown.
While the touchdown's two point conversion was no good and kept the lead for the Hoosiers, the IU offense still continued to struggle immediately after, as it punted it away to Michigan yet again.
Indiana did add a field goal late in the game because of great field position given to them by Ke'Shawn Williams's punt return, but even that point scoring drive looked ugly.
While the Hoosiers did get the win, credit can be given to the defense, not the offense, a group that looked lost for almost the entirety of the second half
DEFENSE ALLOWS HOOSIERS TO HOLD ON
While the IU offense was extremely poor in the second half the defense made sure that the Hoosiers kept the lead.
This defensive group was solid all game long and, while it gave up points on its first series and didn't look good doing so, the rest of the game saw Indiana's defense play well.
IU allowed just 206 yards of total offense, 137 of those being passing and 69 of those being rushing. As Michigan is a run-first team and a strong chuck of those yards came on the first series, they were impeccable numbers from this Indiana D.
The defense got a big play early, as Terry Jones forced a fumble in the second quarter that allowed IU to tack on more points before the half and take a 14 point lead.
The success continued after the half as, when the offense stalled in the third quarter, the IU defense picked it up, keeping the lead even as Kurtis Rourke and his group were punting the ball away on each drive.
While it did allow a couple of field goals and a touchdown in the second half, the defense really was impressive, especially late in the fourth when Michigan had a chance to take the lead.
The defense forced a key three and out and actually forced Michigan back on the drive, totaling negative one yards and forcing Michigan to punt the ball away to IU instead of potentially having a game-winning drive.
Then, as Michigan got the ball back again in a drive where they could've won the game, the defense held tough, forcing a three and out that sealed the 20-15 victory for the Hoosiers, making them 10-0 for the first ten win season in Indiana history.
FINAL STATS
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– Interact with fellow fans on TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
