At the beginning of the season, many would have expected that the Big Ten game between Michigan and Indiana on Saturday in Bloomington, Ind., would pit a Top 10 team in the first College Football Playoff rankings against an unranked foe.
But hardly anybody predicted the Wolverines, the reigning national champions, would be the unranked team and the Hoosiers would be the team in playoff contention.
That is the scenario, though, as Indiana (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) — a two-touchdown favorite — looks to continue its stunning push for a conference title and CFP berth with a win over the unranked Wolverines (5-4, 3-3).
The Hoosiers are No. 8 in the first CFP rankings that were unveiled on Tuesday, but coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t want that to be the focus.
“The only thing that matters is you get the result when you play, and to do that, you’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing and eliminate the noise and clutter and stay focused on what’s going to help you play your best on Saturday to give you the best chance to get a result,” he said.
Indiana, 9-0 for the first time in program history and seeking its first 10-win season, will also be looking for just its second victory over Michigan since 1987. The other came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (38-21 in Bloomington).
“I look at them and I see a really good defense, really good special teams,” Cignetti said of the Wolverines. “And offensively, they haven’t scored points. They’re not in the 40s and 50s, but they can run the ball from 11, 12, 13 personnel. They’ve got weapons. They’ve got good backs. They’ve got good players and they’re a good football team coming in here with a lot of tradition, a lot of history, a lot of pride.”
Last week against Michigan State, Indiana trailed for the first time all season when the Spartans jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
The Hoosiers responded by scoring 47 answered points to win going away. Indiana welcomed back starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who missed the win over Washington the previous week with a right thumb injury but returned to throw for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
Rourke, who has thrown for 2,204 yards and 19 touchdowns with just three interceptions, will be the focal point of a Michigan defense that hasn’t been as stout as many expected.
The Wolverines, who have lost three of their past four games after a 4-1 start, gave up 470 total yards, including 176 rushing yards, in a 38-17 home loss to No. 1 Oregon last week.
“They play disciplined, they play fast, they play physical,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said of the Hoosiers. “Offensively, they do a really good job of spreading you out but doing things, keeping it simple for their players and making it difficult for your defense. And defensively, they just play great team defense and try to make you make a mistake.”
Against Oregon, Michigan was without its two starting cornerbacks, top NFL Draft prospect Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill.
Moore said on Monday that Hill was “trending on probably playing,” while the team would “see with Will how he goes this week.”
