No. 13 Indiana Ends 3 Decades of Misery in 38-21 Rout Over No. 23 Michigan
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana offense coordinator Nick Sheridan was born and raised in Michigan, and was even the Wolverines' starting quarterback for a few years. All he knew growing up was that Michigan always beat Indiana.
And he had proof. The last time Indiana had beaten Michigan was in 1987, and Sheridan hadn't even been born yet. But that all changed Saturday in Memorial Stadium, where Sheridan's offense was spectacular and the No. 13-ranked Hoosiers ended 33 years of misery with an impressive 38-21 victory over No. 23 Michigan.
Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for 342 yards on 30-for-50 passing as Sheridan kept dialing up one pass play after another. Michigan's man-to-man defense had no answer for Indiana's wide receivers as they rolled up yards. Seniors Ty Fryfogle (seven catches for 142 yards) and Whop Philyor (11 for 79) ran wild all day. It was Philyor's school-record sixth career double-digit reception game.
"This whole week, I kept them telling it has nothing to do with Michigan, it had everything to do with us,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "They responded to every challenge we threw at them all week, and it elevated our performance on game day.
"Michael was very good today. We felt like we needed to throw the ball to open up the run, and we had success with it. Credit to our offensive line. They were great today, and gave Michael all sorts of time to throw.''
With the win, the Hoosiers moved to 3-0 and won their second program-defining game in three weeks. In the season opener, they beat No. 8 Penn State in overtime, and that was the first time they had beaten a top-10 team in more than three decades. They had been 1-22 all-time against Penn State before that win.
Their record against Michigan was even worse. The Hoosiers had lost 24 games in a row to the Wolverines dating back to 1987 and were 1-39 going back to a 1967 win. Michigan is now 1-2 this season.
Indiana completely dominated the first half, scoring on its first possession and never taking its foot off the gas in dashing off to a 24-7 halftime lead. Penix was impressive, throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns in just two quarters.
Michigan's man-to-man defense simply wasn't working against Indiana's wideouts. Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle each had seven first-half receptions, and Fryfogle had a career-high 142 yards a score in the half. Fryfogle, Miles Marshall and tight end Peyton Hendershot all had first-half touchdown catches.
Penix has missed the last two games against Michigan because of injuries, but he more than made up for it Saturday. He threw 32 passes in the first half and Indiana ran 47 plays to Michigan's 26 and had a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession.
"Mike's just a great quarterback, and I'm really happy for him,'' Fryfogle said.
Michigan mustered only 111 yards the entire half, and had only 15 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Michigan has its first complete drive of the game early in the third quarter to make it interesting. They covered 80 yards in just five plays, with Milton hooking up with Roman Wilson for a 13-yard score.
But that's the biggest difference in Indiana football these days. The Hoosiers went right back down the field and answered with a touchdown of their own. Stevie Scott banged it in from the 1-yard line and then scored again later after a Jaylin Williams interception to give Indiana a 38-21 lead with 8:40 to go. Williams has had an interception in all three Indiana games thus far this season.
Michigan moved into Indiana territory, but Milton was picked off by Devon Matthews to basically seal the deal for Indiana.
"It's funny how the roles switch,'' said Indiana running back Stevie Scott, who had 96 yards rushing on 24 carries. "We wanted to be very physical with them, and we did. We want to change this program around, and we're getting that done. This is just a great feeling right now.''
Indiana travels to Michigan State next Saturday. The (1-2) Spartans lost to Iowa on Saturday. Michigan is scheduled to play a home against Wisconsin, but the Badgers have been forced to miss the past two weeks because of a slew of positive COVID-19 tests
