INDIANA NOTES:
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana travels to Michigan for its second straight road contest of the season on Saturday (Oct. 14) at Michigan Stadium. The
game will be aired on FOX and kickoff at Noon as part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
• In the all-time series, Michigan owns a 61-10 edge with Indiana’s last win coming during the 2020 season in Bloomington.
• The first meeting in the series came in Bloomington during the 1900 season and the two teams have played each season since
2013, which includes all 10 seasons of the Big Ten’s East/West Division format.
• Michigan has won two straight in the series since Indiana’s 38-21 victory at Memorial Stadium during the 2020 season, which
includes a win at Michigan State in 2021.
NEWS & NOTES
• Per Pro Football Focus, redshirt senior Andre Carter ranks No. 5 in the Big Ten with 20 total pressures (sacks, QB hits or
hurries), a total that sits No. 28 in the Power 5 and tied for No. 41 in the FBS.
• With 2.0 tackles for loss in each of the first two games of the season, Carter’s 4.0 TFLs were the most by a Hoosier in the first
two games of a season since 2004 when Kyle Killion posted 5.5 tackles for loss.
• With 43 tackles, redshirt senior Aaron Casey ranks No. 7 in the Big Ten and his 8.6 tackles per game are No. 46 nationally entering
Week 7. His his 6. 0 tackles for loss are tied for No. 2 in the conference and includes 2.0 sacks.
• Sophomore Jaylin Lucas produced the first multi-touchdown game of his career in Week 2 versus Indiana State with a pair of
rushing scores. He has seven career touchdowns with four rushing, one receiving and two kickoff return scores.
• Senior Louis Moore grabbed his first career interception in the second quarter versus Akron and followed that with his first
defensive touchdown in the third quarter on a 22-yard interception return for a score versus the Zips.
• With three interceptions on the season, sophomore Phillip Dunnam continues to sit near the top Big Ten leader board and
tied for No. 7 in the FBS. One of two true freshman not to redshirt in 2022, Dunnam has takeaways versus No. 3/4 Ohio State,
Louisville and Akron.
• With its successful onside kick to start the second half versus Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana snapped a streak of eight
straight unsuccessful onside kick attempts and recovered its first onside kick since the 2017 game at Purdue.
• Head coach Tom Allen won his 32nd career game over Akron in Week 4 and is just one win shy of joining the top five winningest
coaches in program history. Of the 32 wins, 13 have come in one possession games, including a 5-1 mark in overtime.
• The Indiana special teams units blocked its first kick of the 2023 season at Maryland to move its streak to 12 straight seasons
with at least one blocked kick. Special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin’s crew has blocked at least one kick in each of his
four seasons as the corps leader.
MICHIGAN GAME NOTES:
What You Need to Know
• Michigan and Indiana will play for the 72nd time on Saturday.
• U-M is 6-0 for the three straight seasons for the first time since 1972- 74; won the first 10 games in each of those seasons.
• The Wolverines have won 31 of their last 34 games, including 18 straight Big Ten games which is one shy of the school record (1990-92).
• U-M has won 22 consecutive regular season games, tied for the seventh-longest streak in conference history.
• The U-M defense ranks top 12 nationally in eight statistical categories.
U-M Ranks Top 20 in Scoring Offense and Defense
• The Wolverines head into this weekend’s match-up with Indiana ranked among the top teams nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
• U-M leads the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 6.7 points per game, while listing 17th in scoring offense (37.3 avg.).
• The Maize and Blue has scored 30-plus points in all six games this fall and in a school-record nine consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Wolverines and Hoosiers
• This will be the 72nd meeting in the all-time series with Indiana.
• Michigan’s .859 winning percentage against Indiana is the program’s highest versus any conference school.
• The Wolverines lead the series, 61-10, and have won 26 of the past 27 games against the Hoosiers.
• Michigan has won 41 of the previous 43 games played between the two schools.
• Coach Jim Harbaugh has a 7-1 record against Indiana.
Series vs. IU: Michigan leads 61-10
Series Streak: Michigan won 2
Last Meeting: 2022 (#4 U-M 31, IU 10)
Last Michigan Win: 2022
Michigan When Ranked vs. Indiana
• This will be the 48th time that Michigan enters a match-up with Indiana ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press national poll.
• The Wolverines have compiled a 44-3 record in those contests, with their only setbacks coming in 1954, 1987 and 2020.
• Michigan is a perfect 26-0 against Indiana when ranked in the top 10 of the national polls.
• The two programs have played four times when both teams were ranked in the top 25 of the polls.
• U-M has compiled a 2-2 record against the Hoosiers when both teams enter the game listed in the top 25 of the AP poll, winning games in 1968 and 1988 and suffering losses in 1987 and 2020.
• U-M has been ranked in the national polls for all 23 games against Indiana at Memorial Stadium.
Game Notes Nuggets
• The Maize and Blue are in the midst of an 18-game conference winning streak, one shy of matching the program record (19) set from 1990-92. The current streak is the fifth-longest in Big Ten history.
• U-M has won 22 consecutive regular season games, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Big Ten history (Ohio State, 2018-21).
• The Wolverines return home this weekend, where they have won 19 straight games at Michigan Stadium dating back to 2021, the program’s longest streak since 1998-2001 under Lloyd Carr (21).
• U-M has scored 30-plus points in nine straight games, the longest streak in program history. The 1976 squad (eight straight games) previously held the record.
• The 52 points scored at Minnesota were the most in a road game in the series’ 105 meetings and tied for the sixth-most scored in series history. The U-M defense (two interceptions returned for touchdowns) outscored Minnesota’s 10 points on offense.
• The Wolverines are averaging a scoring margin of +30.7 across their six wins this season, the third-highest figure in the country and the best in the Big Ten. U-M ranks 17th in scoring offense (37.3 points per game), second in the Big Ten (Penn State, 40.6).
• U-M’s 0.620 points per play on offense is the best rate in the Big Ten and sixth overall. The Wolverine defense allows 0.122 points per play against, the lowest rate in the nation. U-M’s rate of 0.4 punts per score is the third-lowest rate nationally and best in the Big Ten.
• Ten (10) players have made their first starts as Wolverines this season, including four on offense (AJ Barner, LaDarius Henderson, Myles Hinton, Drake Nugent) and six on defense (Rayshaun Benny, Kenneth Grant, Keshaun Harris, Quinten Johnson, Keon Sabb, Josh Wallace).
• Michigan holds top-10 PFF grades and ranks in eight of 13 major team categories: overall team, No. 1 (97.0), offense, No. 4 (92.4), receiving, tied-No. 4 (85.2), run-blocking, No. 3 (79.7), defense, No. 4 (92.7), run defense, No. 3 (91.6), tackling, No. 6 (87.0), and pass rush, No. 4 (84.0).
• In J.J. McCarthy’s 19 career starts, U-M is 18-1. In that span, the offense has registered 182 drives in which the quarterback starts and finishes the possession (excludes kneel-downs). The Wolverines have points on 109 of those drives (59.9 percent) with 80 touchdowns (43.9 percent of all drives) and 29 field goals.
• Through six games in 2023, McCarthy has completed 97-of-125 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 77.6, third-best in the country. He also ranks fourth in pass efficiency (189.5) and sixth in yards per pass attempt (five-spot jump from last week; 10.44) and leads the Big Ten in all three categories.
• McCarthy’s 77.6 percent completion rate is not just on easy throws. It comes paired with an average depth of target (ADOT) of 10.7 yards downfield, tied for the third-deepest average in the Big Ten.
• McCarthy’s season-long YPA is buoyed by a 13.5 YPA figure on play-action concepts (31-of-37 for 563 yards).
• McCarthy is up to 38 career passing touchdowns, four shy of Steve Smith (1980-83) for eighth-most all-time. He is one of two Big Ten quarterbacks with double-digit passing touchdowns through five weeks this season (Tagovailoa, Maryland). McCarthy’s 7.5 career touchdown percentage ranks fourth-best all-time at Michigan.
• Running back Kalel Mullings has set career highs in rushing yards in three consecutive weeks (40 yards, 43 yards, 47 yards) averaging 6.89 yards per carry in that span (19 carries, 131 yards) with long runs of 20-plus yards in two of three games.
• Blake Corum is up to 2,986 rushing yards, good for 10th all-time at Michigan and 86 yards shy of passing Billy Taylor for ninth. In eighth place is Rob Lytle (3,317 career rushing yards). Corum’s 41 career rushing touchdowns place him tied-fourth all-time at U-M.
• Corum is one of five players in Michigan history with at least 40 career rushing touchdowns, along with: Hart (41), Denard Robinson (42), Tyrone Wheatley (47), and Anthony Thomas (55).
• Corum is tied as the national leader in rushing touchdowns (10) while wide receiver Roman Wilson is third in receiving touchdowns (eight). Corum ranks fourth in total points scored (60).
• Wilson’s eight receiving touchdowns are the most by a Wolverine since Donovan Peoples-Jones in 2018. Jehu Chesson (nine, 2015) has the most among Harbaugh-era wide receivers.
• Cornelius Johnson has had at least 71 receiving yards in four of six contests including a season-best 86 yards against Minnesota. Johnson has at least one catch of 20-plus yards in five of six contests.
• Three Wolverine pass catchers are among the Big Ten’s leaders in yards per route run: Wilson (3.78) ranks 14th in the country and first in the conference, Johnson (3.05) ranks 45th nationally and fourth in the league, and Colston Loveland (2.16) is 14th among players with at least 12 targets. Among tight ends only, Loveland’s figure ranks No. 9 across the country (minimum 12 targets).
• Efficient offensive play has led to one of the country’s best conversion rates on third down (55.6 percent, fourth) and team pass efficiency ratings (180.83, seventh).
• Through five weeks, Michigan averages 55.44 percent of second-half possession time. The only Big Ten school with a higher rate is Penn State (58.99). Last weekend’s opponent, Minnesota, averaged 55.95 percent but was limited to a 46.89 percent share against the Wolverines.
• Michigan’s offensive line has allowed only three sacks on the season, the second-fewest nationally. With that unit as the engine, no team permits fewer negative plays per game (2.17) than the Wolverines.
• The Wolverine defense ranks among the nation’s best in interceptions (19th, seven) rushing defense (12th, 90.8 yards per game), pass efficiency defense (eighth, 101.75), fourth down conversion rate against (sixth, .250), third down conversion rate against (fourth, 55.6 percent) total defense (third, 233.3), first down defense (third, 67), passing yards allowed (second, 142.5); the unit leads the nation in red zone defense (first, 0.375), defensive touchdowns (tied-first, three), and scoring defense (first, 6.7 points per game).
• U-M has allowed 40 points across five games for an NCAA-leading 6.7 points allowed per game, the lowest average scoring against through five weeks since 2015 (6.3). Opponents are averaging 0.129 points per possession against U-M (eight scores on 62 possessions).
• Prior to this one, the last season in which U-M held each of its first six opponents to seven points or fewer was 1973, when the season-high for points against was 13 in week eight and only two teams reached double-digit scoring (10 points allowed in week 11).
• On the season, U-M has allowed 67 first downs, an average of 11.2 per game which is the lowest rate nationally. On average, teams reach a first down by passing 5.8 times per game, the second-lowest rate in the country (Marshall).
• The Wolverines have three interceptions returned for touchdowns this season (Sainristil, W. Johnson, Sabb), one shy of matching the program record (four) set in 1998 and matched in 2018. On the season, U-M has allowed two passing touchdowns to seven interceptions.
• U-M is dominant out of the locker room. Opponents have accumulated seven total first downs in six third quarters played. No team has reached 70 yards of offense in the quarter and three teams have been held under 10 yards of total offense.
• Opponents are averaging 5.0 rushing first downs per game against the Wolverines, tied for the seventh-fewest in the country. U-M is one of two Big Ten programs allowing fewer than six per game (Penn State, 5.3).
• Mason Graham (90.8, 10th, No. 1 Big Ten) and Kris Jenkins (88.0, 21st) are both top-25-graded run defenders among front-seven FBS players.
• When considering only the Big Ten, U-M has four players in the top 16: Jenkins, Derrick Moore (ninth), Braiden McGregor (13th), and Jaylen Harrell (16th). Only U-M and Northwestern are represented with multiple players in the top 10.
• The 12.7 completions per game U-M’s pass defense is permitting are the fewest in the country.
• Opponents average 0.5 red zone trips per game against the Wolverines, the fewest in the country by 0.7 and the best rate in the Big Ten by a factor of more than three (Ohio State, 1.8).
• The NCAA-leading 2.8 points per half that U-M is allowing across first halves so far this season are a full 0.7 points less than the next-closest team (UCLA, 3.5) and 1.5 points clear of the next Big Ten team (Penn State, 4.3).
• Ten (10) different players have recorded at least a share of a sack so far this season, led by Harrell (2.5). Josaiah Stewart (22.9 percent) has the best pass rush win rate in the Big Ten (minimum six pass rush snaps per game) and 11th-best nationally while Moore (21.2) ranks second in the league and 22nd in the nation and Harrell (20.8) ranks fourth and 24th. U-M is the only team with more than one player ranked in the top 25 of pass rush win rate — and they have three such players.
• Punter Tommy Doman is averaging 4.49 seconds of hangtime per attempt, the best average of any punter in the country (minimum one punt per game). U-M’s net punting (42.62 yards per attempt) ranks 15th nationally.
• The Wolverines are also among the best kickoff return defense units in the country, allowing 12 yards per return attempt (third, NCAA). Doman has delivered 27 touchbacks on 39 kickoffs this season.