When the Michigan offense takes the field against Indiana, Saturday, it will be with the hope that they can put memories of last week behind them.

Mistakes and missed opportunities were the theme of the evening as the Wolverines fell to Iowa, 14-13, on the last play of the game.

“It wasn’t the greatest feeling I’ve ever had,” said junior tight end Ian Bunting of the loss and the Hawkeyes’ fans rushing the field. “I kind of just walked off the field quickly to avoid as many people as I could. It sucks to lose. It’s never good to lose, especially when you’ve won all your games this season.

“We’re not harping on that. We’re not going to let that stick in our mind. We’re just approaching this next week with a fresh slate, and we’re saying this needs to be our best week of practice. We need to bounce back. We need to come back stronger.”

Rather than think about what could have been, Michigan is ready to move on with the season, and its postseason destiny is still firmly within its own grasp, despite the heartbreaking loss.

“That’s football, and it’s going to happen and that’s what we signed up for,” Bunting said. “We come to Michigan to play in games like that, and to win games like that. Last weekend it didn’t go our way, but we learn from it, and I think we’re better because of that situation. Obviously, we would’ve loved to win the game, but we take out of it what we can take out of it, and we keep moving on.”

Being back in front of a friendly crowd should certainly help the Wolverines, but they cannot take their concentration off Indiana, a team that took Michigan to double overtime a year ago. The game this year will likely look very different, as the Hoosiers rode an impressive rush attack led by UAB transfer running back Jordan Howard to 307 yards on the ground in 2015, though this season they are averaging just 164.6 yards per game rushing the ball. With Howard in the NFL, Indiana has become more pass heavy, and is the number two passing attack in the conference, throwing for 3,027 yards and 8.3 yards per attempt so far this year.

Michigan will also have to contend with an aggressive defense featuring an impressive linebacking group. Indiana linebackers Tegray Scales and Marcus Oliver have four and three sacks, respectively, as well as 169 combined tackles this season.

“It’s a good opportunity for us," Bunting said. "They are good, they’re athletic, they’re quick. That’s an opportunity for us to show what we’ve got as an offense.”

Michigan will also have to overcome the challenge of perhaps starting a new quarterback. Redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight suffered a shoulder injury late in the Iowa game, and redshirt junior quarterback John O’Korn may have to lead the offense, despite completing just 13 passes on 18 attempts this season. With the possibility of a shake up under center, it is even more important that the Wolverines do as Bunting said and learn from the loss and keep moving forward. If they do, the team's goals are still all within reach.