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Michigan Football: Jake Moody's Record-Setting Night Lifts Michigan

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Junior quarterback Shea Patterson scrambles out to set up another Michigan score.
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson scrambles out to set up another Michigan score.
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Michigan survived Senior Day at The Big House, but only because a true freshman got his kicks on Route Six.

Freshman placekicker Jake Moody’s program-record six field goals booted Indiana out of Michigan Stadium with a 31-20 loss. Moody hasn’t declared a major, but he might consider dental school after the tooth extraction holding off the Hoosiers felt like.

Statistically, the Wolverines dominated, piling up 507 yards of total offense to Indiana’s 385, rushing for 257, and controlling the football for 35:54 of the game’s 60 minutes. But the Crimson & Cream’s red zone tenacity — U-M scored just one touchdown in eight trips inside the IU 20 — put plenty on the foot of Moody, a late substitute for reportedly ill redshirt sophomore Quinn Nordin.

The rookie responded, with a dirty half-dozen.

“This guy was a sniper,” junior quarterback Shea Patterson said. “He did a helluva job.”

Patterson wasn’t bad himself, connecting on 16 of 28 throws for 250 yards and a touchdown. Senior tailback Karan Higdon supplemented that effort with 101 yards and a TD on 21 carries.

But the prelude to the No. 4 Wolverines’ (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) titanic upcoming showdown with Ohio State included more edge-of-the-seat fretting than Michigan fans might have anticipated.

The Hoosiers flashed a little offense of their own, quarterback Peyton Ramsey going 16-of-35 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown, while running back Stevie Scott raced away for 139 yards and a TD on 30 tries.

Indiana even led at the half, 17-15, the first time U-M has trailed at the break since the Northwestern game in late September. Michigan, though, sustained enough firepower and surrendered only three points over the final 30 minutes.

“That tested our resiliency,” Patterson said. “It was kind of like the Northwestern game, a little bit — a gritty game. They’re a good team. In football, not everything is going to go your way. We overcame some adversity.”

The Wolverines fired out of the gate ripping off huge chunks of yardage, Higdon posting runs of 13 and 14 yards wrapped around a 14-yard rollout toss to sophomore wideout Nico Collins. The 61-yard drive stalled at the Indiana 14, and a surprise placekicker did the honors on a 32-yard field goal at the 10:41 mark.

The Hoosiers struck back moments later, stunning the Michigan defense on even bigger chunks. Scott broke free on a 35-yard bolt, before Ramsey — on third-and-11 — raced out of the pocket up the middle on a 29-yard sprint. Scott then scampered in from 13 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown, making it 7-3 Hoosiers with 4:14 left in the opening quarter.

The 80-yard drive marked the second straight early game stunner by a lesser opponent against the Michigan defense.

U-M struck back on a 30-yard field goal by Moody, 45 seconds into the second quarter. But Michigan’s 52-yard march could have been capped differently. Patterson’s rollout toss to wide-open redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry bore in low, and Gentry — prone in the end zone — couldn’t quite come up with it.

The Wolverines moved ahead on Moody’s third field goal in the opening 20:04, a 31-yarder set up by true freshman Ronnie Bell’s 31-yard slant reception. But Michigan wasn’t ringing the bell for touchdowns on scoring chances, and a 9-7 edge with 9:56 remaining in the half didn’t heat up a well-chilled crowd of 110,118 much.

They added a shiver when Indiana’s Logan Justus banged through a 41-yard field goal with 7:39 remaining in the half. Once again IU led, 10-9, and a day of upsets and near-upsets in the Big Ten began hitting too close to home.

Then Patterson found redshirt sophomore tight end Nick Eubanks as lonely as an investment banker on FarmersOnly.com over the middle. The 41-yard TD strike put the Wolverines back on top, despite a two-point conversion attempt that trickled off Eubanks’ fingertips in the corner of the end zone.

Down 15-10 with 4:46 left in the half, the Hoosiers didn’t genuflect before Michigan’s defense. Ramsey threw over the top of it, hitting wideout Nick Westbrook for 41 yards down to the U-M 8. Two plays later, Ramsey floated a seven-yard TD toss to wideout Ty FryFogle.

That put the Hoosiers back in front, 17-15 with 1:33 left, and the half — shockingly — ended that way.

Patterson’s 42-yard toss to Gentry put the Wolverines on the IU 15. Three straight runs gave them first down at the Indiana 2 with 20 seconds left. Instead of spiking the ball, Patterson fired to junior tight end Sean McKeon, stopped short of the goal line by freshman safety Devon Matthews.

The Wolverines scrambled to try and line up for one more snap, but McKeon’s short toss of the ball to an official tumbled off his hands, after which a Hoosier inadvertently nudged it. The clock ran out, and Michigan came away empty.

“I told them, ‘They kicked the ball,’” head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “The response from the umpire was, ‘He didn’t mean to.’ I further asked, that doesn’t seem like a judgment call. The ball is either kicked by one of their players or not, in my opinion. But that was their response … had he meant to, then it would have been a penalty.”

Patterson came out firing in the second half, connecting on passes of 16, 13 and 14 yards during an 11-play, 67-yard TD march. Higdon surged in from two yards out behind the left side of Michigan’s offensive line, making it 22-17 Wolverines just 5:16 into the second half.

The teams then exchanged turnovers, sophomore defensive end Kwity Paye forcing a fumble from Scott and junior viper Khaleke Hudson pouncing on it at the U-M 43. Two plays later, Patterson released a short throw while under pressure and backpedaling, IU defensive back Marcelino Ball picking it off at the Indiana 40.

That interception marked Patterson’s first in five games and put the Hoosiers back on the attack.

Patterson immediately bounced back, rolling right under pressure to float a perfectly placed, 41-yard scrambling throw to Gentry. That set up Moody’s fourth field goal, a 33-yarder to make it 25-17 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.

The Hoosiers began getting desperate against a ramped-up Michigan defense. They tried a fake punt near midfield, reversing the ball to Ball. But junior linebacker Devin Bush hunted him down, giving the Wolverines the football at their own 44, early in the fourth quarter.

After a march highlighted by Patterson’s 19-yard keeper, Moody made it 5 for 5. His 23-yard field goal gave the Wolverines some breathing room at 28-17, with 9:55 remaining.

“I found out in the locker room, right before we ran out onto the field,” Moody noted, regarding discovering his mission for the evening. “Quinn wasn’t feeling too well, and he said it was going to be a game-time decision. He decided it would be best for me to go out there.”

The Hoosiers finally cracked the second-half scoreboard, converting a couple of big third-down plays. That set up Justus’ 36-yard field goal, clawing Indiana back within eight, 28-20, with 6:10 left.

Moody’s sixth, this one from 29 yards out, brought a sigh of relief with 2:37 to play, putting Michigan up 31-20. But it came at a heavy price.

The Wolverines started at Indiana’s 47, partly because sophomore safety Brad Hawkins returned a kickoff 22 yards. Indiana’s Cam Jones pushed it 15 yards farther downfield, and sent Michigan Stadium into silence for many long moments.

Jones leveled sixth-year senior running back Berkley Edwards, who was blocking for Hawkins. Edwards was taken away on a cart, motionless, after staying on the turf for a long period, surrounded by medical personnel and Harbaugh.

This was after fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich left the field with what appeared to be a significant injury. Harbaugh said afterward X-rays on Winovich were negative, and he also gave a good report on Edwards.

“Everything looked good when he left the stadium,” Harbaugh said. “He did have a concussion, a pretty good-sized concussion. He looked good, but he was taken to the hospital for precautions. He was responding, talking and moving. The doctors have it well under control.”

They still have everything they want in their control, and Harbaugh will look to have his crew ready for it.

“I’m just proud of our guys the way they played today,” he said. “Now on to the next game, on to the big game, on to the championship game. Onward.”

Five Best Players Of The Game

1. Freshman placekicker Jake Moody — The rookie’s right leg made all the difference for a team looking to stay unbeaten in the Big Ten. He’ll not soon forget his field goal debut at Michigan Stadium — a new U-M record with six field goals.

2. Junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. — Bush led all in tackles with 11, plus half a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. He chased down a fake punt run before a first down could be converted, and led a defense that surrendered only three points after halftime.

3. Junior defensive end Rashan Gary — Gary played his best game since coming back from injury, with nine stops and 1.5 sacks. He provided a strong presence and steadying force when fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich departed via injury.

4. Junior quarterback Shea Patterson — It wasn’t Patterson’s best night, by any means, but he still threw for 250 yards and got Michigan into the scoring range consistently. A couple of his throws on the run were things of beauty, and he directed an offense that topped 500 yards.

5. Senior tailback Karan Higdon — Higdon enjoyed another 100-yard night (101, with a touchdown) in his final game at Michigan Stadium. His grit proved contagious on a night when things could have gone south.

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