Michigan Wolverines Football: U-M Aerial Attack, Defense, Ice The Hoosiers
The Michigan Wolverines and Indiana Hoosiers rolled out their version of Frozen Too amid the snow at Memorial Stadium. Only the Hoosiers sank after hitting the iceberg.
Jim Harbaugh’s red-hot football team rolled up a 39-14 win, blazing by IU in a firestorm of touchdown passes and abundant heat on Indiana’s quarterback.
Indiana signal-caller Peyton Ramsey (17-of-29 passing for 217 yards) did some damage early, but wound up torched by U-M’s relentless pressure. Meanwhile, his counterpart charged into the final week of the regular season hotter than Arizona asphalt in August.
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson threw 32 times for 366 yards and five touchdowns in the Wolverines’ runaway win. Seven days away from a climactic showdown against Ohio State, Michigan showed precisely zero interest in taking its foot off the gas.
“We’re riding him,” Harbaugh said of Patterson. "His play has just been outstanding. He’s really seeing the field well, and he’s taking care of the football at all times. It’s rare that it’s even close to a turnover.
“He’s doing a great job in that regard and really playing good, disciplined football. He’s doing a great job going through his reads. He’s getting great protection from our offensive line.”
With that protection, and a dug-in defense, Patterson rallied the Wolverines from 7-0 and 14-7 early deficits. U-M came with an avalanche of 32 straight points, the aerial attack paced by junior wideout Nico Collins, who pulled in six passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yarder.
“That’s Nico being Nico,” Patterson said. “He’s a big body. That last one, he went up and got it, just like he did last week. He’s a playmaker. He finds the open space. It’s cool to see him take off and show his speed.”
Michigan’s passing attack once again took center stage, accounting for all but 87 of U-M’s 453 total yards. Patterson bumped his total to 750 yards and nine touchdowns over the past two games alone.
Meanwhile, a Michigan defense that appeared vulnerable early on settled in and pressured Ramsey relentlessly, shutting out the Hoosiers over the final 44:51.
“We knew after those first two touchdowns — and they started slowing down a bit — the game was ours,” sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson insisted. “All the momentum stayed our way the rest of the game. When you hear the crowd simmer down for the rest of the game, you know what team is in control.”
Ramsey wasted no time on the opening possession, carving up Michigan on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. He went 4-of-4 throwing, scrambled for crucial yardage when he pulled it down and handed off to running back Stevie Scott III (13 carries for 54 yards) for the one-yard touchdown leap at 10:07 of the first quarter.
Patterson immediately struck back, gunning a 50-yard sideline throw to freshman wideout Giles Jackson to highlight an eight-play, 80-yard TD drive. The senior QB hit sophomore wideout Ronnie Bell on a six-yard fade for his first touchdown catch of the year.
At 7-7 with 5:45 remaining in the first quarter, the two teams combined had faced two third-down situations. Both teams scrambled to order up defensive adjustments.
U-M opted for the hit-‘em-high, hit-‘em-low plan. Hutchinson and senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp did those honors, respectively, on Ramsey. They forced a wounded wobbler over the middle that freshman safety Daxton Hill — starting for injured junior Brad Hawkins — barely plucked off the turf for an interception.
The turnover didn’t slow the Hoosiers down long. They went 51 yards for a touchdown the next time they touched the football, a 23-yard Ramsey looper to wideout David Ellis highlighting the drive. Ramsey finished it on a one-yard plunge, putting the home team back in control, 14-7 just 51 seconds into the second quarter.
They didn’t know it, but their scoring day was done.
“We just had to settle down and be the defense that we are,” Hutchinson said. “We shut them down the rest of the game.”
The Wolverines immediately answered, going 62 yards in eight plays to tie it again. A 22-yard run by freshman tailback Zach Charbonnet (eight carries for 46 yards) put the Wolverines in the red zone, and junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones (five catches for 73 yards) secured a leaping, 11-yard grab on a fade for the touchdown.
Patterson then unveiled the Nico Show, three tosses to the wideout accounting for 61 yards of a four-play, 80-yard touchdown drive (plus 15 via a facemask call). The senior QB gunned a 24-yarder to a wide-open Collins over the middle, setting up the scoring play.
Patterson then unleashed a perfectly thrown 29-yard bomb down the left sideline. Collins leaped high over Indiana defensive back Raheem Layne for the go-ahead score at the 5:37 mark, ushering the Wolverines into halftime up, 21-14.
“I just gave him the ball where he could catch it,” Patterson said. “All those guys out there tonight — Nico, [redshirt sophomore wideout] Tarik [Black], Ronnie, Donovan — just give them a chance, because they’re playmakers.”
U-M kept firing out of intermission, Patterson connecting with Peoples-Jones on a 41-yard bomb. That set up redshirt junior Quinn Nordin’s 27-yard field goal, boosting Michigan’s edge to 24-14 just 4:46 into the second half.
Collins struck again, putting the big chill on the Hoosiers in the third quarter. He gathered in a slant throw over the middle and then sprinted away 76 yards for the TD to ice IU. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey ran in the two-point conversion to make it 32-14 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.
“Shea believes in me, and I believe in him,” Collins said.
Moments later, senior linebacker/defensive end Josh Uche enhanced the building terror raid against Ramsey, belting him from behind and forcing a fumble. Uche himself covered it, and one play later, Patterson gunned a 19-yard TD toss over the middle to — who else — Collins.
Patterson’s fifth touchdown pass of the day snowed under the Hoosiers, 39-14.
“It was a good momentum-changer,” Uche said. “I finally was able to get one. I got the ball out. When the offense went out there, my man Nico was able to capitalize on that. It was just a great momentum-killer for them.”
With all the preliminary bouts over, the Wolverines quickly turned their eyes to the final one. Harbaugh noted he’s going to savor this win, while the players agreed they’re full speed toward a furious finish.
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