Opponent Preview: Indiana Aims To Build On Last Year’s Breakthrough Season
Note: A version of this Michigan Wolverines opponent preview appears in The Wolverine's Michigan Football Preview magazine, which can be purchased by clicking HERE.
Indiana Hoosiers Quick Facts
All-Time Series: Michigan leads 59-10
First Meeting: U-M 12, Indiana 0 (Nov. 3, 1900 at Ann Arbor)
Last Meeting: Indiana 38, U-M 21 (Nov. 2, 2020 at Bloomington, Ind.)
Head Coach: Tom Allen, 24-22 (5th year) at Indiana and overall
2020 In Review: 6-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten (2nd East)
Final 2020 Ranking: No. 12 in Associated Press poll, No. 13 in coaches’ poll
Returning Starters: 18 (8 offense, 9 defense, 1 specialist)
Last Bowl Appearance: 2020 (Outback Bowl vs. Ole Miss, L 26-20)
Indiana Hoosiers Returning Leaders
Passing: Michael Penix Jr. (1,645 yards, 14 TD)
Rushing: Tim Baldwin Jr. (141 yards 0 TD)
Receiving: Ty Fryfogle (721 yards, 7 TD)
Tackles: Micah McFadden (58)
Sacks: Micah McFadden (6)
Interceptions: Jaylin Williams (4)
Players To Watch
Offense: Michael Penix Jr., R-So., QB — The 6-3, 218-pounder landed on Athlon Sports’ preseason All-Big Ten first team … Has accumulated 3,258 passing yards and 25 touchdowns during his Hoosier career, to go along with 189 rushing yards and four scores.
Defense: Micah McFadden, Jr., LB — Phil Steele named him a second-team All-American last season, while he received a third-team nod from the Associated Press … Tabbed as the Hoosiers’ most valuable player.
Indiana Hoosiers Preview
After being close the last several years, Indiana finally had its breakthrough season in 2020, with the Hoosiers posting a 6-2 record. They notched their second-ever win over Penn State and first victory over Michigan since 1987, and took eventual Big Ten champion and College Football Playoff participant Ohio State down to the wire, falling by just seven points.
Indiana felt snubbed by not being the East Division's representative in the Big Ten Championship Game, with the conference having changed its minimum game mandate to accommodate Ohio State, which played just five regular-season contests. The Hoosiers also felt they deserved a berth into a more prestigious bowl game, but they lost to Ole Miss 26-20 in the Outback Bowl.
Head coach Tom Allen is 24-22 overall as the Hoosiers’ head man, but the program’s trajectory is pointing up. After going 5-7 in Allen’s first two years, his squads now have a .667 winning percentage over the last two seasons (14-7). Before last year, Indiana hadn’t posted a winning percentage of .750 or higher since 1910.
Allen’s teams have taken a step forward each season, and it doesn’t appear — at least on paper — that the trend is going to be stopped in 2021, with the group set to return eight starters on offense and nine on defense.
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