Staff Predictions: Michigan Wolverines Football vs. Indiana
Indiana hasn't beaten Michigan since 1987 ... which, probably not coincidentally, is the last time the Hoosiers had a really good coach.
Over nine seasons between 1986-94, Bill Mallory’s Indiana teams won 60 games, qualified for six bowl games and played good, tough football. Mallory's teams featured talent such as Heisman Trophy runner-up Anthony Thompson, and Mallory even beat U-M and Ohio State in the same season in 1987.
He turned out to be a victim of his own success. The IU administration, somehow thinking it could do better, fired Mallory after the 1994 season. No other coach has beaten the Wolverines since.
We bring this up out of respect to the coach, who passed away this spring after a fall. Three of his kids played for Michigan (Mike, Doug and Curt, who also coached at U-M under Brady Hoke). That all three are coaches and the Mallory name still revered in Ann Arbor is a testament to him.
"He helped mold thousands of young men through the game of football,” former IU and NFL quarterback Trent Green tweeted after offering prayers to the family. “He’s had a lasting impact on my life and countless others. Integrity, toughness and hard work only begin to describe Bill Mallory.”
He was similar in that respect to former Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler, who he succeeded at Miami (Ohio) when Schembechler took the Michigan job.
As for this year's IU team, three former Wolverines will be back in town this weekend. Running back Mike Hart is the running backs coach for the Hoosiers, former quarterback Nick Sheridan is the quarterbacks coach and former offensive coordinator Mike DeBord is — you guessed it — the offensive coordinator.
This team is 5-5 and has some solid young talent, but it's not there yet. We expect U-M to win going away on the way to a showdown in Columbus for the Big Ten East title.
Congrats to last week's winner. This week's receives a replica trophy The Old Brass Spittoon given out to annually to the winner of the Michigan State - Indiana game (we have covered the 'State' with a piece of duct tape) and a tin of Skoal.
The Picks:
CHRIS BALAS: The last time Michigan lost to Indiana, our John Borton wasn't yet working for The Wolverine, Doug Karsch had a full head of hair, Doug Skene was a senior in high school and four of our prognosticators here weren't yet born. It will happen again someday ... but not this year.
And if they couldn't do it in the seven years before Jim Harbaugh's arrival ... well ... Michigan 31, Indiana 10
JOHN BORTON: Indiana has been one of the biggest pests for Michigan over the past few years, despite not winning in the series since 1987. This year, the Hoosiers are a bug zipping in front of a Columbus-bound semi. Michigan 42, Indiana 13
BRANDON BROWN: Michigan is on a nine-game roll and isn't going to let the Hoosiers stop that. Indiana has given Michigan some fights in recent years, but this year feels different. Harbaugh and his guys are focused, and that defense simply won't let an inferior IU team keep things close. Michigan 34, Indiana 10
AUSTIN FOX: Michigan is too dialed in right now to potentially look past Indiana, so don’t expect any kind of letdown on Saturday. Plus, the Hoosiers’ offense doesn’t light up the scoreboard the way it used to under Kevin Wilson. U-M will take care of business the way it has pretty much all season long, and then immediately turn its attention toward the big one. Michigan 31, Indiana 7
ANDREW HUSSEY: Why not go three in a row with this score? Michigan’s offense rolls over the Hoosiers and the Wolverines keep focused ahead of the looming Ohio State game. Michigan 42, Indiana 7
DOUG SKENE: Indiana will present a bigger challenge than Rutgers, for sure. However, I don't see any letdown in this team with the Buckeyes in sight. Michigan 38, Indiana 10
DREW HALLETT: There'll be no traps. There'll be no surprises. Indiana has allowed its opponents to score at least 32 points in five straight games, and that won't stop on Saturday. Michigan wins its 10th straight game and beats the Hoosiers for the 23rd straight time in the series. Michigan 45, Indiana 10
ADAM GHABOUR: Michigan 38, Indiana 10
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook