3 Takeways From Indiana’s ‘Gritty’ Overtime Win At Michigan

There will be no beauty contests made of Saturday’s affair in Ann Arbor. It was physical. It was nasty. It was historic. It just wasn’t pretty. “Regardless of how pretty it was, it was gritty. It was gritty as hell,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said after No. 6 Indiana’s 13-6 overtime win over Michigan. “It’s a win, and we’re gonna celebrate it.” It’s been 57 years since the Hoosiers have won at the Big House. It simply took a 1967-like display of offense to get it done. First it was the zippy overtime pass from Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover to tight end Brock Schott – the first Hoosiers completion since halftime. Then it was a designed Hoover run, racing to his right, behind a blocker and stumbling into the end zone for the game’s only touchdown. One last defensive stop. One last Tommy Carr incompletion. It amounted to an Indiana victory almost 60 years in the making — and one almost everyone in Cream and Crimson would like to soon forget. Here are my takeaways: 1. Tommy Carr Wasn’t Michigan’s Magic Offensive Spark Whatever magic juju Michigan hoped it would get out of a quarterback change didn’t exactly come to fruition on Saturday. Carr finished the first half 9-of-15 for 64 yards, while the Wolverines stumbled their way to a 93-yard opening 15 minutes against the defending national champions. Carr had brief moments of flash. He was fleet of foot enough to escape the Indiana pass rush and led Michigan in rushing yards at halftime. He showed some patience in trying to scan the field against a secondary that seemed to take a step forward in halting Ohio State superstar Jeremiah Smith a week ago. But for where there were glimpses, Michigan again slogged its way to just 224 yards on the day — 131 of which came in the second half. Carr looked the part of a freshman facing a defense that’s tops in the Big Ten. He forced a pitch on a speed option and was crushed for a loss that was eventually recovered by the Hoosiers. As his receivers struggled to find separation, Carr later forced a ball into triple coverage that was deflected, popped up into the air and snagged by Indiana safety Amare Farrell for his third pick in two games. Those things will happen with inexperience. It will also sink teams in tight contests against the nation’s elite. There were also moments to remember. Carr’s heroic fourth down scramble in overtime will carry weight. It just wasn’t enough for an upset on Saturday. There is no obvious answer here for Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck to spark what has been a largely ineffective Michigan offense. Underwood has been inefficient. Carr looked the part of a player who has talent but will need time. How the Wolverines can manage that situation under center over the coming weeks will determine what we make of Year 1 of the Whittingham era. If nothing else, at least Michigan gets Rutgers next week. 2. The Hoosiers Have An Offensive Execution Problem — And It Almost Cost Them Josh Hoover has heard the complaints. In the wake of last week’s loss to Ohio State, there was ample criticism of the Hoosiers’ transfer signal-caller. That he was high and wide too often. That he hasn’t gotten in rhythm. That he’s not Fernando Mendoza. That might be true — all of it — but whatever blame has been lobbed his way, Indiana’s offense as a whole just hasn’t clicked against the fiercest defenses on its schedule. The Hoosiers were again stymied in the run game on Saturday against a Michigan front seven that, for all the issues the Wolverines have faced offensively, has been steady and consistent this fall. Indiana rushed 18 times for 78 yards across its first seven possessions. Thirty-nine of those yards came on just two carries — a 17-yarder from senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. and a 12-yarder from junior running back Turbo Richard. Hoover, in fairness, was far from perfect as he gutted out what’s been characterized as an arm/hand injury. He sailed a handful of passes and never quite looked comfortable against Michigan’s steady pass rush. His interception snatched by Michigan cornerback Zeke Berry gifted the Wolverines a short field that ended in a field goal. That was about the only way Michigan could find itself in Indiana territory on Saturday. Through eight games, the 2025 Hoosier offense this is not. Cignetti’s squad has shown flashes of explosiveness. Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker still form one of the great wide receiver duos in college football. Richard and Beebe, too, can be effective in spurts. But in facing another one of the Big Ten’s elite defenses, the Indiana offense wilted — and that figures to put a ceiling on postseason aspirations in Bloomington. 3. Next Month Will Determine How Far Indiana Can Go How we grade Cignetti and the Hoosiers is hard to quantify. Indiana completed maybe the greatest transformation in college football history a year ago. It’s maintaining that mark that has been increasingly challenging through eight games this season. The Hoosiers’ offense has been a problem. Hoover has not been Mendoza. The run game has not been as efficient. The defense? Well, that actually has been excellent — and it’s why we’re even having this conversation. But Saturday was a microcosm of how and why it has been so hard to really understand how good Indiana really is. College football has a few determined top-end teams. Miami. Sure. BYU. Probably. Georgia? Alabama? Indiana? Maybe. This, after all, has been a year in which everyone is bad, no one is good and the cream of the crop has been borderline undefinable. Indiana looked the part of one of the nation’s best, even in defeat, last week against Ohio State. A six-inch difference in receiver Nick Marsh’s foot placement and the Hoosiers would have a real argument for the No. 1 ranking. But they didn’t win and promptly struggled through a slugfest on Saturday in Ann Arbor. The remaining schedule — Minnesota, USC, at Washington, and Purdue — feels softer than it once did. Win out and Indiana should find itself in the College Football Playoff once more. Even one loss wouldn’t be debilitating. But after Saturday’s effort, that feels like less of a guarantee.