A week after its 22-game winning streak was snapped, Indiana bounced back with a 13-6 overtime victory over Michigan at the Big House and proved that ugly wins still count.
While Indiana remained scoreless in the second half, Michigan had several promising drives that could have given them a lead. Instead, the Hoosiers’ defense forced the Wolverines to settle for two field goals, including one in the final seconds of regulation. Michigan kicker Trey Butkowski, who missed two field goals earlier in the game, successfully sank the 26-yard attempt to send the game into overtime.
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After showing a deeply ineffective offense throughout regulation, Hoosiers quarterback Josh Hoover found the end zone incredibly quick once overtime began: Hoover’s 21-yard pass to Brock Schott set up the quarterback for a touchdown on the next play.
This forced Michigan to score a touchdown to keep the game alive – something its offense hadn’t been able to do all game. True freshman quarterback Tommy Carr, in his first start on the bench Bryce Underwood ran for a crucial conversion on fourth down to keep the momentum going, but he couldn’t complete the next series of downs.
The final incompletion was enough to secure the overtime victory for the Hoosiers, who improve to 7-1 on the season.
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Error-riddled performances from Tommy Carr and Josh Hoover
Both defenses held strong to make the game a low-scoring brawl, keeping it within everyone’s reach until the fourth quarter. At one point in the final quarter, both defenses forced four straight three-point drives, making it seem like literally any completed pass could completely change the game.
Both teams were forced into a number of offensive errors, with two interceptions, three missed field goals and 12 punts combined. Michigan recorded 224 total offensive yards; Indiana had 212. Both had third-down conversion rates around 30%.
Carr had a rough game in his first start, losing a fumble, taking four sacks and throwing a tough interception. But even with the mistakes, the true freshman showed some promise, going 20-for-32 while passing for 167 and making some solid throws — but no touchdowns.
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Yet Carr and the Wolverines still felt like they were shooting themselves in the foot, especially with some of those promising chances in the second half. After coming out of halftime with renewed vigor, Carr put together a 14-play drive that should resulted in a touchdown, but Michigan couldn’t drive the final few yards, settling for a field goal – which Butkowski completely missed with his second miss of the game. They had a second chance soon after, with Zeke Berry picking off Hoover on the next drive, and still couldn’t find the end zone.
Hoover, meanwhile, had his worst game of the season and perhaps his college career, completing 8 of 18 passes for 81 yards and throwing his first pick of the year to Berry. He didn’t complete a pass in the entire second half before overtime.
Speaking on the postgame show, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti admitted that Hoover “wasn’t 100 percent today” but seemed happy with the victory, ugly as it was.
“We found a way. Not pretty, but it’s a win,” Cignetti said. “It was really difficult. It’s a victory and we’re going to celebrate it.”
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