Indiana Hoosiers vs Michigan Game Preview and Prediction

The No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers take on the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday in a marquee matchup on November 9th on CBS at 3:30pm ET.

The Hoosiers are coming off a 47-10 victory over the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday. IU enters the contest at 9-0 while the Wolverines sit at 5-4 after falling to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks on Saturday 38-17.

The IU offense has scored 46.6 points per game with 284.3 passing yards and 191.9 rushing yards per game, while the defense has allowed 13.7 points against per game this season. Kurtis Rourke has completed 73.3% of his passes for 2,204 yards, 19 touchdowns, and three interceptions, while Justice Ellison has rushed for 669 yards and nine scores.

The Michigan offense has struggled all season they have started three different quarterbacks including Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle. Michigan has scored 21 points per game with 134.3 passing yards and 165.1 rushing yards per game, while the defense has allowed 23.3 points against per game this season. Senior walk-on Davis Warren has completed 65.2% of his passes for 731 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions, while Kalel Mullings has rushed for 710 yards and seven scores this year.

The keys for Indiana :

• Indiana ranks 1st among FBS teams for Q1 opponent points per game this season (1.1) they will need to keep Michigan down early. Since the Wolverines struggle in the passing game it'' be tough for them to get back in the ball game if they are down by too much early on.

• Michigan has gone 1-3 since their 4-1 start and all three losses came by double-digits. Michigan (3-3 Big Ten record) won't make the playoffs, and even a bowl game isn't guaranteed, will they show up or have they packed it in ?

• Defense! Indiana has been dominate on both sides of the ball. They're allowing the second-fewest yards (261.0) and points (13.7) in conference play. Only two teams have scored more than 17 against the Hoosiers. They allow the fewest rushing yards per game in the nation (72.6) and the second-fewest yards per carry (2.5).

The keys for Michigan :

• Michigan is stout in the trenches, led by first round prospects Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant limiting teams to 3.6 yards per carry and 109.3 rushing yards per game.

• Feed the stars, Colson Loevland, Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings all three are projected top 100 picks on this upcoming NFL Draft and all have tons of quality breakout games left in them.

• Davis Warren has to play well, take care of the football and make plays down field which no quarterback against IU's defense has done. Warren had this to say about his play recently “I got to be better on third downs, gotta be able to convert. Third down’s a money down. And we talked about it all week

Indiana vs Michigan Game Information & Odds

• Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024
• Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• TV Channel: CBS
• Live Stream: Watch this game on Paramount+(Regional restrictions may apply)
• City: Bloomington, Indiana
• Venue: Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)

Indiana is favorite as of Friday morning (11/1). Indiana is a 14.5-point favorite against Michigan and the over under is 49.5 points, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook. Indiana is a minus -670 favorite on the money line, and Michigan State's money line odds are plus +470.

Prediction: Indiana over Michigan (34-17)

I think this game could be extremely tough for Michigan to string together consistent scoring drives and Indiana won’t take its foot off the gas in this one. I’ll take the Hoosiers in Bloomington 34-17, too much Kurtis Rourke and too much balance.