The Indiana Hoosiers have a fully healthy roster heading into their Week 8 matchup against the Michigan Wolverines. A grand total of zero Hoosiers are listed on the initial Week 8 Big Ten availability report. The same cannot be said for Michigan.
The Wolverines have a total of 15 players featured on the injury report. Seven Wolverines have already been ruled out for Saturday's matchup against the Hoosiers, while seven more are currently listed as questionable.
Michigan's injury concerns are spead across both sides of the ball, but there is one position group that is heavily impacted. That comes on the offensive line, which could present a key matchup advantage for Indiana.
Michigan's offensive line is banged up heading into Indiana matchup
Michigan's offensive line is seriously banged up heading into Saturday's clash with Indiana. The Wolverines have a total of five offensive linemen with injury designations, which includes three starters. Starting RT Andrew Sprague has already been ruled out, which will mark his fifth missed game in a row.
Other Michigan starters up front listed on the availability report include C Jake Guarnera and LG Blake Frazier. They are both listed as questionable.
Backups with injury designations include RG Ace Hamilton (out), RG Brady Norton (questionable), and LT Andrew Babalola (probable). Thus, it seems that Michigan's offensive line depth could be seriously tested against a vaunted Hoosier defensive front.
Indiana's defensive front could determine the outcome of this game
The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten with 24 sacks on the season, and have several game-changers up front who are capable of giving the Michigan offense line plenty of trouble. EDGE Tobi Osunsanmi is on a major heater, and he currently leads the Big Ten with 11.5 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks. Defensive tackles Tyrique Tucker and Marion Landino are among the best in the business, and LBs Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones are a matchup nightmare for opposing offenses.
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Michigan has allowed nine sacks through six games this season, which is middle-of-the-pack in the Big Ten. However, the Wolverines run a very run-heavy offense that doesn't feature a ton of quarterback dropbacks. In fact, Michigan ranks dead last in the Big Ten with just 135 pass attempts on the season.
Michigan is also turning to Tommy Carr over Bryce Underwood. Underwood was benched last weekend against Penn State, and the Wolverine offense performed much better with Carr leading the way. He raises Michigan's offensive ceiling, but having a banged up offensive line in front of him could spell trouble.
Winning the battle in the trenches and putting pressure on Carr in his first collegiate start is undoubtedly going to be a big point of emphasis for the Hoosiers in this matchup. Carr is mobile, so IU will have to focus on containing him in the pocket. Furthermore, if Indiana can hold steady against the run and force Carr to drop back into obvious passing situations, the Hoosiers could be in good shape.
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