The Michigan Wolverines are riding highcoming off a 21-18 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions behind the strength of three second half touchdown drives led by Tommy Carr.
The Wolverines will start Carr this week , a true freshman. His first test? The defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers, who just had their 22-game winning streak snapped against Ohio State. They should be focused, and perhaps a little angry after losing to the Buckeyes by mere inches.
If the Wolverines are going to knock off the Hoosiers, they'll need a big day from Carr, but who else needs to step up?
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One of the biggest issues with Michigan's defense through conference play has been the lack of juice from the pass rush. Dom Nichols has been fighting through an injury for multiple weeks after a dominant start to the season.
If you're going to beat Josh Hoover, you're going to have to put him under pressure. Ohio State did a good job last week of making things difficult for him, and Michigan will need to do the same.
Their most gifted pass rusher is Nichols. He had a big start to the season with 2.5 sacks in the first two games.
Since then, he has not put a quarterback on the ground. Some of that has been offenses adjusting to him. Some of it has been the Wolverines' star rusher battling through an injury.
Whatever the reasons are, Nichols needs to put them to the side this weekend. If they are to pull off the upset, Nichols along with the rest of Michigan's front will need to play a central role.
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Tough, punishing, power football. That's the Michigan way. It's also the way the Wolverines are going to have to play to knock off the defending national champions in their home stadium. If Michigan is going to win , they cannot get into a track meet with Indiana's offense. The Hoosiers are better at quarterback and receiver than the Wolverines.
So what's the formula? The same as it usually is when you're facing a high powered offense. Get Jordan Marshall running behind his pads, as the Wolverines did last week in the second half of their 21-18 win over Penn State.
Allow Marshall to punish Indiana's linebackers and defensive linemen. As the game wades into the second half, there will be an opportunity for some of those runs to break into bigger plays for the offense.
Marshall is Michigan's toughest runner. This should be a game where, if things are going well, that he touches the ball more than 20 times.
Of course with smash, you'll also need dash. Michigan's offense is going to need to find some explosive plays from their ground game. Last week, it was Bryson Kuzdzal who broke off a 43-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for the Wolverines.
Later in the game, it was Savion Hiter showing off the special ability that has had everyone buzzing about him since the day he stepped onto campus.
Hiter broke off a run from a zone concept and scampered 41 yards into the Nittany Lions secondary. Hiter is capable of punishing an opposing defense in the way that Marshall is able, but he also has more big play ability than Marshall.
If the focus for Michigan is going to be on the run game, they're going to need Marshall or Hiter to pop a couple of explosive gains against a tough Hoosiers defense.
One of the most surprising developments of last week's win over Penn State was the ability that of Penn State had to move the ball through the air.
Chase Sowell was the best player on the field, arguably for either team, in Saturday's game. Jyaire Hill was a primary cover man on the majority of Sowell's big plays down the field. Some of those plays were hotly contested, and Sowell just made a great play. Other times, he just beat Hill on the route.
This week, the Wolverines will face a better group of receivers in Indiana's Charlie Becker and former Michigan State Spartan, Nick Marsh.
Marsh was inches away from scoring the game winning touchdown against Ohio State last week. Becker is Indiana's deep threat. No matter who Hill is matched up with, he'll need to be better than he was a week ago.
Sink or swim, kid. Michigan is starting a true freshman for his first career start against the defending national champions.
Carr took over for Bryce Underwood las t week to thunderous cheers from the crowd in Ann Arbor. This week, the honeymoon period ends. The backup quarterback is only the hero for so long.
Carr will need to take care of the ball, and be prepared to take some hits. Indiana's defense is vicious. They knocked Ohio State's Julian Sayin out of the game last week.
Carr has to balance taking care of the football with not being too careful to avoid making big plays.
One of the biggest reasons Carr is in the lineup is how much Underwood turned the ball over during the first five-plus games of the season. That being said, Carr cannot be too careful. Michigan is going to need to hit some big plays down the field to keep their offense on the field.
Finally, Carr is not guaranteed anything beyond this week. If he plays poorly, Michigan could easily go back to Underwood. This game is a chance for Carr to establish himself as the quarterback for the rest of the season, and potentially in the future.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/michigan as 5 Most Important Michigan Wolverines To Pull off the Upset over the Indiana Hoosiers .
