Michigan vs. Indiana: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The No. 14 Michigan Wolverines escaped Bloomington, Indiana, on Saturday night with a thrilling 48-41 double-overtime victory after blowing a 21-9 first-half lead against the Indiana Hoosiers.

After Amara Darboh's go-ahead touchdown in the second overtime, Michigan stopped Indiana on the 2-yard line to secure its eighth win of the season and keep its slim College Football Playoff hopes alive. 

Quarterback Jake Rudock threw for 440 yards and six touchdowns. His favorite target was wide receiver Jehu Chesson, who hauled in 10 receptions for 207 yards and four touchdowns.

Michigan's defense set the tone to start, forcing a turnover on downs when Indiana tried to convert a 4th-and-2 near midfield on its first drive, setting up the Chesson show.

The Wolverines capitalized on the turnover, with Rudock hitting Chesson for a 34-yard touchdown pass to give Michigan a lead less than five minutes into the game.

ESPN College Football shared the replay:

Chesson has found the end zone often lately, as MaizenBrew.com's Drew Hallett pointed out:

Even though they've lost six straight games, the Hoosiers have given some top teams a run for their money this season. Their losses to No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Iowa were by eight points or fewer. 

Much of that has to do with their strong running game, which they went to often Saturday. Indiana running back Jordan Howard managed to have a big game, rushing for 238 yards and three total touchdowns on the day, becoming the first player to run for 100 yards against Michigan this season.

The News-Sentinel's Pete DiPrimio didn't want Howard to leave the field at all:

Because of Howard's success, Indiana kept going for it on fourth down, converting two in a row toward the end of the first quarter, which set up the team's second field goal of the afternoon. 

But Rudock, who completed 16 of his first 17 passes, and Chesson were scoring touchdowns while Indiana was kicking field goals.

For a quarterback who was facing plenty of criticism earlier in the season, Rudock was showing his doubters he could carry the offense, as WTOL's Jordan Strack noted:

The Michigan duo hooked up for its second touchdown of the first half with a 15-yard pass. This time, Chesson was wide open. 

The Indiana Daily Student's Tori Ziege was looking for answers while wondering how Indiana's defense lost Chesson:

Griffin Oakes kept Indiana within striking distance, kicking his third field goal of the day with 6:11 left in the second quarter. From 51 yards out, it was his most impressive kick of the day. Indiana's Twitter account showed he's used to high-volume kicking:

But Chesson followed that up with his third touchdown catch, hauling in a laser from Rudock for 64 yards to give Michigan a 21-9 lead. 

ESPN College Football showed the touchdown:

Chesson turned on the jets to find the end zone, which helped confirm KRIS 6 reporter Annie Sabo's belief:

It was the icing on the cake of an enormous first half, as Chesson had six catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns.

Indiana finally found paydirt in the final minute of the first half, when Howard scampered in on a screen pass from seven yards out.

The catch put Howard over 100 total yards in the first half as he brought the Hoosiers within five points, but a hot Michigan offense went right back to work with 49 seconds left and nabbed a field goal to end the half. 

The Hoosiers came out firing to start the second half thanks to their special teams. Mitchell Paige came up with Indiana's longest play of the day, a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown to help bring the team within one point.

ESPN College Football showed Paige's patience and vision as he willed Indiana back:

Bleacher Report's Collin McCollough began thinking ahead after the big-time return:

Indiana took the lead on its next drive with Oakes' fourth field goal of the day, a 24-yarder to put the Hoosiers up 26-24 with 7:40 left in the third.

Michigan finally found an answer, although it wasn't a big one, with 6:30 left in the game, when Kenny Allen knocked a 20-yard field goal through the uprights to put the Wolverines back up by one. 

But Indiana's ground game came up huge, barreling its way down the field. Howard capped off the drive with a 24-yard touchdown run.

A two-point conversion put the Hoosiers up by seven with 2:52 left in the game, but Michigan wasn't done. 

A 41-yard completion to Chesson, who had been quiet in the second half, put Michigan on the Indiana 2-yard line with 1:11 left. After being stopped three times at the goal line, Rudock went to Chesson on 4th-and-goal on the last play of regulation. The ensuing extra point sent the game to overtime.

Howard got things going in overtime on Indiana's first possession, punching in a one-yard rush on 4th-and-goal. 

Michigan tight end Jake Butt helped knot things up at 41-41 with a 21-yard reception. The team didn't wait long to take the lead on its next possession. 

Rudock hit Amara Darboh, who had eight catches on the day, on the first play of the second overtime to give Michigan a 48-41 lead.

With the events of the past 24 hours around the world, Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch found solace in such an exciting game:

The Wolverines live to fight another day in the College Football Playoff race. After a game against Penn State on Nov. 21, Michigan will host Ohio State at the Big House.

If they are able to pull off that upset, the Wolverines could contend for the national championship even with two losses.

Postgame Reaction

It wasn't pretty, but at the end of the day, a win is a win for a Michigan team that looked out of it with less than three minutes to play. 

But the Wolverines managed to dig deep, show their resiliency and prove to the college football world that they are a team that isn't going to go down without a fight. Head coach Jim Harbaugh reflected on the win, per MLive.com's Nick Baumgardner:

And he knew he could not have done it without his quarterback, according to the Detroit News' Angelique Chengelis:

As the Wolverines approach the end of their schedule, Harbaugh knows that it's gut-check time for his team, per Chengelis:

For Indiana, it is another tough loss that got away late. With the Hoosiers not having much else to lose after five straight losses entering Saturday, head coach Kevin Wilson told the media after the game that he would not have gone for a game-winning two-point conversion had they tied the game in double overtime, per the Indianapolis Star's Zach Osterman:

Even with plenty to talk about in just the win, reporters were asking Harbaugh questions about other possible jobs, which he quickly defused, according to Chengelis:

If Michigan continues to climb the rankings, Harbaugh isn't going anywhere for quite some time. He has done a great job, even with some heartbreaking losses along the way, in turning the Michigan program around and restoring it to some of its former glory. 

A win against Ohio State in a couple of weeks could make him a legend in just his first year in Ann Arbor, as he's ensured an exciting finish for Wolverines football in 2015.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com