Indiana vs. Michigan: Score and Twitter Reaction

Behind running back De'Veon Smith's big day, Michigan bounced back from its loss last week with a 20-10 victory over Indiana on Saturday afternoon from Michigan Stadium.

It did so without its starting quarterback Wilton Speight, who suffered a collarbone injury and doesn't have a clear timetable for a return. Instead, the Wolverines had to go with junior John O'Korn, who hadn't started a game since he was with Houston in 2014.

O'Korn completed just seven of 16 passes for 59 yards on the day, but his backfield picked up the slack.

Smith carried the ball 20 times, racking up 158 yards and a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to deliver Michigan its 10th win of the season.

While he excelled on the ground, the Wolverines defense held Indiana to 255 total yards. A far cry from an offense that averaged over 460 yards of total offense per game entering Saturday. 

But the Hoosiers made Michigan fans sweat for more than half the game. O'Korn didn't do much to help the Wolverines offense, as he failed to make some simple throws while having problems identifying pressure.

For many around the Michigan program, like Larry Lage of the Associated Press, it was just confirmation why he was the No. 2 quarterback this season:

Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody was a bit more straightforward in his analysis:

Luckily in a scoreless first quarter for a struggling Michigan offense, the defense allowed just 26 yards.

Special teams tried to get things going for the Wolverines in the second quarter after Jordan Glasgow blocked Joseph Gedeon's punt to get Michigan the ball on the Indiana 44. But it could only muster a 28-yard field goal from Kenny Allen with 8:48 left in the second.

It didn't satisfy Mother Jones Max J. Rosenthal:

And it didn't ease any nerves when Indiana followed with a methodical 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate up nearly four-and-a-half minutes and was capped off by Camion Patrick's two-yard scoring run.

GBM Wolverine was having bad flashbacks to the Iowa game:

It was enough to give Indiana a 7-3 lead going into halftime in which it held O'Korn to just 42 passing yards on 10 attempts. It also prompted Chris Vannini of CoachingSearch.com to try his hand at comedy:

ESPN Stats & Info further delved in to Michigan's offensive struggles:

Michigan went straight to the ground game in the second half, but the moment Indiana found a way to force the Wolverines back, O'Korn's inability to execute stymied their drives.

It called for Allen to come back out and pull Michigan to within a point on its opening drive of the third quarter, which forced Carron J. Phillips of the News Journal to appreciate the kicker:

After Griffin Oaks answered Allen's field goal to put Indiana up 10-6 with 5:21 left in the third, Josh Newman of the Asbury Park Press relayed some advice for the game's viewers:

For those who followed that advice, words would be eaten soon after, as Michigan's offense finally broke through. 

After O'Korn scrambled for 30 yards, Smith took over the third quarter to record 96 yards and two touchdowns.

He put Michigan in the lead with a powerful 34-yard touchdown run, which was finished with an athletic dive for the pylon, via the Big Ten Network: 

ESPN CollegeFootball caught a pair of Michigan supporters who embodied the relief of a fanbase:

Smith went off again just before the end of the third, going 39 yards and plowing through the Indiana defense to give Michigan a 10-point lead.

It floored 247Sports' Josh Henschke:

USA Today's Nicole Auerbach knew what her game plan would be for the rest of the day if she were Michigan's coach:

With limited carries, he had a career performance by the end of the quarter, via Michigan Football:

Behind the defense in the fourth quarter, Michigan closed out the win to record its second straight 10-win season. 

With No. 2 Ohio State's narrow 17-16 victory over Michigan State just hours before, the win ensured Michigan would stay tied atop the Big Ten East with the Buckeyes and Penn State if the Nittany Lions beat Rutgers on Saturday night. 

The ugly win won't do much to build any kind of confidence heading into next week's titanic clash in Columbus against Ohio State, though. Given O'Korn's performance and Ohio State's 12th-ranked rushing defense, Michigan will most likely be hoping that Speight can get back under center in a hurry to keep its College Football Playoff hopes high. 

Post-Game Reaction

Harbaugh remained hopeful in Speight's timetable for a return as this was originally viewed as a season ender, via ESPN's Adam Rittenberg:

He also attempted to describe the afternoon in Harbaugh-like fashion, via WTKA's Sam Webb:

Had it not been for Smith though, it could have been a very-different Saturday:

Now there is one game left in Michigan's regular season and Harbaugh has his eyes on the prize heading to Ohio Stadium, via George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press:

A win next week would break a four-game losing streak to Ohio State and would be Michigan's first win in Columbus since 2000. 

If it is able to break the slump, then the Wolverines could not only be playing for a Big Ten title, but for their place in the college football playoff.