Indiana vs. Michigan: Game Grades, Analysis for the Wolverines

The week before the biggest game of the season is always known as a "trap game." And for the first half of the Michigan-Indiana game, it looked like the Wolverines had fallen into that trap. 

However, thanks to some big-time runs from De'Veon Smith, Michigan was able to grind out its 10th win of the season, 20-10 over Indiana, for Senior Day during a blizzard at the Big House.

Check out my game grades and analysis.

Pass Offense: F

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Though Wilton Speight dressed and warmed up for this game, everyone and their mother knew that it was going to be John O'Korn for Michigan against Indiana. And, boy, did he prove why Speight was the choice for the coaches coming out of camp. 

O'Korn proved the rumors to be true about his game as he consistently showed his lack of poise in the pocket. As soon as the first read would be eliminated, the feet started to bounce. "Happy feet," as some like to call it, is a killer for a quarterback, and it showed all game long. Indiana was able to shake O'Korn and get him to either try to scramble or make inaccurate throws. 

O'Korn finished the game 7-of-16 for 59 yards. That's not good, even with the horrible weather.  

But it's not all on the Houston transfer. 

Michigan's receivers, though not always given the best chances to make plays, were missing for the second straight week. If the Wolverines are going to knock off Ohio State next week, Jake Butt, Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh will need to help out the quarterback much more than they have in the last two weeks. 

Pass Defense: B+

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Unlike Michigan's offensive air attack, the passing defense once again played very well and was a main reason why the Wolverines won the game. 

Indiana's Richard Lagow was hounded by the pass rush all game long. When he was able to throw, Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling, Dymonte Thomas and Delano Hill were there to make big plays. 

Lagow finished the game 14-of-29 for 191 yards but never really looked to get anything going. Whenever a big play would happen, the Michigan secondary or pass rush would make a play to kill the Hoosiers' drive. 

Run Offense: A-

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There has been some talk on the Michigan Twittersphere and message boards about who exactly should be the No. 1 running back for the Wolverines. Well, De'Veon Smith looks to have been listening and showed the world once again why he's Michigan's top tailback. 

Smith had a career day in his last game at the Big House as he rushed 23 times for 158 yards and two unreal touchdown runs. He was the best player in the game for Michigan when the offense was stuck in the snow. 

O'Korn and Chris Evans also had some big runs behind a much-improved Michigan offensive line. The Wolverines rushed for 225 yards in total on 4.5 yards per carry. 

Run Defense: A

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Like the pass defense, Michigan's run defense put on a show on Saturday and completely overwhelmed the Hoosiers rush offense. 

Thanks to the Wolverines defensive linemen, linebackers and blitzing safeties getting into the backfield on a normal basis, Indiana finished the game with just 64 yards rushing on 36 carries. That's an average of just 1.8 yards per carry. 

Michigan also racked up 12 tackles for loss. 

With Ohio State happening next Saturday, this was a great look at how hard-nosed the battle should be in the trenches. 

Special Teams: A-

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If I were only grading Kenny Allen and the punt-return linemen, it would have been an A-plus.

Michigan's Mr. Everything kicker made his one field-goal attempt and all of his extra points. He also stuck multiple punts deep inside Indiana's territory and consistently crushed kickoffs deep into the end zone to win the field-position game. 

As for the punt-block rush, Michigan put up two more tipped/blocked punts against Indiana, taking its total number of blocked punts to six for the season. 

But that's not the only part of special teams. I know I'll get a ton of flak for this, but Jabrill Peppers just hasn't looked as explosive and dynamic as a return man in recent weeks, including this Saturday. He had multiple chances to break off big returns but just couldn't break it and ended up averaging just 7.3 yards per punt return. That number wouldn't be that bad if Indiana was putting out good punts. But that was far from the case. 

Maybe Peppers is saving up something special for the Buckeyes next week? 

Coaching: B

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In the first half, Michigan looked like the stalled team that it was against Iowa. And that's not what anyone expected coming into the game thanks to the Jim Harbaugh factor. 

Harbaugh and his staff are one of the best coaching staffs in the country, but once again, the offense just didn't look overly prepared. 

Yes, weather and a new starting quarterback were big factors, but the slow starts are still inexcusable. However, I will give the staff credit for going into the locker room, figuring out what needed to be done and getting the players to execute the game plan. That's especially true for Jedd Fisch and Tim Drevno's play-calling with a struggling quarterback. 

With the OSU game looming, Michigan fans will be hoping the staff gets the team (the offense, especially) a lot more prepared for the Buckeyes next week than it did last year.