It wasn’t the prettiest of victories, but No. 4 Michigan (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) kicked enough field goals to stay ahead of Indiana (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) for a 31-20 victory that leaves Michigan alone in first place in the Big Ten East Division with one game left to play. Freshman kicker Jake Moody was the star of the game for Michigan after successfully kicking all six field goal attempts he tried, a school record for made kicks without a miss. It just so happened to be his first game for Michigan.
Chase Winovich left the game in the third quarter with an upper-body injury. Winovich was shoved to the ground by Indiana offensive lineman Simon Stepaniak, who then fell on top of Winovich as he was laying on the ground. No call for unsportsmanlike conduct was called on Stepaniak despite appearing to decide to fall on the Wolverine as he was on the ground, although Stepaniak was flagged for a late hit on a Michigan player shortly after the injury. Winovich left for the locker room after coming off the field and his parents were later escorted from the stands to see their son as the game continued.
Michigan also lost Berkley Edwards to a more serious-looking injury in the fourth quarter. Edwards was left laying on the ground on a special teams return by Michigan after being blocked by Cam Jones. Jones was ejected for targeting, which means he will have to sit out the first half of next week’s game. Edwards was tended to for roughly 10 minutes before being taken out on a stretcher. It was reported Edwards did have motion in his extremities moments later.
Devin Bush and David Long were also banged up late in the game as well, leaving Michigan hurting just a little bit on defense.
Michigan will be on the road next week to play at No. 10 Ohio State. Because the Buckeyes survived in overtime earlier in the day at Maryland in a wild one, the winner of next week’s rivalry matchup between historic Big Ten powers will be crowned the East Division champion. A win will send either Michigan or Ohio State to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship the following week, where they will face West Division champion Northwestern. The winner of next week’s game will also remain in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Indiana will conclude the regular season at home next week against Purdue. The Hoosiers will need to win in order to become bowl-eligible this season. Purdue will also be playing for bowl eligibility after losing a triple-overtime thriller to Wisconsin on Saturday. Winner goes bowling, loser stays home.