ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After getting back into the win column last weekend against Penn State, Michigan is searching to make it two in a row, and gain another statement win. But that's no easy task and the Wolverines will have to play their best football on Saturday to make that happen.
Michigan is set to host not only the defending champions, but also an Indiana team that suffered its first loss since the 2024 season under Curt Cignetti. Now in his third season, Cignetti hasn't lost back-to-back games since 2022, when he was with James Madison.
On top of that, the Hoosiers don't make costly mistakes. Indiana has three turnovers this season, all being fumbles, and quarterback Josh Hoover has yet to throw an interception. Hoover has been among the most interception-prone quarterbacks in college football over the course of the last two seasons with TCU.
But Michigan will have to get the job done without several key players. And somehow, Indiana still has nobody listed on its availability report for the game — which is mind boggling for this late in the season.
Availability report
OUT
- WR Kendrick Bell
- TE Mason Bonner
- WR Braydon Alford
- RB Micah Ka'apana
- DE Julius Holly
- OL Ace Hamilton
- OL Andrew Sprague
- DE Dom Nichols
- OL Blake Frazier
- TE Zack Marshall
Game Time Decision
- S Rod Moore
- DT Enow Etta
Next man up...?
Starting right tackle Andrew Sprague will continue to miss weeks due to his 'perplexing' injury suffered back in Week 3 of the season. But losing current starting right tackle Blake Frazier for this game is not ideal at all. The only good news here is that both Brady Norton and Jake Guarnera came off the report completely.
Who will start at right tackle? Well, it's possible we finally see Andrew Babalola, but that's just a projection at this point. Avery Gach started at right guard last week in place of Norton. Jim Harding could retool his line where Norton comes back into the lineup, but moves to tackle, while Gach stays at guard.
Dom Nichols has been on the injury report since Week 4. He has played through an injury, but at some point, he was going to need a breather and it unfortunately comes against a tough Indiana offensive line. Tariq Boney is likely in line to start, with Nate Marshall seeing an uptick in snaps, along with Carter Meadows likely playing some more snaps.
Both Rod Moore and Enow Etta will go through pre-game warmups win hopes of playing against Indiana.
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