No. 6 Indiana flips script on Michigan, becoming a model for college football’s winningest to follow

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Indiana has flipped the script on Michigan.

The sixth-ranked Hoosiers have become a model of excellence under coach Curt Cignetti, winning games and a national championship with a balanced offense that takes care of the ball and an aggressive defense that helps them consistently win the turnover margin.

“They’re doing it exactly how we want to do it,” Wolverines coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Historically, the roles were reversed.

Michigan, the winningest program in college football, has won 85% of games against Indiana for its highest-winning percentage against a Big Ten team.

The Hoosiers, meanwhile, had the most losses of any team in college football until last November on their path to winning their first national title.

The Wolverines have won 42 of the last 45 games in the series against Indiana, including 22 straight at home since losing in the pre-Bo Schembechler era nearly six decades ago.

This Saturday, the Hoosiers (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) are favored by seven points against Michigan (4-2, 1-2) in the Big House and are expected to win two straight in the series for the first time since 1958-59.

Cignetti, though, expects to face a confident team after it beat Penn State 21-18 last week.

“They’ll be feeling pretty good about themselves after that,” he said.

Who is Michigan’s starting QB?

Whittingham and his coaching staff came up with a plan at quarterback, a day after Bryce Underwood was benched and Tommy Carr took advantage of his chance to play against the Nittany Lions.

“Gave them a shot in the arm,” Cignetti said.

Whittingham would not say who would take the first snap Saturday, but the best guess is that Carr will make his first career start versus the Hoosiers.

“I would assume it would be him,” Cignetti said.

Carr’s grandfathers are Lloyd Carr, who led Michigan to the 1997 national title, and Tom Curtis, who was an All-America defensive back for the Wolverines and holds the school’s career interceptions record. His brother, CJ Carr, is starting at quarterback for No. 4 Notre Dame.

Cignetti’s secret sauce

Indiana, coming off its first setback since 2024, has not lost consecutive games in Cignetti’s three seasons and their winning formula is tied to turnover margins.

The Hoosiers have been even or plus in turnover margin for 31 straight games, the longest streak in major college football since at least 1995.

“You talk about why they’ve won more games in the last two and a half years than anyone in the country, that’s a big reason why,” Whittingham said.

Michigan player punished

Michigan tight end Zack Marshall did not play against Penn State, the team’s first game after group messages with him criticizing the offensive scheme were leaked on on social media.

“More of a non-injury situation,” Whittingham said when asked why the senior missed the game.

Marshall publicly apologized for his comments following a 20-14 loss at Minnesota, but that apparently was not enough to keep him on the field.

Michigan has scored a Big Ten-low 136 points.

Indiana’s streak snapped

The Hoosiers were inches away from beating then-No. 4 Ohio State last week, but lost to snap a 22-game winning streak that dated to a 2024 College Football Playoff game against Notre Dame.

Indiana’s previous loss in the regular season was also against the Buckeyes and it bounced back from that 2024 setback with a 66-0 win against Purdue, handing their rival its most lopsided loss in school history.

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