Bloomington, In - Inexperience is showing as the Wolverines fall to 1-2 after a 38-21 loss to the Hoosiers.
It was a frustrating day for Michigan on both sides of the ball for several reasons. Let's start on defense where the secondary continues to struggle. Michael Penix Jr. completed 30 of 50 passes for 343 yards and 3 touchdowns. Many of those completions going downfield where corners and safeties failed to make plays. The run defensive played ok as they gave up only 3.1 yards per carry on 38 rushes.
The defensive front seven had their issues as well. Defensive coordinator Don Brown had to be pulling his hair out with the lack of discipline. Michigan was called for offsides or lined up in the nuetral zone several times, giving a very good Hoosiers offense free plays while struggling in the secondary on top of that. That was a recipe for disaster.
To the offense where the starting offensive line had only eight career starts among those five starting lineman. That inexperience showed a bit as quarterback Joe Milton was hit often. The run game was non-existant as they rushed 18 times for only 13 yards. Three ball carriers ended the game with negative yardage. That is not a Michigan run game you're accustomed to seeing.
As for the passing game, junior wide receiver, Ronnie Bell had a solid day. Bell hauled in 6 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Not all the offensive problems had to do with the line. MIlton completed just over 50% of his passes and while he may have thrown for a 2nd straight 300 yard game(344 to be exact) his continued inaccuracy is causing the offense from scoring more points.
Lots of work to do out in Ann Arbor to get things corrected and improve upon if they want to turn things around. It doesn't get any easier as they are scheduled to play 10th ranked Wisconsin next week at the Big House.