Last season Michigan had a number of football games where the first half was unsettling or unsatisfying, with a tenuous halftime lead understating the gap between the two squads. Michigan would eventually pull away in the second half, but it didn't always make for the best viewing experience. Their trip to Bloomington last season against that woeful Indiana squad was one such game, with the contest tied 10-10 at halftime before Michigan outscored the Hoosiers 21-0 in the second half. Today's game in some ways felt like a familiar script, a sluggish opening against an overmatched opponent. Except in this season of Michigan Football, the sluggish periods are shorter, the halftime leads are larger, and the eventual margins of victory are even larger. The Wolverines took a 21-7 lead into halftime against Indiana after a poor 1st quarter and pummeled the Hoosiers in the second half to win 52-7. Michigan's defense started first and did well on that opening series, forcing a quick three-and-out, generating pressure and forcing a bad pass on 3rd down. After a bad punt, the Wolverine offense took the field with excellent field position but seemed uncomfortable against Tom Allen's array of blitzes, a 6v5 RPS loss in pass protection on 3rd down sacking McCarthy to end the drive after three short plays. Indiana took the ball and stitched together what would be their most cohesive drive of the half down-to-down, traveling 60 yards over 12 plays deep into Michigan territory. QB Tayven Jackson showed poise and accuracy on his short throws, while the Indiana offensive line was able to get decent push on the ground. They converted two 3rd downs and eventually found themselves at 1st & 10 from the 14, but that's when the drive began to unravel. Indiana was stuffed on 2nd & 6, committed a false start, and then Jackson made a disastrous mistake, a terrible throw that was either sailed on the underneath receiver or woefully underthrown for the deeper receiver. Either way, Mike Sainristil tipped it up in the air and Rod Moore picked it off, returning it out to the Michigan 41. [Bryan Fuller] The Wolverine defense had held Indiana out of the end zone, but the tide hadn't yet turned because the Michigan offense was still out of sorts. Their second drive was another three-and-out, a promising first down run washed away by a 2nd down play that saw McCarthy sack himself and a 3rd down play where McCarthy hurried a throw for a well covered Roman Wilson that fell incomplete. Michigan punted it back to the Hoosiers and this time Indiana's offense would pay the drive off, with new QB Brendan Sorsby in the game. IU converted two third downs, one coming after a whiffed sack attempt by Mike Sainristil and one coming on a QB sneak, before the trickery came out of the garage: back-pass to WR Donaven McCulley and then the Wildcat QB turned WR uncorked a bomb down Jaylin Lucas for a TD, left wide open after Michigan S Keon Sabb got fooled by the trickery. Michigan's third drive of the game saw them finally awaken and begin a streak of eight consecutive drives that would end in points, only to be snapped by the meaningless final drive of the game (which expired because the 4th quarter clock hit 0:00). McCarthy converted an early 3rd & 10 to Colston Loveland, a dicey throw that turned out to be the one that finally got Michigan's offense out of the mud. Blake Corum gained 12 on the next play and Loveland got 13 on a catch on the play after that. Michigan was in to IU territory and Blake Corum would finish it off, running 15 yards after the catch to get Michigan to the 5 and paying it off with two runs into end zone. 7-7. The Michigan offense was awake, but the defense wasn't totally yet. A weak personal foul on the TD assessed to ex-Hoosier AJ Barner and enforced on the kickoff would give Indiana good field position and the Hoosiers crossed midfield for their third straight drive. However, on 3rd & 2, Sorsby made a dreadful throw right to Michigan NT Kenneth Grant, who had dropped into zone coverage. Grant did not catch the ball and then Tom Allen curiously chose to punt the football, a cowardly decision in a game that his team was such an underdog in. Michigan's defense was off the hook from having to get a 4th & short stop. [Bryan Fuller] The punt decision backed the home team up to their own 13 but that was no issue for the Michigan offense that was now in a groove. Donovan Edwards touched the ball on each of the first four plays from scrimmage before McCarthy connected with Tyler Morris on a deep ball, one enabled by Indiana jumping offside and giving Michigan a free play. JJ was finding his stride after three early sacks, persevering through a flea flicker that Indiana wasn't fooled by, still hooking up with Morris for a solid gain, followed by a beautiful back-shoulder throw to Barner to gain 18. Michigan now had 1st & goal and after three plays fell short, they found themselves in 4th & Goal from the 2. Jim Harbaugh kept his offense on the field and the players rewarded him, as McCarthy found an uncovered Roman Wilson in the end zone for the TD. 14-7. There was 3:24 left on the clock at the time of that TD, enough time for Michigan's defense to get a quick stop and still return the ball to the offense with time to score again. That's exactly what they'd do, with an assist from the Indiana offense. It seemed as if the Hoosiers had a big play down the field when McCulley toasted Michigan corner Keshaun Harris for a 37 yard catch, but the play came back because of a hands to the face penalty on Old Friend Zach Carpenter, getting his paws on the noggin of DT Cam Goode. Not just did that nullify a big gain, but it set a normally bad Indiana offense well behind schedule. The next play was 2nd & 22 and unsurprisingly, Indiana was unable to recover from that hole. Indiana punted to Michigan with 1:40 remaining, a strange punt that hopped in front of Tyler Morris, who fielded it awkwardly but then proceeded to return it 27 yards into Indiana territory. Michigan's offense was given a short field, which would become even shorter after an unnecessary roughness penalty on Indiana's Marcus Burris Jr. on the first play from scrimmage. Michigan was inside the IU 30 just like that and they'd make it inside the 10 when McCarthy uncorked a Patrick Mahomes-like underhand flip to Edwards at the 10, who scampered down to the 2. Two plays later Corum rumbled in for a TD and Michigan would take a 21-7 lead to halftime. [Click the JUMP for more recap]