Michigan giving Big Ten the business

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They’ve got all the elements. And now we know they can play in them, too.

Michigan’s true proving ground in the Big Ten may still be a month away, but Saturday the Wolverines still managed to show something in a 52-7 win over Indiana.

After stumbling through a soggy first quarter against another overmatched opponent — and trailing for only the second time all season — J.J. McCarthy and No. 2-ranked Michigan poured it on after that, scoring on eight consecutive possessions as the rain fell and the wind swirled.

And by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, with most of the crowd of 110,264 at Michigan Stadium already headed for cover, the Wolverines’ starters knew their workday was done as well. Jim Harbaugh sent in a wave of youngsters to finish the job.

“As Coach Harbaugh always says, we’re in the [butt]-kicking business,” senior linebacker Michael Barrett said. “And business is booming.”

Michigan has now won 19 consecutive Big Ten games, matching the program record set from 199092. The Wolverines have won 22 consecutive regular-season games, the fourth-longest streak in school history. A 10th consecutive game scoring 30 points or more extended a Michigan record, and Harbaugh’s team has walloped four Big Ten opponents this season by a combined score of 180-30.

“But I would just say it’s everything that we expect out of ourselves,” insisted McCarthy, who missed on his first two throws Saturday before finishing 14 of 15 for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. “Like, we’re not out here trying to prove anything to anyone but ourselves. So, yeah, there’s 52-7 games backto-back, but we still have a lot to work on and we still have a lot to learn from this game.”

Maybe so, but what we know now is what the rest of the conference feared coming into this season. Michigan appears to be as complete a team as there is in all of college football, not just the Big Ten.

And amid all of Harbaugh’s quips and quirks — Saturday’s postgame press conference veered from a “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” sing-along to an animated discussion about olive jars — his team keeps driving that point home with an unrelenting offense and ruthless defense.

“They do wear you down,” Indiana Coach Tom Allen said. “That’s one of their strengths as a team.”

But it’s just one of many, as Allen’s team eventually learned after catching the Wolverines off-guard early in this one. The Hoosiers used a quick passing game — and a well-timed trick play — to grab a 7-0 lead, and late in the first quarter Harbaugh admits he was surprised to look at the scoreboard and see the yardage totals: Indiana 141, Michigan minus-8.

Michigan outgained Indiana by a 415-91 margin the rest of the way, with McCarthy doing much of the damage on a day the temperature was in the 40s and the rain and wind intensified as the afternoon went on.

But the weather didn’t seem to bother the Wolverines, who played in record-high 96-degree heat in Nebraska two weeks ago and chilly nighttime temps at Minnesota last week.

“I didn’t think it was that nasty, actually,” McCarthy said. “And something that Coach Harbaugh says is, ‘No matter what, if it’s a hurricane out there, we’re still gonna sling that rock.’ ”

Few are slinging it with as much confidence as Michigan’s junior quarterback is right now. And that, Harbaugh explained, is what gives him the confidence to have McCarthy drop back to pass on fourthand-goal from the 2-yard line, as he did Saturday with the score 7-7 late in the first half.

“Mainly, it comes down to (the fact) I know No. 9 is gonna make it right,” Harbaugh said. “It’s just perfect, when you’ve got a quarterback like that.”

It helps when you’ve got a quarterback who can extend plays the way McCarthy does. As he put it Saturday, when things break down, “we just turn it into scrambled eggs,” And against Indiana’s blitzing defense, there was one play in particular that ultimately made the Hoosiers crack.

On third-and-10 from his own 46-yard line, McCarthy was flushed from the pocket by a pair of Indiana defenders. He broke toward the visitors’ sideline, and motioned to tight end Colston Loveland to break off his route and head downfield, putting sophomore cornerback Phillip Dunnam in a bind.

“He’s got to pick his poison,” McCarthy said, smiling, “and he picked the wrong one.”

As soon as Dunnam committed to preventing Michigan’s quarterback from running for the first down, McCarthy made a leaping throw to Loveland, who then rumbled 54 yards for the score to make it 28-7.

From there, all that was left was for Michigan’s “boa constrictor” defense to apply the suffocating finishing touches, allowing just 66 total yards on 31 plays in the second half while forcing three more turnovers. (“My favorite thing,” Barrett said, “is watching their hopes slowly go away.”) After that, it was to come in from the cold and turn their attention to that heated rivalry game next week in East Lansing.

“We sang ‘The Victors’ and a couple ‘Jolly Good Fellows,’ ” Harbaugh said, “and then we’re onto (Michigan) State.”

Back to business, as they say.