Michigan loss to Indiana calls Sherrone Moore’s game management into question

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan’s five losses have come in different flavors, from deflating to shocking to maddeningly predictable.

Saturday’s 20-15 loss to No. 8 Indiana was a new twist. Michigan’s defense played inspired football and held one of the most explosive offenses in the country to 18 yards in the second half. The Wolverines offense missed numerous opportunities, but that’s nothing new. There was another issue, one that’s been in the background all season but became harder to ignore after a game that came down to the final minute.

Sherrone Moore’s game management was not good. If he’s going to succeed as a head coach, it will have to get a lot better.

Moore wasted a timeout challenging an obvious fumble. He gave his leading rusher one carry in the first half. He took a delay-of-game penalty instead of going for fourth-and-3 at Indiana’s 42-yard line. Gifted an interception at Indiana’s 7, Michigan ran the ball three times and kicked a field goal. And then the kicker: With three timeouts and a theoretical chance to get the ball back, Moore let nearly 30 precious seconds tick away before stopping the clock.

Those mistakes didn’t cost Michigan the game, but they’re symptomatic of a program that isn’t doing the little things well. Michigan needed to do everything right to have a shot at beating Indiana, which is a sentence that has not been typed many times in the history of college football.

Entering Saturday, Michigan had lost twice in its previous 44 games against the Hoosiers, and one of those was the Twilight Zone season of 2020. But this is a different Indiana team, one that has captured the hearts of football fans everywhere during its 10-0 start. It’s also a different Michigan team, not that Michigan fans need the reminder.

Michigan was the first team all season to put the Hoosiers on the ropes. After falling behind 17-3 in the first half, the Wolverines smothered Indiana’s offense and gave themselves a chance to win. A game that looked like a rout turned into high-stakes drama, with Indiana’s College Football Playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

In a game like this, every decision is magnified. A lot of Moore’s decisions didn’t end up looking great, and his explanations weren’t much better.

On the decision to challenge Alex Orji’s fumble: “We got the word buzzing down that it was possible the knee would have been down. I wanted to challenge and fight for my kids.”

On kicking a field goal at the 3-yard line, down 17-3: “It really was the momentum of moving the football. We wanted to get points. It was later in the game, so we had time to go back down there and try to score.”

On giving carries to redshirt freshman Benjamin Hall instead of leading rusher Kalel Mullings in the first half: “We just wanted to get Ben some carries. He’s been throughout the whole year doing a really good job, and we just felt like it was time for him to get some work as well.”

On waiting to call a timeout when Michigan still had a shot to get the ball back: “It was just talking about conversations of what the play call was going to be, what we were going to do. That’s where it all came from.”

The full context is helpful here. After Michigan came up less than a yard short on fourth down, Indiana took over near midfield with 1:35 on the clock. The Hoosiers gained 8 yards on first down, and Moore seemed caught between calling a quick timeout or conceding the first down. Indiana got the first down on the next play, so the lost time didn’t matter. But the criticism on the CBS broadcast, coupled with a shot of Moore hanging his head, didn’t paint a pretty picture.

Moore is a first-time head coach, and rookie mistakes are to be expected. Lots of coaches struggle with game management early in their careers and get better with time. And it’s worth remembering that Moore filled in for Jim Harbaugh last season and pushed a lot of the right buttons to keep Michigan’s undefeated season alive.

The puzzling part is that Moore seems to be getting away from things that were supposed to be his strengths. Moore went for it three times on fourth down against Ohio State last season, and Michigan converted all three. Those were great, gutsy calls. Against Indiana, the Wolverines went for a fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter — they really didn’t have a choice — and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run from Mullings, but other times they played it safe.

The sequence that hurt the most came after Zeke Berry intercepted a pass at Indiana’s 7. Michigan called three unimaginative runs and kicked a 22-yard field goal to pull within 17-6. That’s the difference between a tie game and a five-point loss.

“We’ve got to be able to punch that ball in, no question about it,” quarterback Davis Warren said. “The opportunity was there for us. We’re definitely going to think about those a lot. It stinks. It hurts. We knew that we were good enough to win this football game.”

When Michigan had players like Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy, going for it on fourth down was an easy call. It’s not as easy this year. Michigan’s offensive struggles make it tempting to take points when they’re available, but the lack of explosiveness also means the Wolverines need to score touchdowns when they have the chance. As a result, a lot of Michigan’s decision-making has felt haphazard and inconsistent.

Despite their offensive limitations, the Wolverines had every opportunity to win this game and spoil Indiana’s Cinderella season. For the good of college football and the enjoyment of all, perhaps it’s better that they didn’t. A 10-0 Indiana team on its way to the College Football Playoff is a much better story than a 5-5 Michigan team trying to make the Pinstripe Bowl.

This is not Michigan’s year, but the Wolverines don’t plan to be irrelevant for long. Their goal is to be playing meaningful games again, preferably as soon as next season. When that happens, Michigan will need to know that Moore can push the right buttons. Saturday was a clear indication that he needs to get better in that area.

This game was there for the taking. When time was running out, Michigan let it get away.

(Photo: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)