Indiana football opens as nearly five-touchdown underdog to Michigan

Indiana football returns to the field this weekend after coming off a much-needed bye week that saw changes made to the program in a hope to save the struggling season thus far.

They resume play at Michigan on Saturday.

Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Indiana (2-3) opens up as a nearly five-touchdown underdog to Michigan. The initial line is 34.5 points. The total points line is currently set at 49.5.

Michigan (5-0) is coming off a dominant 51-10 win over Minnesota.  The Wolverines are led by junior quarterback J.J. McCathy who has thrown for a total of 1,290 yards so far this season. He also has an outstanding 77.6% completion rating, as well.

Michigan is currently the No. 2 ranked team in the country and considered by many to be the favorites to win the Big Ten Championship and once again make the College Football Playoffs.

Last matchup between the Indiana football and Michigan took place last season which saw the Hoosiers fall 31-10 at home. Indian last beat Michigan in the 2020 season 38-21. The Wolverines hold a series history lead 57-10.

Following a 44-17 loss to Maryland two weeks ago, Indiana football head coach Tom Allen made a change and relieved Walt Bell of his offensive play-calling duties. Bell was replaced by Rod Carey as the new Offensive Coordinator for the Hoosiers.

The Indiana football offense has struggled in Bell’s two years in Bloomington. Last season, Indiana averaged 328.3 yards and 23.3 points per game.

“I just wanted to start by saying that I went through and evaluated our offense after the (Maryland) game was over early on Sunday morning. And you go back and look at the data, in four FBS games we’ve only scored three touchdowns in meaningful minutes. Just not good enough,” Allen said.  “I believe we need to be much better, have to be much better. I just felt like this was the timing with the bye week to make a change and have decided to name Rod Carey as our new offensive coordinator.”

Through five games this year, Indiana is averaging 20.8 points per game, 13th in the Big Ten. Against FBS opponents, Indiana is averaging just 12.8 points per game in regulation. Indiana scored 12 of its 29 points against Akron in week four, in four overtime periods.

Indiana’s best offensive game this season was against FCS opponent Indiana State. The offense put up 558 yards of total offense, the most since its win over Western Kentucky in 2021.

“There is no time to make drastic changes. It is going to be the small details that we have to do that are going to add up to a difference,” Carey said. “If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be standing in front of you. I told Coach Allen that, too, that if I didn’t believe that, not just me, but us, as we go forward can we make a difference. I do believe that.

Kickoff set for 12:00 pm ET on FOX

SEE ALSO: Rod Carey looks to make offensive ‘flashes more permanent’ by bringing detail-oriented approach to Indiana football

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