How Michigan HC Sherrone Moore fumbled the game away vs. Indiana
The Michigan Wolverines lost yet another winnable game this week, falling to the Indiana Hoosiers 20-15. This time, the loss fell solely at the feet of head coach Sherrone Moore for some truly abysmal game management decisions. The Wolverines got the ball out of halftime down 17-3 and had terrific field position after a 37-yard […]
The Michigan Wolverines lost yet another winnable game this week, falling to the Indiana Hoosiers 20-15. This time, the loss fell solely at the feet of head coach Sherrone Moore for some truly abysmal game management decisions.
The Wolverines got the ball out of halftime down 17-3 and had terrific field position after a 37-yard return set them up at their own 40-yard line. Capitalizing on the momentum, Michigan is able to cross into Indiana territory for the first time since the first drive of the game.
After a couple of runs, Michigan has the ball at 3rd and 7 on the Indiana 46. With quarterback Davis Warren being largely ineffective on passing downs and constantly under duress, the Wolverines opted to run the ball and see what they could get. It worked and they were able to pick up four yards to make it 4th and 3. Down 17-3 on the Indiana side of the field, it's a pretty obvious "go for it" situation.
Instead, Michigan pretends to line up for it, takes a delay of game penalty to go back further than they were on third down, and punt the ball.
One play later, Michigan picks off Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke in the shadow of his end zone to get the ball at the Indiana seven-yard line.
The Wolverines call three straight runs and have a 4th and goal at the Indiana three. Again, down 17-3, Michigan bafflingly opts to kick a field goal to make a two-score game a two-score game. They are a power-running team with one of the best goalline backs in the country, and refused to trust in that on the road in a critical upset win? Instead of 17-6, it could have been 17-10 with all the momentum behind them.
On the final drive of the game, up by five, Indiana was trying to run the clock out to secure the win. For some unidentifiable reason, Sherrone Moore refused to call his timeouts, wasting about 30 seconds of game time. His decision-making immediately drew the ire of fans across the country.
Michigan only lost this game by five. Read that again. Michigan lost to an undefeated and Big Ten contender Indiana team, with one of the hottest offenses in college football, by five points.
If they opted even to try to win the game, particularly the sequence on the goal line, they might have pulled it off. Instead, the team, and Sherrone Moore, are getting flamed for losing a winnable game.
