Head coach Curt Cignetti is making history with the Indiana Hoosiers. On Saturday night, they took down last year’s national champions, the Michigan Wolverines, 20-15, for their first 10-win season in program history. With Week 11 in the books, the Hoosiers saw off the Wolverines for just the second time since 1988. But the win was less than ideal, with offensive struggles in the second half, resulting in just three points.

The Hoosiers were 17-3 ahead at halftime and it appeared they would get over the finish line without any major hiccups. But in the second half, Michigan’s defense tightened the screws and restricted them to just three points late in the fourth quarter.

Worryingly, they managed only 246 total yards during the game, including 206 passing yards and a mere 40 rushing yards. To give you an idea about how this performance was not up to the standards, Indiana is ranked No. 2 in scoring offense, averaging 46.6 points per game. not to forget, they allowed four sacks and eight tackles for loss while averaging just 1.3 rushing yards. Hence, while the 10-0 start may make it seem like everything is rosy, there are issues.

While the mood around Bloomington couldn’t be more ecstatic, analyst David Pollack has fired a warning for Cignetti and his surprise B1G leaders as he believes tough times lie ahead for Cignetti’s side.

On the November 10th episode of the David Pollack college football show on YouTube, he highlighted Indiana’s flaws against the Michigan Wolverines saying, “They go to 10-0, but they look sloppy in the second half, like, I haven’t seen them.

“At one point, I saw they ran like 14 plays and five drives, you know, turn the ball over once. Their quarterback was getting hit a little bit more, he hasn’t been getting pressured a bunch.

“Ellison was banged up, Indiana was banged up. Then, the thing about them is they don’t have the depth that a lot of teams have. They don’t have the class after class of recruiting that they’ve stacked upon each other.

“Cignetti, he was like, wait a minute, I have like, 30 guys in the portal, and I need to go replace all 30. That’s not an easy thing to do, but Indiana 10-0, has never, never been done before by Indiana. That’s pretty cool.”

The hard-fought win for Indiana wasn’t without cost. Receiver Myles Price had to leave the field in the first half and head to the locker room after taking a hard hit near the goal line. Running back Justice Ellison also left the game briefly after his head bounced hard off the turf. Moreover, Hoosiers cornerback Jamier Johnson was ejected late in the first half for targeting.

They already lost starting left guard Drew Evans to an Achilles injury before the Michigan game, who will be sidelined for the rest of the year. The injuries against the Wolverines may pile up and since they don’t have a ton of depth up front, it will cause them more problems. The team is already thin in offense having lost two receivers, Donaven McCulley and E.J. Williams at midseason who opted to transfer.

Michigan were able to claw its way back into the game after a field goal made it 17-6. A 56-yard field goal and a touchdown in the fourth quarter narrowed the margin to 17-15. However, the Hoosiers were able to see out the match despite, the Wolverines having a few chances to level or go ahead. But bigger tests await the Hoosiers in the upcoming weeks.

After a bye week, they face Ohio State. Notably, Indiana is yet. Yes, there is no doubt what Cignetti has achieved with Indiana is impressive as Pollack mentioned, but do they have the strength in depth to compete with the top programs as we get closer to the business end of the season?

Meanwhile, Cignetti isn’t downplaying his team’s fabulous run, but did say that he didn’t like how they played.

Curt Cignetti’s message after a win over Michigan

Curt Cignetti, the first-year head coach who turned the program upside down in a short span, was proud of what they have done this season. “Defense, awesome job blending and not breaking. The special teams play again, huge in that game, and found a way. What are we, 10-0?  Not bad!”

But he was quick to add, “I’m not happy with the way we played, particularly on offense in the second half. We’ve got to take a good look at the film Monday and see what happens…There were a couple kickoff returns that game out on their bench, but it looked like maybe we were getting grabbed on them. But I thought our defense did a number of good things, but they were on the field too long.”

A win is a win. That is how some Indiana fans will see it. As for the challenges that lie ahead, having secured a 10th win, they will be eyeing more history with a run at a national championship and the Big Ten championship.