Tag: Indiana

Donaven McCulley, Wolverine

Former Indiana wide receiver Donaven McCulley has committed to Michigan.

McCulley is a 6’5″, 200 lb. player who started his career at quarterback in 2021 before switching to wide receiver for the past three seasons. He was just the third true freshman quarterback to start a game for Indiana, completing 35/82 passes for 475 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in 2021; he also ran 64 times for 135 yards and 2 scores. He caught 18 passes for 184 yards and 1 touchdown in 2022 and then made 48 catches for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns as a junior in 2023.

McCulley entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season and had interest in Michigan, but he was convinced to return to Indiana with new head coach Curt Cignetti coming to Bloomington. Unfortunately for McCulley, Cignetti brought some of his own transfers from JMU, who ended up winning out and leaving McCulley mostly on the bench. He caught just 2 passes for 21 yards while playing in four games. If he had continued to play beyond four games, he would have lost the ability to play in 2025 and presumably finished his college career as a backup for the Hoosiers. Instead, he announced he would enter the transfer portal after four games, which allows him to play one more year.

Michigan needs help at the receiver position with top receiver Tyler Morris entering the portal and not much size on the roster. The “big” target on the squad is 6’3″, 182 lb. Amorion Walker, who was injured for much of the 2024 season, so McCulley immediately becomes the biggest target for incoming freshman Bryce Underwood and whoever else Michigan can land in the portal.

McCulley is the third transfer to come from Indiana to Michigan in recent years, joining TE A.J. Barner and QB Jack Tuttle, both of whom joined the Wolverines prior to the 2023 national championship season.

A part of the class of 2021, McCulley was a 4-star, the #24 quarterback, and #223 overall in the class of 2021.

Preview: Michigan vs. Indiana

RUSH OFFENSE vs. INDIANA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #62 in rushing offense (165 yards/game) and #62 in yards per carry (4.59). Hooray for consistency! Unfortunately, the Wolverines have not topped 4.0 yards per carry in any of the last three games. Last week they managed just 105 yards on 28 carries against Oregon, and that’s with quarterback Davis Warren not taking any sacks. The Ducks had Michigan’s running game downloaded last week and the Wolverines got just 16 yards from Kalel Mullings and 52 yards from Donovan Edwards, as Michigan started the game by trying to run laterally without much success. Both RT Andrew Gentry (lost for the season against Michigan State) and backup OT Jeffrey Persi (left last week’s game due to a leg injury) are presumably out, meaning Michigan had to revert to struggling redshirt freshman RT Evan Link. Indiana is #1 in the country in rush defense (72.6 yards/game) and #2 in yards allowed per carry (2.52). They shut down Michigan State’s rushing offense completely last week, holding the Spartans to -36 rushing yards on 32 overall attempts. Junior JMU transfer Aiden Fisher (6’1″, 233) leads the team with 84 tackles from his linebacker position, and senior JMU transfer Jailin Walker (6’1″, 218) is second with 52. They’re #11 in tackles for loss per game (7.67). Michigan’s run game has been struggling for the past couple weeks, so unless they figure out how to use RPOs with Davis Warren, I think it’s going to be tough sledding.
Advantage: Indiana

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Michigan 52, Indiana 7

Run the damn ball. Coming into the game, Indiana was ranked #91 in rushing defense. And it was raining. So naturally, Michigan decided to come out throwing, with four pass plays and two rushes in the first six plays. Two of those pass plays resulted in sacks, and one was a drop by Colston Loveland. Meanwhile, the two carries by Corum averaged 4.5 yards per rush. Michigan wasn’t necessarily going to obliterate Indiana on the ground with huge runs, but they could have just taken over the game physically instead of trying to throw in those conditions.

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Preview: Michigan vs. Indiana

RUSH OFFENSE vs. INDIANA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan ranks #38 in rushing offense (185.2 yards/game) and #26 in yards per carry (5.07). Blake Corum’s 5.95 yards/carry ranks sixth in the conference, while backup Donovan Edwards’s mystifying 3.47 yards/carry ranks #32, lowest of any qualifying back in the conference. Kalel Mullings has stepped up his game with 23 carries for 147 yards and 1 touchdown this year. Michigan seems to have found a solidified starting five up front with Arizona State transfer La’Darius Henderson at left tackle and Karsen Barnhart at right tackle. Indiana is #91 in rushing defense (156.4 yards allowed/game) and allowed Akron’s Lorenzo Lingard over 8.0 yards/carry a few weeks ago, along with 10+ yards per rush to Maryland’s Antwaine Littlejohn despite his not getting above 3.7 against any other opponent. They give up 4.74 yards per carry, which ranks #108 in the nation. Having watched some of Indiana this year, their tackling is the worst I’ve seen it in Tom Allen’s seven years at the helm. Fifth year senior middle linebacker Aaron Casey (6’2″, 235 lbs.) leads the squad with 43 stops, followed by sophomore strong safety Phillip Dunnam (6’1″, 190) and senior free safety Louis Moore (6’1″, 190) with 35 and 25, respectively.
Advantage: Michigan

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Michigan’s 10 Longest Plays vs. Indiana

Michigan has played Indiana 71 times throughout history and has a 61-10 record against the Hoosiers. Indiana had not beaten the Wolverines since 1987 . . . until the COVID-married 2020 season. And Michigan has won both meetings since.

Here are the longest plays for Michigan in the history of the contests:

1. Grant Mason 97-yard kickoff return (2004)
2. Tony Boles 91-yard TD run (1989)
3. Steve Breaston 83-yard punt return TD (2006)
4. Jim Smith 77-yard TD run (1975)
5. Leon Hall 76-yard punt return TD (2004)
6. Shea Patterson 76-yard TD pass to Nico Collins (2019)
7. Tom Brady 75-yard TD pass to Marquis Walker (2000)
8. Denard Robinson 74-yard TD pass to Roy Roundtree (2010)
9. Denard Robinson 72-yard TD run (2010)
10. Chuck Heater 71-yard TD run (1973)
11. Desmond Howard 71-yard kickoff return (1991)

Hit the jump for videos of Mason, Boles, and Hall.