Two very different stories last weekend from Michigan and Indiana as the two Big Ten teams prepare to face off this coming Saturday.

Indiana slammed Purdue 92-0, showcasing once again their experienced and athletic backline and ability to put the boot on the neck and keep it there. Meanwhile, Michigan had to work for it to beat Michigan State 22-14. 

Michigan Head Coach Brandon Sparks said the close game was a case of the Spartans being much improved.

“That wasn’t the same team we saw last fall and they are going to surprise some teams this season,” said Sparks, crediting the work of former USA Selects player Benny Mateialona and Dane Meyer. “Benny and Raider have made a huge difference there. We got pushed around in the first half, but the men took those lessons and applied them in the second half which helped us claw our way back into it and earn the win.”

Indiana’s Bryce Campbell said his team is under no illusions; they know Michigan will be tougher than Purdue.

“We feel pretty solid,” said Campbell. “We know if we play how we know to play, we can come out on top. We have talked about how this will be a tougher game, especially on the road. We need to come prepared. They’re pretty strong in the forwards and that’s where we have struggled a little bit.”

Campbell said IU is a bunch of veteran players, and as such they aren’t fooled by blowouts and know to focus on improving.

“Against Illinois we got clumped up on defense and we had a lot of penalties called against us,” said Campbell. “Illinois got tries off those penalties. We’ve cleaned that up a lot.”

Michigan is a young team, and Sparks said the Wolverines are still just getting their pattern of player secure.

“It will be fun to see it improve this week against the best team in the BTU Conference,” said Sparks. “We've had a tough preseason and a tough kickoff to the BTU season. This has prepared us for the challenges we are going to face against Indiana and the players are really excited for this.”

Campbell concluded with a simple admonition for his squad: “we need to stay disciplined on defense and stay connected when Michigan has the ball.”

Also on this weekend in Big Ten Universities rugby:

Ohio State is 1-0 as the Buckeyes visit a wounded 0-1 Purdue. Minnesota is at 0-1 and will host 1-0 Wisconsin, who hammered Iowa last weekend. Iowa hosts Illinois in a clash of winless teams.