IU football hung tough for a half. Then No. 4 Michigan flexed, pulled away.

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana played No. 4 Michigan to a halftime tie, but eventually faded in a 31-10 loss in front of a strong homecoming crowd at Memorial Stadium.

The Hoosiers fell to 3-3 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines improved to 6-0, 2-0.

Here are three reasons that happened.

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Michigan responded early in the second half

The Wolverines seemed on the ropes on the road with the score tied 10-10 at the break, but Michigan took control in the third quarter, outgaining the Hoosiers 129-41 in the period, including an 11-play, 98-yard drive on its first possession of the half. The Wolverines picked up a pair of 3rd-and-longs on that possession, the most notable being a 3rd-and-7 on the IU 40 when quarterback J.J. McCarthy beat Indiana's defensive Swiss Army Knife Dasan McCullough to the corner for a 9-yard run for the conversion. Two plays later, McCarthy hit wide receiver Cornelius Johnson on an out route that turned into a 29-yard touchdown run and Michigan went up 17-10. The Wolverines maintained the lead the rest of the way and piled on two more touchdowns afterward.

Defensively, the Wolverines kept the Hoosiers from getting much of any momentum after the break. Indiana punted on each of its first three drives after halftime, and even though the Hoosiers got what seemed like a tide-turning interception from safety Devon Matthews, their drive stalled in their own territory on that drive.

Michigan's pressure got to Connor Bazelak

Michigan sent two defensive ends to the NFL last year in Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo but still had no problem getting to IU quarterback Connor Bazelak, sacking him six times, pressuring him into several throwaways and effectively making the passing game useless in the second half.

Bazelak completed 10 of his first 13 passes and 19 of his first 27 but Michigan brought more and more pressure and it eventually broke him. He completed just 6 of 22 passes after halftime, missing on eight of his last 10.

The much-maligned offensive line wasn't any better in the run game. The Hoosiers finished with a net 19 yards on 25 carries. Taking away the sacks, they rushed for 86 yards, but 39 of those came on one first-half run by Jaylin Lucas.

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Indiana stopped the run until it didn't

IU kept it close in the first half in large part because it contained a Michigan running attack that was one of the most powerful in the country going into the game. Tailback Blake Corum broke off a 50-yard run on his first carry and then scored from one yard out on the next play, but the Hoosiers put most of their resources and defenders into stopping the run and Michigan didn't get much done with it the rest of the first half. At the break, the Wolverines had just 77 rushing yards on 17 carries, averaging 1.7 per carry on the rushes other than the 50-yarder.

But as Michigan took control in the second half, the Hoosiers' defense wore down and the Wolverines took advantage by pounding the ball some more. Corum finished with 124 for the game to maintain his Heisman Trophy candidacy and make what had been an interesting game through two quarters a laugher by the end.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana football fades in second half in 31-10 loss to Michigan