BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- No. 17 Michigan committed 16 penalties in Saturday's 27-20 overtime win over Indiana, a school record that coach Jim Harbaugh would rather not have on his résumé.
Harbaugh said his team made plenty of mistakes en route to its fifth win of the season. At the top of that list was the 141 yards of penalties the Wolverines surrendered, which will continue to be an emphasis for his staff moving forward.
"I tell my 6-year-old not to spill the milk. And, gosh darn, the next thing that happens is spilled milk," Harbaugh said after the game. "[I say] 'No penalties, no penalties.' Try to coach them how to not get the penalties, and we're getting penalties. So we have to grow there. That's an area we have to grow and get better."
The Wolverines reached double digits in flags before the end of the first half and continued to get in trouble with the officials up through one of the final plays of the game -- a pass interference call before Indiana's overtime bid stalled out inside the 5-yard line.
On one play late in the first half, referees called three different penalties against the defense before, during and after the play -- offside before the snap, defensive holding and a late hit.
When asked if he has ever seen three fouls called on one play before, Harbaugh said, "Probably. There's been a lot of balls kicked off. We've got to better in that area when you're getting them offensively, defensively [and] special team."
The referees weren't just busy with Michigan. Indiana was whistled for five penalties and missed out on a couple close calls that left coach Tom Allen fuming on the sideline. The Hoosiers had an interception wiped away due to a pass interference call and narrowly missed recovering an onside kick in the final minutes when an official ruled that receiver Simmie Cobbs didn't complete the process of gaining possession before stepping out of bounds.
"I understand how all this works," Allen said after the game. "We have to earn the right to get those breaks, period. End of discussion."
When reporters asked Allen to clarify exactly what he meant by earning the right to have close calls go in their favor, he said, "You saw what I saw."