Check out the Michigan football team’s offensive and defensive stats. They’re polar opposites. On offense, you’ll find national rankings in the top 20 for most categories. The defense, on the other hand, is the worst in the country at stopping the pass, allowing an average of 307 yards per game.

During Monday’s press conference, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the contrast between his two units. On offense, the players have gained experience and the execution on the field matches that. The defense can’t say the same.

“I think there are some moments on defense where we have gotten a little bit better but there's also some things we have not gotten better at and it's going to take a little more time,” Rodriguez said. “Some of it is going to be coming with experience, and as they get more reps, but you know, we are not a real deep team over there.”

Because of the brevity of the Wolverines’ drives against Indiana, the Michigan defense was forced to spend a lot of time on the field. The Hoosiers held the ball for nearly 42 minutes. Part of that was the Wolverines' offensive efficiency, but the other ingredient was the defense’s inability to stop the Hoosiers on third down — they converted 11-of-19.

Rodriguez estimated that several defensive players were on the field for more than 100 snaps, while the offense was on the field for less than half of that. And when Michigan’s starters got tired on defense, Rodriguez was forced to play less experienced backups.

“You're leery to take them out because the next guy in is not close to him from a physical or experience standpoint,” Rodriguez said. “We are in a tough, tough situation, but we have to just keep battling through that. And the best way to limit that is to get more three and outs, to get more shorter possessions and hopefully get a few turnovers.”

There were some positives to take away, even though the Wolverines allowed 568 yards of total offense. Rodriguez said that Michigan did tackle better, which has been a point of frustration this season.

As Rodriguez sees it, the Wolverines are still 5-0, which is the most important statistic.

“We have won and it's like winning a prize and winning $10,000 and being all upset because you have to pay taxes on half of it,” Rodriguez said. “Still going to take the money, you know, and be happy with it and we won.”

Robinson goes deep: Sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson wasn’t completely perfect last Saturday against the Hoosiers.

He did win his third Big Ten Player of the Week award of the season and posted 494 total yards and five touchdowns, but there were a couple of deep passes that Robinson could have connected on in the second half.

“He's missing three out of ten, that's not bad,” Rodriguez said. “He missed a couple on Saturday, the one wide open to Junior (Hemingway) — he would love to have that one back. But he's really been pretty good at it for the most part. But a lot of it is just a little bit of touch on it and he'll get better the more we throw with it but I've really been pleased with his accuracy for the most part.”

Robinson still finished with career highs in passing yards (277) and passing touchdowns (3) and completed 10-of-16 passes.

Rivalry week starts now: Michigan has lost to its in-state rivals from East Lansing each of the past two seasons.

Now the excitement on both sides is at its most intense in years — both teams are 5-0 and ranked in the top-25. The Wolverines have always placed a great deal of importance on the matchup.

“They are all big, but this one is bigger,” Rodriguez said. “The rivalry games are always bigger. I'm sure they will tell you the same thing. It's a huge thing for both teams every year. The more you win, there's more at stake and there's more at stake this year because both teams are undefeated.”

Injury report: Rodriguez said that no new names were on the injury list after the game against Indiana.

Rodriguez did note that junior running back Michael Shaw and fifth-year senior nose tackle Greg Banks were fine. Redshirt freshman running back Fitzgerald Toussaint is day-to-day.