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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — What was questionable in Big Ten Week 1 became bad in Week 2 and even worse in Week 3.
Michigan’s Achilles heel at the moment is its secondary, as what was once the No. 1 unit in college football three short years ago and No. 10 last season, now has fallen off a proverbial cliff.
The Wolverines have been nothing short of hapless in covering receivers, almost never getting the best of them, and when they do, there’s senseless pass interference penalties and holds that keeps the defense on the field.
Assuredly, the formula of an elite pass rush making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable hasn’t come to fruition this year. Even when the pressure does come, whether it be Tanner Morgan, Rocky Lombardi and now Michael Penix Jr. — they’ve stood tall, taking the hits as they deliver yet another strike.
The Michigan secondary surrendered just 197 yards the first week against what was thought to be one of the top-rated passing offenses in the country. Then, exposed a week ago, MSU managed 323 yards through the air, before Penix had himself a career day on Saturday, en route to 342 yards and 3 TD. The Spartans at least had their struggles, with Lombardi completing just 53.1% of his throws, a week after Morgan managed just 58%. However, Penix threw 50 times, completing 30, good for a 60% completion rate.
Indiana didn’t even bother running the ball, most of the time, with the 118 yards on the ground coming in just 38 of the team’s 88 offensive plays.
According to Michigan VIPER Michael Barrett after the game, the issues plaguing the defense are correctible, even easily fixable.
“I wouldn’t say it was things going wrong, it’s things we’re not doing right,” Barrett said. “Simple things, simple, small things — I can’t really put a point on it. Small things that we know to do or things we know not to do. All the flags, all the penalties that were called. Jumping offsides, pass interference — all the little things we know better and know we can do better.”
But Barrett, despite having some coverage duties — he was often matched up on Hoosiers TE Peyton Hendershot, who had four catches on eight targets for 31 yards and a TD — it was the corners who found themselves frequently letting WR Ty Fryfogle run loose.
Fryfogle also had a career day, nearly repeating Ricky White’s performance from a week ago. He managed 142 yards on seven catches, a 70% clip given his 10 targets, averaging 20.3 yards-per-catch.
For Barrett’s notion, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh agrees. He says he’s seeing things in practice, but when it comes to games, the fundamentals and techniques are going out the window. Instead, there’s unnecessary clutching and grabbing, overall giving the opposition another shot. When it wasn’t the pass interference or defensive holding, it was numerous offsides penalties, which gave Penix license to throw downfield.
Three of Michigan’s five offside penalties resulted directly in 21 Indiana points.
“What I see is that, as I’ve said, I love coaching these guys and I love this team,” Harbaugh said. “They’re talented. They’re strong. They play hard. Preparation is really good. We’re seeing it in practice, seeing what guys are capable of doing, and then getting into the games and making those game plays — trusting their technique, trusting their fundamentals, trusting their talent and trusting their innate abilities and translating that into the game plan is what we’re learning. That’s what we’re learning to do as a football team.
“I think Michael’s right. I’m just continually, all of us coaches, just trying to speed that up as much as possible. Feel like we’re going to get there. You play good teams every week. Got to get there fast. Got to get there faster. As a coach, you’re out there living every play with those guys. You know they have it in them. Make that connection to doing it and trusting themselves, trusting their abilities.”
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He continued, talking about the penalties: “That was something that we were — worked hard on,” Harbaugh said. “It was definitely a successful strategy for them to clap, look for the sideline, get their next play, clap again, and as soon as we’d jump, they would snap it and they would send two receivers down the sideline and one up the middle. It was a free play — 21 points, two touchdowns. And kept drives alive on other occasions. That’s something that’s got to get fixed. Got to watch the ball. Keep your snap discipline. It hurt us.”
For those who cry ‘play more zone,’ Michigan was in zone aplenty on Saturday. However, it still just couldn’t cover.
Again, Harbaugh feels like once the players trust their talent and their instincts, Michigan will be much better for it.
“Just, it’s a step you take as a player, taking it from meetings to practice, ultimately to games,” Harbaugh said. “Add there’s so many that are learning to do that all at one time that just, it’s a trust (thing). Definitely a confidence in their abilities and in their technique ad not to abandon that ad trust that they can — they’ll make the plays in the games. That’s a critical step as I said. Keep coaching. Gotta keep coaching them and they keep learning to do it.
“It’s a trust (thing). It’s definitely confidence in their abilities and in their technique and not to abandon that. I trust that they’ll make the plays in the games and that’s a critical step, as I said. Keep coaching got to keep coaching them, and they keep learning to do it.”
“We all just have to lock in — we all have to lock in every snap,” VIPER Michael Barrett said. “It’s a four-quarter game. We all have to be locked in every snap. We know that and we just have to adjust.”
Up next, the Wolverines take on Wisconsin, the No. 10 team in the nation. However, the Badgers haven’t played a game since the first week of the Big Ten season, as they’ve been sidelined with a COVID-19 outbreak.
