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After a promising showing in the season-opening victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 24, the last two weeks have been anything but easy for the Michigan Wolverines’ secondary.
Surrendering a career-high 323 passing yards to redshirt junior Rocky Lombardi in the Michigan State Spartans’ upset win on Halloween, 196 of which went to freshman wide receiver Ricky White, the Wolverines’ cornerbacks were also bitten by penalty flags, with redshirt sophomore Vincent Gray whistled for holding and pass interference before being pulled, redshirt freshman Jalen Perry tagged for holding, and Gemon Green, another redshirt sophomore, picking up a pass interference call.
Hoping to see improvement in Bloomington, Michigan fans instead saw much of the same, as Indiana redshirt sophomore quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. threw for 342 yards, which, like Lombardi the week prior, was a career-high.
The penalties continued to show up at inopportune times, as well, particularly Gray committing pass interference on a third-down-and-nine in the third quarter.
Appearing on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show with former Wolverine Jon Jansen on Monday, cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich expressed confidence his unit will turn things around, despite the back-to-back concerning performances.
“We’re just going through a little slump,” he said. “The guys are working hard, they’re working on their techniques, we’re going to get it fixed, for sure.
“You got to take the good with the bad, and right now, like I said, we’re just in a little slump, but we’re fighting through it and we will come out, I trust these guys.”
Echoing comments made by head coach Jim Harbaugh and standout sophomore safety Daxton Hill, Zordich is seeing his position group do a lot of the right things and look prepared on the practice field, but translating that to game situations has been a struggle.
“I’m seeing them do everything we ask,” he began. “Certainly not all the time, nobody’s perfect, there are corrections we make. But, for the most part, they’re running around, making plays, and doing things we’ve asked them to do.
“Again, nobody’s perfect, there are techniques that we talk about every day, that I’ll be talking about until I’m done coaching, but the mindset is there. It’s like Coach Harbaugh said, there’s a disconnect between practice and what has happened on the game field the last two weekends.
“I watch our guys at the top of some of these routes, and their body control is not in control. We’ve got to fix that. In practice, it’s OK, but on game day, why is it different? That’s something I got to figure out, I got to get these guys right, we’re going to do some different things as individuals to help them fix that problem.”
Michigan has developed a reputation as one of college football’s most handsy programs on the perimeter, and Zordich explained exactly what they are looking for from their cornerbacks as the play unfolds.
“It is a process,” he stated. “It all starts at the line of scrimmage, getting your hands on at the line of scrimmage and once the route is vertical, I tell the guys to be quiet, get in the hip.
“Gemon’s (Green) touchdown pass, he was not ready at the snap. He got back at it, got himself in good position, he contested the football, which we always want to see, but the kid (redshirt sophomore Miles Marshall) made a great catch. He’s got to be ready at the line of scrimmage, that’s where we’ve got to win.”
Playing safety for the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1982-85 and both cornerback and safety for four National Football League teams over the course of a 13-year professional career, Zordich understands better than most the importance of the mental aspect of the game, something he is constantly trying to instill in this young group.
“That’s something we talk about every day because, in our room, you’re the last line of defense, you’re the guys that, if you do contest the ball and they catch it, they’re winning and it’s highlighted, the light is brighter,” he shared. “Every day, you just got to dust yourself off, you got to go play the next play, that’s how we go, that’s how we roll. This is an aggressive defense, we want to stay aggressive, we want guys to be physical and handsy at the line of scrimmage, but at the same time, your memory has to be very short.
“That is something we talk about on a daily basis because it’s just the nature of the position.”
Following the loss to the Spartans, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Don Brown emphasized the importance of giving the cornerbacks some help and the position coach provided specifics as to what this means.
“Yeah, it is safety over the top, for sure,” Zordich said. “And then, we put in, you probably saw it last week, basically a three-deep zone just to try to alleviate some of the press technique and I’m sure that’s what Don (Brown) was talking about.
“But it’s all the same, I got to get these guys ready to play. They’re able and they’re willing, now it’s up to me to help these guys out. That’s my job, that’s what I intend to do, and I know, these guys, their minds are set that way.”
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Even though both tilts ended in a loss, Zordich, who has been a member of Harbaugh’s staff since his first season in Ann Arbor, saw some improvements, some steps in the right direction against the Hoosiers.
“I definitely think we got better at the line of scrimmage against Indiana,” he said. “The sad thing is, Vincent (Gray) had four, we call them ‘explosives’ on him, one touchdown, two long pass plays, and the PI.
“The crazy thing is, all four of those, he was bad at the line of scrimmage, and they found it, hats off to them. We can’t have four times where Vincent is bad at the line of scrimmage, I got to coach him that, he’s got to realize that, and he does, he knows he’s got to fix it, as well as I got to help him fix it.
“It’s amazing, they find the mistakes, they’ll find the mistakes, and they did. Hats off to them.”
With the two-straight losses and below .500 record, the level of unrest among the fan base has been increasing. While it is difficult to block out the noise, the coach said his group is holding up well.
“I talked to all my guys yesterday (Sunday), I actually had a great talk with Vincent after the game Saturday night once we got home and settled in, we had a nice conversation,” Zordich said. “Their minds are there, their minds are right, they’re in the right direction. Are they frustrated? Absolutely, but they want to fix it and that’s the positive. These are good kids and really good athletes, too, and that’s what’s frustrating for us as coaches, as we talked about earlier, just to watch them practice and some of the things you’re like, ‘Wow, look at this kid.’
“Just come on now, put it in gear and take it on to Saturday afternoon.”
The next chance for Zordich’s cornerbacks and the rest of the Wolverines to show improvement will come on Saturday against the Wisconsin Badgers (1-0) at home at 7:30 p.m. EST on ABC.
Coached by Paul Chryst, who, like Harbaugh, is in his sixth season at the helm, the Badgers have not played since Oct. 23, having to cancel games against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 31 and Purdue Boilermakers on Nov. 7 due to positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests among their student-athletes and staff members.