MICHIGAN KEEPING ITS FAITH IN STOUT DEFENSE
It’s crunchtime for Michigan, which entered October with no shortage of question marks — nearly all reserved for the offense — and now, three weeks into the month, begins its make-or-break stretch with a road trip to undefeated Penn State.
The Wolverines’ offensive woes have been well-documented. It’s convenient to pin the blame for the sputtering attack on the recent change at quarterback, with John O’Korn replacing injured Wilton Speight, but the issues run far deeper than a single position — and predate any personnel change, whether driven by injuries or otherwise.
As we cross the midway point of the regular season, Michigan ranks 87th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards per game, 86th in yards per play, 64th in yards per carry and tied for 120th in touchdown passes. Michigan’s quarterbacks have thrown as many touchdowns as the quarterbacks from Illinois, Florida, Rutgers and TexasEl Paso. That’s not good company to keep.
In the general sense, this is the sort of offensive ineptitude that reveals Michigan to be at least one step removed from College Football Playoff contention — even if not yet official, it’s hard to imagine this offense stepping forward to help the Wolverines survive their difficult second-half slate, which includes the Nittany Lions, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
But this defense, run by the nation’s most underrated and overlooked assistant coach in Don Brown, is something else. Ranked second nationally in yards allowed per play and first in yards allowed per game, the defense is unquestionably of a championship caliber. This much is true: In any single game, against almost any single opponent, Michigan’s defense is good enough to lift the Wolverines to victory.
“They’re going to solve their problems with aggression,” Penn State coach James Franklin said of the Wolverines defense. “They’re a big wreck-thedecision-maker (defense), try to get to the quarterback as much as they possibly can and either sack him or make him uncomfortable in the pocket, and don’t give any yards away, no free-access throws. That’s what he believes. (Brown’s) done a really good job.”
That idea will be put to the test by Penn State’s offense. There’s Saquon Barkley, and everything written about the Nittany Lions junior is right on the money — if anything, he’s even better than the numbers suggest. Opponents have keyed on stopping Barkley with mixed results, though Northwestern and Indiana did a fair job.
But the decision to devote resources to stopping the running game has revealed Penn State’s offense to be more than just one star; the Nittany Lions have been able to take advantage with Trace McSorley and the passing game. In its second season under coordinator Joe Moorhead, the offense has become balanced, multidimensional and explosive. It will provide the toughest test to date for Michigan’s defense.
“It’ll be a team effort defensively to go against a great player and really an outstanding offense,” Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh said. “They’re hitting on all cylinders. I think our guys are excited for that task.”
Yet it’s a matchup the Wolverines can win. There are two ways to look at things: Michigan has yet to face an offense of Penn State’s caliber, which is true, but neither has Penn State lined up across a defense this adept at burning down offensive game plans. Something has to give.
Maybe the Wolverines will be motivated by finding their backs to the wall. Losing to Michigan State robbed Michigan of a wouldbe tiebreaker, not to mention evaporated a portion of the goodwill Harbaugh carried into his third season. Michigan knows the road to a Big Ten title goes one of two ways: either it continues with a win at Penn State or it ends before the final Saturday of October.
“Let’s have at it. Let’s get better each day. Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today,” Harbaugh said. “A simple formula. But we thought we’d be good. Coach Brown thought we’d be good, and our players thought we’d be good. And we’re playing good and improving.”