The Michigan Wolverines football’s pass defense has struggled mightily this season, allowing Michigan State to throw for 323 yards on it on Oct. 31 and then letting Indiana go for 342 yards last Saturday.

The Maize and Blue’s secondary, as a result, ranks 104th in the country, allowing 287.3 passing yards per game. They’ll face another stiff test when Wisconsin comes to town on Saturday, with Badger redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz having completed 20 of his 21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns in the team’s only game this year (a 45-7 win over Illinois on Oct. 23).

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“They have a unique team and a great team,” senior safety Brad Hawkins told reporters this afternoon. “We’re preparing to go out there and are practicing hard. We’re ready to win this game and that’s how we’re looking at it.”

The Wolverines have regressed since a season-opening win over Minnesota, playing a putrid game against the Spartans on Halloween and failing to show significant improvement last week in Bloomington.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh talked about a disconnect between practice and games following the loss to the Hoosiers, a sentiment that has been all too common around the program the last few years.

“The plays we make in practice are the ones we have to make in games,” Hawkins explained. “The opportunities that come our way have to be made, like interceptions. It’s about communication and believing in each other, moving forward and never looking back.

“You’re going to go through adversity in football, and we happen to be going through it right now. We want to keep pushing forward. I don’t have a particular cause [for the disconnect].

“We have to catch the ball when it comes our way in games, just like in practice — it’s that simple. We have to make it happen and make the play.”

U-M’s defensive backs got their hands on several balls against Indiana, but were not able to intercept any of them. In fact, the Wolverines have not forced a turnover in either of their previous two games.

“We have a lot of things to improve on,” Hawkins admitted. “We’ve done some things well, but we still have to get better every day. There’s always something to work on, win or lose.”

Though taking down the Badgers will present a daunting challenge this Saturday, it will also give Michigan an outstanding opportunity to start turning its season around. A win over a Wisconsin team who many view as the second best in the Big Ten would at least put some optimism back in the program, and perhaps provide a glimmer of hope that Harbaugh knows how to turn this disaster around.

“We go in every week with the mindset to win,” the senior safety confirmed. “We practice hard and work hard, and do everything we’re supposed to. We don’t ever go into a week thinking we’re going to lose.

“This is a must-win game for us and we want to win it. We’re going to lay it all on the line this week.”

Keys to a U-M victory will start with playing better defense, something the majority of the Wolverine contributors have proven in the past they can do. Defensive coordinator Don Brown put together three straight top-three defenses from 2016-18, but is, for whatever reason, having a devil of a time figuring out how to make this year’s unit a competent group.

“Our identity is to be the best defense in the country — best run defense and best pass defense,” Hawkins said. “We had two kind of messed up games, but it’s adversity and it’s football.

“Our mindset is still to be the best defense in college football, and that’s what we’re working toward. The goals remain the same.”

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