By the Numbers: Analyzing Michigan's Pass Coverage

Michigan's secondary has been the strength of the defense early in the season. Not a shocking development in year 2 of Steve Clinkscale and with new Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter's background in the defensive backfield.

Pass coverage as a whole by the defense has been not only solid but consistent. According to Pro Football Focus, Michigan had a remarkably similar pass coverage rating in each of its first 4 games. Against Iowa, Michigan seemed to struggle.

Not to pick on the Iowa offense, but it has been awful this season. Against Michigan, Spencer Petras was able to find some success going 21/31 for 246 yards and a touchdown. The yardage was a season-high for Petras, who topped 200 yards for the first time this season.

Some defenders had a worse game than others, but overall there weren't a lot of strong performances anywhere in the Michigan defense when it came to coverage.

I'll be honest, I dug deeper into forced incompletions and other metrics trying to figure out why DJ Turner was rated below Gemon Green and I'm not 100% sure why. In most games, I think you'll take 3/8 for 55 yards from your two outside corners.

Will Johnson gave up 3 receptions while he was in coverage, but did hold the yardage to only 26. The corners did not give up a touchdown and gave up three first downs.

This felt like the first game where you missed Daxton Hill. Mike Sainristil has been awesome in switching to defense this year, but his pass coverage has been consistently below the other 3 cornerbacks. He got picked on a little in this one with slot receiver Nico Ragaini. All three of Sainristil's receptions were to Ragaini and one of the non-receptions was a straight drop by the slot receiver.

Where the Hawkeyes really thrived was with the tight ends. Getting 9 yards per attempt when targeting Sam Laporta and Luke Lachey, which is quite an improvement of Petras' season average of 6.1 YPA.

The two tight ends led in targets, led in receptions along with Ragaini, Lachey led in yards and caught the Hawkeyes one passing touchdown with 8 seconds left in the game.

While Michigan played man often on the outside, the linebackers were primarily in zone. Junior Colson looked lost at times dropping into coverage. He had to look around often to try and see where everyone was, as opposed to reading the play as it developed. Colson played more of a WILL last season while Josh Ross was the primary MIKE. Ross' greatest strength was his football IQ and diagnosing the defense. Not saying Colson can't get there, but he isn't there yet.

Colson also was pegged with three receptions to running backs, one was for a tackle for a loss while the other two went for 25 yards.

It will be interesting to see how the Michigan defense adapts to the way they were targeted against Iowa. Of course, the biggest concern is a roadmap given to other teams. If Iowa was able to move the ball at times and find gaps, what could Penn State do? Or Ohio State?

I'm not ready to ring alarm bells. The secondary has been excellent this year. Michigan has 4 corners who could start on any Big Ten team. The three safeties are trying to settle into their roles and rotations but have been solid as well. The pass rush took a huge leap against Iowa, and it feels like the Wolverines are trending in the right direction there. Linebackers, we have talked about this before.

They weren't the only issue against Iowa, but Junior Colson needs to be better, it all connects. We've seen Michigan try to be creative with Jaylen Harrell, RJ Moten, and Mike Sainristil to ease some of the concerns with the middle of the defense. They will likely continue to do that.

Much like we have done with the run game and pass rush so far this season, we have created a data point for a moment of concern. We can now keep an eye on it over the next couple of games and see how Michigan adjusts, if trends develop, or if there is anything to be concerned about.

For now, Michigan got a bunch of things on film that will help them improve and they walked away with the win. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me.

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @BrandonJustice_, @RivalsLibby, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @DavisMoseley, @lucasreimink

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram