Defense/Special Teams Notes: Jeter's Defensive Touchdown Sparks Michigan

Michigan won the turnover battle in a big way in Saturday night's 49-24 beatdown of Minnesota in Minneapolis. U-M's defense not only forced two Golden Gopher turnovers, but took one of those — a fumble recovery — to the house for a touchdown to spark the Maize and Blue.

Redshirt sophomore viper Michael Barrett blindsided Minnesota redshirt junior quarterback Tanner Morgan on a blitz midway through the first quarter, causing the ball to pop out and go flying right into the hands of redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan Jeter.

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The interior lineman then took the ball 15 yards untouched to the end zone, putting Michigan up for good at 14-7. The play was by far the biggest of Jeter's career and Michigan's first fumble recovery for a touchdown since linebacker Noah Furbush registered one of his own in a Sept. 2, 2017, win over Florida.

“I feel like our team is a ticking time bomb — you never when a big play is going to happen, offensively or defensively," Barrett said after the game. "We have a lot of guys with that 'it' factor who can make a play whenever, especially in crunch time.

"As a team and as a whole, we have a lot of weapons, and we’re excited to use them."

Barrett also admitted that the pressure Michigan applied on Morgan shook the veteran quarterback a bit, and that the Gophers adjusted their offensive personnel during the contest to better account for U-M's defensive pressure.

Pressure was, however, the name of the game for defensive coordinator Don Brown, whose unit finished the evening with five sacks, eight tackles for loss and two forced turnovers.

Senior defensive end Kwity Paye was responsible for nearly half of those sacks, recording two on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter. He also racked up three tackles for loss.

“Kwity has meant a lot to our defense and is a guy a lot of us look up to," Barrett noted. "He’s outspoken and has led by example. It’s great to have him, especially on the edge because it makes my job a lot easier."

Redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross, meanwhile, came up with the Maize and Blue's second turnover of the night, an interception he grabbed with just 2:49 remaining. The pick was the first of his career.

Michigan's defense as a whole limited Minnesota to 326 yards of offense. In comparison, the Golden Gophers racked up at least 372 yards in 12 of their 13 games last season.

Special teams were one of the few lowlights for Michigan on Saturday, most notably with junior kicker Jake Moody missing all three of his field goal attempts. His three failed tries came from 38, 48 and 33 yards out.

"With Jake, the first field goal just didn’t feel like he hit it with the authority he usually does, the confidence, and it spilled off to the right," head coach Jim Harbaugh explained. "He started kicking extra points and got into his rhythm. The second missed field goal, I thought he hit it good but it just went left on him.

"Then the last one was the only low snap of the entire game and [fifth-year senior punter] Will [Hart] didn’t quite handle it as good as he could have. The whole mechanics were off, the whole battery of snap, hold, kick was off from there."

Fifth-year senior Quinn Nordin concluded last season by making his final 10 attempts, but was not available to kick in Minneapolis.

"Quinn Nordin has been working through something," Harbaugh revealed. "He got healthy and then had a little bit of a setback during the week, but I think he’ll be fine going forward."

Another negative play occurred on Michigan's first series of the night, when Hart had his punt blocked, setting the Gophers up at U-M's 17-yard line, where they soon cashed in with a 14-yard touchdown pass.

One highlight, however, came from redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins late in the second quarter when he sniffed out a fake punt attempt by Minnesota at its own 29-yard line. The Gophers didn't even come close to converting.

“My mind was restless a bit," he explained after the game, recapping the play. "I shed a block and saw the guy catch the ball, and I was right there. I had to make the tackle. He was a really big dude, but I was able to get him down.”

• Ross led the defense with nine tackles, while no other Wolverine tallied more than seven.

• Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Julius Welschof and Barrett each tallied their first-ever sacks, both of which came in the first quarter.

• Saturday's triumph was Michigan's first road win over a ranked opponent since it won at No. 24 Michigan State on Oct. 20, 2018.

• Michigan has now won its last 17 trips to Minnesota, with its last loss there occurring in 1977. The Wolverines also hold an overall series edge of 76-25-3, including a 42-4 mark in the last 46 meetings.

• U-M limited Morgan to 197 passing yards, one year after his 250.2 yards per game led the Big Ten.

• Barrett's 66-yard kick return in the first quarter was the longest of his career.

• Sophomore safety Daxton Hill departed the contest with an injury, and freshman Makari Paige filled his spot.

"Dax had to leave the game to be evaluated, so we’ll see where that is," Harbaugh revealed in the postgame.

• Barrett and redshirt sophomore cornerback Gemon Green earned their first-ever starting nods on defense. The former finished with seven tackles, one sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble, while the latter concluded with two tackles and two pass breakups.

• Jeter's 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown was Michigan's first defensive touchdown since cornerback Brandon Watson ran back a pick-six in a 42-7 victory over Penn State on Nov. 3, 2018.

• The Oct. 24 kickoff was the latest U-M had begun a campaign since 1889, when the year started on Nov. 9 against Albion.

• The announced attendance was 589 people, marking the fewest fans Michigan had officially played in front of since Oct. 11, 1905, when 200 people showed up for a matchup with Ohio Northern. It's worth noting, however, that several of the attendance statistics from U-M's games in the early 1900s are unknown.

• Redshirt freshman center Zach Carpenter and redshirt freshman long snapper William Wagner each saw their first-ever game action on special teams, while freshmen linebacker William Mohan and Kalel Mullings, redshirt freshman linebacker David Ojabo and Paige all made their debuts on defense.

• The Maize and Blue improved their all-time record to 115-23-3 in season-openers and 87-26-2 in conference openers.

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