Defense/ST Notes: Michigan Doesn't Give An Inch Against Rocky Lombardi, NIU

Northern Illinois redshirt junior quarterback Rocky Lombardi, a Michigan State transfer, threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-21 MSU upset win at Michigan last season. Lombardi made his return to The Big House Saturday, this time as a Huskie, and met a much different fate.

Michigan's defense, in its third game under first-year coordinator Mike Macdonald, didn't give an inch against the Northern Illinois offense that had averaged 389 yards per game through two weeks, yielding just 208 yards — 46 through the air and 162 on the ground — in a 63-10 triumph.

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Lombardi finished 9-of-17 passing (52.9 percent) with one score, averaging just 2.7 yards per throw and 5.1 yards per completion. His fourth interception of the season came when Michigan redshirt sophomore cornerback Gemon Green notched his first career pick, snagging a tipped ball. Green took control at the NIU 30-yard line and returned it to the 3-yard line, setting up yet another touchdown for the offense.

“It got tipped, so it was kind of wobbly," Green recalled. "Once I caught it, I was just trying to get to the crib.”

"He’s a really good quarterback," head coach Jim Harbaugh said of Lombardi. "We saw that last year, and I thought our guys were really good [today]. Gemon Green, [redshirt sophomore cornerback] Vince Gray, [redshirt freshman cornerback] DJ Turner … kind of more about their growth, I think, in one year’s time."

NIU went three-and-out on five of its 12 possessions and converted on just one of its 13 third-down attempts. Michigan's offense certainly appreciates how solid its defense has been.

"We know that once we get a lead on some teams, it allows our defense to start terrorizing the quarterback a little bit, especially on third-and-longs," redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara said. "As a team, I think we’re playing complementary football."

The aforementioned 162 rushing yards for NIU jumps off the page a bit, especially compared to the Huskies' passing marks, but consider this — 45 of those yards came on one rush from Lombardi against largely backup defenders in the fourth quarter. Sixteen more of those yards were from a Lombardi scramble in the first quarter in which the Wolverine defensive backs had their backs turned in man coverage, giving him some room to run.

The most impressive aspect of Michigan's rush defense was the way it shut down NIU second-year freshman running back Harrison Waylee, who ranked third nationally in rushing yards per game (161.5) and second in carries per contest (26.5) while averaging 6.1 yards per attempt entering Saturday afternoon.

It was much tougher sledding for Waylee against the Maize and Blue front than it was in his previous two games (at Georgia Tech, versus Wyoming), with the back generating just 34 rushing yards (the second-lowest mark of his career) on 12 carries for an average of 2.8 yards per attempt.

After junior wide receiver Ronnie Bell went down with a season-ending injury in the opener against Western Michigan, the Wolverines turned to redshirt freshman defensive back Caden Kolesar to return punts. He was hesitant to catch multiple punts against WMU, then brought back two for 24 yards against Washington, admitting he was a bit nervous.

Kolesar, also the team's best punt rusher according to Harbaugh, was relieved of his returning duties this week, in favor of second-year freshman wide receiver A.J. Henning, who stood out in his new role.

Henning returned five punts for 76 yards, including a 25-yarder on his first attempt of the afternoon.

"He’s very dynamic with the ball in his hand," Harbaugh said. "You can see when it comes to speed and elusiveness, he’s one of the best on the team, right there with Roman Wilson; if you could race those two guys, it would be pretty tight. They are both those type of athletes.

"Now, A.J. has become very confident in catching the punts. I thought he did a tremendous job today. He could be really good at this, at the punt return."

"Coach put the trust in me and gave me the go-ahead to go this week," Henning added. "I played the part and tried to do all the right things to get to this point. Now, I feel like he’s comfortable enough with me, and I’m comfortable enough back there to be the guy to do it."

Junior kicker Jake Moody didn't attempt any field goals, but he got plenty of work at kickoff specialist — nine boots, with seven touchbacks — with the Wolverines scoring nine touchdowns. Freshman Cole Hussung made his debut, kicking it once for a touchback.

• Michigan's defense has allowed just four touchdowns through three games this season, for an average of 1.3 scores allowed per contest. Last season, the Maize and Blue yielded 4.3 touchdowns per game.

• The Wolverines have forced opposing offenses to go three-and-out 12 times in 44 drives, or 27.2 percent of the time. When taking out the four end-of-half drives by opponents, the percentage moves to 30 percent (12 of 40).

• Green's interception was the Wolverines' first pick since sophomore safety Daxton Hill notched one against Rutgers last season, four games ago.

• Second-year freshman linebacker Jaylen Harrell made his first career start and notched his first-ever tackle for loss, splitting a stop behind the line of scrimmage with redshirt sophomore cornerback Vincent Gray.

• Redshirt junior punter Brad Robbbins did not attempt a punt but was the holder on all nine extra points.

• NIU won the coin toss and chose to receive, but it didn't pay off. Its offense went three-and-out on its first drive, and Michigan wound up scoring on the first drive of the third quarter after receiving, extending its lead.

• Fifth-year senior safety Brad Hawkins and Kolesar each notched a tackle for loss.

• Michigan has covered the Vegas betting point spread all three games this season by an average margin of 19 points per contest.

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