Defense/Special Teams Notes: U-M's Defense Clamps Down In Second Half
The Michigan Wolverines' football defense got off to a rough start on Saturday night, yielding 21 points and 203 yards of offense to Penn State in the first half alone.
However, the unit completely shut down the Nittany Lion attack after the break.
Michigan surrendered just seven points and 80 yards of offense in the game's final two quarters, and consistently got the ball back into the offense's hands.
PSU's 283 yards overall were a season-low, with the club having racked up at least 357 yards in five of its six games entering the weekend.
The Nittany Lions' first score of the night came on a 17-yard strike from redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford to sophomore tight end Pat Freiermuth at 5:59 of the first quarter, before the signal-caller found the end zone from two yards out to make the score 14-0 at 14:56 of the second frame.
A 25-yard TD pass from Clifford to redshirt sophomore wideout K.J. Hamler at 7:22 of the second quarter made the score 21-0, and it looked like Penn State was going to cruise.
Michigan's defense then forced five straight punts, including three three-and-outs.
The defensive success ended when Clifford hit Hamler on a 53-yard bomb at 13:14 of the fourth quarter to extend PSU's lead to 28-14, with more than half (62.4 percent) of the Nittany Lions' 83 second-half yards coming on that single play.
"They hit us on a long one in the first half, inside fade route, and they had a good call on there," head coach Jim Harbaugh explained. "They got K.J. on a safety and that was a good play. We didn’t have the right defense and the players didn’t get the call, so we didn’t have a post safety.
"I thought we made good adjustments in the second half. I thought the defense played extremely well, did what they had to do, got the ball back for the offense and gave our team a chance to win."
Penn State was forced to punt on four of its six possessions after the break, with the lone exceptions being the score and the final drive of the game when it ran out the clock.
Michigan's defense also caused PSU to go three-and-out on six of its 13 possessions for the game.
“At halftime when we were down, we all came together to say we were going to keep fighting for the team," senior viper Khaleke Hudson revealed afterward. "We were going to do whatever we had to do — fight, scratch and crawl to come out with the victory.
“I’m really proud of the offense, and I’m also proud of our defense, how we came out in the second half. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out on top."
Jake Moody Unsuccessful On 58-Yard Field Goal Attempt
With 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter and U-M trailing 21-7 and facing a fourth-and-six from the PSU 41-yard line, Harbaugh elected to try a 58-yard field goal.
Sophomore kicker Jake Moody's attempt was accurate but came up well short, causing many to ask why redshirt junior Quinn Nordin (who has the stronger leg) wasn't the one sent out.
"Quinn was working through something physically," Harbaugh revealed. "I thought we could make it. It was right at that line where we could make it and it’s a long field goal, but it was either that or go for it on fourth down, so we decided to kick it.
"I thought Jake made a heck of a kick, but it just came up a yard or two short."
Junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones experienced a busy night on punt returns, meanwhile, fielding five of them but only compiling 12 yards.
Redshirt junior Will Hart averaged 46 yards on five punts, recording a 51-yarder while dropping another one inside the opposing 20-yard line.
More Michigan Football Notes
• Michigan's lead in the all-time series over PSU dropped to 14-9, with its record at Beaver Stadium descending to 7-6.
• Saturday's contest broke a string of five straight noon games for the Wolverines, with the last non-noon kickoff occurring in the Aug. 31 season-opener against Middle Tennessee State (a 7:30 p.m. start).
• U-M held Penn State to 4 of 13 (30.7 percent) on third downs, which was well below the club's conversion rate of 44.1 percent entering the weekend.
• Redshirt freshman linebacker Cam McGrone and senior linebacker Josh Uche each recorded one sack, while the former also added 2.5 tackles for loss and the latter one stop behind the line of scrimmage.
• Michigan's defense did not force a turnover for just the second time in a game all year, with the loss at Wisconsin being the only other time. The Maize and Blue had registered six takeaways in their last two games entering the weekend.
• Junior defensive end Kwity Paye's 10 tackles were a career best and four more than any other Wolverine defender on Saturday.
• The seven-point Penn State win marked the closest game in the series since U-M took down the Nittany Lions, 18-13, in 2014. From 2015-18, the victor in the matchup won by an average of 28.7 points. The home team has now won four in a row.
• Junior linebacker Josh Ross missed his fourth straight game with injury, and has not played since the Sept. 21 loss at Wisconsin.
• Saturday's setback was Michigan's third straight to an AP top-25 team on the road, with its last victory occurring at No. 24 Michigan State last season on Oct. 20.
The squad has not beaten an AP top-10 team on the road since it won at No. 2 Notre Dame, 47-21, in 2006.
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