Defense / ST notes: Michigan makes adjustments, shuts down Indiana in second half

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Michigan Wolverines football team came out on its heels Saturday afternoon, before recovering nicely and putting forth a dominant second-half effort in a 31-10 win over the Indiana Hoosiers. U-M is now 6-0, becoming the first bowl-eligible team of the 2022 college football season.

Indiana had major success moving the ball on its second and third drives, gaining 128 yards and scoring a touchdown and a field goal. The Wolverines allowed 16 first downs and 193 total yards — 163 of which came through the air — in the first half. After Michigan gave up 246 passing yards last week and started off slowly, it appeared Indiana would continue to have success. But the Maize and Blue said halftime adjustments were the difference in turning the tide.

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“Pitched a shutout in the second half,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “When we were at halftime we were like, ‘We have to have the best half of football of the season. Got to come right now. Get locked in.’ And I thought our defense did a tremendous job of that.”

The Hoosiers had just five first downs and 29 total yards in the second half, with the Michigan defense completely sucking the life out of quarterback Connor Bazelak and Co. The signal-caller finished with 203 passing yards and 1 touchdown, completing 25 of his 49 pass attempts. He threw an interception to Michigan sophomore safety Rod Moore early in the second quarter.

Michigan got to Bazalak, especially in the second half, when the Wolverines recorded 4 of their 7 sacks in the game. The signal-caller was hurried another 4 times and took a number of hard hits that left him on the ground and slow to get up. The coverage down the field was much better, too, and the Hoosiers completed just 7 of their 18 pass attempts for a measly 40 yards in the second half.

“Totaling seven sacks, all by a different guy,” Harbaugh continued. “Ten tackles for loss. The pressure really came, and the tight coverage came along with it.

“Guys just understand, they’re good enough too. They don’t have to grab. They don’t have to interfere to get the coverage. We made some good adjustments. [Co-defensive coordinator and secondary Coach [Steve] Clink[scale] was coaching it hard, and there was a lot of coaching going on. But I really felt like that coverage tightened and the pass rush started getting home.”

Michigan pass rush heats up

Michigan allowed its last two opponents — Maryland and Iowa — to move the ball in the second half. Both teams scored late touchdowns on their final drives of the contests. Indiana had no such luck, with its six second-half drives resulting in five punts and a turnover on downs.

“That was the whole goal in the second half. We haven’t finished in the past couple of games. So we were really trying to impose our will on any offensive player, and it happened to be on the quarterback a good amount of times,” Michigan junior EDGE Jaylen Harrell said. “It’s what we strive to do.”

Michigan graduate EDGE Eyabi Okie continues to have a more significant role each week. He was extremely active in this game, totaling 3 tackles, including a sack and another half-tackle for loss, 2 pass breakups (one was nearly an interception) and a quarterback hurry. The UT Martin grad transfer who joined the team in mid-August is an ascending player as he gets more comfortable.

“Yab’s my guy, man,” Harrell said. “He keeps learning the system. You see each week, he’s coming and bringing it. We’re all competing. We’re all trying to get to the quarterback, all trying to make plays. We really just push our room, and get better each and every day.”

Blocked kicks, A.J. Henning’s punt returns and more special teams notes

Michigan junior wide receiver and punt returner A.J. Henning had a big day, totaling 36 yards on 4 punt returns — including a 35-yard long that gave U-M the ball on the Indiana 48-yard line in the third quarter. He also brought back 3 kicks for 58 yards.

“There were some big punt returns in this game,” Harbaugh said. “I think he had over 100 yards in … return yardage. Some people call that hidden yards, but it wasn’t hidden in my opinion today. It was a big factor in the game. He did a great job. Even had one called back that might have been a 20- or 25-yard return.

“We had a block in the back call which I did not see that where anybody blocked anybody in the back, especially if [senior defensive back] Q[uentin Johnson] got called for that one. I thought that was not a great call. It was being called tight, and we’ve got things to improve, things to be better at. But it probably keep us humble in a good way moving into next week. “

Michigan graduate kicker Jake Moody connected on a 44-yard field goal late in the first quarter, and Indiana’s Charles Campbell nailed a 41-yarder to cap off the Hoosiers’ next possession.

Then came the blocks … on consecutive drives.

First it was Moody who had a 26-yarder blocked, before Michigan senior EDGE Mike Morris denied a 24-yard attempt from Campbell with 6:54 to go in the second quarter.

Morris’ play marked Michigan’s first blocked field goal of the season and its first since last season’s opening game against Western Michigan (Donovan Jeter).

Miscellaneous defense / special teams notes

• Moore’s interception was his second of the season and of his career. He’s now tied with senior cornerback DJ Turner for the most picks on the team in 2022.

• Indiana amassed just 19 rushing yards for the game, the least the Wolverines have given up since a win over Iowa in 2019 (1). That’s the lowest total of rushing yards for the Hoosiers since tallying minus-1 against Ohio State in 2020.

• Indiana was 5-for-15 on third downs and failed to convert on its only fourth-down attempt.

• Michigan’s 10 tackles for loss were the most since the first game of the season against Colorado State (11).

• The game marked the first career start for Michigan junior long snapper Greg Tarr.

• The last time U-M was part of a game with multiple blocked field goals/PATs was the 2014 Rutgers contest. In that game, U-M blocked a Rutgers PAT and the Scarlet Knights blocked a 56-yard attempt from U-M kicker Matt Wile.