Michigan defense fought, but had little chance minus Will Johnson, Jyaire Hill
Michigan was going to have a tough enough time beating Oregon Saturday in Ann Arbor with a full and healthy roster. When we learned Friday that both starting corners — Will Johnson and improving Jyaire Hill — would miss the game with injuries, a loss seemed like a foregone conclusion.
RELATED: Michigan falls 38-17 to No. 1 Oregon: Game recap, final box score
Sure enough, the Ducks picked on the backup corners, including junior nickel Zeke Berry after he slid out to cover corner. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 294 yards and a touchdown against the revamped secondary, and he had another long score from outstanding receiver Evan Stewart called back on a penalty.
“Will Johnson is the best corner in the country,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said. “Not having the best corner in the county is always going to be different, and a challenge.
“But I thought those guys fought. We always talk about next man up, but when you don’t have your two starting corners, that’s part of the game of football. You have to adjust. You can’t make excuses. You’ve just got to go out and get better.”
Especially at Michigan. Berry got picked on early, but he also made some plays in coverage. Hall gave up a 47-yard gain to Traeshon Holden over his head in which he got caught flat-footed on a third-and-3.
“I thought Zeke Berry, talk about a dude that played safety, played nickel … he played corner today. He hadn’t played corner all year,” Moore said. “He had a long ball against No. 7, Evan Stewart, one of the better receivers in the country. He played it as good as anybody could.
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“I was really proud of him, really proud of Aamir [Hall]. He had some plays he wanted to get back, but I thought overall those guys fought their tails off for being not the starters. Just the defense in general doing that … we gave up some points, the late points, but if we score in the low red zone on offense, it’s a closer game.”
Overall, what could have been a complete blowout became at least a little interesting in the second half. Michigan was behind 28-10 at the break but nearly cut it to a one-score game with plenty of time left.
“It was awesome to watch those guys in the second half … the energy, the excitement they brought,” Moore said. “But we’ve got to start that way. I really thought the defense went out there … we said we want to go three-and-out, they stopped them and then the offense went down on a 10-play drive, scored.
“We felt the momentum going. The defense comes back with another big stop. I felt that momentum. But … we’ve got to finish.”
