Michigan defense/ST notes: 'Havoc plays' headline Wolverines' performance

The matchup to watch entering Saturday was Penn State’s offensive line, which protects for a quarterback that has struggled under pressure, against the Michigan Wolverines’ pass rushers, specifically junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and redshirt freshman outside linebacker David Ojabo.

The latter got the better of the former in a 21-17 Michigan win over Penn State.

Penn State’s offensive tackles — Rasheed Walker (left) And Caedan Wallace (right) — have been shaky all year, with Walker yielding 19 pressures and two sacks, and Wallace giving up 26 pressures and four sacks entering the game.

Hutchinson and Ojabo, on the other hand, have been two of the nation’s best at getting after the quarterback, and they did just that on fifth-year senior signal-caller Sean Clifford and Co., early and often. Michigan notched three first-quarter sacks for the first time since 2016 against Penn State, and totaled seven for the contest. Clifford was also hurried four times and hit on several occasions, sometimes taking his time getting up.

“It was definitely more in the quarterback’s mind,” Hutchinson said. “He knew we were coming. He knew there was going to be pressure all day, and he knew it from the start. I’m really impressed with our guys and what we did.”

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Hutchinson registered three sacks, while Ojabo totaled two. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Michael Barrett got one of his own on a blitz, and freshman linebacker Junior Colson and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Julius Welschof shared one.

“Those were havoc plays by the defense,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Twelve of them. Six or seven of them were sacks. Aidan got three, David Ojabo got two, Mike Barrett got one, Junior got one. Might have been some others. Got hits; got hurries. Just created havoc back there in the pass rush, and [it was a] great game by the pass rushers.

“Inside pass rush was really good, too. [Redshirt freshman nose tackle] Mazi [Smith], [sophomore defensive tackle [Chris Hinton], they made a lot of plays.

“We made a lot of plays. We made more.”

Clifford completed 23 of his 43 pass attempts for 205 yards and one touchdown. He fumbled twice — one forced by Hutchinson and the other by Ojabo — with each team recovering one.

The Wolverines had a rough start to the fourth quarter, allowing a 15-play, 53-yard touchdown drive that included a third-down conversion, two fourth-down pickups and an ensuing two-point conversion. But the unit responded by forcing a field goal on a short field and turning the Nittany Lions over on downs on their final possession, when they were making an attempt to come down and win the game.

“That was so big,” Hutchinson said. “It felt like everything was going against us in that moment. They got the [touchdown], two-point conversion and the strip-sack. We just came together as a defense.”

“It gives us confidence,” redshirt freshman quarterrback Cade McNamara, who threw the game-winning touchdown on the next drive, said of the defense and the sequence. “It makes us want to do well for them even more. We know it’s our job to go down the field and score points. When they give us that extra momentum, it just gives us confidence to go do it even more.”

Michigan Slows Jahan Dotson

Penn State junior wideout Jahan Dotson‘s name was likely bolded, underlined and in a special color on the Michigan defense’s scouting report this week. The Wolverines were on high alert for Dotson, giving extra safety help on his side, bracketing and, at times, doubling him.

Entering the contest, his 932 receiving yards ranked second in the Big Ten. He had 71 receptions and nine touchdowns, and went off for 242 yards and three scores last week against Maryland.

With extra attention on him from Michigan, though, he compiled just 61 yards — the second-fewest he’s gained in a game this season — and no touchdowns, though he did score the team’s fourth-quarter two-point conversion. His nine catches were a game high, but he accumulated just 6.8 yards per grab, also his second-fewest in a tilt this season.

The Wolverines’ performance was a bit more impressive considering they were down redshirt sophomore cornerback Gemon Green, who has started six games this season but did not make the trip to Happy Valley due to an injury.

“Quite a bit — not every down, but a lot of the downs we were doubling him, and he’s just a really good player,” Harbaugh said. “I thought [redshirt freshman cornerback DJ [Turner] had a heck of a game. I think [redshirt sophomore cornerback] Vince [Gray] did, as well. Press coverage and throwing deep balls, we weren’t able to get them, but you’re not going to totally shut a guy like that down. But I thought it was outstanding play by Vince and DJ.”

Wolverines’ Special Teams Units Stay Steady, Penn State Makes Big Mistakes

It was a bit of a boring performance from the Michigan special teams. Junior kicker Jake Moody, one of the nation’s top scorers, didn’t attempt a field goal. Redshirt junior punter Brad Robbins booted it away five times for an average of 52.4 yards per punt and a season long of 65. Michigan took touchbacks on every kick return and second-year freshman wideout A.J. Henning brought back two punts for three yards while not having much room to run.

Head coach James Franklin and Penn State, though, made some waves with a number of decisions, including to not take the three points and unsuccessfully faking a kick in the first half. The holder threw a pass from his knee to fifth-year senior kicker/punter Jordan Stout. Gray forced a fumble that sophomore defensive back Daxton Hill recovered, marking the Wolverines’ only takeaway of the contest.

“Stopped them three times in the red zone,” Harbaugh pointed out. “Twice they got field goals. Once they faked, once they missed a field goal, so I think that red-zone defense was big. And the offense was really good in the red zone, too.”

The Nittany Lions did convert on a fake punt before scoring the game’s first points on a field goal in the first quarter.

“Just another example, the guys don’t flinch,” Harbaugh said. “They get them stopped, fake punt, they converted, still didn’t let them in the end zone. That’s huge all day, all game, for our defense to not let them in the end zone except for the one drive.

“We came down inside and lost leverage on one of their eligible [receivers] on the fake punt.”

Stout hit three kicks — including a 52-yard kick, the longest field goal in Penn State history — but missed a 43-yarder in the third quarter.

Miscellaneous Michigan Football Defense Notes

• Penn State ran 42 times for just 109 yards (2.6 yards per carry).

• With the Nittany Lions totaling just 332 yards, Michigan has held eight of 10 opponents to 352 or less total yards.

• Ojabo entered with a one-sack lead on Hutchinson (8.0 to Hutchinson’s 7.0). Ojabo (2.0 today) and Hutchinson (3.0 today) are now tied with 10 sacks each.

• Hutchinson’s 3.0 sacks marked a career high in sacks and tackles for loss. Saturday stands as his third-career game with at least 2.5 tackles for loss and second this season (Washington).

• Ojabo now has at least a share of a sack in five straight games.

• Three defenders forced fumbles in the first half: Hutchinson, Ojabo and Gray. Ojabo (five) has set a single-season program record in that category and is still adding to it.

• Colson set a career high in solo tackles (five), and recorded the first tackle for loss and shared sack of his career as part of a 12-tackle performance.

• Redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross was second on the team with 11 tackles.

• Freshman defensive back Rod Moore made his first career start in the secondary. Moore is the 10th defensive player to earn his first career start this season. He was playing in replacement of second-year freshman safety R.J. Moten, who made an appearance off the bench.