Notes: Special teams and defensive touchdowns lift Michigan in rout of Maryland

The 45 points Michigan football’s offense put up were more than enough for the Wolverines to blow out Maryland Saturday, but the defensive and special teams units helped out for good measure, each scoring a touchdown in the 59-18 triumph.

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After scoring a touchdown to cut Michigan’s lead to 31-10, Maryland went with a pooch kick, which was fielded at the 21-yard line by Wolverine redshirt sophomore linebacker Michael Barrett. The former high school quarterback threw a backwards lateral across the field to second-year freshman receiver and return man A.J. Henning, who took it the distance, 79 yards down the right sideline to the end zone.

“Mike Barrett threw an absolute dime back to A.J. Henning,” said head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has now won 10 games in four of his six full-length seasons at the helm. “You’ve got to highlight [redshirt freshman offensive lineman] Trente Jones. He caught my eye. He was rolling out in front of A.J. A.J. put it into top gear, as well. Great play by Mike Barrett, A.J., Trente. The whole unit.”

“That play was just drawn up for this week,” Henning said. “We probably got about three reps at it. Mike B. didn’t throw it that good all week. He made a great throw in the game and those guys sealed the deal on the outside with the blocks. Gave me a bunch of space so that was great.”

The two teams traded touchdowns, before redshirt freshman cornerback DJ Turner provided a knockout blow that essentially put the Michigan win on ice. Maryland redshirt sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa threw downfield to the left sideline, which is where Turner easily intercepted the pass and dashed 42 yards to pay dirt. The score put the Wolverines up 52-18 with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.

“That was huge because we were having a tough time getting them stopped opening up the second and third drive they had of the second half,” Harbaugh explained. “Then DJ makes the huge play on the interception and pick-six.”

Michigan’s special teams came up with another big play earlier in the game, when redshirt freshman wide receiver Matt Torey, a walk-on, blocked the Maryland punt, allowing the Wolverines to take over on the Maryland 42-yard line and score a touchdown just plays later.

“Matt Torey, huge blocked punt early in the game that really got us going — no question about that,” Harbaugh remarked. “A.J. Henning had another really fine punt return, think it was a 25-, 30-yard return but got it on their side of the 50, which was huge. It set up a score.

“It was really good on special teams.”

Michigan Doesn’t Limit Taulia Tagovailoa ‘As Much As We Wanted To’

There’s a lot for Michigan to like about its overall defensive performance. The Wolverines held Maryland under its season averages in points (18), total yards (359) and yards per play (4.7), and allowed the Terrapins to pick up just three of their 14 third-down opportunities.

But Harbaugh and Co. did have some lapses, specifically in the third quarter. In that stanza, Maryland scored 15 points, gained 203 yards, picked up 10 first downs and possessed the ball for 10:50.

Tagovailoa, in particular, was prolific, before he threw the aforementioned back-breaking interception. In the quarter, he had a passing touchdown, rushing score and a two-point conversion, while totaling three pass plays of 20-plus yards and four rushes of 10-plus yards.

“From where I was looking, he was playing great,” Harbaugh said of Tagovailoa. “We said going into the week he’s a great player — their most valuable player.

“We couldn’t get him on the ground. We were doing everything we could to do that. We were approaching him like he was a running back, we were leveraging him as a running back, and he was still getting out of the pocket and making plays. 

“He’s a real player, and he throws it extremely well. I don’t know that we did as much as we wanted to, to limit him. And I don’t know that you can, really. So maybe we did good by limiting the production. But he is fun to watch.

“Again, as I said during the beginning of the week, he’s been fun to watch all season and not going to be fun to watch this game. Now, it will be fun to watch him again after this.”

Tagovailoa finished 19-of-33 passing for 178 yards, one touchdown and the one interception, while adding 30 yards and a score on eight carries.

Miscellaneous Michigan Defense And Special Teams Notes

• Maryland racked up 181 rushing yards, which is the third-most an opponent has gained on the Wolverines this season. Michigan has still not yielded over 200 rushing yards in a game.

• Michigan has forced at least one turnover in nine straight games, with multiple turnovers in five contests.

• With touchdowns on offense, defense and in the return game, Michigan scored in all three phases for the first time since Oct. 10, 2015, against Northwestern. Today’s touchdowns are the team’s first of the season on special teams and defense.

• Henning’s kick return touchdown is the first since former wide receiver Giles Jackson brought back a kick for a score at Rutgers in 2020.

• Redshirt sophomore cornerback Vincent Gray and freshman defensive lineman TJ Guy each recorded their first career sack. That makes it 13 Wolverines who have had at least a share of a sack this season.

• Turner’s interception return for a touchdown is Michigan’s first since Lavert Hill had a pick-six against Wisconsin Oct. 13, 2018. It is the second interception of Turner’s career.

• Redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross led the Wolverines with eight tackles, seven of the solo variety. He was one of four Wolverines with a tackle for loss, joining junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Gray and Guy.

• Michigan generated two sacks, marking the seventh time in which the Maize and Blue have had two or less sacks in a contest this year. They have 29 for the year.

• The Wolverines are now 4-0 in history while wearing blue pants — 2-0 at home and 2-0 on the road. Three of those games have come this season (Saturday, versus Washington and at Wisconsin), with the other being a win over Penn State in 2014.