Defense/ST Notes: U-M shines in 'pretty darn stout' showing in Lincoln

The Michigan Wolverines were dominant in all three phases of the game in a 45-7 win over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon. But it was the defense that once again stood tall against a physical opponent.

The old adage is that great defense will travel, and Michigan’s did just that in the first road trip of the year. The Wolverines held the Cornhuskers to 305 yards of total offense, 74 of which came on a touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska wanted to run the football to shorten the game, but Michigan kept getting off the field. And in 46 snaps, it was nearly flawless.

“Pretty darn stout,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “Some really good three-and-outs. Really good pressure. There were a couple that, man, poor Jaylen Harrell — never seen a non-call on a hold when it should’ve been called more than what his was. Really played well. A lot of 1-yard runs, no-yard runs, 2-yard runs. Pretty dynamic running game that Nebraska has, especially with their quarterback, and I thought we defended those phases of the game really well. But just in terms of guys focused and really focused on their football, focused on the physicality, focused on their execution, focused on the ball security, have to give the fellas an A-plus.”

If there was a flaw in the day, it was the inability to close out a scoreless effort. Nebraska had not been shut out since 1996, and Michigan was darn close to pulling it off with backups on the field for the last quarter and a half.

It remains something to strive for.

“We were sitting there and we’ve had three or four chances that we could have already had shutouts,” senior EDGE Braiden McGregor, who had a sack and a pass defended, said. “It’s a big thing for us just to go out there and have no drop off when everybody goes in. We definitely wanted the shut-out. They had a pretty good play call there. Just have to grow for next week.”

Michigan took the challenge of stopping the run to heart this week, and knew that Nebraska was going to line up and try to come right at them. It was an emphasis all week in practice to keep the train rolling with elite run defense.

“We have a really resilient group,” sophomore defensive tackle Kenneth Grant said. “We’re going to go in and attack. That’s what we did today. They were the rushing leaders of the Big Ten. So that was a challenge from the get-go since Monday. So we were trying to stop the run. That was definitely the number one focus. Just stopped the run. So that was really the motivation was to just stop it.”

Inside Grant’s interception

Speaking of Grant, he had the game’s highlight play on the defensive side of the ball. On the second Husker play from scrimmage, McGregor tipped a pass into the air that Grant came down with an interception.

It turned a quick 7-0 game into a 14-0 game in the snap of a finger.

“Kenneth Grant, talk about a playmaker,” Harbaugh said. “That ball was up in the air — I saw that one fully. It was up there just hanging. I don’t know how high that went, but that ball way way up there. Great job by Braiden getting the tip. And then KG, coming down with the rebound the reception, and then he’s getting hit at all angles, holding onto the ball. And then we punch that one in for a score.”

“I was trying to get up fast and celebrate with my team, so that was definitely probably the best part of it,” Grant said. “I was trying to get up and run with it, but people were hitting me from everywhere, so I was like, dang. I just automatically fell down.”

Michigan has four interceptions on the season, and two of them are from defensive linemen. Grant became the second Wolverine to intercept a pass after senior Kris Jenkins did it against Bowling Green in Week 3.

We really didn’t compare. We were just like, wow,  our D line initially was getting a lot of picks and stuff. It was awesome.

Stewart has breakout performance

Junior pass rusher Josaiah Stewart had his best game yet in a Michigan uniform with five tackles, two sacks and an additional quarterback hit. The Wolverines have been waiting on a breakout showing from the Coastal Carolina transfer and got one in his first Big Ten road outing.

“We’ve got such a great defense,” Stewart said. “Everybody’s going to make plays. Just got to wait your turn. Those plays are going to come. But it felt fun to get back out there.

“Every week our mindset, our front going to get after it every time and cause havoc. Help our guys in the back end. Just kind of getting after it every play is our mindset. Cause havoc.”

Stewart and the Michigan pass rush caused plenty of havoc with four sacks on the afternoon. McGregor got one, as well as sophomore Derrick Moore. Moore also forced a fumble, as did graduate linebacker Michael Barrett.

Odds and ends Michigan defense/special teams notes

• Junior defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny made his first start as a Wolverine on Saturday afternoon.
• Opponents are now 0-for-9 on the year attempting to convert fourth downs against the Michigan defense.
• Michigan is allowing 0.63 points per possession this year and opposing offenses have scored on only 6 of 50 drives through five weeks.
• Removing a 74-yard run in garbage time against U-M’s backups, the defense allowed 32 yards on 20 carries. Nebraska came into the game ranked as the nation’s 6th-best run offense at 234.6 yards per game.
• Graduate kicker James Turner was perfect despite windy conditions in Lincoln, hitting all six extra points and a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
• Junior punter Tommy Doman had one punt for 65 yards on the day, but the ball bounced through the endzone for a touchback.
• Punt return duties were split between senior Jake Thaw and sophomore Tyler Morris on Saturday. Thaw had a return for 11 yards, while Morris muffed a return but picked up the ball and returned it for 30 yards.