Michigan coach Sherrone Moore on a defense 'firing on all cylinders,' two unsung DB standouts and 'weapon' Tommy Doman

Michigan Wolverines football‘s defense rose to the occasion in a 27-24 win over USC, scoring 7 points via a pick-six from junior cornerback Will Johnson and holding the dynamic USC offense at bay most of the afternoon.

The defensive line set the tone early, stopping the run and getting pressure on quarterback Miller Moss. The Trojans averaged 3.3 plays per drive on their first four possessions, with a trio of three-and-outs.

“The way the defense came out and handled — as I talked about in the meeting the night before the game — they’re coming off a bye week, and they’re going to have a script of plays,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show. “They think these are the best plays that they can use to execute against our defense. So if we can slow them down and handle that, that’ll put us in a position to be in a good place throughout the game.

“Those guys came out firing on all cylinders, especially the guys up front. It was a violent game, and they played an elite-level game up front.”

The Wolverines recorded a season-high 8 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. Senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart had 2 sacks, including a strip-sack, 3 tackles for loss and 8 pressures. He led the way, but junior defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were also stellar, both registering a sack a piece.

Moore was asked what he would do if he had to scheme against this Michigan defensive line, which is regarded as one of the best in America.

“It’s not fun at all,” Moore said. “I see it in practice every day. So we have our answers that I won’t share that we try to do to neutralize them — but you can’t stop them. You can just neutralize them, try to not let them wreck the game.

“Those guys are just unbelievable, and they work so in tandem together, which is a key piece.”

Glance at the box score, and you’ll notice that Moss threw for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not bad. But take a closer look and see that it took him 51 attempts to get there. USC running back Woody Marks exploded for a 65-yard run, but the Trojans couldn’t get anything going in the run game, totaling 96 yards on 21 carries.

Overall, USC averaged 5.2 yards per play, its third-lowest total in head coach Lincoln Riley‘s 30 games at the helm. Moore lauded Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale‘s game plan and play calling, along with the Wolverine players’ execution. What specifically stood out was that Moss was under pressure on 43.6 percent of his dropbacks despite Michigan blitzing on only 27.3 percent of those.

“I think it was a great mix of a couple of things,” Moore said. “One, I think Coach Wink called a great game. The mix of coverages, pressures … we had four-man rushes, we had three-man rushes, we had five-man rushes. We had three deep, four underneath. We had three deep, three underneath. We had four deep, three underneath. So the coverage structures and confusions and disguises definitely confused him, where he couldn’t just chuck the ball.He had to check things down.

“But the pocket was closing fast — super fast — and those guys up front all played well, but Josaiah Stewart was an absolute game-wrecker. He was a problem to the point that they had to change out their left tackle in the second half.”

Moore was pleased with how Michigan’s secondary played, specifically highlighting the performances of sophomore cornerback Jyaire Hill and graduate safety Quinten Johnson.

“I think Jyaire Hill took a huge step,” Moore noted. “He made some huge plays in the open field, tackling, and then in coverage. They challenged him on some deep balls, and he was stride for stride with guys, walling guys out of bounds. I thought he had an incredible game — probably his best game — and did a really, really good job.

“And then a guy that I really think did a heck of a job is Quinten Johnson, because he played multiple positions in that game. He played safety, he was at dime linebacker at times, he was all over the field. 

“Overall in the secondary — and obviously Will with the pick-six was unbelievable — those guys played a heck of a game.”

Michigan senior punter Tommy Doman was also a major contributor to the defense’s effort, setting up Martindale’s crew in advantageous positions on the field. Doman had 3 punts that pinned USC inside its own 20-yard line and 2 boots of 50-plus yards. The Trojans averaged starting on their own 16.2-yard line in the first half.

“In games like that, it’s huge, because that’s the type of game — we’ve gotta play complementary ball, offense, defense and special teams,” Moore said. “”He was a huge weapon and part of that for us to do that.

“So really proud of him. And you could see it in practice. He took a lot of pride in it and the way he punted and the way he did things. Every punt was a game rep for him in practice, and you love to see that, especially from your specialist.”