Defense / ST notes: Huge third quarter helps Michigan speed past Rutgers in 52-17 win

Michigan Wolverines football was down 17-14 at halftime of its 52-17 win over Rutgers. By the time the fourth quarter started, the game was all but over, with the Maize and Blue holding a 42-17 edge. It was U-M fans and players having the most fun and singing along to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” at the quarter break, while Rutgers fans were filing out of SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.

After a sloppy first half, the Wolverines forced a three-and-out to begin the third quarter, and then got three straight turnovers.

On Rutgers’ first possession of the half, quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw an interception to linebacker Michael Barrett at his own 31-yard line. The graduate returned it 21 yards to the Rutgers 10, setting up another Michigan score.

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On the very next defensive play, Barrett grabbed another interception — again on the 31-yard line — and returned that one all the way for a touchdown. Just like that, in 1:42 of game time, the Wolverines held a 35-17 lead and all the momentum.

“We knew coming into halftime, that’s what we needed — we needed game-changers, and Mike B. gave it on back-to-back series with the pick and then the pick-six,” Michigan junior running back Blake Corum said. “It’s unbelievable. It gets us going, it gets the team going. You need plays like that, you need players like that, and he came through.”

The ball came right to Barrett on his first interception, and he said postgame that he believes Wimsatt didn’t see him. The second one was tipped, and his eyes lit up when the ball came his way again.

“I was thinking, man, ‘Thank God.’ Because I owed one — I dropped one last week — and it was due,” Barrett said with a smile. “Once it tipped off his hand, my eyes got big, I’m like, ‘There’s no way…’ and I just had to make sure I caught it. That’s all I was thinking about while the ball was in the air, ‘Just catch it.’”

Wimsatt also floated a ball up to Michigan freshman cornerback Will Johnson, who high-pointed it, plucked it and returned it from the U-M 40 to the Rutgers 31, setting up another Wolverine touchdown.

In his first career start, Johnson was filling in for graduate cornerback Gemon Green, who made the trip to Piscataway but did not play. Green was the victim of an attack from MSU players in The Big House tunnel following last week’s 29-7 win.

Green was one of a handful of key Michigan players to miss Saturday’s game. The defense was without junior EDGE Jaylen Harrell, junior safety Makari Paige and junior linebacker Kalel Mullings.

“We had a lot of guys down,” Barrett explained. “Will stepped in, and we didn’t have a drop-off. He’s a great athlete, great cornerback, and he’s going to have a great future. He just took that role and he capitalized on it. I’m proud of him.”

Huge special teams impact in first half

Rutgers held a 17-14 lead at the half due in large part to special teams. After Michigan was forced to punt on its own 35-yard line midway through the first quarter, Rutgers sophomore defensive back Timmy Ward blocked the kick from graduate Brad Robbins and returned it 7 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.

The play marked the first time Michigan allowed a blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown since the 2018 season.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano tried to catch Michigan sleeping on the ensuing kickoff, opting for an onside kick, but the Wolverines recovered.

Up 14-10, Michigan had the chance to extend its lead with just over five minutes to play in the second quarter, but graduate kicker Jake Moody missed one of two 50-yard field goal attempts of the half. He hit it just wide right. After a Rutgers score on the next drive to take a 17-14 advantage, Moody missed wide left as time expired. The Wolverines came up empty on their two-minute drive.

Moody is now 19-of-24 on field goals for the season.

Second half clamps becoming a major theme for Michigan

Rutgers capitalizing on the blocked punt and a few big plays — including four passes of 15-plus yards — gave the Scarlet Knights the lead at the half. But Michigan, as it has all season, tightened up the defense in the second half.

After shutting out the Scarlet Knights in the second half, the Wolverines have outscored their last four opponents, 100-3, in second halves. Penn State’s third-quarter field goal in Michigan’s 41-17 win Oct. 15 stands as the only blemish during that stretch.

“It took tremendous team defense,” Harbaugh said. “Nine drives in the second half — they defended nine drives and only gave up one first down. Pretty special. And scored 3 touchdowns in a minute and 20 seconds. Heck of a job. Great job.”

Rutgers gained only 6 first downs for the entire game, 1 of which came in the second half. Four of Michigan’s last five opponents have failed to pick up double-digit first downs. Only two teams this season have moved the chains 10-plus times against the Maize and Blue (Maryland and Indiana). The Scarlet Knights were held to 180 total yards, the least Michigan has given up in a game since a 59-0 win over Connecticut Sept. 17 (110).

Miscellaneous Michigan defense / special teams notes

• Four of Michigan’s last five opponents have failed to rush for 50 or more yards, with the Scarlet Knights gaining only 14 yards on the ground Saturday.

• Rutgers went 3-for-13 on third down and 1-for-2 on fourth down.

• Barrett’s interceptions marked the first and second of his career.

• Barrett is the first Michigan player with multiple interceptions in a game since Delano Hill against Maryland in 2016. It was the Wolverines’ first pick-six since senior cornerback DJ Turner had one versus Maryland in 2021.

• Graduate defensive tackle Cam Goode, who transferred in from UCF this past offseason, notched his first tackle for loss as a Michigan Wolverine.

• Other Michigan players to record tackles for loss include: senior EDGE Mike Morris (1.5 sacks), sophomore linebacker Junior Colson (1.5), junior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (1 sack), graduate EDGE Taylor Upshaw (half-sack), senior defensive back Mike Sainristil (half-TFL), junior EDGE Braiden McGregor (half-TFL) and graduate EDGE Eyabi Okie (half-TFL).

• Sainristil also notched Michigan’s lone quarterback hurry of the night.

• Turner (2) and Will Johnson (1) had pass breakups.

• Moody became the fifth player in Michigan history to reach 300 career points with his third-quarter extra point (his third of the game). Moody trails only Mike Gillette (307 points) and Garrett Rivas (354 points) for the most points by a kicker in Michigan history.