On film, Michigan EDGE Jaylen Harrell sees MSU's up-tempo offense, points of emphasis
In a 37-33 win last season, Michigan State burned Michigan with big plays after hurrying to the line and taking advantage of the Wolverines’ defense not being set. At times this year, Indiana, Penn State and others have had success going fast against a Michigan defense that has been otherwise stellar.
Junior EDGE Jaylen Harrell insists that Michigan has learned from its mistakes in that regard and won’t make the same ones again this weekend, when the Spartans come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET kick. Some of the issues came from substituting after MSU and other teams did not, something Michigan says it has cleaned up.
“As we were watching film during the bye week, we saw a good amount of plays that were [up-]tempo,” Harrell said. “We’re gonna be ready for that. We’ve been practicing that, when it comes to substitutions and stuff like that. We know in certain situations we can’t substitute. So we’ll be ready for the tempo.
“I feel like it’s a mix of both, seeing things that hurt us earlier in the season and then last year watching the old tape of Michigan State. We saw tempo get to us.”
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Beyond that, it’ll be key for Michigan to continue shutting down opponents’ run games. The Maize and Blue rank fifth nationally allowing just 85.9 rushing yards per game. Michigan State’s rushing offense is much less prolific than a year ago, when Kenneth Walker III, who scored 5 touchdowns against U-M, won the Doak Walker Award. MSU is averaging only 3.7 yards per carry for the year.
“We just stay square and build a wall with great technique and ferocious defensive line,” Harrell said. “We just have a little edge to us.
“Last year, we had a hard time on some plays stopping the run against Kenneth Walker. But this year, we’ll be ready to build a wall and do our job and play together as a defense, be dominant.”
With guys in the middle like senior nose guard Mazi Smith and junior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, Harrell added, it’s “easy.”
“When it’s in the middle, all we gotta do is set the edge, let the ball come to us and make the play,” he explained.
Pass rush, as always, will be crucial as well — and the EDGE group emphasized it during the bye week, Harrell revealed. Michigan’s unit has improved throughout the season, with 13 sacks and much more pressure over the last three games.
“As an EDGE room, really just fine tuning the fundamentals and details,” Harrell said of last week’s bye. “When it comes to our pass rush, we’re just working to get down on our first move, counter moves, stuff like that.”
Michigan State’s offensive line has allowed quarterback Payton Thorne to be pressured on 26.1 percent of his drop-backs, per Pro Football Focus. In those situations, he’s averaging only 5 yards per pass and has thrown 4 interceptions.
“It starts with the quarterback, Payton Thorne,” the Michigan EDGE said. “He can extend plays with his feet; he has a pretty good arm. He can throw it up to [wideouts Jayden] Reed and [Keon] Coleman, so we’ll just try to get to him, get pressure and stay in good rush lanes so he can’t get out and extend plays.”
The Spartans have an average throw depth of 8.1 yards, which ranks 95th in the country, but Harrell believes Michigan’s defensive line can still have an impact even on quicker passes.
“It’s kinda frustrating as a D-line when they’re doing quick throws, but you just gotta keep going, keep rushing,” Harrell explained. “We gotta get our hands up, get batted passes and continue to create havoc as much as we can.”
