Defense / ST notes: Special teams provides big boost in Michigan's first shutout win since 2019

Michigan Wolverines football elected to receive after winning the coin toss, Roman Wilson returned the ball 26 yards, the offense scored on its fourth play and the defense forced a three and out.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Scores, stops and special teams plays were aplenty Saturday afternoon at The Big House, with Michigan pitching its first shutout since Sept. 28, 2019, against Rutgers (52-0). The 59-0 win marked the eighth-greatest margin of victory in Michigan history and the greatest since 2016 (78-0, Rutgers).

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The difference between the game being lopsided to flat-out ugly was Michigan’s special teams unit. Senior defensive back Caden Kolesar, who head coach Jim Harbaugh frequently says is the Wolverines’ best special teams player, blocked a UConn punt early in the second quarter. Junior linebacker Kalel Mullings recovered and returned the ball 22 yards to the Huskies’ 18-yard line, and the Michigan offense scored three plays later to gain a 24-0 advantage.

Minutes later, junior wide receiver and return man A.J. Henning brought back a UConn punt 61 yards for a touchdown to put the Wolverines ahead, 31-0. He’s the first Michigan player to return a punt for a touchdown since Donovan Peoples-Jones against Nebraska in 2018 (60 yards). It’s the longest of its kind since Peoples-Jones returned one 79 yards to the house versus Air Force in 2017.

“It’s very rare to get a block and a return for a touchdown,” Harbaugh said postgame. “Can’t remember that happening too often in any game I’ve ever watched.”

Henning is just the fourth player in Michigan history to have a touchdown via kick and punt return in his career, after bringing back a kickoff for a score at Maryland last season. Steve Breaston, Desmond Howard and Dave Raimey are the others.

“Just spectacular,” Harbaugh added. “A.J. Henning, great to see. Joins an elite list of having a kickoff return for touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown. Just cool stuff.

“Really, really proud of the way the guys are playing. Doing a heck of a job on the teams.”

The icing on the cake would’ve been Michigan graduate kicker Jake Moody‘s 62-yard field goal, but the attempt at the end of the first half was no good. He did knock home a 26-yarder in the first quarter. The 2021 consensus All-American’s career-long remains 52 yards (versus Washington in 2021).

Moody has now made 4 of his 5 field goal attempts this season, with a 34-yard long. He’s 44-of-54 in his career.

Another dominant performance from Michigan defense

Meeting with the media earlier in the week, Michigan co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale and junior safety Makari Paige discussed the emphasis the Wolverines are placing on creating turnovers. The Maize and Blue got one — a fumble recovery by sophomore defensive tackle George Rooks after UConn running back Victor Rosa dropped the ball in the backfield — and were ever so close to notching two others. Paige and junior linebacker Junior Colson let interceptions go through their hands.

The first-team Michigan defense took care of business for a third-straight week. The Wolverines allowed just 64 total yards in the first half, after yielding 76 and 47 before halftime versus Colorado State and Hawai’i, respectively.

It was a workmanlike performance. Michigan stacked up the Huskies’ run game — a major focus of the Wolverines coming in — with 5 tackles for loss. Colson, senior defensive back Mike Sainristil and graduate linebacker Michael Barrett all had TFLs, as did a pair of backups in freshman defensive back Zeke Berry, who was making his career debut, and graduate EDGE Eyabi Anoma.

“Edge pressure was really good. More TFLs today, sacks,” Harbaugh said. “Mike Sainristil just seems like he’s getting there just as quick as [former Michigan defensive back and current Cincinnati Bengals rookie] Dax Hill was last year in the same kind of pressure package.”

UConn rushed 33 times for 86 yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Starting running back Nathan Carter suffered a shoulder injury early in the game and had only 6 rushes for 21 yards.

“[I was] really impressed with the run wall today,” Harbaugh continued. “Had a feeling after we played two air raid teams and UConn was good at running the ball, they would really test us in that area. They did.

“Thought we really did a great job stopping the run. Also, defending the pass at the same time. There was a real emphasis to stop the run this week. The amount of really good play in the secondary was obvious.”

The Huskies completed just 5 of their 20 passes for 24 yards, a measly 1.2 yards per attempt. That 25 completion percentage is the lowest Michigan has given up since MSU registered an identical number Oct 21, 2018, in a 21-7 U-M victory in East Lansing.

Colson and junior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins led the way with 5 total tackles, and neither saw much time in the second half.

Michigan ‘ready’ for bigger tests ahead

Entering Saturday, Michigan’s three nonconference opponents — UConn, plus Colorado State and Hawai’i — had just one combined win, the Huskies’ victory over FCS Central Connecticut. The schedule hasn’t exactly been a murderer’s row, but Michigan was striving for much more than just beating its first three foes.

“I feel like we’re ready,” Jenkins said. “I feel like we’re in a good spot, but like I said there’s still stuff to work on. We’re not perfect yet. That’s really what we’re shooting for — perfection. The sooner we could get to that, the better.”

The Wolverines begin Big Ten play against Maryland next weekend.

Miscellaneous Michigan defense / special teams notes

• Michigan’s shutout win is just the fifth in Harbaugh’s tenure, joining three games in 2015, the coach’s first year — against BYU (31-0), Maryland (28-0) and Northwestern (38-0) — and the aforementioned 52-0 victory over Rutgers in 2019.

• Michigan gave up 34 points in its nonconference slate last season (14 to Western Michigan, 10 to Washington and 10 to Northern Illinois). The Maize and Blue have allowed just 17 points so far this season — half of last year’s total versus nonconference opponents. Michigan’s 17 points allowed are the least it has yielded in the first three games of a season since 2003 (10 points).

• UConn amassed just 110 yards of total offense, the least Michigan has given up since a 21-7 win over Michigan State in 2018.

• UConn gained just 2.1 yards per play, the lowest amount Michigan has allowed since the aforementioned victory over the Spartans in 2018 (1.8).

• The Huskies did not reach the red zone and went just 2-for-14 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down.

• Michigan did not commit a penalty.

• UConn fumbled three times, with Michigan recovering one.

• Michigan registered 7 sacks in the opener against Colorado State and 1 last week versus Hawai’i. The Wolverines did not notch a quarterback takedown in this game, marking the first time they haven’t had a sack since the Dec. 31, 2021, College Football semifinal game against Georgia, the eventual national champion.

• Due in large part to the defense and special teams putting Michigan’s offense in great field position, 55 percent of the Maize and Blue’s plays were run from UConn’s side of the field. The Huskies, for comparison, ran nine percent of their plays from Michigan’s side of the 50-yard line.

• UConn’s longest passing play was 9 yards. Its longest run was 18 yards (the first play of the third quarter), and the Huskies had just 2 rushes of 10-plus yards.

• Michigan graduate punter Brad Robbins punted twice for 115 yards — both traveling more than 50 yards and pinning the Huskies inside their own 20-yard line. Sophomore Tommy Doman got a crack at a punt, too, also forcing UConn to start inside its own 20-yard line on a 41-yarder.

• The Wolverines have secured victory with a margin of 40-plus points in each of the first three games (51-7, 56-10, 59-0). The last time Michigan won three straight games with a scoring margin of 40 points or more was during the 1991 season, when it beat Minnesota, 52-6, Purdue, 42-0, and Northwestern, 59-14.