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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After weeks of playing loose coverage in the secondary and yielding chunk after play another, Michigan tightened things up defensively last Saturday.
And while the result wasn’t what the Wolverines wanted, a 21-7 loss to the Fighting Illini in Champaign, the defense wasn’t the problem.
Three turnovers and poor field position hurt Michigan (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) all game, with Illinois’ average start for a drive coming at its own 36-yard line. In fact, five of the Fighting Illini’s drives started on the plus side of that, forcing Wink Martindale’s unit to defend some short fields.
The result was some more aggressive coverage from the cornerbacks, Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill, and later Aamir Hall, to limit separation and the probability of a big play.
“We definitely wanted to play a different style to help the guys, and I thought it did,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said this week on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show. “We didn’t give up a lot of explosive plays down the field, and the corners — even when Will went out — I thought they played really well.”
More: Michigan CB Will Johnson ‘working’ to play vs. rival MSU
In total, Michigan surrendered just three pass plays of longer than 10 yards by quarterback Luke Altmyer, who finished the game just 9 of 18 for 80 yards passing, all season lows. Instead, rather uncharacteristically, the Wolverines gave up two big plays on the ground, one coming on a 36-yard run by Tanner Arkin on a fake punt.
Hill and nickel Zeke Berry each had a pass breakup, while Hill made a nice tackle for loss in the first quarter on a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage. It was another example of Michigan’s sticky play working.
“We challenged the guys to play a little bit tighter coverage at times,” defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan said. “I thought the guys competed hard (and) did a good job of challenging routes. We had some short fields, as you know, and that kind of makes us aggressive.”
A byproduct of that aggressiveness, of course, are penalties. Hall, the transfer from Albany, was flagged twice for pass interference, as was Berry, extending drives and giving Illinois an additional lifeline.
But Moore and Morgan were fine with the penalties, with the head coach calling it “the cost of doing business” in order to prevent a big play from springing.
“Those guys played well and made it hard for those receivers to get open, and they did a really good job,” Moore said.
Michigan blitzed on 56 percent of Altmyer’s drop backs on Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus, a common focal point of Martindale’s defense this year. The Illinois quarterback finished 3 of 7 for 34 yards when under pressure compared to going 6 for 12 for 46 yards and a touchdown when kept clean.
“At the end of the day, there’s probably a couple plays that ya’ll, myself, the players wish they had back,” Morgan said. “Just continuing to get better, continuing to keep competing, and I think they haven’t wavered on that part.
“We just have to be consistent, have the same product each and every week.”
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