Michigan secondary flounders against Washington

SEATTLE — The Washington football team targeted Michigan junior cornerback Will Johnson just twice on Saturday. 

Once in the second quarter, once in the fourth. The Huskies knew that targeting Johnson tends to not work out, so they avoided it entirely. Instead, they focused their energy on beating junior cornerback Zeke Berry and sophomore cornerback Jyaire Hill — and found great success in doing so. 

Even avoiding whatever receiver Johnson was covering, Washington quarterback Will Rogers picked apart the Wolverines’ lackluster secondary and threw for 271 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Michigan’s secondary failed both to prevent completions and tackle after them, allowing nine passing plays of 15 or more yards.

“Early on in the game, they had a lot of explosive plays,” junior defensive lineman Mason Graham said. “Early in the game, the other team always has their call sheet, and the best plays come off, so they had too many explosive plays then.”

The Wolverines’ cornerbacks did little to stymie explosive plays, but they also didn’t have much help from behind. Halfway through the first quarter on third-and-11, Huskies receiver Giles Jackson beat Berry on a seam over the middle. It’s one thing for Berry to get burned, but Jackson also beat graduate safety Makari Paige — who was playing as the deep safety over the top. Rogers placed the ball perfectly past Paige and into Jackson’s hands for a 39-yard gain. 

Later that drive, with Washington on Michigan’s 3-yard line, there was no one around to try to help Hill, though he could have used it. Huskies receiver Denzel Boston ran a fade route to the back corner of the end zone, making slight contact with Hill as he ran the route. Hill fell backward to the ground, and Boston easily scored Washington’s first touchdown of the game. 

That was just one of Hill’s bad plays, who had difficulty in coverage on Jackson and Boston all game. Berry didn’t find much more success, and similarly struggled in the end zone against Jackson in the second quarter. Jackson ran a 16-yard fade to the front pylon, where Rogers hit him with a well-placed back shoulder throw. Berry, meanwhile, had his back turned to Jackson when he caught the ball.

“We just gotta do a better job in our coverage assignments,” Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said. “… They did a great job scheming it up, and we gotta do a great job with us.”

Berry, Hill, Paige and the rest of the secondary also had trouble tackling receivers who had already caught the ball. Michigan allowed 10 or more yards on five different passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, failing to converge to the ball and end the play before Washington could make something out of nothing. 

“We just got to do a better job of closing the space, playing the fundamentals,” Moore said. “We were giving up short passes, and we got to clean up the tackling in space.”

Though Washington successfully avoided Johnson most of the game, focusing on the less prominent members of Michigan’s secondary, the Huskies did still target him twice. On the second of those two targets — the one in the fourth quarter — the Wolverines desperately needed Johnson to make a play. 

With Washington leading 24-17 with less than three minutes left, Rogers tested Johnson once more. On third-and-8 on Michigan’s 39-yard line, Rogers launched a pass to Boston, who had a step on Johnson. 

Johnson immediately played the receiver, and hit Boston before the ball got to him. In doing so, he earned himself a back-breaking defensive pass interference penalty, moving the Huskies squarely into field goal territory to seal the game. 

Washington avoided Johnson all game in hopes that he wouldn’t make a game-sealing play, like the one he made against Fresno State. But when the Huskies did throw at him, he still made a game-sealing play. Only this time, he wasn’t the hero — he was at fault. 

And with even their star cornerback unable to make a big play, no one in the Wolverines’ secondary did. Rather, Washington’s passing game erupted, and Michigan’s secondary was left to watch, often on the ground or facing the wrong direction. 

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