Michigan secondary overwhelmed by Texas receivers in loss

As the final whistle blew and the No. 3 Texas football team trotted off of the field in Ann Arbor with a comfortable, three possession victory, attention was focused on the performance of Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers. 

With three touchdowns, 246 yards and no turnovers, Ewers was Texas’ motor the entire afternoon, and his lightning quick receivers were the gas that powered him. But at the same time as Ewers and his receivers guided the Longhorns, Michigan’s secondary presented as a faulty safety protocol.

All afternoon as Texas’ offense methodically picked apart the Wolverines’ defense, Michigan’s secondary struggled mightily to clamp Longhorns tight end Gunnar Helm and receiver Isaiah Bond. And even when they did limit Ewers and his receiving corps to short, check-down throws, they struggled to make the necessary open-field tackles to limit Texas from picking up important yardage.

“It was definitely open-field tackling,” graduate Michigan safety Quentin Johnson said. “A lot of those hidden yards came from missed tackles, so at the end of the day you’ve got to take care of the little things. The pillars, executing at a high level, tackling and getting guys on the ground.”

For the vast majority of the contest Saturday, the Wolverines missed those small details against the Longhorns’ passing attack. That started from the very beginning when Texas was pushed up against a third-and-long in its first series. Michgian got caught flat footed as Bond outpaced sophomore defensive back Jyaire Hill and caught a 33-yard bomb over graduate safety Makari Paige.

However, it wasn’t just deep shots that capsized the Wolverines’ defense — it was the checkdown and out-of-rhythm passes Ewers fired off that Michigan’s secondary couldn’t keep pace with. For instance, of Ewers’ 24 completed passes, eight went to running backs and seven went to tight end Gunnar Helm. Texas didn’t need to stretch the field, in fact Ewers often threw behind the line of scrimmage, and the Wolverines’ secondary still struggled to get there. 

The struggle with open-field tackling contributed to all facets of Michigan’s meltdown. The secondary’s tackling issues allowed for the Longhorns to excel on third down. Tackling issues bolstered the Longhorns’ running game, at one point allowing for a 55-yard end around followed directly by a short screen pass that three defenders couldn’t prevent from ending up in the end-zone. It was tackling issues that kept Texas continually moving the chains while the Wolverines stagnated. And it was tackling issues that put points on the board for the Longhorns. 

“For us on defense, it’s tackling (that we have to fix),” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “We’ve got to make sure we wrap up because they had 135 yards after contact. Those little things, you fix those, it’ll put you in a better position. But you can’t do those against a good team.”

Whether it truly was just little things, Ewers was able to find what he wanted in the passing game consistently, and Michigan’s secondary couldn’t stop him. On deep balls Ewers had open receivers, on mid range throws his tight-ends overpowered the Wolverines and when he had to scramble, his receivers exploited soft spots and made space. Texas’ passing powered its offense, and nothing the Wolverines’ secondary did could defuse it. 

“(Ewers) got it to his checkdowns, he got it to our guys in space and then when those throws were there down the field he was able to make some of those plays as well,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said of Ewers.

While Ewers’ ability to find his receivers was impressive, how open they were was caused by the Wolverines’ soft coverage. The speed of Bond and fellow receiver Matthew Golden combined with the power and sticky hands of Helm burned Michigan. And as the Wolverines got burned

Texas’ receivers were hot, and sagging on coverage and missing open field tackles, Michigan’s secondary was unable to cool them down. 

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