Michigan’s defense more dominant than ever: Who’s up, down across Big Ten

College Football

Updated Oct. 2, 2023 10:01 a.m. ET

College Football and College Basketball Writer

Big Ten heavyweights Michigan and Penn State took center stage on Saturday as idle weeks for Ohio State and Wisconsin gave the conference a lighter slate in Week 5 of the college football season.

Both programs answered the bell with dominant road wins over Nebraska and Northwestern, respectively, to maintain the status quo atop their division.

Elsewhere, the Big Ten West race continued to take shape as Minnesota, Purdue and Iowa all scored critical victories to remain 1-1 in conference play behind the first-place Badgers.

A new edition of the Stock Watch explains how it all shook out:

STOCK UP

Michigan’s defense: For the second consecutive year, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has put together one of the finest units in college football. The Wolverines smothered an already suspect Nebraska offense during Saturday’s 45-7 demolition at Memorial Stadium, and everything that was on display against the Cornhuskers reinforced why Minter interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles last winter. Minter’s group opened the game with an interception on quarterback Heinrich Haarberg’s first pass attempt to kickstart a stretch of eight consecutive stops before Nebraska finally scored with 4:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, long after Michigan’s starters had been pulled.

The Wolverines limited Haarberg, a true dual-threat quarterback, to minus-2 yards on nine carries and held the Cornhuskers to just 32 rushing yards on 20 attempts before Josh Fleeks broke loose on a 74-yard touchdown against the reserves. Through five games, Michigan now leads the country in scoring defense (6 points per game) and opponent first downs (11.4 per game) while ranking second in opponent red zone touchdown rate (12.5%) and fourth in total defense (245.8 yards per game). If this pace continues, the NFL’s interest in Minter, who has previous experience with the Baltimore Ravens, is only going to grow.

Should Michigan be the No. 1 team in the country?

Taulia Tagovailoa, QB, Maryland: At this point in his illustrious career, there aren’t many statistical accomplishments Tagovailoa has yet to achieve for the Terrapins. But even the most decorated passer in Maryland history reached new heights during Saturday’s 44-17 beatdown of Indiana. Tagovailoa completed 24 of 34 passes for 352 yards and a career-high five passing touchdowns to become the first Terrapin to eclipse 9,000 yards through the air. He now ranks 13th on the Big Ten’s all-time passing list after moving beyond Kirk Cousins (9,131 yards) and Connor Cook (91,94 yards) of Michigan State, and Chuck Long (9,210 yards) of Iowa over the weekend.

The game began auspiciously for Tagovailoa when he connected with wideout Jeshaun Jones for 62 yards on Maryland’s first play from scrimmage. That long completion foreshadowed an explosive afternoon in which Tagovailoa found Jones six times for 121 yards and fellow wideout Tai Felton seven times for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Tagovailoa also added a 19-yard rushing score to post the first game of his career with six total touchdowns. He ranks 16th nationally, 12th among Power 5 quarterbacks, and first in the Big Ten with 292.8 passing YPG this season.

Taulia Tagovailoa races to the end zone for 19-yard TD

Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa: A first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media last season, DeJean had his fingerprints all over Iowa’s 26-16 win over Michigan State on a night when starting quarterback Cade McNamara exited with what appeared to be a serious leg injury. DeJean nullified a potential scoring opportunity for the Spartans by intercepting quarterback Noah Kim in the back of the end zone with Michigan State leading 6-3 near the midway point of the second quarter. The interception facilitated a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for the Hawkeyes that was capped by a 13-yard catch and run by tight end Erick All, who made four grabs for 67 yards in total.

DeJean proved clutch once more with the game knotted at 16-16 in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, this time in his secondary role as a returner. He fielded a punt at his own 30-yard line and weaved through traffic along the left side to break loose for a 70-yard touchdown that finished as the game-winning score. It was the 15th-longest punt return in program history and the first punt return touchdown of DeJean’s career. He ranks third nationally and first in the Big Ten for punt return average (14.2 yards per attempt) among players with at least 10 returns this season.

Nic McKissic-Luke, RBs coach, Minnesota: When head coach P.J. Fleck added McKissic-Luke to his staff in January, it was hardly the kind of move that generated headlines the way Oklahoma did when it hired former program legend and the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray several seasons ago. McKissic-Luke arrived in Minneapolis after successful but easily overlooked stints at Northern Illinois, Youngstown State, South Dakota State and Benedict College. He spent two summers interning with the Arizona Cardinals and played his college ball at Alabama A&M.

But McKissic-Luke has done incredible work for the Gophers’ rushing attack this season, particularly in his ability to prepare younger players for immediate contributions. True freshman Darius Taylor posted three consecutive games with at least 138 rushing yards and a touchdown before suffering an injury last weekend, but Taylor’s replacement — redshirt freshman Zach Evans, a former three-star recruit — set new career highs with 15 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 35-24 win over Louisiana. Fellow running backs Bryce Williams and Sean Tyler chipped in 100 combined yards and an additional touchdown as Minnesota rumbled for 201 yards and three scores overall. It might be fair to start including the Gophers in conversations about the deepest running back rooms in college football.

STOCK DOWN

Nebraska’s rushing defense: If the Cornhuskers had been able to hang their hat on anything during the early ups and downs of first-year head coach Matt Rhule’s tenure, then run defense was probably it. Nebraska entered the weekend against No. 2 Michigan ranked second nationally against the run by allowing just 46.3 YPG, including strong efforts against Power 5 opponents Minnesota (55 yards) and Colorado (58 yards). But those numbers were blown away by halftime during Saturday’s humbling 45-7 loss to the Wolverines as offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore leaned on his running game to combat an unusually windy day at Memorial Stadium. By halftime, Michigan had run for 131 yards and two touchdowns while building an insurmountable 28-0 lead.

By the final buzzer, the Wolverines had chewed up 249 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries by nine different runners. The leading trio of Blake Corum (74 yards, one TD), Donovan Edwards (48 yards) and Kalel Mullings (43 yards, one TD) combined to average 4.7 yards per carry while helping the Wolverines convert 10 of 16 times on third and fourth down combined. After being picked apart by Michigan, the Cornhuskers dropped all the way to 15th nationally in rushing defense at 86.8 YPG.

Jim Harbaugh and J.J. McCarthy discuss win over Nebraska

Noah Kim, QB, Michigan State: When former starting quarterback Payton Thorne transferred to Auburn in May, the Spartans were left with a significant void at the game’s most important position. Thorne had thrown for 46 touchdowns and nearly 6,000 yards in two seasons as Michigan State’s starter, and the caliber of player behind him left something to be desired with former three-star prospect Kim competing against four-star prospect Katin Houser, a redshirt freshman who logged just six snaps in 2022. Kim, who was rated the No. 1,250 overall prospect in 2022, won the job and played reasonably well in wins over Central Michigan (279 yards, two TDs) and Richmond (292 yards, three TDs) to begin the year.

Since then, however, everything has fallen apart. Kim’s completion percentage in subsequent games against Washington, Maryland and Iowa — all of which were losses — sunk to 51.4% with one touchdown and six interceptions. He threw for just 193 yards and three interceptions during Saturday’s 26-16 loss to Iowa with an NFL passer rating of 39.3, which was one-tenth of a point above his career low against Washington. Kim’s average depth of target fell from no worse than 10 yards per attempt in any of his first four games to an anemic 6 yards per target at Iowa. It might be time for the Spartans to entertain a change at quarterback.

Illinois’ defense: A year after coming within a whisker of reaching the Big Ten Championship game, head coach Bret Bielema’s team finds itself in a rut five games into its 2023 campaign. The Illini scored two wins against non-Power 5 opponents by defeating Toledo (30-28) and Florida Atlantic (23-17) at home, but Saturday’s disheartening 44-19 loss at Purdue marked a third consecutive defeat to high-major opposition in which the defense unceremoniously crumbled. The Boilermakers reached the end zone three times in the span of four possessions in the third quarter to break open what had been a 3-point margin at halftime.

Quarterback Hudson Card diced an Illinois defense that has fallen to 113th nationally at 419.4 YPG with drives measuring 75 yards, 67 yards and 33 yards to build a 24-point lead. Illinois surrendered 189 rushing yards and 217 passing yards while allowing the Boilermakers to convert 61.5% of their third-down attempts. Bielema’s team is allowing an average of 36 PPG and 442.7 YPG against Power 5 opponents this season. First-year defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, who was promoted to that position when Ryan Walters accepted the head-coaching job at Purdue, needs to find solutions in a hurry.

Indiana: It’s difficult to criticize the Hoosiers for sitting 2-3 after their first five games with wins over Indiana State and Akron because, well, this is where most people expected them to be. An albatross contract extension that was awarded to head coach Tom Allen in March 2021 is likely the only reason he’s still leading the program after finishing 2-10 that same year and 4-8 last season. A hefty buyout that checks in north of $20 million through Dec. 1, 2024, has made Allen something of a lame-duck coach — assuming he’s unable to turn this season around — and made the program something of a directionless ship with the high likelihood for eventual change. Offensive coordinator Walt Bell did not have the same luxury as Allen, however, and the school fired him on Sunday.

This year’s Hoosiers have been outscored by an average of 18 PPG against Power 5 opponents, headlined by Saturday’s 44-17 rout at the hands of Maryland. The Terrapins outgained Indiana by more than 150 yards and limited the Hoosiers to just a 29.4% conversion rate on 17 third-down attempts. Now Allen and his players enter a bye week preparing for the most difficult stretch of their schedule with a forthcoming run of games against Michigan (road), Rutgers, Penn State (road), and Wisconsin.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter at @Michael_Cohen13.