Michigan football's defense may be best in the country, and Indiana's offense struggles

MINNEAPOLIS — Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia looks back at what happened during Michigan football's 52-10 win over Minnesota and what's ahead for the Wolverines when they return home against Indiana on Saturday:

Three things we learned

Michigan has the best defense in the country: It’s not because the Wolverines held Minnesota’s quarterbacks to 5 of 17 passing for 52 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. It’s not because the defense returned both interceptions for touchdowns, U-M's first game with two pick-sixes since 2017. And it’s not even because Jesse Minter’s unit has yet to give up a single point in the third quarter this season. It’s because for the first time this season, Mason Graham and Will Johnson were on the field together working at full capacity. Johnson read Athan Kaliakmanis’ eyes on the second throw of the game, jumped the route and returned it for a 36-yard touchdown just 12 seconds into the night. Graham, who played with his left hand wrapped into a club, still had perhaps the most productive game of his U-M career, leading the way with six tackles, including two for loss and a sack. Whether it's senior captains Mike Sainristil, Kris Jenkins and Michael Barrett, returning starting safeties Rod Moore and Makari Paige, linebackers Junior Colson and Ernest Hausmann, or the host of edge rushers, the Wolverines do not appear to have a weakness on defense.

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Michigan has QB depth chart: It took about six weeks into the season, but there appears to be a clear pecking order in the quarterbacks room behind J.J. McCarthy: Jack Tuttle is the backup, followed by Jayden Denegal. Earlier this season, Alex Orji and Davis Warren were in the mix, though neither traveled to Minnesota. For the second consecutive week, Tuttle came into the game during the third quarter with the game well in hand and he made the most of it. Tuttle led a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, completing a 5-yard pass to Semaj Morgan to get in the flow before hitting fellow Indiana transfer AJ Barner for a 17-yard connection. Two plays later, on third-and-17 from the 20, he managed to escape the rush and run to the left side for 18 yards. Leon Franklin scored his first career touchdown from 2 yards on the next play. Tuttle figured to be the lead candidate for the backup job based solely on experience (even if its not extensive) and now he has earned it with his play.

New 'best five': Last week, Michigan talked inserting a "rally group" along its offensive line to keep fresh bodies rotating in the same way it does with its defensive line. But the Wolverines were just politely saying they made a mistake in their starting offensive line unit when they moved Karsen Barnhart to McCarthy's blindside and tried to roll with Stanford transfer Myles Hinton on the right side. What the Wolverines have figured out the last two weeks is they're more efficient with Barnhart at right tackle, which he played last season, and Arizona State transfer LaDarius Henderson at left tackle. On Saturday, Henderson graded out as U-M's top offensive lineman (69.8) per Pro Football Focus as he excelled at pass blocking (85.3). Though the Wolverines' run game hasn't looked as overwhelming as a season ago, the line is still paving the way to be incredibly efficient. Michigan ran 33 times for 191 yards — 5.8 yards per carry — and four touchdowns against a Minnesota defense that had only allowed four scores on the ground through five weeks.

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Fast facts

Matchup: No. 2 Michigan (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) vs. Indiana (3-2, 1-1).

Kickoff: Noon Saturday; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

TV/radio: Fox; WXYT-FM (97.1), WTKA-AM (1050).

Line: Wolverines by 34½.

Know the foe

Indiana has lost to all three Power Five teams its played, in large part because its offense has struggled all season, ranked No. 111 in scoring (20.8 points per game) nationally. The Hoosiers appeared to have given the keys to Tennessee transfer quarterback Tayven Jackson, but it was quite the struggle through five weeks. Jackson has thrown an interception in each of the past three games. He has completed 71 of 115 passes (61.7%) for 862 yards, he has just two scores and the three turnovers. He was benched late for freshman Brendan Sorsby in loss to Maryland and while Sorsby was impressive in relief — 7 of 11 passing for 84 yards and two scores — though it was against backups.

Indiana's rushing offense ranks No. 113 in the nation (110.2 yards per game), which will face Michigan's 12th ranked run defense. Jaylin Lucas leads IU on the ground with 49 carries for 212 yards and two scores, however no Hoosier averages better than even 4.5 yards per carry. The defense has been a bit better than usual under Tom Allen, rated No. 49 against the pass (211.8 yards per game) and No. 62 in scoring defense (24.4 points per game), but some of those numbers were inflated by beating FCS school Indiana State, 41-7.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football prepares for another struggling offense in Indiana