Michigan safety Daxton Hill 'being evaluated' after leaving early in Wolverines' win at Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — The injury status of one of Michigan football's rising stars on defense remains unknown after Saturday's game at Minnesota.

Daxton Hill, a sophomore safety, left in the first half of the Wolverines' 49-24 win in Minneapolis and did not return.

"Dax had to leave the game, being evaluated," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. "So we’ll see where that is."

Hill's last play came at the end of a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. Hill attempted to tackle Gophers running back Mohamed Ibrahim on the 16-yard touchdown run to finish the drive. Hill was not seen on the field for the rest of the game.

Hill, a former five-star recruit, is one of the most important players on Michigan's defense. He has been praised for his coverage ability and manned the slot for the Wolverines before his exit. He finished Saturday's game with three tackles.

Hill's replacement was freshman safety Makari Paige (West Bloomfield), who recorded three tackles.

Nordin injured

Michigan brought two kickers to Saturday's game, but only one was available to play.

Fifth-year senior Quinn Nordin "has been working through something," Harbaugh said.

"Got healthy and then kinda had a little bit of a setback during the week," Harbaugh said. "I think he’ll be fine going forward."

Without Nordin, junior Jake Moody handled place-kicking duties and missed all three of his field-goal attempts,from 38, 48 and 33 yards. He was 7-for-7 on PATs.

"With Jake, the first field goal, just didn't feel like he hit it with the authority that he usually does and the confidence and it spilled off to the right," Harbaugh said. "The next one I thought it hit really good and he started kicking extra points and really got into his rhythm. Then the second missed field goal, thought he hit it good, just went left on him.

"And the last one was the only low snap of the entire game and Will didn't quite handle it as good as he could have. The whole mechanic was off. The whole battery of snap, hold, kick was off from there."

Nordin and Moody have competed for kicking duties since 2018. Moody made 6 of 9 field goals last season before Nordin took over late, going 10-for-10 to finish the season, including a 57-yarder in the Citrus Bowl.

"I think Quinn will be healthy and back in the competition this week," Harbaugh said.

Freshmen receivers see the field

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said all six of Michigan's scholarship receivers would play, and he was true to his word. The Wolverines incorporated them into the game plan — including true freshmen A.J. Henning and Roman Wilson.

Wilson caught both of his targets, for 34 yards, including a key conversion on third-and-5. Henning caught one pass for 14 yards and had one rush for 6 yards.

“They always want to get better in practice," said quarterback Joe Milton. "They always want to know more offensively, the scheme, what’s going on. Having those guys in the game tonight was very impressive because they understand what’s going on and they weren’t scared.”

Paye leads pass rush

Defensive end Kwity Paye focused on his pass-rush moves this offseason. And he showed off his improvement in the fourth quarter.

Paye finished with two sacks, a half-sack away from tying his career-best performance, after sacking Tanner Morgan on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter. The sacks generated a loss of 13 yards and forced a punt.

“Yeah, Kwity Paye, first of all, was just outstanding, especially in the second half and fourth quarter," Harbaugh said. "Throughout the game they couldn’t run left very effectively. Kwity was up the field making plays."

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football safety Daxton Hill 'being evaluated' after early exit