Upon Further Review: Defense vs Eastern Michigan
Personnel notes: Michigan didn't change much at all from the Notre Dame game. Leach played basically the whole game for Mouton. Kovacs again got the fourth quarter when Mike Williams tweaked his ankle. Substitution on the DL continued as before. The only difference is that JB Fitzgerald did get in some as a replacement for Leach or Ezeh.
Michigan did debut a couple of new looks in this game, as described by Steve Sharik earlier this week. One was a pure 3-3-5 look that could have come right out of the West Virginia salad days; the deathbacker played as a MLB. The other was an aggressive eight-man front run defense Sharik calls "split" that M ran against a lot of their ace sets. I noted the 3-3-5 stack somewhat but not the split, which looked like an under to me. I'll work on it for next week. If Robinson stops adding packages I'll eventually be able to ID them consistently.
BTW: This completes Michigan's collection of fronts: They've run even and under 4-3 fronts, a 3-4, and the 3-3-5. Robinson was not kidding about "multiple fronts." The under is still the base, though.
Steve also talked about the "Down G" play that EMU ran a lot. The basic principle here is much like the basic principle was against Michigan State's power ground game the past two years: you are an unblocked DE; there is a guard pulling around who wants to kick you out and open up a crease inside you. You have to get into the guard and make the tailback bounce it outside, where a linebacker will pursue and clean up.
BONUS! In my never-ending quest to make UFR more complicated every year I've added a third defensive metric: tackling. Missed tackles get minuses, as do routine tackles on which the ballcarrier picks up YAC. Open field tackles, tough tackles, and tackles where the guy goes down right where he's hit get pluses. It's very experimental.
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
O20 | 1 | 10 | Ace trips | 4-3 under | Run | Zone stretch right | Van Bergen | 9 |
Michigan in a two-deep shell and in man over the WRs so this is six blockers on six defenders even without the QB counting. RVB(-1) gets doubled momentarily and falls to the ground, opening up a lane, and Ezeh(-1) is tentative, which gives the OL sliding to the second level an angle; Ezeh attempts to go around him and takes himself out of the play. RB jets to the second level. Good open field tackle(+1) from Williams(+0.5). | ||||||||
O29 | 2 | 1 | Ace | Base 4-3 | Run | Zone stretch right | Williams | 0 |
Eight-man front from M with press man free on the outside. Williams(+1) times a blitz well and shoots into the playside OT before he can peel off Martin, knocking the OL back and erasing any potential lanes. On the bounce, Graham(+0.5) cleans up. | ||||||||
O29 | 3 | 1 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Zone stretch left | Martin | 2 |
Martin(+0.5), slanting, slips past a momentary block from the center and avoids getting scooped, which along with a quick reaction from Ezeh forces a cutback. RVB is flowing down the line behind Martin & Co and makes a good tackle(+1), but momentum carries the back forward for the first. | ||||||||
O31 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | Fly | Graham | Inc |
Williams rolled up and press man on the outside again; EMU attempts to test it. M blitzes Williams, drawing the OT, and a RB has to attempt to cut Graham(+0.5, pressure +1), who dives over the cut and gets into Schmitt a bit, causing him to shorten his follow-through. Receiver has a step on Cissoko (-1, cover -1) and room to the sideline, but it's overthrown. | ||||||||
O31 | 2 | 10 | Ace Twin TE | 4-3 under | Run | Power off tackle | Martin | -3 |
Tackle blocks down on RVB(-1), blowing him out immediately, and the guard to that side pulls around as EMU tries to attack the gap between RVB and Roh. No dice though as Martin(+2) shoots into the intended hole, forcing a bounce into Roh(+1), who's held up well and drives his man back. The bounce takes a circuitous route, allowing Brown(+0.5) to read everything and come up to make a solid, no-YAC tackle(+1). | ||||||||
O28 | 3 | 13 | Shotgun 2-back | 3-3-5-ish | Pass | Screen | -- | Inc |
Graham(+1, pressure +1) comes around the corner too fast for this screen to develop properly and forces Schmitt to throw it inaccurately. Looked like Brown and Leach had this well sniffed out. (Cover +1) | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 0-0, 12 min 1st Q. This drive is actually pretty solid, with one bad play followed by five good ones that saw Michigan defeat Eastern instead of Eastern defeat itself. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O25 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Run | Zone stretch right | Van Bergen | -3 |
Eight man front. Michigan slanting into the play here, which gets Van Bergen(+1) and Martin(+1) deep into the backfield directly in the RB's intended path. Surrounded, he's got no choice but to end up in RVB's arms. (Tackling +1) Martin twists an ankle and is replaced by Sagesse. | ||||||||
O22 | 2 | 13 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5-ish | Pass | Hitch | Ezeh | 10 |
Six yard hitch Ezeh(-1) is about four yards off of when it's thrown, allowing the TE to turn it upfield and pick up four more. (Cover -1) | ||||||||
O32 | 3 | 3 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Pass | Slant | Ezeh | 2 |
Ezeh(+1) reads Schmitt's eyes and immediately takes off for the slant, arriving in time to tackle(+1) short of the sticks. (Cover +1) Very decisive here. | ||||||||
O34 | 4 | 1 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Dive | Sagesse | 22 |
Michigan still getting into alignment as the ball is snapped, which seems like poor planning since the snap comes with two seconds on the clock. Eight man front with press man and big spreads between the DL; Michigan is coming after it. Sagesse(-1) steps inside and gets sealed. This cedes a big crease with help from similarly creased Brown(-1). No linebacker help since everyone's selling out on fourth and one, and the RB is into the secondary immediately. Woolfolk takes a good angle and comes up to tackle after about ten, but misses it (-1, tackling -1), giving up another ten before Warren can haul him down. | ||||||||
M44 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 4-3 under | Pass | Fly | Cissoko | Inc (Pen +15) |
Eight man front. Can't say M's not being aggressive here, though on this play the corners have backed off. You've seen this before. Cissoko(+1, cover +1) is running this guy's route and gets called for the world's worst PI. Roh was working his way to the QB, FWIW. Not plus-warranting but pressure was coming. | ||||||||
M29 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 3-3-5-ish | Run | Zone stretch right | Sagesse | -1 |
Sagesse(+2) shoots past the center's block and slants past the attempted scoop from the backside guard, jetting into the backfield and forcing the RB outside. With help from Roh(+1, tackling +1), Michigan picks up a TFL. | ||||||||
M30 | 2 | 11 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5-ish | Pass | Hitch | Cissoko | 9 |
Michigan sends three rushers against max protect so there are eight zone defenders and only three guys in patterns and there's still a wide open hitch five yards downfield that Cissoko is five yards away from at the catch. I usually don't give out personal negatives on zone coverage I can't see but here's a stern look (cover -1). | ||||||||
M21 | 3 | 2 | Ace Big | 3-3-5-ish | Run | Zone stretch right | Sagesse | -4 |
Slightly less impressive on replay than it was live because it's revealed that Sagesse was basically let into the backfield unmolested, as he's lined up in a zero tech (directly over the center) and slants right into the play. It's a good angle and he makes an excellent tackle(+1) so here's a +1. Graham(+1) also burst through so this was truly going nowhere. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: FG(42), 3-3, 5 min 1st Q. Not bothered by this drive, which was basically a couple of sloppy zone coverages, a gamble EMU won and M lost, and the world's worst PI call. Note that Michigan's running a lot of their 30 front and slanting directly into the stretch plays. This is progress from last week, when M had to discard the stretches because the angles were poor, and I'm betting is an adjustment EMU will make after this drive to open up their run game. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O21 | 1 | 10 | Ace | Base 4-3 | Run | Down G | Banks | 2 |
Pulling guards and whatnot, a very Dantonio/Carr play. Michigan stunts, shooting Banks(+1) into the backfield and forcing the back away from the hole. Herron(+1 tackling) cleans up on the cutback. | ||||||||
O23 | 2 | 8 | Ace | 3-3-5-ish | Pass | PA TE flat | Warren | 2 |
Graham is unblocked and flies upfield at Schmitt after he diagnoses the play action, hypothetically opening up the TE flat sort of play that got Koger a big gainer last week but M is in cover two and Warren(+1, cover +1, tackle +1) reads it well and pops the guy as he makes the catch. | ||||||||
O25 | 3 | 6 | Shotgun 2-back | Base 3-4 | Run | Zone read keeper | Brown | 13 |
Brown(-2) overplays the zone fake badly and loses contain, opening up huge space for a first down. Worse: this is the backup FR QB, so obviously the run is a preferred option. Very poor. | ||||||||
O38 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5-ish | Run | Inside Zone | Martin | 2 |
EMU finally tries to run right at this three-man line. Leach(+0.5) kind of sort of cuts off an outside hole, which causes a cutback into a doubled Martin(+2), except Martin's shucked his blockers and tackles(+1) at the LOS. | ||||||||
O40 | 2 | 8 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | PA Cross | Leach | 7 |
Play action with a rollout and this is on Leach(-1, cover -1) for vacating his zone and aimlessly running forward to contain a rollout Banks(+0.5) has covered. | ||||||||
O47 | 3 | 1 | Ace tight | 4-3 under | Run | Dive | -- | 4 |
Fully ten guys in the box as EMU lines up in a tight set with both wideouts acting as quasi-TEs. They run right at a sizeable gap between Martin and Graham that Leach(-0.5) doesn't attack fast enough. Looks misaligned or mis-called or something because this didn't seem like a defense likely to prevent a quick burst up the middle. | ||||||||
M49 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 3-3-5-ish | Pass | PA rollout scramble | Ezeh | 24 |
Man, I don't know what the hell Ezeh(-2) is doing on this. Okay, I do: he's way over-reacting to where Schmitt's looking downfield. He takes himself so far out of his zone that he can reach out and touch Herron, opening up acres of space for Schmitt to either dump off to the running back or take off; he chooses to take off, getting huge yardage. (Cover -2, pressure -1) | ||||||||
M25 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Counter pitch | Heininger | 0 |
Yeah, this is a counter, with an H-back pulling backside to block the defensive end as you've seen in Picture Pages frequently. Heininger(+1) reads it, gets into his blocker, and pushes him upfield, necessitating a cutback. Martin(+1) gets blown back by a double team before shucking his guy, reading, hopping to the LOS, and tackling. | ||||||||
M25 | 2 | 10 | Ace | Base 4-3 | Run | Off tackle | Martin | 10 |
Eight man front. Can't blame Ezeh on this one, as he reads and fills and probably had this snuffed out for little or no gain except for a cutback from the tailback that's open because Martin(-1) got chopped. Leach(-1) failed to read the play and got hooked by a downfield OL, leaving him out of position to deal with this slow-developing play and getting EMU's tailback into the secondary. | ||||||||
M15 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Down G | Graham | 4 |
Trap blocking on this; Graham(-1) comes in unblocked but fails to read the pulling guard and doesn't get under him to spill the play outside. RB shoots untouched through the line where Leach(+0.5) makes a solid tackle(+1). This could be on Ezeh, actually... depends on what was called. He was heading outside, though, so I think Graham has to spill the play. | ||||||||
M11 | 2 | 6 | Ace tight | 4-3 under | Run | Zone read keeper | Graham | 11 |
Well, one: Graham(-2) irresponsibly charges after the tailback, opening up the QB keeper. Weird how this basic zone read defense step is one we can't get right. And two: JB Fitzgerald(-2) makes just an epically bad read, fighting to the inside of his blocker two seconds after everyone else on the defense is chasing the QB. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 10-10, 11 min 2nd Q. I'm actually way less bothered by this drive than I thought I'd be. It's basically four dumb plays, two on QB contain, two on boneheaded zone drops, and not any sort of EMU-blowing-M-off-ball sort of thing. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O27 | 1 | 10 | Ace trips bunch | 4-3 under | Run | Down G X 2 | Roh | 2 |
EMU pulls two linemen around to the outside but the tailback just shoots straight upfield. Miscommunication? Roh(+0.5) charges from the backside to tackle; Graham(+0.5) had read the play and helped out, too. (Tackling +1) | ||||||||
O29 | 2 | 8 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Dive | RVB | 4 |
Running right at the gap between Martin and RVB; RVB (-0.5) gets trapped and creased; can't spill the play outside. Ezeh(+0.5) reacted swiftly, though he wasn't blocked, to tackle in the hole. | ||||||||
O33 | 3 | 4 | Shotgun 2-back | 3-3-5-ish | Run | Triple option dive | Ezeh | 1 |
I don't know if this is good play or bad from Ezeh since there's a triple option going on outside and the only contain is Brown; this is probably not assignment football. But he's right, and results based charting and all that. Here he attacks the dive aggressively(+1), getting into the RB's feet and helping Graham(+0.5) pursue to the ball and stop EMU short of the first down. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 17-10, 7 min 2nd Q. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O25 | 1 | 10 | Ace tight | 4-3 under | Pass | PA Sack | Roh | -5 |
Roh(+1) is unblocked on the backside, reads the play, and tackles(+1) as soon as the QB turns around to survey downfield. Excellent read and good job to keep under control to make the sack. (Pressure +2) | ||||||||
O20 | 2 | 15 | Shotgun empty 2TE | 30 front | Pass | Hitch | Warren | 13 |
This is a whatever hitch for five yards if Warren(-1) makes a tackle(-1); he does not. Receiver spins around and picks up eight more because of the error. | ||||||||
O33 | 3 | 2 | Ace | 4-3 under | Pass | Hitch | Warren | Inc |
Warren(-0.5) one on one with the WR; turns his hips and gets beaten by a little hitch route just past the sticks (cover -1). Ball is dropped. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 24-10, 5 min 2nd Q. Rough couple plays from Warren there. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
M36 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Run | Down G | Fitzgerald | 11 |
Well... dammit. They've stuck JB Fitzgerald in the game and it's clear why he doesn't get more playing time. Herron(+0.5) gets into a pulling guard early enough to close off any potential off tackle crease, spilling the play outside where Fitzgerald(-2) should be there to clean up. He's come down inside and run himself out of position so he can't make what should be a TFL. The play springs outside for first down yardage. | ||||||||
M25 | 1 | 10 | Ace Big | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Counter off tackle | Leach | 9 |
They run a counter, pulling a guard across; Banks(+0.5) again gets into him and spills the play but Leach(-2) has gone into a pass drop already and is eight yards downfield before he realizes this was a bad idea. He runs around some blocks; Ezeh(+0.5) is the WLB here and runs from the backside to tackle. Good athleticism there from Ezeh. | ||||||||
M16 | 2 | 1 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Run | Zone stretch right | 4 | |
Pretty good job by Sagesse(+0.5) and Banks(+0.5) to hold up against blockers and force a cutback, but there's no one on the backside to clean up because Williams(-1) got clocked. Cissoko cleans up. | ||||||||
M12 | 1 | 10 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Run | Counter off tackle | Williams | 6 |
Michigan cramming the box now; Banks(-0.5) blown off the ball by a double team and Herron(-0.5) sets up too far outside to squeeze the hole and spill the play. Still, Williams(-1) is sitting unblocked in the hole and fails to tackle(-1) at the LOS, turning this from like two into five. Michigan TO. | ||||||||
M6 | 2 | 4 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Down G | Leach | 2 |
Slight variant here with EMU blocking down on the DE and bringing one guard around into two linebackers. Leach(+1) reads the play and attacks it, closing in at the LOS and tackling(+1) with help from Ezeh. Michigan TO. | ||||||||
M4 | 3 | 2 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Run | Off tackle | Williams | 4 |
This is just tough when they line up two TEs to one side of the line and the three guys you've got over there are Roh, Williams, and Cissoko. Roh(-1) gets doubled and blown back; Williams(-1) gets crushed into the endzone, which prevents any chance of LBs flowing over. M should have been in a goal line set here. Error by Robinson. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 24-17, 2 min 2nd Q. Note the timeouts! Rodriguez has played enough XBox 360 to understand when he can get an extra possession out of the first half. Can you imagine Carr taking these? There is one run play before halftime but it's academic and not charted. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O12 | 1 | 10 | Ace trips | 30 front | Run | Dive | Williams | 6 |
Williams(-1) is half-rolled up and fills on this simple dive play; a solid tackle means this is like three yards (Leach(-0.5) crushed out of the hole by a G), but Williams lets the guy spin through (tackling -1) and pick up extra. | ||||||||
O18 | 2 | 4 | Ace Twin TE | 4-3 under | Run | Inside Zone | Graham | -1 |
Graham(+2) blows through his guy and crushes the play in the backfield with help from unblocked Roh(+0.5) on the backside. (Tackling +1) | ||||||||
O17 | 3 | 5 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | Hitch | Warren | Inc |
Warren(+1) reacts considerably more rapidly to this hitch than the last one and appears to get a hand on a poorly thrown ball breaking it up (cover +1). Effective blitz got a couple edge guys in (pressure +1) and may have contributed to a hurried throw. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 24-17, 11 min 3rd Q. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O9 | 1 | 10 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Run | Off tackle | Ezeh | 3 |
Michigan slanting away from this so a little fortunate to hold this down. Only one player to the second level, who takes out Leach; Ezeh(+1, tackling +1) has a free flow to the POA which, to his credit, he attacks swiftly and makes a solid tackle at. | ||||||||
O12 | 2 | 7 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | TE cross | Herron | 5 |
I'm not sure what they're running here as it looks like man with Ezeh dropping into some sort of zone and Leach freaking out and attacking the LOS once the RB sets up to block a blitzing Williams. Fire blitz? Herron's in man on the TE, close enough to force a tough throw and no YAC, which is a win, I think. +1 for him, but not on the cover. | ||||||||
O17 | 3 | 2 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Run | Dive | Williams | -2 |
Williams(+1) times a blitz well and shoots into the backfield, keeping under control and snuffing this out in the backfield with help from Martin(+1), who just crushed his guy, and Ezeh(+1) who aggressively sought the play out and cut through trash to make this a party in the backfield. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 24-17, 7 min 3rd Q. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O20 | 1 | 10 | Ace Twins | 30 front | Pass | PA TE cross | -- | Inc |
EMU finally goes to a bootleg and gets Schmitt on the edge. Ezeh comes up to contain but not quickly so Schmitt has time to find the TE running open for a decent gain. Poor throw and an incompletion. (Cover -1) | ||||||||
O20 | 2 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | PA Hitch | Warren | 4 |
Martin(+0.5) and Roh(+0.5) are busting through the line to force a quick throw (pressure +1) on a hitch; Warren(+0.5) tackles(+1) immediately. | ||||||||
O24 | 3 | 6 | Shotgun 3-wide 2TE | 4-3 under | Pass | Deflection | Ezeh | Int |
Michigan sends a zone blitz, getting Ezeh(+1) in unblocked. He leaps in the throwing lane and bats the ball skyward, directly to Roh(+1), who brings it in for an INT. (Pressure +1) | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Interception, 31-17, 3 min 3rd Q. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
O40 | 1 | 10 | ??? | ??? | Pass | ??? | ??? | 9 |
We totally miss this play. Arbitrary cover -1. | ||||||||
O49 | 2 | 1 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Pass | PA Fly | Warren | Inc |
Going for the home run with an almost-free play. Warren(+2) runs the guy's route for him(cover +2) and this has no chance of success. FLAG? Lol jk no. | ||||||||
O49 | 3 | 1 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Run | Down G | Roh | 3 |
Kovacs is in the game for Williams, BTW, and will play the rest of the game. EMU goes back to their down G play, running right at Roh. Roh(-1) is in good position to squeeze the gap and force a bounce but basically gets run over by the G, which provides enough crease for the first. Should go low here, I think. | ||||||||
M48 | 1 | 10 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Pass | PA Fly | Banks | Inc |
Banks(+1) blows through the line on a slant, getting hooked and drawing a holding flag. Schmitt flushes from the pocket and chucks it deep to a double-covered WR, who falls. Woolfolk almost intercepts. (Cover +1, pressure +1) | ||||||||
O42 | 1 | 20 | Shotgun 2-back | 30 front | Pass | Screen | Ezeh | 9 |
Only rush four but playing man behind it so Ezeh is the only one looking at the tailback here and he's got a tough job against two OL. I guess you can ding him for reacting slowly(-0.5). He does force the play inside, where it dies after a good gain. | ||||||||
O49 | 2 | 11 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Pass | Hitch | Graham | 6 |
Graham(+1) bursts around the corner (pressure +1), forcing a quick throw. It's open in zone; Brown and Warren tackle(+1) immediately. | ||||||||
M45 | 3 | 6 | Shotgun empty 2TE | 4-3 under | Pass | Hitch | Woolfolk | 13 |
Brown gets a free release on a blitz as Michigan goes man with no safeties; Woolfolk is playing off (cover -1) a bit and Schmitt makes a good throw for the first. Woolfolk(-0.5) then struggles to tackle(-1), providing another three or four. | ||||||||
M32 | 1 | 10 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Pass | Flare | Lynch | 9 |
Little flare screen on the edge sees Kovacs(-1) and Leach(-1) both get engaged by blockers who drive them off the screen and entirely out of the play. Cissoko has no help and all he can do is delay the RB and wait for help to arrive downfield. (Cover -1) | ||||||||
M23 | 2 | 1 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Run | Down G | Kovacs | 0 |
Kovacs rolled up. He attacks the pulling guard, standing him up and delaying the back. He tries to bounce outside, where Lynch is, and eventually just runs up into Kovacs(+1) for a loss. | ||||||||
M23 | 3 | 1 | Ace Big | 4-3 under | Run | Inside Zone | Martin | 3 |
Martin(-0.5) gives a yard or two, as does Ezeh, but that's not really his fault, and there's enough of a push up front to get the first. | ||||||||
M20 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | End around | Brown | 5 |
Not sure who's got the contain here but it's either Brown(-0.5) or Graham, and I think it's probably Brown's late reaction that barely opens the corner here for an okay gain. | ||||||||
M15 | 2 | 5 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Penalty | False Start | -- | Pen -5 |
Oops. | ||||||||
M20 | 2 | 10 | Ace Twins | 4-3 under | Run | Down G X 2 | Brown | 11 |
Variant of the down G here that's supposed to get outside the tackle. TE downblocks on Roh and the T and G both pull around into Brown(-1) who gets planted as you might imagine a safety playing LB would, and the play heads outside with ease. Ezeh(-1) also misreads the play and runs himself into a block. | ||||||||
M9 | 1 | G | Ace Twin TE | 4-3 under | Pass | PA rollout | -- | 5 |
Zone stretch fake into a rollout that finds no one despite(cover +2) no pressure(-1) for a long time. Schmitt is able to cut it up for a few yards. | ||||||||
M5 | 2 | G | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Off tackle 2 | Warren | 2 |
Same play that just got 11 yards with a bonus blocker as one of the WRs motions in. So close to the goal line the secondary is active, though. One of the pulling blockers is picked off by Graham(+0.5) getting some penetration. Woolfolk pops up under the last guy, forcing a bounce into Warren(+0.5) who tackles well but does allow the guy to fall forward. | ||||||||
M3 | 3 | G | Goal line | Goal line | Run | Down G | Brown | -2 |
Wing blitzes from Kovacs(+1) and Brown(+1) jet past blockers and the two meet the RB in the backfield for a TFL. | ||||||||
M5 | 4 | G | Ace | 4-3 under | Pass | Fade stop | Cissoko | Inc |
Receiver does get Cissoko to bite on a fade by turning his head inside, then whipping around to get open at the start of the endzone but can't keep his feet and the throw isn't perfect so it's incomplete. (Cover -1) | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 38-17, 9 min 4th Q. Jeez that was a long, uncomfortable drive. More on it later. | ||||||||
Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
M47 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 2-back | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Sack | -- | -- |
The ugly play where Schmitt tears his ACL for no reason. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Fumble, 38-17, 7 min 4th Q. | ||||||||
O14 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Run | Triple option keeper | Roh | 3 |
Roh(+1) is unblocked, reads the dive fake, and comes out to tackle the QB by himself. Athletic move there; this is not a guy you want to read, I don't think. | ||||||||
O17 | 2 | 7 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-3 under | Pass | Hitch | Graham | Inc |
Graham(+1) is in the passing lane and bats it down. (Pressure +1) | ||||||||
O17 | 3 | 7 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Pass | Screen | Leach | 7 |
Leach(-1) drops in his zone, reads it slowly, and can't recover to tackle. (Cover -1) | ||||||||
O24 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Pass | Scramble | -- | 5 |
No one open (cover +1); decent pressure flushes the QB and he scrambles for a few. | ||||||||
O29 | 2 | 5 | Shotgun 2-back | 30 front | Run | Zone read keeper | Fitzgerald | 14 |
Fitzgerald's(-1) the guy with the QB, but reacts slowly, takes a block, and gets cut behind as the QB cuts it up. | ||||||||
O43 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 2-back | 30 front | Pass | Hitch | -- | Inc |
Wildly inaccurate for no particular reason. | ||||||||
O43 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun 2-back | 4-3 under | Pass | Scramble | -- | 5 |
Replay of the scramble earlier in the drive (Cover +1) | ||||||||
O48 | 3 | 5 | Shotgun 2-back | 3-4 Base | Run | Triple option dive | Banks | 1 |
Banks(+1) shucks a blocker and delivers a thumping tackle. | ||||||||
Drive Notes: Punt, 45-17, 4 min 4th Q. Charting ceases as the second team is put in for the rest of the game. |
So that was concerning, wasn't it?
Slightly, yes, but after looking at the tape I'm more encouraged than I was immediately after the game.
How can that be?
To explain that I think I need a—
Chart?
Defensive Line | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | + | - | T | Notes |
Graham | 10.5 | 3 | 7.5 | Very little opportunity to get after the quarterback. Was good against the run, though he was one of the people responsible for Schmitt's touchdown run. |
Heininger | 1 | - | 1 | Made one nice play. |
Patterson | - | - | - | Scrub time only I think. |
Roh | 6.5 | 3 | 3.5 | A couple of nice plays when EMU put him on the edge and tried to fool or read him. Athleticism should be an asset against zone read teams. |
Herron | 1.5 | .5 | 1 | Eh, ok. |
Martin | 7 | 1.5 | 5.5 | Much better job getting off blocks this week and more active; this is probably because of the competition. Still, he's promising. Probably needs another year before he's truly an anchor. |
Van Bergen | 1 | 2.5 | -1.5 | Not holding up very well against doubles. |
Banks | 4.5 | .5 | 4 | Rodriguez mentioned he'd been playing well last week and he did make some plays here. |
Sagesse | 3.5 | 1 | 2.5 | Big fourth down stop was a gift but made some other plays. Needs more PT. |
TOTAL | 31 | 11.5 | 19.5 | Nice number, so the rushing yards were on… |
Linebacker | ||||
Player | + | - | T | Notes |
Ezeh | 6 | 5.5 | 0.5 | Well, at least it's positive. |
Mouton | - | - | - | DNP. |
Brown | 1.5 | 4.5 | -3 | Blew a zone read contain for some of his minus points, and got blasted back by guys 60 pounds heavier than he is on some others. Didn't think he played that bad. |
Fitzgerald | - | 5 | -5 | Yipes. Huge missed reads for all five negative points. Looked lost. Athletic, but lost. |
Leach | 2 | 7 | -5 | Didn't make any of his tackles near the LOS, did the Mouton thing where you go into a pass drop on a run play. |
TOTAL | 9.5 | 22 | -12.5 | Could have gone better. |
Secondary | ||||
Player | + | - | T | Notes |
Warren | 5 | 1.5 | 3.5 | Mostly run support and a couple open hitches/blanketed deep routes. |
Cissoko | 1 | 1 | 0 | "Hey, that guy isn't Michael Floyd." |
Floyd | - | - | - | Scrub time only. |
Turner | - | - | - | DNP |
Woolfolk | - | 1.5 | -1.5 | Almost zero to in coverage. Missed a couple tackles but nothing serious. |
Williams | 2.5 | 4 | -1.5 | Like Brown, got a share of minuses just for being 100 pounds smaller than the guy blocking him. |
Emilien | - | - | - | DNP |
Kovacs | 2 | 1 | 1 | Hasn't cost Michigan anything yet.. |
TOTAL | 10.5 | 9 | 1.5 | Almost had the day off. |
Metrics | ||||
Pressure | 10 | 2 | 8 | Probably why they hardly passed. |
Coverage | 12 | 13 | -1 | Also a reason. |
Tackling | 18 | 5 | 13 | No idea if this is generous or what to compare it to or what. I'm just building data here. |
So… there you go. I'm still working on the tackling bits, obviously. I wouldn't take the minuses on the safeties too seriously.
Why does this make you less concerned than you were before?
We already knew that Ezeh is the kind of guy to get dragged out of position and open up a 24 yard scramble, and we had a strong suspicion that even though the starting linebackers were poor their backups were worse, and all this bore out. Most of the defensive line played up to expectations except Van Bergen, and Banks may add some additional interior depth going forward. The secondary was par for the course, too, and the tackling was pretty good.
Come on, look at that 36-yard all-run touchdown drive. This is Eastern Michigan!
Is that a question?
This is Eastern Michigan?
Fine, fine, okay, yes. It's not like I expect the defense to be good or anything. It's just that the EMU game didn't reveal anything particularly surprising or new. And ten of their points were on the world's worst pass interference call and a thirty-six yard drive. They gained under 300 yards and Michigan outgained them by 180-some. I'm fine with what happened, mostly.
The most disturbing bits were the zone read breakdowns. How does that happen when you practice against it all day every day? I don't know, but when any EMU QB pulled the ball out he had plenty of space.
Any hope for defensive depth in the future?
In the secondary and at linebacker, no. Leach slotting in ahead of Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald proving that wasn't a crazy decision with some really bad play indicates that there's no cavalry coming in the backups. Michigan is riding with Mouton and Ezeh, like it or not. Pray they improve. (To his credit, Ezeh was better at hitting the hole in this game. Baby steps.)
Meanwhile in the secondary, Michigan went the whole game with the starters until Williams got tweaked and Kovacs returned; no corner other than the starting pair saw a snap until uncharted garbage time, and that didn't even include uber-frosh Justin Turner. I did include converted WR/RB Teric Jones, whose redshirt is burned. Burning that redshirt is a whopping statement about where the secondary depth stands: next to Charlie Weis on a precipice, looking down at disaster.
The line, though, looks like it might pick up another contributor in Greg Banks and at some point you figure they will unleash Will Campbell on short yardage. He was part of the goal line set that saw a few snaps and probably should have been in on a few more. He's a tough guy to move.
So… no on Fitzgerald?
Not yet, at least. Watch the linebacker to the top of the screen (not the guy on the line, the guy lined up on the 32, which is Fitzgerald) here:
Michigan was playing that play to spill all day, spilled it, and Fitzgerald was nowhere to be found. He is not mentally ready to play.
The safeties look halfway competent, don't they?
Um… well… mentioning this will probably doom them forever, but maybe? None of ND's long plays can be blamed on the safeties, though part of that was the defensive scheme and part of that was the ability of Notre Dame to exploit an injured, short Cissoko in his first start against a good offense. And Eastern didn't find anything long. The only play on which a safety got a big negative was the long Western touchdown. Just MAC teams, sure, but by this point in any other season there would have been two or more plays from the safeties that make you groan and clutch your rosary. Obi Ezeh's "so we got that going for us" quote about Woolfolk may be accurate.
Heroes?
The starting defensive line outside of Van Bergen, who didn't do much.
Goats?
All linebackers not named Ezeh, who was decent.
What does it mean for Indiana and the future?
I'll keep it brief since this was a game against Eastern Michgian and you overrate it at your peril: the team is basically what we thought it was. If you want to load up against it and grind down the field you'll have success doing it, though I wonder if teams will manage to score a lot of touchdowns with that sort of approach. Michigan's going to bend a lot; hopefully they won't break.
Greg Robinson is busy installing all sorts of different stuff and slants and various games to cover up for the fact that he's got no depth, two seniors, and three walk-ons contributing. I think we're going to see a lot of instances where the games work and Michigan swarms something and a lot of instances where Michigan gets caught and gashed. There are places to attack this defense, and the safeties are going to have to do a lot of cleanup in Big Ten play.
Is there any upside for these guys? Maybe. It is a new system so Michigan is behind mentally and should improve more than veteran units whose failings are more likely to be physical shortcomings than mental errors. Look at Eastern's long touchdown drive: mental error after mental error. If Michigan can fix those things—or, more conservatively, mitigate them—they appear to have the horsepower to be completely mediocre. Again: getting Ezeh and Mouton up to a level where they are decent is the key to the defense's season.
Blogpoll Week 3
Rank | Team | PPB | Delta |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Florida (69) | 23.9 | -- |
2 | Alabama (20) | 23.5 | 2 |
3 | Texas (4) | 23.0 | -- |
4 | California | 20.6 | 2 |
5 | Penn State | 19.0 | -- |
6 | LSU | 18.3 | 4 |
7 | Miami (Florida) (8) | 17.8 | 10 |
8 | Mississippi | 17.6 | -- |
9 | Boise State | 17.3 | -- |
10 | Cincinnati (1) | 14.1 | 6 |
19 | Michigan | 5.7 | 6 |
Blogpoll did good this week, spreading first place votes out after Florida's somewhat weak performance, rewarding Miami (That Miami) and Cincinnati for their early-season wizardry, and… uh… shooting Michigan up six spots for not much reason. Woo! The only disappointment is that both potential CK Award victims are facing two-touchdown plus spreads.
BONUS: A week after slotting Houston a few places behind Oklahoma State, the blogosphere experiences regret and fixes their error. This here poll is the only one with the Cougars above the Cowboys, and long may it last. (It probably won't, as Houston's got Texas Tech this week.)
The rest of the top 25 at CBS Sports.
Wednesday Recruitin'
Alltime updates can be found in the 2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.
Your Breathless Seantrel Henderson Update Returns!
It's been a while since I've talked about the recruitment of MN OL Seantrel Henderson (Photo by the Pioneer Press) in Wednesday Recruitin', so this should be a pretty serious update, especially considering that he's one of the most-discussed recruits in recent memory. First, we head to ESPN and Steve Wiltfong:
"The choice will ultimately be up to Seantrel, but we're trying our best to make sure he gets the best experience," said Sean Henderson, Seantrel's father.
Not that I'm going to accuse any parental tampering here, but this quote is fairly ironic, considering Seantrel started the recruiting process saying "I'm not interested in Notre Dame." The instant his father took over the media correspondence, Notre Dame was suddenly among his favorites, and they're now receiving an official visit. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. Also of note from the article:
Besides the schools he's taking official visits to [ed.: ND, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Florida] and Minnesota, the five-star Henderson is also considering Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin.
That's still a top-10 list, and there's a lot of time before Signing Day, when he plans to decide. All teams still have a somewhat-legit chance at landing the guy.
Local fluff on Seantrel. For what it's worth, he still plans to try both football and basketball at his school of choice. The emergence of Michigan's basketball program can only help the Wolverines in that regard.
Tim Brewster took to a helicopter to impress local recruits, including Henderson (photo from MNdaily.com). In an article on the same topic, his high school coach implies that there may be some (slight) academic concerns with Seantrel:
"He'll always take care of the football part of it," Scanlan said. "I just hope he gets his homework done and that he is getting everything taken care of when he comes back on Monday. That's the part that might be a concern. Because there are so many distractions; he's really focused on football. Let's just make sure that school takes care of itself, too."
Keep on eye on that, though it doesn't sound like he's in danger of not qualifying.
Seantrel is writing a weekly diary for the Pioneer Press, and I hope this is just an unfortunate coincidence in paragraph structure:
I heard this week from Ohio State, USC, Michigan and Oklahoma. It is tough sometimes to tell a school you aren't really interested...
Considering it's the Wolverines among a group of his top schools, I don't think that's intended to imply that he's uninterested in any of those programs.
Doug Lesmerises gives fluff from Seantrel's official visit, including a couple relevant quotes:
"Mostly I want to know about academics," Henderson says. "I want to learn about that if I'm going to be staying here for three years or whenever, and I want to know the people I'm surrounded by. I didn't know Ohio State was like, the biggest school. I didn't know they were so high on the academics and they give a lot of help to athletes."
Obligatory laughing at each part of the last sentence for entirely different reasons. For the record, Seantrel enjoyed his visit to Columbus, though there was nothing really said other than standard post-visit quotes (aside from his dad thinking Oklahoma is still in the Big 8, of course).
And, after that huge information dump, I'll editorialize for minute. Henderson (unlike many prospects) realizes that it's talent, and not school choice, that will get him to the NFL. Sure, he can pick up better coaching at some places than others, but if he's an NFL player, he's an NFL player, regardless of where he goes. Because of that understanding, the two biggest factors in his recruitment are expected to be education (check) and ability to win a championship while he's in school.
There's been a lot of murky insider-y talk about Michigan being one of Seantrel's favorite schools, but he's uncertain over whether he'd be able to win a championship in Ann Arbor. The fast start to the season really helps in that regard, especially beating one of his other contenders, in Notre Dame. If the Wolverines keep winning, they can really help themselves with a number of prospects, Henderson not least among them.
Your Quarterbacking Overlord Fears No Man
There has been some internet hand-wringing about what will happen to the commitment status of MI QB Devin Gardner with Tate Forcier having such a good stellar season. However, there's nothing to worry about. Devin thinks Tate looks very good, and he's not worried about competing against a possibly-entrenched starter. He'll compete to earn playing time, and if he doesn't get any of those minutes, he'll accept a redshirt.
Because it's Clear they're Needed...
...Michigan is still pursuing a number of linebackers. The main options:
VA LB Aramide Olaniyan has been a soft commit to Duke for quite some time, and his visit to Michigan seemed to have softened it even further. Since his interest in the Blue Devils has been waning, he made it official, decommitting from Duke. That's a good sign for Michigan, especially considering how much he enjoyed his time in Ann Arbor. He's taking another one sometime this winter, so if Michigan wants him, they appear to have as good a shot as any.
MD LB Josh Furman had long been planning to announce a decision at the Maryland Crab Bowl in December, but now it seems like a decision may be coming sooner ($, info in header). He was also in attendance for the Michigan-Notre Dame Game, which again is probably a good thing, considering it came shortly after heading to Ann Arbor.
MD LB Troy Gloster is a third realistic option, and he has had the Wolverines near the top of his list for quite some time now. Now it appears as though they're in a top 2 with West Virginia, and a decision might be coming before the end of his high school season ($, info in header). If such a decision does indeed happen, Michigan would at least know where it stands in it linebacker hunt.
If Michigan is unable to land any of those three linebackers, there are a couple prospects slightly lower on the recruiting board that they still have a chance at landing. One such player is OH LB Jewone Snow, son of Michigan great Garland Rivers (and nephew of Michigan State's Percy and Eric Snow). He'll observe the in-state battle on October 3rd, which may help him decide which team he likes more. Of course, one reason I'm personally enamored with Snow is his connection to 2011 OH DE Steve Miller, one of the top prospects in the Buckeye State.
In the Trenches
Though they'd fallen off his radar, the Wolverines have put themselves back on it for NC DE/DT Gabe King. Still, his coach has a lot of connections out west (his two favorites are Oregon and Cal), and he's now moving to Oregon, so don't expect MIchigan to seriously contend for him(King photo by Roy Philpott for the Detroit News).
MN DT Beau Allen was receptive when Michigan finally came after him, but it appears as though they may have been too late. He has a top four, with a couple schools trailing behind, and Michigan is nowhere to be found.
Etc.
CA S/RB Dietrich Riley still plans to visit MIchigan. CA CB Joshua Shaw will make a trip to Ann Arbor as well.
Blogpoll Final Ballot: Week 3
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | Alabama | |
2 | Texas | 2 |
3 | Florida | |
4 | Miami (Florida) | 7 |
5 | California | 5 |
6 | Cincinnati | 3 |
7 | Boise State | 1 |
8 | Penn State | 3 |
9 | Mississippi | 5 |
10 | Houston | 3 |
11 | Southern Cal | 9 |
12 | Virginia Tech | 3 |
13 | Ohio State | 3 |
14 | Florida State | 10 |
15 | TCU | 2 |
16 | Auburn | |
17 | UCLA | |
18 | Georgia Tech | 6 |
19 | Oklahoma State | |
20 | Michigan | 1 |
21 | Iowa | |
22 | LSU | |
23 | Brigham Young | 17 |
24 | Georgia | |
25 | Notre Dame | 2 |
Last week's ballot |
Changes from Draft:
- Moved Ole Miss down. Their resume is far less impressive than a bunch of teams near the top, and is on par with (at best) Penn State. Speaking of whom, the Lions' resume probably doesn't quite warrant being ranked where they are, but I'll let momentum hold them for another week, since conference play in the Big Ten is rolling around, and they'll finally have a chance to actually prove themselves against Iowa. Cincinnati moves past both of those teams because they have big road wins against a team expected to win their own conference (Rutgers, whom they shitcanned) and one from the west coast.
- I moved Kansas down, down, down. I was talked into including them in week 1, and they have stayed on the poll mostly just because they were already there. Without good resume wins, they haven't earned their spot on the poll yet, and were bumped. Notre Dame took their spot.
- I moved Virginia Tech up, because they were being a little unfairly punished for one loss, when it was to the number one team. Considering they've beaten a ranked team, just like the Trojans, they should be around that level, so I slotted them between USC and Ohio State.
- I moved Iowa down because they have one bad win (Northern Iowa) and two fairly neutral wins (big over Iowa State, average over Arizona). That doesn't compare to most teams. They'll have a chance to prove themselves on the road against Penn State.
- Moved GT down some, because their offense hasn't been as impressive as last year, and they've been bad in both a win (Clemson) and a loss (Miami).
- UCLA replaced Oklahoma, because the Sooners have one "good" loss (to BYU), but no good wins yet. They'll have a chance in the near future (they play at MIami in a couple weeks) to get back into the poll.
In future weeks, I want to go strictly on a resume-only ranking. That might mean a little bit of chaos as far as the Mr. Manic-Depressive award goes next week, but that's life, I guess. I'll also try to be a little more transparent with my methodology, probably going with a chart, a la Dr. Saturday last year.
I will admit, some of the wonky-ish ratings have happened in attempt to not be irrationally exuberant on Michigan. With a transparent methodology, that won't happen anymore, and everything should be much more consistent.
Dinosaur Schematic Advantage
Earlier this year when one Ohio State blogger who pops his head up around here from time to time invoked what must be the second most-dread name in coaching* to an Ohio State fan considering the leadership of his favored program, I basically scoffed at the comparison:
I'm not saying Jim Tressel is Lloyd Carr, but... what separates Lloyd Carr in say, 2002 or 2003, from Jim Tressel right now? This is a line of thought I've been seriously following for the better part of a year now. I'd like some input from Michigan fans on this.
Here's my input: that's way hasty.
Though Jim Tressel shares many of Lloyd Carr's philosophies, he's been much better at making sure his unwavering belief that he has a kick-ass defense, great special teams, and pounding ground game is accurate. This made his philosophies actually work on the field. It makes way more sense to play Lloyd/Tresselball when your quarterback is Craig Krenzel and your middle linebacker is AJ Hawk than when your quarterback is Tom Brady and your middle linebacker is Zack Kaufman.
And Tressel has consistently displayed an aptitude for pulling out the stops when it comes to The Game. The single play that leaps out to me from Tressel's oeuvre that demonstrates his mastery of Michigan came midway through 2006's Football Armageddon. Ohio State rushed to the line after a nine-yard gain, aligned in a power formation, snapped the ball almost as soon as it was set, and ran play action that sucked Ryan Mundy up and led to an easy touchdown. That touchdown represented the four points separating a win from a loss and spoke of meticulous, wily preparation. (And, of course, the fact that Michigan safety play was consistently awful for ten years.) Jim Tressel is only a dinosaur when it suits him, which is usually but not always.
"Usually" is fine when you're going up against teams you've out-recruited for a decade. It's not when you're going up against USC or Florida or Texas, and in the aftermath of Ohio State's six straight failed attempt to prove themselves something other than a local bully, Ohio State fans got antsy, even angry. Then Chris Brown of Smart Football unloaded on Jim Tressel in a guest post at Doctor Saturday. You've probably seen it already. It instantly became an internet sensation everywhere from here to Ohio State message boards to, apparently (and possibly apocryphally), Tressel himself on Columbus radio. It's remarkable in a number of ways, but mostly for the strident tone Brown adopts. Brown has established himself as the blogosphere's most knowledgeable and perceptive observer of football, and he's done so without depressing a key in anger. The effect of the piece was similar to Bill Cosby calling someone you hate a stupid caveman:
[Tressel] is not good enough of a tactician to win against the national elite who, unlike practically everyone he schemes against in his conference, have the talent to match Ohio State's, and those are the only games where coaching really matters. With his facilities, talent, and resources, winning the Big Ten is not the test.
Look at the numbers. Ohio State's failure to beat a quality opponent since defeating Michigan to punch a ticket to the national championship game in 2006, Tressel's teams have been outclassed, outsmarted, outplayed and outprepared in every big game they've played.
If you haven't read it already, stop everything immediately and do so. The thing is pure porn for Wolverines, especially because the counter-example to stupid is the guy currently calling the plays for Tate Forcier.
You'll note that the other side of the ball was ahead of USC's curve. This seems like less of an accomplishment than it did a week ago, but this kind of statement from an offensive lineman…
“We spent all night trying to adjust to what they were doing up front. They did not come with the stuff we practiced against.”
…is the precise opposite of what Michigan fans will remember hearing and loathing whenever Michigan made a Rose Bowl against teams that would bash their heads in with a stick. That's high praise for the coaches and something that keeps Ohio State afloat even when they've got wonky quarterbacking—which, by my count, has been all but two years of Tressel's tenure.
This is about adaptation. In Michigan's win over Notre Dame, Tate Forcier threw 33 times, which was eight more attempts than Pat White ever had at West Virginia. Meanwhile, Tressel attempts to pound a square peg into a round, arm-punting hole. This goes beyond just the playcalling, though you'd never think it given the postgame reaction.
There was a minor hubbub about Tressel dropping something analogous to Rich Rodriguez's infamous "get a life" quote, albeit in exquisitely Senator Tressel fashion:
"When I read some of them I feel terrible for them because there's no way they're happy," he said. "They've got to be some of the most unhappy people in the world, and I feel bad because we just made them less happy, and I hate to be a part of making someone less happy. I mean, they're already miserable."
Exact same sentiment as "get a life," but respun in a way that defuses the hubbub. Yea, truly, Jim Tressel is a brilliant politician. But Holy God the only person to not totally ignore the big story from that press conference was Adam Rittenberg, who spent a bunch of his post on the matter detailing the ridiculous decisions Tressel made en route to defeat:
Tressel, who said he makes most of the play calls even though Jim Bollman has the title of offensive coordinator, disdained going for a touchdown in favor of an easy field goal on fourth-and-goal at the USC 1 early in the second quarter. He also favored punting on fourth-and-1 at the USC 45 in the third quarter.
With around 8 minutes left in the game and Ohio State gripping a 15-10 lead, the Buckeyes drove to a first down at the USC 35. After a run gained 3 yards, quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw an incompletion and then was sacked for a 4-yard loss that meant kicker Aaron Pettrey would have a 53-yard attempt on fourth-and-11 at the USC 36. Tressel elected to punt again.
That punt led to the Trojans taking control for an impressive 86-yard drive that won the game.
Ohio State is going toe-to-toe with a program they consider their equal. They're actually a significant underdog, with USC favored by seven. And Tressel kicked a field goal from the one yard line, punted on fourth and one on USC's side of the field, and punted from the USC 36. All of these things are insane by the numbers and more so when you've recruited a 6'6" beast of a quarterback who can fall forward for a first down behind the swamp-beast of a guard who you stole from Michigan. Tressel shriveled up and reduced variance in a game he is the underdog in because he finds it extremely hard to shift gears. By doing so he set his team up to lose a narrow lead late. His decisions can be directly blamed for the loss. Ohio State should never have been up only five points in that game. Engineering students of Ohio State, welcome to the same level of hell I was on after the 2005 Ohio State game. May you reside here long and painfully.
This is a failure to adapt. For twenty years Tressel has operated at a significant talent advantage relative to almost all of his peers. With the relative collapses of Michigan and Penn State—who has beaten OSU of late when the talent scales approach even—there has been no local program fit to challenge Ohio State recruiting star to recruiting star, and he's rolled up conference championships and victories only to be smacked down when the big guys from elsewhere roll into town. Tressel is fixed in his ways and has not been challenged sufficiently to re-evaluate his philosophy. At this point it's hard to imagine him doing so simply because of inertia. And the big games continue to roll by without victories. Tressel, at this point, is not a version of Carr waiting to happen. He's Bo Schembechler.
-----------
POSTSCRIPT: The exercise of comparing Rodriguez to Tressel, Carr, and Schembechler is largely left to the reader, but I'll refer you to an earlier piece that has been reinforced by the first three weeks of this season and the Smart Football article above. Money (ha) graf:
Rodriguez comes from a wholly different background than Carr, coming up through the ranks at NAIA schools and Tulane and Clemson and West Virginia. Until Pat White showed up he never had a significant talent advantage against the vast majority of opponents. He never, ever had the luxury of lying back and thinking to himself "if we out-execute the opponent we will win," and it shows. He invented a whole new offense and used it to exploit inefficiencies in recruiting. To seal the Sugar Bowl against Georgia he called a fake punt, exploiting inefficiencies in fourth-down playcalling. For the past seven years he has played Moneyball at West Virginia.
*(Number one.)
Defensive Analysis: EMU
In the aftermath of last Saturday's game w/EMU, some member of the Michigan team (coach or player, I don't recall) stated that there weren't many halftime adjustments in scheme, but rather an increased emphasis on assignments. This is true...but only b/c they made the schematic adjustments after EMU's 3rd series of the game, in which they went 11 plays and scored a TD, ending on a M.A. (missed assignment) by Brandon Graham that allowed for the TD. From then on we were almost all in over/under, with a little 30 sprinkled in. We did show a little split, and then the DL stemmed to over/under. (Again, for those of you new to my diaries, please refer to some of my old ones for terminology.)
In this game we trotted out a new look in our 40 front, and also one in our 30 front.
The new 40 front is what I will call "Split." We mostly played Cover 1 (aka man-free) and it looked thus:
All LBs (Mike Williams included) played at heels depth of the DL. Mike Williams and Stevie Brown had the TEs man-to-man, and the corners played bump man on the WRs. Troy Woolfolk was the center fielder. Obi Ezeh and Kevin Leach were likely banjo on the RB, which means that each would take the RB if he came toward, and drop into a low-hole position if the RB went away.
Against the run, it's an 8-man front with all gaps filled. Furthermore, the ILBs are taught to fill the A-gap if the window is open; scrape if the window is closed.
We also trotted out a new look in the 30 front, which I will call "Stack." It looks like this:
Some of the captions didn't translate well, but they're all pass responsibilities, with the exception of the corners' captions, which also state they are primary force against the run. Also, JM should really be KL, but it's the same position. The ILBs pass responsibility is wall to hook (not hool) and Stevie Brown is robbing #2. This means he takes #2 man if #2 runs vertical, he drops to the curl if #2 goes to the flat, or he drops for a square in if #2 runs a shallow cross.
Note: You may recall that in the pre-season when I introduced my intention to diary, I wrote that sometimes I would be giving educated guesses on some things. This is one of those times.
Okay, on to bullets!
ANAYLSIS BULLETS:
- Game plan was to play the split and 30 fronts. According to interviews of players and coaches, EMU used different formations than expected. After 3 series, we adjusted to mostly over/under fronts in order to adjust to their formations.
- Tackling is a serious problem. The only player I've seen run through initial contact on a consistent basis is (shock) Brandon Graham. This is why we get run over/broken tackles. It's been happening since spring practice. It's time to emphasize running the feet in tackling drills in practice. Get the one-man sleds, move the tackler/ball carrier a couple yards further away from the mats, do whatever you have to do. Just get it done. It's been the difference between 2nd/7 and 2nd/4.
- Craig Roh is developing into a fine player. We now have 3 good to studly linemen on the front. Van Bergen needs to join the party, mostly due to his first step. He is too long on his first step, often taking him too far up the field on runs away from him. On runs to him, especially base blocks, his lengthy first step doesn't allow him to get his foot down quickly enough, and he doesn't have a strong enough base. This is even more important for a player his height. He could use to play lower, as well.
- Linebacker play is still average at best (and that's being kind). Leach didn't play very well, but given the circumstances, he did the best he could. He might have been alright had he gotten all the reps in practice. (Thanks a lot, Delaney...clown.) Obi...well, what else is there to say. He's probably better suited to play an OLB in a traditional 4-3, but he'd have to come off the field on passing downs or against a spread team. He was a stud FB in high school, and his skills are probably best suited there. However, we have no other options behind him...Fitzgerald played really poorly for the few reps he got. Wow, do we need to recruit some LBs. It's really no fun writing this, and I really hope that all these guys become great players. Obi did start to show some signs, and played much better in the 3rd quarter.
- Most of our man coverage was from press rather than off-man. It was pleasing to see this, and our coverage was 100% better. BooBoo was even pretty good, the low points being 1) the most horrendous PI call I've ever seen when he had textbook position and did NOT use an arm bar, as the refs claimed, and 2) the TD pass they dropped from 4th/goal in the 3rd quarter. I don't really blame BooBoo that much, b/c he read the release properly, opened his hips well, and looked when the receiver looked. Unfortunately for BooBoo, the WR made his out-cut *after* looking back to the QB for the ball, causing the separation. However, this probably is what caused the ball to be just out of reach for the WR.
- If Mike Williams is going to play close to the LOS, he'd better man up against the hog-mollies. Too often he was too soft in taking on blocks at the point of attack on run to his side. The same happened to BooBoo, but, hell, he's a small corner with a bum shoulder.
- While I like the new schemes, I still believe we are nowhere near where we need to be fundamentally. Until we can do the basics right, I'm not sure a bunch of new schemes is the answer. On the other hand, if our players cannot master the techniques no matter how much practice the coaches give them, confusing the opponent becomes our best strategy for success.
- Coach Robinson and the defensive staff have shown the ability to be very good at halftime adjustments, in whatever form they may come. I do think that in the last two games the most important ones have been mostly individual technique adjustments as opposed to schematic. I also find it interesting that the schematic adjustments in both of these games were to go away from the game plan and return to base defenses, for the most part.
- I am glad our run offense is sweet (3rd nationally). And don't worry about scoring so quickly in the future. The defenses we face from here on out (save Delaware St.) won't be giving us those gaping run lanes. Shit, we should've put up the M Club banner over the holes on most of those runs. Hopefully, the loss of Molk won't slow us down too much.
- Wipe the slate clean, defense! It's Big Ten season!