September 2009

Short and sweet today:

• Injuries: Tate Forcier practiced yesterday. He should be able to do everything today, and will play against the Spartans. His throwing shoulder is sore, Rodriguez isn't an expert so he doesn't want to give a diagnosis. Jon Conover was ruled out earlier in the week, but it now looks like he could play. Brandon Minor is practicing today after resting Monday and Tuesday (which he has done in past weeks). Hopefully in future weeks, he'll be able to go the whole week. Mike Williams has practiced and will be able to play: "Mike's good to go."
• 2nd Corner position: Boubacar Cissoko and JT Floyd will compete in practice over the next couple days for the starting spot. Their playing time may depend on game situations. Justin Turner is still a little ways off, but his playing time will increase as he gets comfortable.
• Special teams: Greg Mathews is doing a good job on punt returns, Martavious Odoms and JR Hemingway are taking reps back there. The team has gone after punts a couple times this year and been close, but they haven't blocked one yet. At kick return, Darryl Stonum has really come into his own. He was just one defender away from taking a couple back against Indiana.
• On MSU and bulletin board material: "I don't think any of our players have said anything disrespectful. I think we respect their program and their players." The Michigan team focuses on themselves and what they can do. Does the team use bulletin board material during the week? "Maybe" (sheepish grin). It's more useful helping the players focus on the game during the week of practice. Once the gametime rolls around, nobody needs a quote to get hyped up. The guys understand the importance of the rivalry - and if they don't, the older guys are quick to fill them in.
• The team will head to East Lansing Friday. It's nice, because the trip is a little shorter and easier. The team will not go through a full walkthrough in Spartan Stadium - just let guys get a feel for the natural surface, see which side of the field they'll be on, etc.
• They've worked on a couple technique things with David Moosman's snaps. Some of the fumbles on Saturday may have been the QBs' fault. Moos's snaps have been looking good, and they've practiced with wet balls in case of rain.

New, justified #1 and a slightly less frightening spot for your favorite team:

Rank	Team	PPB	Delta
1	Alabama (50)	24.2	1
2	Florida (48)	24.0	1
3	Texas (4)	22.9	--
4	Boise State	20.3	5
5	Virginia Tech	19.2	7
6	Cincinnati	18.2	4
7	LSU	18.0	1
8	Southern Cal	15.9	3
9	Houston	15.6	7
10	TCU	14.7	5
20	Michigan	5.9	1

The remainder of the poll can be found at CBS Sports. Ole Miss did sneak in to the final poll, unfortunately, but they remain way lower than they are anywhere else. I thought the poll would lose what unique characteristics it had picked up as it expanded, but this year it's really hit its stride thanks in large part to the cluelessness of the Coaches' and Harris polls. Excelsior.

Bzzzt. UMHoops reports that Casey Prather's choice is Florida. Sorry for my incorrect earlier speculation/enthusiasm. Michigan is still pursuing MI SF Trey Ziegler, who won't decide until the spring. If they don't get him it'll be on to the class of 2011.

Old School. The 1957 Michigan-Indiana game via home video:

That comes from Uni Watch, which also notes via a reader that Michigan has some weird inconsistencies in the way they name players on their uniforms:

As you might know, Michigan football has a freshman QB, Tate Forcier. He’s the younger brother of Jason Forcier, who was once a third-string QB on the team (about five years ago or so) and then transferred to Stanford. When Tate started practicing in the spring, there was a thought that Jason would transfer back to Michigan and both brothers would be on the team at the same time. This never happened, but Tate still wears a ‘T. Forcier’ nameplate, as if Jason were on the team.

Meanwhile, we have Kevin Grady at FB and his brother Kelvin Grady at WR (who had been on the basketball team last year and then moved to football this summer). They’re both K. Grady — in fact, they’re both Ke. Grady — but they both wear just ‘Grady,’ even though they’re sometimes on the field at the same time. I sorta wish they did FNOB, which I love, or else ‘Kel. Grady’ and ‘Kev. Grady,’ but alas, they just wear their surname.

Finally, we have Stevie Brown at LB and Carlos Brown at RB. Carlos’s NOB is just ‘Brown,’ while Stevie wears ‘S. Brown’ — weird.

I’m surprised this would happen at Michigan, where they take the home uniforms so seriously.

FNOB = "first name on back." You can probably extrapolate what NOB means. Uni Watch has a weird insider lingo that fosters some community or something.

Let me take this opportunity to denounce a spreading scourge: nameless jerseys. If you're Notre Dame or Penn State, okay, whatever. But it seems like everyone is doing it now in an attempt to emphasize team unity or other such sportwritery nonsense. When Eastern Michigan is doing it, things have gone too far. I want to know who is who as a fan.

Baby's first Michigan-Michigan State game. The universe isn't quite back in order—Michigan State opened a slim underdog but is now a 1- to 1.5-point favorite—but it's getting there:

Michigan-Michigan State is big for both football teams, but for the Spartans, it could be their season

That's Mike Rothstein penning a headline that could have been written at any point in the last 40 years, though probably not with as much truth behind it as this time around. This is Rothstein's first exposure to Michigan State's particular mania…

The anger came in every syllable flying out of Kirk Cousins’ mouth. The disgust was evident on his face, the frustration obvious in his mannerisms.

Michigan may have multiple rivals and already pocketed a rivalry victory against Notre Dame this year, but an hour northwest, at Michigan State, there is only one rival. And there is only one game.

Michigan.

“This game is personal,” said Cousins, the Michigan State quarterback. “And we need to win it, and we’d better win it.”

…particular mania…

"The lack of respect they have, period," defensive end Trevor Anderson responded when asked about his dislike for the Wolverines. "It's sickening."

…particular mania…

The Spartans' offensive line is hurting and hasn't helped produce a single 200-yard rushing game this season.

But that didn't stop left tackle Rocco Cironi from chiming in.

"I think everybody has a hatred for Michigan," he said.

…I wonder if he thinks State is acting a little odd, in his experience? It would be interesting to get an outsider's perspective.

Win at all costs. Dantonio on Glen Winston:

One move that appears certain is additional carries for Glenn Winston, a sophomore running back from Detroit.

Winston is considered one of the team's top three running backs along with freshmen Caulton Ray and Larry Caper.

"You can't starve the horse that pulls the cart," said Dantonio of Winston's status.

Students going to game: "AJ Sturges" chant plz.

Um… really? My first instinct is that this is insane:

Time for BCS To Include BlogPoll in Formula

That's registered BlogPoll voter Dan Shanoff touting the poll in relation to the Coaches' and Harris polls, which are run by old men who haven't watched a football game since nineteen dickety-two. But the list of grievances presented by Doctor Saturday a month into the season is compelling:

But a month into the season, is it too much to ask the AP, coaches and Harris polls reflect the slightest shred of common sense?

• LSU is No. 4. Because ... ?

• Oklahoma is No. 8. Because ... ?

• The coaches rank Oklahoma State ahead of Houston.

• The coaches and Harris polls rank Penn State ahead of Iowa.

• The coaches and Harris rank Cal ahead of Oregon.

• All three polls rank Ole Miss ahead of South Carolina.

Each of these has explanation over at DocSat, though in many cases the explanation could be "duh." The blogpoll is far from perfect but the ever-expanding cadre of voters who are basing their ballots strictly on what's gone on between the sidelines—something the poll guidelines suggest should be implemented by week five and demand by week eight—makes for a poll that escapes most of those inanities. LSU and Oklahoma are still too high but lower. Houston, Oregon and Iowa are ahead of the teams they beat handily. And while South Carolina isn't ahead of Ole Miss, it's because neither features in the top 25. That's just the draft ballots, but historically what movement there is between Monday and Wednesday is of the variety that sees the final poll move more towards onfield events.

I still think it's insane. The BlogPoll contains a number of motley blogs that put "sucks" after every mention of Michigan or vote their team way higher than it deserves only to be struck down by malevolent forces. But a bunch of guys in their pajamas are transparently doing a better job of paying attention than the people actually in charge of making BCS decisions. So if it's insane, the only thing more insane is the current system.

Nice plane. I'd like to meet the man who owns this baby:

Wheeeeeee. Jonas Mouton Suspension Fiasco will not die:

The Big Ten Conference office announced today that Ohio State University football student-athlete Kurt Coleman has been suspended for one game as a result of initiating helmet-to-helmet contact and targeting a defenseless opponent in the fourth quarter of Ohio State's game against Illinois on Sept. 26, 2009.

This actually seems like it might not be directly related to the JMSF, as the BTN's article cites a new rule for 2009 that mandates post-game review and possible suspensions for helmet-to-helmet hits. I can't embed the actual incident, but here it is. I'm torn on this one. That was basically flinging your brain at a defenseless player's brain, and while it's less obviously unsportsmanlike than either the Mouton or Recknagle incidents it's far more dangerous.

Basics for people who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, buddy, when I do UFRs. Endeavoring to have this heavily linked in them for future usefulness.

What's a "technique"? What's a one-tech, three-tech? What the hell are you talking about, buddy?

"Techniques" refer to where defensive linemen line up relative to the offensive line. As with all good indexing systems, it starts with zero, which is head-up over the center, and increases the farther you get away from the center. Helpful diagram:

In Michigan's current 4-3 under there are 1 and 3 technique defensive tackles on opposite sides of the center, and then Michigan aligns its DEs differently based on the formation of the opponent.

Basically: 1-tech = 4-3 nose tackle, 3-tech = 4-3 defensive tackle, 0-tech = 3-4 style 350 pound space eater nose tackle.

What's the difference between strongside, weakside, playside, and backside?

Strongside and weakside are pretty self-explanatory: if there's a tight end (or two) in the game or an offset H-back/fullback, the side with more players on it is the strongside and the other side is the weakside.

Here, the strongside is to the top of the screen as that's where Kevin Koger is aligned. Some formations don't have a strong or weak side.

Playside is basically the direction the play is run in, and is important on stretch plays mostly. If the offense is running to the right, the right is the playside and the left is the backside. These terms usually get mentioned in the following ways:

1. The "backside" defensive end is the player who doesn't get blocked by the defense and is instead read by the quarterback.
2. I'll often refer to a good block by an interior lineman, usually the center, as sealing a guy "lined up playside of him". What this means is that the defender lined up outside of the OL—closer to the area where the running back will attempt to cut the ball up—and still sealed him away.
3. Other blocks will be described as an OL "getting playside" or failing to do the same, which basically means the OL gets between the DL and his attempt to flow down the line of scrimmage and tackle as the back cuts up.

What is cover one, two, three, zero?

Cover X describes how many players are playing in a deep zone. Here's a look at a conservative cover three out of the 3-3-5 stack:

And here's a cover two out of a 4-3:

Higher X means a more conservative pass defense and more holes open underneath as more defenders are dedicated to the deep area of the field. Note that cover two usually has two deep safeties on the hashes and cover 1 or 3 usually makes do with one, using the other safety in a shorter zone or as a run defender or blitzer.

There's also a variation of cover three called "quarter-quarter-halves" where there are three deep defenders but one is tasked with half the field and the other two split the other half. This is usually a response to formations with lots of receivers on one side of the field.

What's this route you named?

• Flare: running back originally lined up in the backfield runs mostly parallel to the LOS and receives a pass behind said LOS.
• Flat: usually a slot receiver or TE but can also be a fullback or RB. Basically a really short out route that attempts to exploit cover three, which usually doesn't have defenders out there. Example.
• Out: player runs some distance downfield and then takes a hard 90 degree cut to the sideline.
• In: player runs some distance downfield and takes a hard 90 degree cut to the middle of the field.
• Drag: TE or slot receiver drags across the field maybe a yard to three downfield. Usually a checkdown that comes open late if it does at all.
• Slant: Outside WR runs diagonally up the field into an area that should be good against either man or zone coverage. Usually a short route good for 6-8 yards.
• Fly: also "go": receiver runs as fast as he can straight down the field.
• Seam: basically a fly route run by an interior receiver. Called a seam because usually there are deep middle safeties and the quarterback has to find the seam in the zone between the linebackers and said safeties.
• Post: variant of fly where after 10-20 yards, depending on the coverage, the receiver breaks his go route to the inside at a 30-45 degree angle.
• Corner: A post that breaks to the outside, usually run by slots or tight ends.
• Circle: route with an inside feint on which the receiver comes to a stop and then breaks to an out. This usually results in something of a circular path. Michigan won the Notre Dame game with one. Example.
• Wheel. Running back hauls ass out of the backfield, running what looks at first like a flare route before turning it up as he nears the sideline to attack areas a wide receiver has already dragged through to clear out a zone. Example.
• Bubble screen. Slot receiver runs parallel to the line of scrimmage in an effort to get behind the block of the outside receiver and spring downfield for 6-10 yards.

Comment or email for expansions.