100% jumbled confusion

Formation Notes: Michigan started in 6-1-4 personnel.

They also used more split formations with both DTs in the A gaps and Hutchinson way out over the TE.

Substitution Notes: I couldn’t keep up. The six-man line went Ojabo-Jenkins-Hinton-Smith-Welschof-Hutchinson. The interior got a ton of rotation, while Hutchinson and Ojabo got the majority of the snaps at OLB. Ross was ever-present while Colson and NHG split the WLB snaps about 60-40. Turner started over Green but Green got plenty of go; Turner returned after going out for what appeared to be his wind knocked out.

On the subject of officiating, especially holding: My goal with this exercise is to get at the why of the game, particularly which *Michigan* players did well, and which coaching decisions bore fruit. Usually in the process I call out uncalled penalties that directly affected the play to explain my charting. Regular readers understand that it’s part of the game, and it excites little comment.

This game was unlike any I’ve ever charted; it was clear from the 2nd snap that what normally gets called holding wasn’t going to be. This also became apparent to the players (one in particular) who did as competitive athletes are wont. That’s a problem for me, because if I were to grade like I do normally, I’d end up with a very bad look, a lot of people would end up very mad, and there is just way too much good Halloween candy left for that to be healthy for any of us.

I know lots of Michigan fans want to know how bad it was, and that certain insecure elements of the MSU fanbase are just waiting to pounce on any sign that Michigan fans won’t acknowledge their win’s legitimacy. Validating either of these parties is not what UFR is for. So for this week, we're going to skip “refs” events in the charting, and things are just not going to add up. We will talk about some of the reviews at the end.

[After THE JUMP: Tackle rotation, no explanation.]

FORMATION NOTES: A fairly radical departure for Michigan, which went with two high safeties for ~80% of the day.

As per usual with radical in-season makeovers, things did not go that well. Man coverage was sprinkled in a lot of zones, instead of vice-versa, and sometimes it felt like third down man coverage was mesh bait as Michigan tried to get Indiana to throw at Dax Hill.

Indiana spent the entire day in a 3-wide gun except for some short yardage snaps with 2 TEs and the occasional pistol.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: The starting secondary of Green/Gray/Hawkins/Hill never came off the field. Paige was the only other DB to get snaps; he was the nickelback and was out there maybe a quarter of the time.

Similar story in the LB corps, though each of those guys missed some snaps when Michigan went to dime packages. Shibley got a few snaps in the second quarter.

Hutchinson went out early and Paye got lifted regularly so Upshaw and Vilain both had their most extended playing time to date. Game Newburg and David Ojabo also got in. Ojabo continues to act as a "SAM" but he's a standup end, functionally.

Significant DT rotation with Kemp leading the way; Hinton, Jeter, and Welschof also rotated in, with Welschof's snaps mostly coming on passing downs. VanSumeren got 3-3-5 snaps that were not passing downs. That was ~15.

[After THE JUMP: canyons grand]

Sponsor note. Richard Hoeg. A lawyer. A podcaster. An explainer of goings-on. A person you can hire in the event you start a new business, or already have one. Here's his logo.

Contracts? Incorporation? He's got it covered. The machinations of the video game industry? He's all over it. You can do no better than Richard Hoeg, in these matters.

Should have got this up earlier. Michigan was in a tight battle with Georgia Tech at the top of the EDSBS charity bowl standings for a few days. Now they are… not.

I told y'all you were just gonna make em mad pic.twitter.com/ZuhFOQFuXf

— Holly Anderson (@HollyAnderson) August 12, 2020

We can claim no credit for this. But we can still push it over the goal line, which is currently about 11k away. This year I've commemorated a very special game, because as a society we are currently Rutgers watching a third string fullback score from 20 yards out.

Donate. It'll feel vaguely good for a brief time. And you will see the full picture of Spencer in overalls.

[After THE JUMP: nobody knows!]