2018 western michigan

1 hour and 38 minutes

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be all be very sad ex-SBNation employees with “real” jobs.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Lantana Hummus and The Ann Arbor District Library

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1. Offense vs WMU

starts at 1:00

Michigan’s pass protection was good but were never really given opportunities. Run blocking wasn't a quantum leap forward compared to previous, but that’s not bad because Michigan’s run blocking is already good. Shea’s throws were mostly very good, he feels like the 5 star he was touted to be. Tru Wilson and Jake McCurry looked sharp in garbage time. Can we see more Hudson and Honigford please?

2. Defense vs WMU

starts at 17:55

Carlo Kemp was the big story of the week, earning a net 7.5 on this week’s UFR. Who knows if Dwumfour will ever emerge, but Kemp is on track to be a 3-tech starter. Kwitty Paye looked good. Josh Ross looks like he’s pulling away from Devin Gil. LaVert Hill is not A+ yet but just an A is fine.

3. Gimmicky Top Five: Real Schools That Sound Fake

starts at 37:04

Brian and Seth get animated about North Texas and armadillos. Then they begin naming their top 5 real colleges that sound fake..

4. SMU Preview

starts at 58:56

SMU got shredded by North Texas and then TCU. They’re not good and probably the worst team on Michigan’s schedule this year. They have a Kansas transfer at tackle (!). The Mustangs have a pretty good slot receiver though. There’s just not much talent on this roster anywhere and a ton of transfers.

MUSIC:

If you or a friend made some good tunes and don't have a label out scrubbing for them we'd be happy to feature you. Featured tonight: The Champaign Saints

• “Don't Cost My Name”—The Champaign Saints
• “The Love Unconscious”—The Champaign Saints
• “Ann Arbor Midnights”—The Champaign Saints
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS:

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

I want to talk about the guy whose butt he was cutting off of

SPONSOR NOTE: Hey folks. In addition to providing mortgages, Matt also tailgates. You can hang out and support a good cause by going to the Charity Tailgate at 327 East Hoover (if you were at the preseason MGoEvents this year and last it's the same place). Go around back to the MGoBus and say hi.

FORMATION NOTES: Increased emphasis on four-man fronts, with about 2/3rds of all snaps featuring four DL. That's up from about 50/50 in the opener, and with almost half of Michigan's 3-3-5 snaps on passing downs standard downs were heavily 4-2-5. WMU spent almost the whole day in a three-wide shotgun featuring The Biggest Boy at H-back. He featured on this play that I still find hilarious almost a week later:

Odell Miller is listed at 270 on the roster and that is a lie, a lie, a lie. Harbaugh had to admire WMU running out a nose tackle as an offensive skill position player.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: With Marshall out, Carlo Kemp got the start and did well. Rest of the DL rotation was similar to the first game, with Bryan Mone getting even more snaps because of the Solomon injury and the reduction in 3-3-5 snaps. Paye and Hutchinson semi-frequently spotted Gary and Winovich, with Rueben Jones getting a little time late. Donovan Jeter got some late snaps as well. Dwumfour rotated in semi-frequently but was a clear backup to Kemp and not in a platoon.

LB level was Hudson and Bush for every snap and a rotation of Gil and Ross at WLB, with a slight Ross bias. Jordan Glasgow and Jordan Anthony were the late replacements for Hudson and Bush. The usual CB rotation between the three guys, with Watson being more prominent than the other two—a change. Kinnel omnipresent; Metellus got pulled for Hawkins after his personal foul and somewhat frequently after that.

[After THE JUMP: Kemp story.]

The result [Fulller]

[Gif is here if you want to go frame-by-frame]

One of the hallmarks of a Harbaugh rushing attack is he finds ways to surprise defenders with blocks they weren't expecting. In the middle of 2016 Michigan brought out a weird play that pulled on the frontside like power but blocked zone on the backside. I started to draw it up, but it never really worked, and it disappeared from the offense until the first quarter of Saturday, when they ran it twice in a row. So let's draw it up.

The play is a meatball gap run where the backside blocks like Outside Zone and the frontside uses a bit of Power. A quick refresher of what that means:

Outside Zone or Zone Stretch: In zone running you block whoever arrives in your gap. If you're "covered" (a lineman is lined up across from you) you have to make sure you deal with the guy over you, either blocking him through the play or combo-blocking him with the next lineman down (reading playside to backside) from you. If you're uncovered you can release to the next level, but if the lineman down from you is shaded playside on your buddy you can give your buddy some help first. OZ is the a more extreme type of zone. The OL are shuffling horizontally instead of trying to create space by shoving the DL vertically. Also Outside Zone doesn't block the backside end. Ideally your covered linemen will flank the guys they're over, and the uncovered linemen will release and get blocks on linebackers, but failing that you keep shuffling and waiting for the lineman to overpursue so you can lock him out of his gap. The running back and any lead blockers will pick their way behind this and wait for a gap to open up.

Power: The front side of the line each has a man to block, and your job is blow him down and seal him in whatever gap he's in so you can run through a preordained gap. Meanwhile the backside guard (usually) pulls around to thwack whatever linebacker or whatever shows in that gap, and maybe you also send a fullback escort. The idea here is to give you advantageous blocks by "blocking down" on dudes lined up further from the play than you, and "kicking out" the last dude to the playside to make the gap you're running into as wide as possible. The running back then follows a mass of bodies into the gap.

[After the JUMP: These are entirely different concepts and I don't understand how they can work together]