devin gil

The Devins in Bucket Hats Era is Over. Long live Devins and bucket hats! [Bryan Fuller]

The Flanagan Four are no more. It was a mostly foregone conclusion when WLB Devin Gil put his name in the transfer portal last month but now that there’s a destination there’s no doubt.

spoiler: this throw didn't go well. [Paul Sherman]

This is here, but not in the top ten, because while I loved this shot of the blocking on the opening kickoff—particularly Michael Barrett's open-field pancake—wirecam on returns is undefeated.

[Hit THE JUMP for the wirecam shot and much more.]

unleash plz [Patrick Barron]

image-6_thumb_thumb5_thumb_thumb_thu[1]SPONSOR NOTE: Upon Further Review is sponsored by HomeSure Lending and Matt Demorest. Rates are the lowest they've been in three years so it can't hurt to check whether you can save money on a refinance. Or you could buy a house in Ann Arbor! Good luck with that!

Matt's relocated the bus to Pioneer this year, BTW, and invites everyone to stop by and say hi. There's beer. I mean, obviously. Matt. Matt and beer: a good pairing.

FORMATION NOTES: So: lots. There was a lot of standard 4-2-5 stuff that you've probably seen before. There were also some stack snaps, and ways to get Uche on the field. Here Uche is the standup guy on the LOS. Michigan is in a front with a pure nose tackle lined up right over the C; I've called this "30 nickel slide" for reasons that I do not remember:

30 nickel slide

Note that this package has Woods as a fifth DB.

This lineup has Uche, Danna, Hutchinson (at NT) and Paye. Glasgow is the only linebacker-type person on the field, and Woods has come in as an extra safety. I called this "jetpack" because it sounds cool and noted the 3 S look by calling this specific thing "jetpack S". These were the only jetpack snaps but if a CB gets in the game that'll be jetpack CB, etc.

jetpack S

JETPACK

This front was declared "5-1 fold" or "5-0 fold" depending on whether there was someone in the box behind the LOS. Because Uche and Glasgow are folded inside the very wide DEs.

I did not call this out specifically but an interesting wrinkle was Michigan dropping Hudson as a single high deep safety on a number of snaps.

hudson deep

They evidently like Hawkins and Metellus better in coverage.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: So: lots. The starting DL was Paye/Kemp/Mason/Hutchinson. Danna and Uche mostly got passing down snaps but did also get in some on standard downs. Hinton and Speight got in the game late. Hutchinson and Paye almost never left the field; Kemp only got pulled on jetpack downs. Dwumfour got one snap, the first TD, leaving after aggravating his hand injury.

At the LB level Hudson did not come off the field. Ross only got pulled on passing downs; Glasgow got about 3/4ths of the snaps with Gill getting a dozen or so. Anthony and McGrone got in late. Uche got slightly under half of Michigan's snaps.

DBs: Metellus and Hawkins didn't leave the field until garbage time; Thomas, Gray, and Hill were in a near-equal rotation for CB snaps, and there were never any 3-CB snaps. Kelly-Powell got a few eventful snaps at the end.

[After THE JUMP: I hope you like the perimeter]

Q: how can you cram all these guys on the field at the same time?

Another excellent presser from Brown, this time turning into more of a coaching clinic than a presser at one point

clone Dax Hill

So many guys discussed I maxed out the site's ability to tag a post

Got some Guys, might just have some Dudes

Shouts: "JETER IS REALLY IMPRESSING!" Whispers: "We're starting a former middle linebacker and a recent fullback at DT."

Possibly the most informative presser of Harbaugh's tenure

Michigan's DTs are a problem. Everything else is a problem in other, cool sense. 

"attack Devin Bush on the sideline" was the best of Rutgers's options 

How Rutgers did it