false zone read

If Roman Wilson isn't a household name this time next year I'm coming for all of you. [Bryan Fuller]

Why is this coming out in May? Because I need the grades for HTTV.

Why isn't Brian doing it? Because it's May.

Where's the B1GCG? Brian already charted it, will write it up soon.

FORMATION NOTES: TCU runs out a 3-3-5 base personnel with a couple of hybrids, and moves them around for different looks. Often one of the hybrids is a 3rd safety, but one (or both) can also become 3-4 OLBs. It's most obvious against this covered formation:

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This also lent itself to something like Mint fronts, usually having the hybrids follow Michigan's TEs and walking down another safety to get 8 in the box from a deceptively light pre-snap look. I just called this 335 Over:

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And when Michigan showed a spread formation the same personnel became a Tite front. TCU calls #13 Dee Winters an "OLB" but I used "SAM" whenever referring to him.

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SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Normal. Schoonmaker went out for the game after his long catch and Loveland-Honigford-Hibner were the TEs except when Bredeson was in for heavy stuff. Edwards the whole way at RB except short situations for Mullings—the one he fumbled he lined up as an offset fullback. Trente Jones came in as a 6th OL, and El-Hadi got a snap as a 7th OL. Wilson went out with a stinger early but came back. When they went 5-wide they just had Edwards and Loveland line up as receivers.

[After THE JUMP: Nose tackle got whupped and he don't care.]

Unpacking why there seems to be a lot of unread space. [Bryan Fuller]

So yeah, I'm UFRing the Spring Game. Did you want recruiting roundups instead? Yeah, that's what I thought. Anyway you're not supposed to read much into spring stuff except I noticed they were still doing a thing that annoyed me a lot last year.

If you missed all that, there was a running question through these exercises whether Cade McNamara's keep reads were hot or if they were determining what their post-snap mesh results were going to be beforehand. This was true for RPOs as well as zone reads. And it made life hard because I couldn't tell for certain if the coaches were telling McNamara to give no matter what, or if that was just how he was reading things, or maybe he was reading something else.

With the benefit of an offseason and Sherrone Moore's recent coaching clinic, where he echoed Josh Gattis's claim that they put reads on all this stuff, I think I can say it was mostly on McNamara.

However there were a few instances where his coaches gave him a read that wasn't the thing that turned out to be wide open. And I wanted to call attention to that, not because Michigan's missing out on some easy yards, but because I think they're making a conscious decision about this, and…you're going to laugh…it kind of makes sense.

The Wide Open Bubble

Let's begin with this play from the spring game.

Maize has Darrius Clemons in the backfield (the one on top) as a split-back flanking McNamara with Donovan Edwards. Clemons takes an orbit motion to the opposite flat, but nobody goes with him. The defense is blitzing the slot safety, Caden Kolesar, behind a crash from the OLB, Jaylen Harrell. That means there isn't anybody for Clemons until the deep safety.

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McNamara is clearly looking at Kolesar. Kolesar is clearly the slot defender in the best position to be running outside with Clemons. Kolesar is clearly blitzing. And yet McNamara gives. Why?

We're going to ignore the play's result (it's a risky but successful demolition of Counter GT by Kris Jenkins) to focus on what McNamara does after the handoff. First thing he does is look at Clemons. And probably feels kinda bad.

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But it's what Cade does next that interests me. This is a trot, but he's clearly been practicing this as a rollout/QB run.

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The look to Clemons suggests that's an option. But given his reaction to Kolesar, I think I can say with some confidence that McNamara wasn't reading Kolesar on an RPO bubble to Clemons; he was reading Kolesar on a QB keep with a pitch option to Clemons.

[After THE JUMP: There's also something every familiar about all this.]
Write this down: 'Sometimes you get...' [Patrick Barron]

If you hadn’t heard I’ll be your new UFR guy.

Formations:

WMU responded to Michigan’s heavy stuff by setting up with their MLB down off the butt of the NG. Usually that resulted in that guy eating a face full of guard several yards downfield. I called this “3-4 Mike.”

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Michigan’s 4th and 1 formation had 3 TEs and 6 OL: Trente Jones was the rightside TE, Honigford and Schoonmaker were on the left, and All is the H-back.

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I called it “Beef.”

[After THE JUMP: Beef.]

How many Michigan offensive linemen have said to you, “You know what, I can’t wait to get out there and pass block!”?

Hassan Haskins

First make them respect you.

Shea Patterson

Haha, foiled, you silly tight end. I am inside you and your running back is…wait whereareyougoing?