Semi-OT: Ole Miss Offense, Speed in Space

Ole Miss offense was moving so fast ESPN couldn’t even show replays. You’re right, it seemed almost…easy? 

The reason why we won’t is simple: Brown and Harbaugh believed that the best way for them to win games was to have a crushing defensive effort and the only way to get it was by keeping the D fresh all game, hence limiting snaps on offensive and slowing the game down was necessary. I was hoping there might be some philosophical change on that front but based upon the WMU game there was at least a little bit more tempo but nothing like Ole Miss. I’m certainly not saying the Harbaugh/Brown philosophy doesn’t have merit but you can’t have an up-tempo air raid and expect your D to only have to face 60 snaps a game. If you’re of the ilk that still feels the latter is important, you end up with a hodgepodge offense that pretends to be modern but really isn’t.

Haven't really watched Ole Miss, but I did think our game vs WMU was the first time I actually felt like we had anything resembling 'speed in space,' so I thought that was a positive change.  Apparently others felt differently?

Would like to see an every snap video of them to watch their run game to see if their RBs are meeting LBs unblocked within a yard of the LoS. Yes, they run actual RPOs pretty much as their default, which Michigan will just never do. But I do want to see if they scheme their RBs into advantageous situations where they don't have to win a fight in a hallway. Getting Corum and Haskins 3 yards past the LoS before they have to make a guy miss a little more consistently would go a long ways to beating competitive defenses.

Also, no idea on Louisville's defensive competency, so caveats could apply here.

I understand the sentiment and teams played are obviously different but Michigan scored more points in the first half and total game. Matt Corral played the whole game for miss where Michigan had back ups in before the end of the 3rd. 
 

I’m ok to give this offense a chance and see what happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

What did you think of Happy Gilmore?

How’d he finish again? Dead last?

Yeah, they put up 48 on Alabama last year. Problem is, they gave up 63. I’m old enough to remember when, “we score a lot of points” was ridiculed.

Michigan scored more points this weekend.

No one will ever hate Michigan as much as Michigan fans!

I am seeing a lot of the same RPO slant stuff that Gattis was doing so much when he first came to Michigan. That was one of the main plays he was running in that terrible Army game. It just looks like the Louisville defense is awful. For whatever reason, those same plays do not work like that for Michigan. Maybe Ole Miss is able to run the ball effectively enough to get those LB to jump the run. Maybe they move at a much faster faster pace. Maybe the Michigan QB can't make the right reads. I don't know. But Michigan has run that play. It just doesn't work as well.

Unless our defense is absolutely lights-out, it's difficult to envision an offense that runs just 60 plays is going to be able to keep pace with OSU.

To me it seems like the schemes might be somewhat similar, but the philosophies in how they operate are vastly different. 

Offense rules the day in this modern age of college football, and to an increasing extent, the NFL as well. A lot of teams out there are more than happy to win games 48-41 than they are 21-14. I have to imagine Kiffin believes his offense's goal is simply to put up however many points as it possibly can within a 60 minute timespan, and then just trust his defense to do enough to not be outscored on by the other team. 

I don't think Harbaugh operates that way with his offense. At all. He may have adopted the speed in space scheme, but the underlying philosophy in how its going to operate still has the same (or very similar) conservative approach that its always had. Long drives, protect the football, keep your defense rested, wear the opponent down, etc. 

Maybe something changes this season, but I doubt it. 

ITT: people who do not know a goddamn thing about football.

Defense seems to respect the QB run, which they don't have to vs. Michigan.

1. Cade isn't that kind of athlete
2. We've been snakebit by QB injuries for years and coaches don't want to run our starting QB vs. Western Michigan (notice they allowed Dan Villari to keep several times though as soon as he was in the game)

If they show they can pick up first downs and execute, then you can increase tempo. If you increase tempo and have a few 3 and outs it puts a defense in a bad situation and with limited depth at dt and from rumblings mazi and whittly don't have the conditioning to be constantly on the field.  

If you're moving the ball then all the playmaker can get more opportunities.  I like that they were at the los quicker much quicker then past years. It was western and we'll see what happens with the playback this week. They did talk in the off-season about establishing the run more and if they do truly believe that they have 7-8 lineman that can really play then you're back to those Stanford type offenses that just mauled their opponents.  This may be the first year that we have had any kind of depth in the oline in seems like 15 years. 

Hopefully Baldwin is healthy and ready to play. Baldwin and johnson outside with sainristal or henning Manning the slot. Or maybe Edwards in that position to get his talent on the field. 

I feel this offense has a lot of talent. Hoping Mac can make the right reads and get the ball to the right spot. Bell was great and I hope he comes back next year but with Shae 2 years ago he only saw bell when I saw nico and dpj open plenty of times but Shae had tunnel vision.  I think Cade sees the field better and doesn't panic under pressure.  That's the difference between a physically dominant qb and a great qb. Most people when they feel pressure it narrows your vision to the immediate threat, what you need from a qb is to stay calm and keep your vision.  Much more difficult then said.  

As for this OM game that UL defense was terrible. 

I think the answer's simple: Harbaugh/Gattis don't want to throw the ball that much. They favor a run-first, run-second offense where the passing game is used on obvious passing plays and as an occasional change of pace to keep the defense honest. 

This philosophy is blindingly obvious to anyone who watches Michigan play. For example, many comments justifying the lack of passing during the Western game were essentially, "they didn't need to pass". Key word: "need". The difference is that Old Miss (and Alabama and Ohio State, notably) don't throw the ball because they need to, they do it because they WANT to. Michigan would prefer not to throw the ball if possible, as evidenced by the final drive of the first drive when they didn't.

It's what it is at this point, and was very successful vs. Western. Let's hope they can continue to make it work vs. better defenses.

Would it surprise you to know that we averaged more yards per play and nearly the same yards per catch as Ole Miss?

While Kiffin is perhaps the best offensive mind in CFB today, our first game was a masterpiece.

That said, I completely agree that the Ole Miss offense looks cleaner, and that is likely because they use reads (that they actually read) on nearly every play.

I remember a quote from one anonymous coach that said “Harbaugh has 100 ways to get you 3 yards”. I think that about sums it up.

I think this is some of what Gattis was supposed to bring with "speed in space" RPOs and whatnot, but honestly I prefer the blend of power + spread that we seem to be evolving into now. 

Gattis came to Michigan talking about "holding the pen last" - i.e. using reads to force the defense to be wrong. The problem with that approach is that you push decision making down to the QB to make those reads, often post-snap, and to execute the play very quickly. If the QB makes the wrong read, or he makes the right read too slowly, then the play is blown up.  

That means its not very "QB friendly" system. It makes the offense is harder to learn, harder to teach, and requires more experience, more reps, and more practice from your QBs. Its harder to plug in a freshman or transfer QB and expect them to be able to execute properly. It means you can easily waste the talents of QBs who may be physically and athletically talented, but unable to make the reads consistenly or make the right read fast enough (Shea Patterson and Joe Milton come to mind).

OSU since Meyer has always run offenses that are very QB friendly. Reads are simple. They still use the fake clap, check for a play from the sideline that asks the QB only to execute the play that was given. That's why OSU is able to plug in QBs without missing a beat. Its why OSU QBs are so bad once they get to the NFL, but are consistenly among the most productive QBs in college. 

Good defense have also caught up to RPOs. Western Michigan is a heavy RPO team and Michigan got burned on very few RPOs all day. In the post game presser, Western's head coach talked about how Michigan had a plan for Western's RPOs that basically forced them to handoff by giving them run reads. I seem to recall this happened to us a lot in the first two years under Gattis. That makes it easy to take a lot of the bite out of RPOs if opponents decide they are willing to live with the results of your running game.

If teams can force you into predictable run plays, then you are probably better off with the power run stuff we do where you add blockers and force defenders to guess what gap your RB is going to pop out of.

I watched that game. Louisville decided not play defense.  Ole Miss's offense is good but Louisville was responsible for a big part of that "effortless" play calling.

Uh, Louisville's defense looks like it leaves a lot to be desired.   Let's see if Ole Miss racks up those numbers against Bama or Georgia and then I will be a believer.

I wonder why we can't just implement something like this? 

I'd guess Kiffin is a better offensive play caller than Gattis at this point.  Is he handling the play calling and scheme or does he allow Lebby & Baker to do that?  My hunch is they assist and Kiffin is the primary play caller and scheme designer.

Don't be surprised if Louisville is hot trash.