META: Football X's and O's questions for Seth?
Going to try a new video thing for the site soon, because it's getting cumbersome to reply to this in the UFR comments and I figured I could be creating content just as quickly.
If you have any questions about Michigan--something from the UFR, about a certain kind of play, a specific play and how it worked--let me know in the replies, and I'll try to pick a good one to talk about.
I asked on Twitter too: https://twitter.com/Misopogon/status/1450881692919648266
October 20th, 2021 at 5:55 PM ^
Passing concepts.
October 20th, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^
This sometimes comes out in UFR & Fly Over, but I am interested in getting a more in-depth review of what in-game adjustments are/are not being made. What are the coaches seeing/not seeing and then doing about it. This year seems better than the past few in this area. There are still times I can't figure out why Michigan can't stop a certain play/player on defense and continues to run some plays on offense, despite it seeming clear the other team knows how to stop it.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:31 PM ^
For defense:
I love the corner blitz, seems highly effective when used. Why isn't it called more often?
For offense:
I always liked the idea of having Corum and Haskins on the field together, with Haskins threatening between the tackles, Corum utilized for stretch plays. I'd be interested to know how often Corum and Haskins are on the field at the same time on run plays and the inside runs vs runs outside the pocket for each RB.
October 20th, 2021 at 10:12 PM ^
corner blitz isnt routine bc it can be risky - you have to roll or replace behind it, usually safety. all pressures can be exploited so try to pick your spots. its almost always from the boundary or slot, rarely pressure from the field. theyve sent 30 plenty, typically several times/game and hes been disruptive
October 20th, 2021 at 9:28 PM ^
I like the addition of EPA, and I'm interested to see if it will provide new insights on the team.
Just a couple questions:
1. Are you using your own EP model to determine EPA, or using an established model?
2. Is there a way to "divvy up" the EPA amongst the players based on points awarded or the other metrics. I ask because I trust the play diagnosis here and it would be cool if we could translate info from the UFR charts to individual player EPA.
October 20th, 2021 at 11:08 PM ^
What is the benefit of using the goal line offense when to me all it does is pack the box and make it that much more prone to breaking down? Seems like if we spread out the D and keep our normal play calls, we can win the 1 on 1 battles instead of trying to run through 15 players to gain 2 yards
October 21st, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
That only works if we don't run goal-line plays out of the non-goal line offense. Because the defense is likely to pack it in on 3rd and short even if we are spread out, since they will assume the spreading out is a ruse.
With Haskins, we can generally just line up 10 on 11 and Haskins can bowling-ball for the needed yardage, but I feel like your suggestion would work if we were willing to run Corum outside or even GASP sometimes throw the ball on 3rd and short.
That being said, Haskins up the gut is never a BAD call.
October 21st, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
When they bring JJ in for the redzone play, they better have him throw the ball more. Defenses are keying on run only when JJ enters the game.
October 21st, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^
The reason is you can put as many into the box as you want, but you can only put so many at the point of attack. My blocking schemes are set based on what front is recognized and called by our center. It's either odd or even (with some special calls based on specific DL technique like Bear or Grizzly). You can throw all 11 guys at the LOS, but I only need equal or better numbers where we plan to run the ball. At the high school I coach at we have a jumbo package. It consists of 2 TEs, 2 H backs, QB and RB. When we line up in it we see 8-9 within 5 yards of the LOS. We regularly stroke long runs out of this (we actually ran it on 3rd and 7 a few weeks ago and ripped off a 48 yard TD run). If you slant, blitz or overload the wrong way you are done. Often you also have left yourself with no 2nd or 3rd level defenders to clean up.
October 21st, 2021 at 8:58 AM ^
I think we need both a coaching offense 101 class as well as a coaching defense 101 class. I wonder how many High School and/or small college coaches are on mgoblog?
October 21st, 2021 at 10:50 AM ^
I would bet quite a few.
October 21st, 2021 at 1:53 PM ^
Take a Michigan scoring drive which you think is the most "Michigan" scoring drive.
Compare and contrast vs the most "Alabama" scoring drive, the most "Ohio State" scoring drive. The most "Oklahoma" or "Clemson" scoring drive.
What are the basic philosophy differences? Which offense is easiest for a QB or OL or RB? Which is the easiest for a defense to diagnose and disrupt?
The point is not "Michigan bad, Michigan ancient", but, I suspect, to highlight how Michigan thinks about football differently than some top tier teams. It it just that we don't have the athletes? Or are we using them in a different way?