My videos had trouble uploading. Here’s DGDestroy’s every snap for now.

Mark Dantonio came prepared for this game. He had thoroughly scouted this Michigan defense, learned how it adjusted to motions and angles, and put together a bewildering drive plan that kept everybody confused and got State the matchups they wanted. It must have taken hours of watching game film and practice to make it all work. He could have used it for the game-winning points against, oh, Northwestern, or Maryland, or Indiana.

But this is Mark Dantonio. This drive was always intended for Michigan. It used Michigan’s own ideas, exploited Michigan’s tendencies and personnel. It was a coaching masterpiece he made for us. Let’s appreciate it.

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Play 1: Jet to Split Zone

This play sets up the rest of the drive. Jet motion from RJ Shelton pulls the WLB, McCray, out of the box, effectively removing a linebacker from where they’re planning to run.

The split zone means the play’s backside DE is blocked by the fullback, freeing up the RT to block Godin. The plan at the playcall is to hold a linebacker outside with the jet motion and zone run into the remaining four-man (two DTs, a DE and the MLB) front with all five offensive linemen.

But Godin and Glasgow have a stunt on here. That could kill Michigan since Gedeon gets a releasing center on him and Glasgow is putting himself out of the backside B gap with the stunt. Godin made a great play to shoot underneath the right guard and push that guy down the line to squeeze the gap out of existence. Like a Roman at Cannae, the back is trapped behind his own men until the Carthaginians have hacked their way through.

Also note that the jet motion to the boundary side played with Michigan’s OLB designations. McCray ends up the guy covering a slot type in space while Peppers is lined up a foot away from a big tight end.

Anyway, great play Godin. Second and long.

[After the JUMP: a counter off a counter off a counter]

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Play 2: Unbalanced Power

The video didn’t capture it but State shifted their tight end and a receiver over to the field side quickly after coming to the line. This flipped the strength of the formation and caught Michigan with their personnel a little out of whack. They’d seen that Michigan aligns their DL and Peppers to the tight end, and the linebackers to the field/boundary. So they went unbalanced, which is like those covered formations Colorado was using except the tight end and tackle switch spots to keep everyone eligible. The result is a front that isn’t what it seems:

In both instances what’s technically the center of the offensive formation is that right guard, so the defensive line should align accordingly. Michigan does so. It also got Jourdan Lewis into a SAM-like role as the nickel back, which will matter later on.

With the running back on the field side that’s four receivers on one side to deal with. Putting all those receiving options opposite the side the run threatens is normally a good way to open up running space to the TE’s side (Harbaugh loves to do that). But State’s plan is the opposite: put all of their best blockers to the same side as Michigan’s more pass defender types and overwhelm.

The play they ran is backside power, which pulls the left guard to the side that already has two tackles and the other guard:

That might have worked too except Taco, who surprised them a bit by having the B gap (between the tackles) shot up under the OT so fast that LJ Scott couldn’t cut outside.

If #79 (Kodi Kieler) could just fight Taco down the line there should be room for a bounce-out with the pulling guard taking Gedeon. If the pulling guard saw this and hit Taco, that opens up #79 to hit Gedeon. Nobody else is around because the bubble action pulled Lewis outside, and Dymonte Thomas was playing in the parking lot as Michigan was playing 10 on 11 in the running game to be better at defending a pass.

Alas, Michigan State’s OL are crap, Taco is awesome, and Scott can do nothing but try to spin out a yard or two. He can do so only because the other guard and the center are holding Glasgow and Godin like whoah.

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Play 3: RB Clearout

The conversion is on Gedeon, who lost LJ Scott in man to man coverage. However I think one of the reasons that happened is Dantonio knew and planned for the little details of Michigan’s defense.

The play isn’t all that complicated. The Spartans came out in 3-wide personnel and split Josiah Price, their tight end, out to the wide side Z (setting up something further down the line). The backside slot receiver has a look-back at 8 yards in case Michigan’s blitzing his side.

But really the point here is to isolate LJ Scott against Ben Gedeon, and punish the middle linebacker for threatening blitz. Remember our defensive coordinator, ol’ Dr. Blitz, never wants you to feel comfortable under center. Even when he’s not blitzing he wants you thinking about it. True to form, before the snap Gedeon will come up even further:

I think O’Connor and Scott are watching this, and O’Connor calls for the snap when he’s got Gedeon just three yards off the line of scrimmage. Closer to the line means less room to react in pass coverage. With Michigan leaving two safeties high and running man coverage underneath them, the four-wide look has pulled everybody away. Gedeon will probably test well at the combine this year, but LJ Scott is a superior athlete.

Inside five yards a little contact is fine, but Scott barely needs the little stiff arm he gave a flat-footed Gedeon before breaking outside:

Scott leaves Gedeon in the dust and has the first down before Cov2 safety, Hill, can come down on this. I’m sure Brian will give Gedeon a (deserved) negative for this play, but I hope he gives Dantonio and co. props for setting up a one-on-one matchup they can win for a crucial early conversion.

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Play 4: Power Heavy

I’m getting angry at the cameraman’s pore-o’-vision because live I was watching State come out with six offensive linemen and quickly shifting their formation after coming to the line. On TV we are watching LJ Scott’s nostrils:

The red arrow shows a lineman racing to a new position before Michigan’s defensive line can figure out what’s going on. One frame before NOSTRILVISION 2000 we get a shot of the extra OL goal line formation they showed:

Michigan still has their nickel/4-3 personnel out there, where Peppers is the SAM. State was prepared right after the conversion to get their heavy personnel out there. It’s too late to substitute, which means Michigan has 4 DL, 2 LBs, a hybrid, and four DBs facing 6 OL, 2 TEs, a fullback, and LJ Scott. Before Michigan can make sense of this, the Spartans sent the two tight ends to the other side, resulting in this:

And this:

Michigan State has also been coached to notice that Godin is a bit off the line, a pretty sure sign that Michigan is going to stunt him. The inside left tackle (Kieler) is ready for this and blocks Wormley; the outside left tackle (#61) sets up for the inevitable Godin—that guy will get absolutely destroyed but with the play going inside this is another RPS win for State, who’s running right at the gap that Glasgow is slanting out of. Who’s got that A gap now? Would you believe it’s Jourdan Lewis?

This goes as badly as you might imagine. By shifting the strength of their formation late they are set up to double-team Michigan’s weakside end, Taco. That block goes extremely well for MSU, with Taco ending up sealed inside the hash. The H-back pops McCray then moves down to Peppers as the pulling guard arrives to seal McCray on the wrong side of his blocker. That leaves Scott and his fullback escort to hit the hole, where only Lewis remains:

The fullback would win that matchup to seal Lewis outside because #45’s got 100 pounds and a better angle on Michigan’s field cornerback, but Lewis stood his ground well enough to funnel to the next tackler, which is Delano Hill.

If Harbaugh wasn’t the head coach eating this I wonder if the manballity of it would have brought a tear to his eye. I’m flat-out impressed that they managed to pull this off and get that kind of matchup. Think of all the practice time burned getting this package ready to fly in after a 3rd and long conversion, to shift the strength of the formation while the defense is still confused, and run it enough times to recognize curveballs like Michigan’s under slant, without any weird guys getting lost in the mass of bodies. Come collect your 8 yards, Michigan State: you’ve earned them.

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Play 5: Power Heavy Again

Now that they’ve got a good personnel set State is going to stick in it, with #61 Cole Chewins staying in the game as the extra OT. They run out in the same formation with the two TEs to the left so Michigan will align their DL that way again, then State did the same thing again, flipping the inline TE to the other side then motioning the other TE (I’m calling him an H-back) to the other side.

Same formation, same play, except to the other side.

Both DTs get doubled, with Godin getting shoved outside that hash to create the hole, with the pulling guard and H-back (blue lines) lead blocking to pick off linebackers (the SAM standing in the middle of the hoplite helmet is Peppers), with the H-back getting Peppers and the guard latching onto Gedeon. The other side of that hole is Wormley versus Chewins, who got stood up and discarded because he is ass and Wormley is very much not. Wormley’s about to tackle in the backfield when Chewins tackles him (no flag) at the waist. Cheaters! That lets Scott hit the hole, where he and the guard combine their weight to shove Gedeon another yard, giving up the first down before Scott can fall forward for another two.

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Play 6: Jet Motion Inside Zone

Back to the same principle that they started the drive with, again with more shifting the strength of the front. This time they lined up in an Ace Twins stack, then motioned the H-back (it’s #22 Delton Williams, who’s a kind of running back/fullback kind of player) to the tight end’s side, then when that guy was stopped they had the slot receiver go in a jet motion. Michigan already had their DL set against the inline tight end so this is fine.

Remember what the jet motion is supposed to do: force a linebacker to go out there and guard him. In this case Peppers was already hanging around off that edge with Dymonte Thomas behind him: Michigan’s reaction to the jet is to have Stribling, in man coverage, come across with the guy.

Remember what the jet does: it pulls one of your run defenders away. But with Stribling in man coverage on that guy and staying in such, it means another defensive back to the side State isn’t running. The result is five run defenders versus MSU’s best five blockers, and a C/G doubleteam on a linebacker at the point of attack.

Two interior OL on the WLB should create enough space for a back as good as LJ Scott to pick whatever hole the free hitter, Gedeon, doesn’t go to. McCray won this by standing up to that double. Gedeon shoots into the obvious gap, and Scott has to cut inside to try his luck against the McCray block. His luck is such that he’s running behind the worst Michigan State offensive line in a decade. McCray comes through the double and could tackle for a loss when the guard has to release and block Gedeon, but the center used the opportunity to grab McCray around the waist and go for a piggyback ride (Cheaters!). McCray and Gedeon get enough to trip Scott up for a one yard gain.

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Play 7: Jet Reverse Sweep

Same formation as above, basically, with their fullback in there instead of the H-back. Again they use jet motion, and again Michigan has Stribling go with him. But this time the jet man, R.J. Shelton, jets right past the formation, then turns around to become the wingback. DUDE. Mr. Dantonio and staff, I want to shake your hands. This is something Harbaugh ran against Illinois for a long McDoom run just last week, and while Stribling didn’t wind up with question mark bubbles over his head like the Illini CB, Channing still has to fight through a ton of wash to get back chase this down. Plus it was set up by the play right before it. Kudos MSU.

Again they weren’t surprised by Godin stunting out when he started in that off alignment. The center cut Glasgow’s knees to make sure he couldn’t get across and into the backfield before it’s too late, and the fullback’s arc block ably popped Godin to open up the edge. The other receiver went inside to crack a safety—he nails Delano Hill as Hill got too aggressive to the hole and wound up in the wrong gap. So now it’s a game of momentum between the force player (Jourdan Lewis) versus the pulling guard for how much running room there’s going to be outside of Hill. That goes as well as when Michigan did it, and State collects the 12 yards this bought before Stribling catches up.

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Play 8: Jet Fake to Split Power

You are starting to pick up on the masterfulness of this drive’s scripting, right? Here’s another note struck at just the right moment, as State again uses jet motion to yank defenders aside before jamming it down their throats. The video missed it but State again lined up with the TE to the field side and moved him over to the other, causing Michigan to end up with Winovich as the Anchor (Wormley’s normal job) and pulling Peppers into an inside linebacker role.

They catch Michigan’s DL slanting which makes it a bit easier, since the planned double-team on Mone doesn’t have to be: the right guard can release and cut off Peppers, who in the constricted space inside can’t do his teleportation thing and is thus just a 200 pound linebacker. He gets sealed.

On the frontside, McCray has spent himself getting into the backfield, where the fullback is waiting for him. Winovich gets blocked down by the tight end and only spins off when his foot’s at the hash. Here’s the key moment:

If Winovich could have stood up when he realized he’s going where they want him to, that prevents the the guard from getting to Gedeon and this play goes nowhere. Blown down as he was, however, Winovich can still spin off and form up in the hole. As the guard goes by, that’s what happens. The tight end (Price) realizes he’s no longer got a seal, and about to leave an unblocked DE right in Scott’s path.

Here’s Winovich about to…    Wait, where’s he going?      Winovich?

So, yeah, the defeated TE gave Winovich a good shoulder yank as Scott shot by. Cheaters! But let’s not let that undermine another good playcall. Michigan didn’t react to the jet but they still got stuck with their LB/DE hybrid playing the heavy DE role, and MSU got that guy most of the way taken care of with a TE downblock.

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Play 9: Split Zone

More pre-snap motion and this time they shuffle the fullback to boundary, then move the inline TE off the line and motion him to an H-back role on the other side. Again this means Michigan’s DL is caught flipped from what they want to be, with Winovich on the TE’s side, Hurst the nose, and Mone the DT.

Hurst shot upfield to delay the block from the TE/H, and the RT spent too long trying to help on that before releasing to the next level. The center had a free release on McCray, who whooped him, so the RT’s block hits McCray instead. The TE hits Gedeon at the same time, but Peppers is the free hitter and has had plenty of time to stack up in the hole, so this gets stopped for the one yard a momentous LJ Scott gets against Peppers the inside linebacker.

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Play 10: Jet Reverse Sweep Fake to Frontside Packers Sweep

Michigan’s down to all sorts of backups when the counter to the Jet Reverse comes, and boy does it hit hard.

McCray especially bit hard on Shelton reversing into the backfield, which let the TE seal him way way inside. Gedeon reacted to the fullback, who came down like it was going to be a run to the field side (State knew Michigan’s keys). Hurst again shot upfield but the center just stayed in front of him (the guy Winovich shed falling into Hurst’s knees could have been called for a cheap chopblock, but it’s clearly unintentional). Hurst making it into the backfield was probably the only shot this play had of being stopped.

With McCray blocked well inside and two guards pulling free against Dymonte Thomas and Channing Stribling this is going to not go well. Thomas eats one guard, Stribling gets sealed outside by another, and Scott is at the five yard line before Metellus is there to end it.

The cameras find a Michigan fan in the Spartan student section:

Very kind of his friend to lean forward, or he might night have seen that #1 signal.

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Play 11: Split Zone Redux

After motioning the TE from the boundary to the backfield, they’re back to this zone-like version of Michigan’s double ISO. Michigan’s got their starters back in, and it goes the same way Play 7 went, except this time the DE is Taco and he and unblocked Peppers meet it in the backfield.

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Play 12: Inverted Veer/Power Read

For the coup de grace, State once again adds a 6th OL and has multiple tight ends flipping sides after coming to the line. This time the crappy extra OL Chewins is the right tackle, and he starts with a tight end outside of him. Both starting OTs and the better tight end (Price) are already on the field side.

Price will back out to let #81 be the inline guy, and the fullback will motion to an H-back position. The quarterback will step out to a shotgun. It’s inverted veer.

Note that MSU has all of its best blockers, including the pulling right guard, blocking at the point of attack. The quarterback reads Taco, who probably should’ve realized all of his help is inside and LJ Scott is way more dangerous than Tyler O’Connor.

McCray got cracked inside by the inline TE, and Price stalks Dymonte Thomas to seal him inside too. Now it’s down to a fullback lead block versus…sigh…Jourdan Lewis.

Also Hill took a bad angle. Michigan State collects a well-deserved 6 points.

Bravo.