Fee Fi Foe Film: BYU Defense Comment Count

Ace

Previously: BYU Offense



You don't want to see Bronson Kaufusi in your rear-view mirror.

While BYU's defense has been mediocre by most measures thus far in 2015, their ability to create havoc has helped them get enough turnover luck to make up for many of their shortcomings. Their best outing of the season came against Boise State; BYU held the Broncos to 5.2 yards per play, shut down their running game, and picked off three passes to do their part in the comeback victory.

Personnel: BYU is a pure 3-4 team. Seth denotes them as an 8-3 because this is the defense du jour for stopping spread teams—it's just a 3-4 but the eight guys standing up will move all over the place [click to embiggen]:

BYU tends to stick to their base personnel on standard downs but they have a couple special looks with different personnel—Takitaki is a nickel linebacker—for obvious passing situations.

Base Set? 3-4. As for those different nickel looks, BYU will go to a nebulous front with as few as one actual defensive lineman. On this play, DE Bronson Kaufusi is the only DL on the field; the three others near the line of scrimmage are all linebackers:

BYU shows this type of look quite a bit, at least against three- and four-wide. They can run a huge variety of blitz packages out of it and were successful generating regular pressure against Boise.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown.]

Man or zone coverage? BYU runs a ton of zone, mostly three-deep looks, with the occasional man coverage thrown in as a change-up, usually when bringing heavy pressure.

Pressure: GERG or Greg? BYU will throw the kitchen sink at you blitz-wise. While they didn't bring a ton of pressure from the secondary, any member of the front seven is liable to blitz on any given play.

Dangerman: There are three denoted on the diagram and all are worth discussing. First and foremost is Bronson Kaufusi, a prototype 3-4 DE who's disruptive against both the pass and the run. Kaufusi is shockingly quick for a 280-pounder and he identifies plays quickly. Here he is spinning off a double team to chase down a reverse from behind that otherwise probably would've gone for a TD:

He was too quick to be left unblocked on a read option—he tackled the give after holding up the QB and Boise didn't try it again—and consistently broke through the line to pressure on passes. He's going to be a handful. On this play he combines with the next dangerman, ILB Harvey Langi, to stone an outside run: 

Kaufusi knocked his blocker back into the pulling lineman and Langi took away any chance of a cutback before flowing to the ball and tackling. In addition to being strong against the run, Langi is also an excellent blitzer; he times his rushes so he either shoots a gap or impacts a lineman hard at the snap—he came away with two well-deserved sacks in this game.

The third dangerman is free safety Kai Nacua, whom you may remember as the central figure in the BYU/Memphis brawl last year. Back from suspension, Nacua played stellar from the back, coming away with three interceptions. The first featured great man coverage from CB Michael Davis that allowed Nacua to read the quarterback's eyes and roam over for an easy pick:

He'd undercut an underthrown deep throw in the second half, again doing a great job following the QB's eyes, and finished the game off with a pick six on an overthrown ball into traffic on Boise's last-gasp drive. I didn't clip arguably his most impressive play: BSU tried a flea flicker and Nacua instantly recognized that he needed to spring from his deep middle zone to an open receiver on the sideline; he got there in time to break up the pass. Nacua was also BYU's best open-field tackler in the secondary. The Cougars have a high-quality player at all three levels on the defense.

OVERVIEW

Boise State's offense looks quite different from Michigan's—they're a spread team—and the Wolverines may be better built to take on the Cougars. Boise struggled mightily getting any inside run game going even though BYU's NFL-caliber nose tackle was injured (and won't play against Michigan, either). They had some success getting to the edge in the second half; they seemed to learn a little late that it's better to run at Kaufusi and double him than to try and run away from him—Kaufusi's at his best when he can pursue a play from behind.

The rest of the starting defensive line was solid but not spectacular. Fill-in NT Logan Taele does an admirable job holding up considering he's undersized for the position but he can be moved off the ball. BYU looked susceptible when their backup linemen rotated in—there's definitely a dropoff in quality—but their starters can handle a big workload. I think Michigan can have success running to the edge; they may have a harder time trying to go right up the gut, even with the undersized NT. Langi helps cover for that deficiency and the outside linebackers aren't as instinctual or effective.

Michigan should have success with their quick screens. BYU's secondary, especially field corner Micah Hannemann, had issues tackling in space, occasionally turning short gains into big chunks; Hannemann also showed poor technique against a bubble screen and ran himself out of the play. The Cougars often play their defensive backs well off the line when they get aggressive with their front seven; if they do that again, M could get some solid gains off simple throws.

The defensive backs were solid in downfield coverage. Boise State couldn't get much going deep except when Hannemann fell down trying to jam a receiver:

That may not be something to gameplan around, unfortunately. What Michigan should be able to exploit is BYU's intermediate coverage. Boise State averaged 7.8 YPA mostly by hitting quick routes to the perimeter on blitzes and then finding holes in zone coverage in the intermediate middle area using the type of routes that Jake Butt and Amara Darboh should be quite comfortable running.

BYU's safeties kept big plays to a minimum, though the defense's aggressive nature will occasionally get them RPS'd in a big way; Boise State got an easy 29-yard touchdown when they called a slip screen against a heavy blitz—the running back ran untouched until he had to juke a DB in the open field inside the ten.

While BYU won't be an easy team to move the ball on, I don't think they're quite as strong up front as Utah was and they look more susceptible to 10-20 yard passes and runs to the edge. That could play right into Michigan's hands. The key is for the offensive line to identify where pressure is coming from—no easy task against this defense—and for Rudock to make safe plays when blitzes start to hit home.

Comments

UMForLife

September 24th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^

This will be a good measure for our fifth OL. I am rooting for him to do well this week. Then we are officially good on OL.

This seems like a game for Drake and Ty. A few in the middle and a few on the edge.

djmiller3278

September 24th, 2015 at 6:44 PM ^

If we win big....look the fuck out! Tight game that means we're a bowl team ( mediocre) if we lose at home....in the big house.....I don't care, we will be looking at on the edge of a bowl game or a losing season. if we are truly a team competing for a big 10 championship, there's no way in hell we lose to this team at home.

CraigB

September 24th, 2015 at 7:05 PM ^

I don't think many people thought we would be contending for a Big 10 championship this year. BYU is a good team and they have shown to be a good road team as well. I think Michigan will win this game, but it will be close. Making a non-BCS bowl this year will not be a huge disappointment or indicative that this team is "mediocre". I think 8-4 or 9-3 will be a big step in the right direction. 

dragonchild

September 24th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^

Sounds like Boise State gave UM the key they need to unlock this defense.  I look at that diagram and go "whoah, all three stars are in the gut of the defense" so it's tempting to test the edges, but that's where the blitz-heavy 3-8 (coaches please don't reverse the damn DL-LB-DB order on us FFS) anti-spread defense goes "um, no".  Not to mention looking at those clips, the stars are stars because they can defend sideline to sideline.  The edges are a trap.

No, if you can't go around 'em, go right at 'em.  It's a 3-man DL but none of the expected starters are 300 pounds; every one of our starting five are 300+.  The guys in the back are surprisingly heavy (221 for a safety?) so Smith will have trouble running through tackles, but as long as the blitzes don't blow up plays in the backfield the OL should get some push.  Also, the blitzes should open up stuff underneath for Butt to slash apart.

But, those blitzes. . . for an OL that has struggled with pick-ups for years, this will be the toughest coaching test yet for Harbaugh & Drevno.

Bertello NC

September 24th, 2015 at 10:50 PM ^

Yeah we could have success going right at them. If the OL is getting more comfortable with their assignments that should bring us to a point where we can just react, come off the ball and play fast and physical. Blow off the ball and get to the second level. This would be a good opportunity to let our OL know this is where we get nasty up front and start to maul people. 2 out of the 3 games byu has played(and won) were against teams that focused more on the edge and quite frankly were more fineness style teams. UCLA was the one team that featured a little more of a power attack and they threw out a freshman QB albeit a pretty good one. But nonetheless I believe it will be the first true power attack that byu has faced. If our receivers can get some separation and Rudock can get rid of the ball in a timely manner and ratchet up the focus it could be the recipe for success. He has to be on point and hit those screens and intermediate oooortunities with Butt, darboh, chesson ect. He has to lead those rbs coming out the backfield so they can start moving up field before they catch it.

dragonchild

September 25th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^

. . . a big linebacker at that.  I think Jake Ryan was around 250.

So yeah, I think that's a slight exaggeration.  Smith's "nuclear icebreaker" ability gets him a couple extra yards against most linebackers.  Which is great compared to our past "power" backs who'd get stopped at the LoS by safeties, but he's not running through guys heavier than he is.  The guys he shrugs off are typically DBs or minibackers around 200 pounds or less.  A 221-pound safety is going to give Smith problems; our run game tomorrow will be only as good as our O-line.

uminks

September 24th, 2015 at 9:08 PM ^

will have to play much better to prevent BYU from stacking the box. If Rudock cannot throw the ball effectively we may end up losing this game. Though, I like our D and think even if the O lets us down we could still win this game based on how good the D will play!

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September 24th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^

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GoBlue C4

September 24th, 2015 at 10:05 PM ^

Michigan needs Rudock to be an average Q.B., if he can do that Michigan wins and they win fairly easy. He needs to hit a few 10-15 yarders and 1 deep ball with 0 ints, this was Rudock at Iowa. Michigan as a football team minus the QB is a top 15-20 team, can a 5th year Sr QB with one of the best QB coaches on the planet get them to that level? We shall see.

BoMoLoHoH4

September 25th, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^

9-3 is not headed in the right direction ... It means we have already arrived back to being Michigan. 9-3 was par for the course with the old Bo and his progeny coached teams with that occasional 10 win season ... This during the years when we played 2 ranked teams in the first 3 games to start the season.

Do not be fooled like most who are blind to the fact that MSU 11 win seasons include 3 wins over glorified high school teams and no wins in a true road game ovet a team that has finished in the AP top 25 (to my knowledge).

It's smoke and mirrors in EL ... Just ask the NFL scouts every year at the combine when they look at those 11 win seasons and then scowl at the lack of talent.

With the lack of NFL talent reflective of an 11 win team we could chalk those wins up to good coaching ... Yea the lack of good coaching on behalf of their opponents.

Wolverine fan …

September 25th, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^

Should be a good test for this offense, as UNLV proved that stacking the box can be effective even with inferior athletes. I expect them to challenge Rudock. I also expect JH to have the gameplan to win this contest with relative ease. The d line is dominating. Their receivers have a height advantage, but I don't think magnum has the accuracy to make michigan pay. Gotta get this win! Go blue.

wahooverine

September 25th, 2015 at 2:25 AM ^

I think what I fear most is Mangum playing out of his mind and fully utilizing his talent, and despite our D's best effort, we can't stop him from making plays. He's done that type of crazy shit so far. Gotta snuff out this nonsense.  Outside of that scenario I envision a Michigan W. 

csmhowitzer

September 25th, 2015 at 7:21 AM ^

Even without their star NT, I think being able to run up the middle is the key to the game. The backup doesn't seem like a big guy. Our run blocking hasn't been the best either so the matchup may be closer than we expect. I think we still have the edge, from what I saw he stands up quick and loses leverage quickly. We need to set up the run and I think we'll see success all over the field.

Steve333

September 25th, 2015 at 7:48 AM ^

Looks like man-ball all day. Run the ball, control the clock, keep the defense fresh for the 4th quarter desperation comeback push we'll likely see. Go Glue!!

alanmfrench

September 25th, 2015 at 9:56 AM ^

Talking about heavy blitzing makes me nervous. If they have a good showing against a blitz happy defense that will give me some serious hope for how this season ends up playing out. 

Gustavo Fring

September 25th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^

If BYU can stop the run without overloading the box, Michigan is in big trouble.  Given the O-Line's struggles with blitz pickup and Rudock not exactly looking like Peyton Manning, things will have gone poorly if Rudock is chucking the ball 30 times tomorrow.  

Luckily, I think michigan can have some decent success running the ball.  And they gave up some big plays against UCLA on the ground, so having Isaac break another one would be nice.

BuckNekked

September 25th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^

Every team we play will sell out to stop the run and make Rudock beat them. I expect alot of 8 and even 9 in the box with plenty of run blitzes. Rudock has to step up his game for this season to be successful. He has been well below average to this point. Show us the effective game manager please Jake. Its all we really need to turn a 7 win season into a 9 or even 10 win season.

Steves_Wolverines

September 25th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^

I was hoping with Harbaugh at the helms, we would be seeing more RB and TE screens. I do like the bump in WR flares/screens, and they have been effective, but I really think Butt could be deadly against agressive D's on TE screens, dumps, etc, etc. Anything with a delay. 

Also, I'd like to see play action boot-legs for Rudock, with Butt rolling out into the flat. Another simple play that works against agressive D's. 

I'm all for simplicity, especially if the D isn't respecting Rudock's ability to beat them over the top. Nickle & Dime them all day, then go over the top to Chesson. 

C'mon boys! We can do it! 

Go Blue!!!

bronxblue

September 25th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^

I know people are worried about the run defense, but they did give up over 250 yards last week to a team starting a true freshman QB who threw a bunch of picks. UMs line is better than Boise, and I expect them to be able to run effectively.