when your offense moves so fast ESPN split-screens replays and live action

Unlike some other games I've done for FFFF, Indiana-Iowa is a pretty good way to prepare for Indiana-Michigan; like the Wolverines, the Hawkeyes boast a strong defensive front, quality players in the secondary (especially Desmond King), and a decent-enough offense that looks to move the ball on the ground first.

The Hoosiers played Iowa tough last weekend, closing to within 21-20 early in the fourth quarter before the Hawkeyes pulled away then survived a late onside kick to win 35-27. Indiana's offense doesn't quite look like the full-on Air Raid of years past; thanks to a very viable running game, they're still quite dangerous.

Personnel. Seth's diagram (click to embiggen):

On the Michigan side, Dymonte Thomas is now on the graphic after starting last week and out-snapping Delano Hill by a considerable margin.

Spread, Pro-Style, or Hybrid? Spread. The Hoosiers took one snap under center the entire game: a hurry-up QB sneak on third-and-inches.

Basketball on Grass or MANBALL? Indiana heavily favors inside zone, which is also the run play they block the best. They had up-and-down success with a few powers they'll throw in as changeups.

Hurry it up or grind it out? See the screencap at the top of the post. Indiana's 19th nationally in adjusted pace, and while they've actually slowed the offense down a little from years past, they're great at selectively dialing up the tempo. No matter what they'll get to the line in a hurry; it's just a matter of how quickly they want to get the next play off.

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

Quarterback Dilithium Level (Scale: 1 [Navarre] to 10 [Denard]): Nate Sudfeld wasn't particularly fast to begin with and he's been battling an ankle injury that's held him out of games this season. He looked healthier against Iowa than he has in a while; Indiana had him run some zone read action, though he never kept, and he managed to scramble for a critical first down—he moves around well in the pocket. Still, he's not much of a running threat, and he gets a 4 here.

Dangerman: Sudfeld will be covered in the HenneChart section, but he's no longer the centerpiece of this offense. When healthy, that honor has gone to running back Jordan Howard, who transferred in this season after UAB dissolved their football program and picked up right where he left off.

We collectively overlooked Howard in Draftageddon because his UAB highlights made it look like he could run in a straight line through open holes and not a whole lot else. As Michigan fans have learned, that skill is actually quite valuable—Howard has great vision—and while he's not the shiftiest back, he combines good balance with tough running and decisive cuts. The balance was on full display in his first touchdown of this game:

The vision and cutting ability featured on his second score:

Nobody will confuse Howard for Reggie Bush, but when he sticks his foot in the ground he gets upfield in a hurry, and he finds the gap on zone runs.

Howard's efforts are helped considerably by the blocking of right guard Dan Feeney, who's good both at the point of attack—most of IU's runs went to the right—and getting to the second level. He can make multiple crucial blocks on the same play:

Kevin Wilson has called Feeney as IU's best player; after watching him in detail, I'm not one to argue. Left tackle Jason Spriggs isn't quite on Feeney's level but he's still an excellent pass-protector and a solid run-blocker; when pressure got to Sudfeld, it wasn't coming from the edge on his blind side.

Zook Factor: Kevin Wilson called for a couple very questionable punts in the first half that cost Indiana a better chance at pulling the upset.

• Down 7-3, IU punted on 4th-and-5 from the Iowa 42. While the punt was downed at the five, Iowa drove the field to take a 14-3 lead.
• On the ensuing Hoosier possesion, Wilson called for a punt on 4th-and-4 from their own 45.

The second call wasn't as egregious and didn't lead to a Hawkeye score, but given Indiana's strong offense and weak defense, passing up two decent chances to score early in the game wasn't ideal.

HenneChart: Outside of a few poor decisions and one or two misfires, Sudfeld looked great, even though his stat line—16-for-37, 180 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT—was quite underwhelming. Indiana's receivers were horrible against Iowa, with flat-out drops costing the Hoosiers at least five first down throws—that's not exaggeration for effect. Sudfeld's HenneChart therefore looks way better than his traditional box score line:

Sudfeld will be the best quarterback Michigan has faced outside of Connor Cook. He's got a strong arm, good pocket presence, plenty of comfort in the offense, and the accuracy to get his receivers solid YAC even when throwing into tight windows. Like Cook, he'll often look for the back-shoulder throw, and while his receivers either failed to adjust or dropped most of them he managed to get a touchdown on his final pass of the day:

There will be at least a couple throws completed on Michigan where you'll have no choice but to tip your cap and move on.

Sudfeld's interception was rather ugly, for what it's worth: with IU down two scores but with plenty of time remaining, he had a receiver wide open up the sideline but failed to see Desmond King in a deep zone, and instead of rifing the ball into the available window Sudfeld floated one that King undercut with ease. He had another should-be pick in the first half when safety Jordan Lomax undercut a telegraphed post route. Sudfeld is quite good but will occasionally force throws; Michigan should have opportunities to capitalize on his mistakes.

OVERVIEW

This is going to look like Indiana tips run or pass based on whether they're in the pistol or shotgun, and while that's kind of the case...

...the quarterback stays at the same depth in both alignments and the tailback will either stand a couple yards directly behind the QB (pistol) or start there and then step to one side of the QB or the other (shotgun). Even when the defense knows it's a tell, it's hard to react too strongly when the reveal comes a couple seconds before the snap.

Meanwhile, Indiana now looks to establish the run on early downs; when they get Howard or backup Devine Redding going, they'll lean heavily on the run until an obvious passing situation arises.

Second-down plays were mostly determined by the success of the first-down run.

Howard and Redding give the Hoosiers a nice one-two at tailback. While Howard is clearly superior, both have a north-south style that lends itself well to their zone scheme; I think Redding is talented enough that he'd probably start at Michigan this year (Howard would without a doubt be Harbaugh's workhorse back). There's a significant dropoff to third back Mike Majette, who had four carries for four yards against Iowa while getting snaps in some surprisingly important spots—unless Howard and Redding are both gassed I'm not sure why he plays.

The offensive line is generally quite good, especially in the run game on that right side. They do have a couple weak points; right tackle Dimitric Camiel got overpowered on a couple bull rushes, while the left guard a weakness in both facets—redshirt junior Jacob Bailey replaced redshirt freshman Wes Martin in the starting lineup for the Iowa game and didn't look very good. The Hoosiers tend to get good push up front and they usually keep a clean pocket; when issues arise it's generally at one of those two spots. They did have some trouble picking up stunts, which is good news for Michigan; they'll attack that left guard spot with aplomb.

Most of Indiana's success in the passing game came on intermediate throws to the perimeter, though they also got their tight ends free up the seam with play-action; starter Michael Cooper had a couple intermedite catches and the touchdown embedded above while back Anthony Corsaro had one 11-yard gain and two bad drops, one of which cost the Hoosiers a 20- or 30-yard gain when Iowa bit badly on play-action.

The play of the wide receivers is best summed up by this screencap of Sudfeld's best throw of the day, an inch-perfect 35-yard corner route:

Mitchell Paige tried to catch it with his face; this did not go well. All three of Indiana's starting receivers had ugly drops in this game: Ricky Jones cost IU a big gain on an open post, Simmie Cobbs had a late back-shoulder throw bounce right off his hands, and Paige dropped two other passes in addition to the one above.

Michigan should match up well against that group even when disregarding the drops. Jones isn't the easiest guy to cover one-on-one but he's only 5'10" and Michigan has Jourdan Lewis. Cobbs is 6'4" but not an overwhelming athlete, and he didn't look good adjusting to throws in the air. Paige is a tiny slot bug with iffy hands. No other wideouts were targeted.

If Ryan Glasgow isn't a full go, Indiana could produce a decent amount of offense with Howard, and they'll try to do so regardless of Glasgow's availability. Indiana's weak group of receivers makes it tough to imagine they'll be able to consistently move the ball through the air, though Sudfeld will get them the ball if they manage to get open. As long as the defense can slow Howard—and this is one of the best run defenses in the country we're talking about here—then that should be enough to prevent IU from keeping pace.

PLAY BREAKDOWN

Indiana had a slick packaged play in the first half that I wanted to highlight, as Michigan's defense hasn't seen many of those this season. The Hoosiers come out in their base shotgun three-wide set:

At the snap, the line fires off the ball to the left, indicating an outside zone.

This is a read option for Sudfeld, who sees Iowa's linebackers shooting gaps inside and pulls the ball out.

Sudfeld could probably pick up the first down with Iowa's secondary stuck in coverage, but instead of running directly upfield he starts to flatten out.

That's because Jones is breaking open on a crossing route.

Sudfeld pulls up and makes an easy first-down throw.

Video:

The Hoosiers pulled out some really well-designed plays in this game. They picked up a third-and-seven with a designed swing pass to Howard that worked because the throw behind the line of scrimmage allowed the receiver to that side to block downfield:

Howard easily turned the corner and the safety meeting him a half-yard before the sticks had no chance to tackle before Howard pushed for the first down. The chess match between Wilson and DJ Durkin should be a fun one to watch for football geeks.