Picture Pages: Odoms Way Down In The Hole

Fantastic title.  Any way to embed the harmonica solo?

Tay has the fire and the fury at his command.

all grows up.

These kinds of posts demonstrate just how effective and varied our offense can be. I read stuff like this and realize how much is happening on every play that leads to the desired result -- but that I simply don't see because I'm too focused on Denard.

Beautiful breakdown and an even more beautiful play. Nice job D-Rob learning to wait a little longer for the play to develop and making a nice read and throw to Tay.

That's a great bit of improvement in 1 weeks worth of practice.  Sky is the limit for Shoelace.

Are you saying Denard is getting....better? zomg

 It would be nice if he was a towering colossus of speed but given Robinson's strengths it's better to have a reliable mountain goat

I love it.  Animal imagery FTW.

I'm thinking back on the last two games, and I don't remember a single pass in which I said, "Whew, we're lucky that wasn't picked off."  Seems like his incompletions have either been drops, throwaways, or killing Roy Roundtree.  I attribute it to the coaching -- they are either drawing up plays in which there is always a first or second read that cannot be doubled, or Denard is uber-prepared for these coverages through film work, or Denard has been drilled so thoroughly on ball security that he will always take off rather than try to force it in.

like that, doesn't this essentially become the old 5-2?  It's a run stopping D from the days of yore (and HS).  The ROLB is crashing immediately - whether you call that a blitz or playing as an end, it seems like the same thing.  The LOLB is playing coverage, but this is the same thing a swing-end did (when run wasn't indicated) in the 5-2. 

Now that I pay attention again when I watch 'ball, it seems like I see this formation at the college and pro level over and over

It is great to see how much Denard continues to improve.  This is a testament to Denards football IQ, his incredible work ethic, and the coaching staff.  Going forward were going to see him continue to get better and even scarier for opposing defenses to defend.  The deep ball is one of the toughest routes to get down as a QB, but I believe before the season is over he will be much improved in that area as well.  Nice post Brian, I love breaking down film so this was awesome.

With this attention to detail, Calvin better look out because Brian may steal his job as OC.

Great breakdown as usual Brian.  There were acres of space open behind the LBs all day, and most times there were 2-3 options for Denard.  It is great to be on the positive end of a mobile QB who can really draw in those LBs and safeties.  Will be interesting to see how the offense fairs against teams that can contain with their base packages, but right now the offense is immensely dynamic.  I would like to see the RBs establish themselves a bit more, but I expect the next two weeks to be fertile grounds for them to grow in the offense.

One of these times Denard is going to stop and zip a pass to Grady coming across on that post. Our offense is great because we have a counter for everything the defense tries against us.

With Denards work ethic and drive to get better everyday I really do believe this offense is going to be near impossible to stop. If our Rbs can step it up, it could happen much sooner rather than later.

Great analysis - learn a ton from these breakdowns of plays.

What is obvious is that Denard, in spite of two weeks of some of the most amazing football I have ever seen, still has so much to learn.  He is a second year player with two starts. He needs to play at least a half of each of the next two games.  The more playing time, up to a point, the better.  There is simply no substitute for game experience. We shall see defenses down the road that are better than what we have seen the last two weeks.  It is hard to imagine him playing much better, but as he learns to read defenses and slows the game down - scary thought for opposing teams.

Question about Odoms...to me he looks thinner and a bit quicker than he did last year.  Does anyone else see the same thing or am I imagining things?

This kind of break down shows just how damned complicated this offense is - or at least it sure seems that way to me. While the QB has to make decisions, everyone has to execute well - especially the O line.

Also at least half the commentary I have seen about the UM offense is how Robinson could be hurt and the assumed but unstated consequences of that. This shows us how the health of the receiver corps really depends on his decision making. A bunch of our guys have been getting smacked around in space and hopefully things will get better over the next 2-3 weeks so that there are less serious hits happening on a regular basis. But I guess my point is that up until now it is not so running plays that overexpose our guys, but rather pass plays that open up both our WRs and SRs, as well as our RBs, to some pretty vicious hits.

Of the 4 wr's on the play, Stonum's the only that doesn't get a mention.  Is he doing a deep post, straight fly? Neither he nor his defender (#4) make it into any of the photos.

At 8:48 in that video (the every offensive snap one), with 6:30 remaining in the 3rd, does Denard throw a no-look pass to Roundtree? Roundree gets blasted, but hangs on with enough for the first, but man, that's a ballsy throw to make. It looks like the outside receivers were open, so I'm wondering if D-Rob thought he could look off the coverage and get Roundtree some space.

When you look at the early touchdown by Roundtree, you could see Notre Dame being sucked in trying to use numbers to overwhelm the line and screw with Denards zone reads.  Do you think Michigan state for example will try to do this with their linebackers being a purported strength?

Plays like that show that cheaters doth never prosper as Denard sees more and more and gains greater knowledge.

I love the versatility of the offense through the first two games. It is like there is always a counter punch if teams start to get exotic to shut down the basic Denard right play.

That is good breakdown of the progression of the play

I love the picture posts.  This is anlaysis is what separates mgoblog from the rest of the MSM and other blogs.  I was just arguing with someone yesterday who was complaining about how "simplistic" the UM offense was and how we will be killed in the Big 10 season.  I just wish he would read these posts to learn more about our offense.  Keep the posts coming!