A Public Service Announcement About Spying A Mobile Quarterback
Dear people of the internet who without fail suggest that they will contain Michigan's offense by having a linebacker or safety "spy" Denard Robinson,
Please stop saying this.
A player placed in a spying role drops into a short zone on a pass play and is tasked with running down the quarterback if he breaks contain or starts scrambling. Denard Robinson doesn't really scramble. He prefers launching deep balls into whatever coverage you've got handy. You can put a guy in a spying role if you want but it won't do much other than make your defense more predictable on passing downs.
It will not do anything to slow the Michigan run game. When Michigan runs the ball with Denard your spy is just going to be playing run defense. This is hard against Denard, I know. However, telling one of your linebackers that he should watch for potential scrambles on pass plays does not help him on non-pass plays. Michigan runs the ball over 60% of the time. Denard Robinson scrambles maybe 3% of the time.
So.
When you post on a message board or leave a comment on a blog that says "we should spy Robinson" like you're the second friggin' guy to ever think of this—your defensive coordinator is evidently the first—you should know that God throws a six-inch-tall Japanese schoolgirl with enormous glistening innocent eyes and a Hello Kitty lunchbox into a wood chipper.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Brian Cook
MGoBlog.com
October 28th, 2010 at 1:36 PM ^
If we're asking folks to stop talking about spies, maybe we could also put in a request to stop the "he doesn't tie his shoelaces" story. That gets pretty old hearing it each week during the broadcast like he's still an unknown. While we're at it. Yes. He has dreads. Who cares? Next.
October 28th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^
Brian,
Yes, but. We're going to SPY him.
-internet
October 28th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^
To post this story from statecollege.com?
October 28th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^
Scouring for TWIS makes Brian sad.
October 28th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^
We aren't running a spy, we are having our MLB run an espionage type of defense...
-everyone sheepishly backing off of their previous statements
October 28th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
what is it with you and the Japanese schoolgirls
October 28th, 2010 at 4:41 PM ^
October 28th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^
I believe Brian may also be referring to Chengelis's piece about PSU trying Sparty's "spying" approach that "only" held Denard to 301 yards of total offense. Good luck with that.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:04 PM ^
I absolutely loved this post. Because I'm home sick from work and now I've got something productive to do with the rest of my day. I'm going to figure out what post/letter/writer set Brian off.
Wish me luck with my internet search. I'm going in..........
That didn't take long.
October 29th, 2010 at 9:42 AM ^
Not only did this article center around the spy tactic, but it also included a time of possession reference from a PSU player at the end.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^
But really, I can't think of an instance against a legitimate running QB when "spying" on him worked. Sure, you might be able to slow down the running game a bit initially, but then you have crossing routes and TEs sitting in the massive holes where the LB/Safety once occupied going for TDs. If I'm PSU, I have to hope that UM's defense makes our QBs look great and it becomes a track meet. Otherwise, expect UM to win by 20+ points, no matter who is spying.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:05 PM ^
Typing "God throws a six-inch-tall Japanese schoolgirl with enormous glistening innocent eyes and a Hello Kitty lunchbox into a wood chipper" into Google Image search did not provide any great results, but typing in "most japanese thing on the internet" led me to this. That feels right to me:
October 28th, 2010 at 2:29 PM ^
At least I found my Halloween costume...
October 28th, 2010 at 3:43 PM ^
A bunch of older guys dressed up as sperm, and 1 guy was an egg (big pink ball)
every passing period they would chase him around the building trying to tackle him, it was hilarious...
/cool story bro... to myself! 
October 28th, 2010 at 5:21 PM ^
They look like the sperm in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask.
October 29th, 2010 at 12:00 PM ^
That photo was taken in South Korea, as evidence by the Korean writing on the sign in the background that says, 'Tiny little store that sells most of what you'd need for day to day living but is stuff of dubious quality that will probably fall apart in a month or sooner. And Pocari Sweat, we sell that too."
That's what I love about Korean- it's just so laconic.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:18 PM ^
She's holding a Radiohead lunchbox and everyone knows it.
C'mon Cook, you KNOW this stuff....
October 28th, 2010 at 2:30 PM ^
What about an invisible spy? Will that work?
October 28th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^
SPYING DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY
October 28th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^
When you post on a message board or leave a comment on a blog that says "we should spy Robinson" like you're the second friggin' guy to ever think of this—your defensive coordinator is evidently the first—you should know that God throws a six-inch-tall Japanese schoolgirl with enormous glistening innocent eyes and a Hello Kitty lunchbox into a wood chipper.This is explains while I keep seeing "We should spy Denard" posted on all the old school nationalist Korean message boards. I was wondering about that.
October 28th, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^
I don't want to blaspheme, but doesn't God need an attitude adjustment here? I mean, that's a little harsh.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
It sounds like the mailbag has gotten to you. I love to hear the passion of Brian. Thank you for this blog. We love you man!
GO BLUE!
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