Scrimmage Take: But The Defense Is Great?
why u no push [Bryan Fuller]
Might as well get it out of the way. The offensive line was pretty depressing. For big chunks of the scrimmage it was ones versus twos, which helps resolve the classic intrasquad "is this event good or bad" dilemma: when your second-team defense is stoning your first team offense, it is bad. And they did stone the offense:
The rotation Saturday was more stable in comparison with last season, but the three running backs gained just 33 yards on 20 carries with the first team, and the blocking issues haven’t gone away.
In this case it is maybe less bad than otherwise because there's little separation between Michigan's first- and second-team front sevens. But it is still bad.
One disturbing echo of last year: when Glasgow got dinged up and went out, it was Joey Burzynski who drew into the lineup at right guard on the first team. No offense to Burzynski, but the guy is a 6'1" gentleman coming off of ACL surgery. Surely one of the touted 6'5" guys should be ahead of him on the depth chart by now.
Kalis was out and I imagine he has managed to pass Burzynski, but his presence indicates that Samuelson and Dawson and Bars and so forth and so on are not yet viable options. And where's Bosch? On the second team, yes, but why isn't he pushing for a spot?
I can't tell you too much about any particular lineman without tape, unfortunately… Cole held his own in pass protection, so there's that.
in yo face [Fuller]
Aggression. If you needed further confirmation it is real, well, it's real. Michigan ran piles and piles of man-to-man—all the better to unleash Peppers on opponents with—and took a number of PI flags ranging from obvious to silly to questionable. They must clean those up, but with Michigan going hell-for-leather in your face this year the QB has to get it on target for it to count.
Encouragingly there weren't many biffs that led to wide open guys in the flat. Wyatt Shallman had one flare-and-run that broke for a bunch of yards when his man got picked off by the route. That will be a danger: if Michigan doesn't have a reasonable amount of zone those plays will be there.
Hello Mr. Hurts. I just misspelled "Hurst" but I'm leavin' it. Mo Hurst burst into the backfield three or four times, once getting a thunderous safety TFL. As a recruit he was reputed to be a first step that happened to be attached to a human body, and that looks on point. No doubt he will have issues holding up to double-teams as a 282-pound redshirt freshman; from here it looks like a promising debut season and considerable excitement going into next year are waiting in the wings.
[Fuller]
Who is where at DT? And will they stay there? Your nominal starters were, unexpectedly, Matt Godin and Ryan Glasgow at three-tech and nose, respectively. There was a ton of rotation at those spots, so much so that determining a Real Starter seems not only futile but pointless, but if those two guys are actually viable that's interesting. Because it's not like Willie Henry is going away:
Willie Henry is looking really good out there. Pancaked Chris Fox on that play.
— Ace Anbender (@AceAnbender) August 17, 2014 He will start; Godin's existence is a nice bonus. I'm a little less enthused about the prospect of Glasgow as a candidate to start at nose because there isn't a groundswell of buzz behind a couple of established players like there is at three-tech. Pipkins has gotten some approving mentions but nothing like that accompanying Henry, and while Mone is set to be a contributor he is a true freshman.
Undeserved lemon? Bolden was first choice at WLB but Morgan rotated in so frequently at both positions it seems like they just have three starters for two spots. Like DT it is at times pointless to think one guy is a starter while the other is not. This bodes well.
Bolden did just annihilate one screen, laying the hardest hit he has on anyone since his arrival. Hesitancy has been the main issue with his game since his arrival. If it has truly clicked for him, that's exciting. He is not beating out a scrub here.
Youth movement at corner. Also in "not beating out a scrub here": Lewis and Peppers are definitely your leaders there; rotation will be frequent. Countess did have an excellent INT on a Gardner throw destined for Funchess, but even so it seems like two returning starters on a decent pass defense have been booted from the starting lineup.
Darboh and Gardner have chemistry. [Fuller]
Wideout depth is quality. Michigan has their big 5 (Funchess, Darboh, Canteen, Chesson, Norfleet) and then some: Moe Ways brought in four or five catches that were reminiscent of Junior Hemingway, and while he was working on a walk-on wearing 49 for some of those the way he found the ball in the air and brought it in was impressive.
Walk-on Bo Dever showed some promise as a Dileo-type in the slot; he was Speight's favorite target; fellow walk-on Jack Wangler was also reliable. No idea if either has the athletcism or route chops to get real playing time. They've got a chance. FWIW, Stribling had a nice interception on a Dever wheel route that he had blanketed. That is not his jam.
On the negative side, Da'Mario Jones had a bad night, dropping several balls that should have been catches. Jaron Dukes didn't do much.
Oh, and the top end is rather top end.
@umichfootball one handed catch @D_FUNCH pic.twitter.com/LxHShySQzo
— Richard Blasey (@sockrrich) August 17, 2014 The first downfield pass was Funchess making a spectacular stab while well covered. Yes, please. In general, the WR/CB matchup looked top-notch all around. Michigan receivers found very few open opportunities and still made some great catches. Freddy Canteen once again reminded Jourdan Lewis that the gypsy he offended needs an apology. And Amara Darboh looked very, very Avant-like on a series of slants and digs that promise to be reliable chain-movers this fall.
If Michigan can pass protect there is the potential for a passing-oriented offense to work here. If.
All the zone reps. Every OL drill in the warmup portion was zone-oriented, and about 90% was inside zone. They worked in pairs against one opponent, reacting to his movements to execute combination blocks, and then worked on IDing and reacting appropriately to stunts. As the scrimmage showed, it is a work in progress. It's going to be a work in progress all year, and all next year, and the year after that. Inside zone is hard and competence is built up over years.
Another safety solution. Hill was held out; in his stead the first team safety combination was Clark and Wilson. The twist: it was Wilson frequently creeping to the line as the strong safety with Clark playing center field.
Gardner looked good. He's fast!. He's still a little wobbly with the decisions. He looked very accurate when given time, and stepped up through pressure more than once. His only flip-around-and-chuck was a ball he was throwing away; he did have one aimless bomb downfield that should have been out of bounds but was instead up for grabs that Nussmeier did not like.
Morris looked a lot more plausible than he did in the spring, more comfortable in the pocket and less prone to throwing directly at defenders.
Injuries. Butt and Hill were in no-contact jerseys; Reon Dawson had an arm in a sling; Delonte Hollowell had a hard cast on one hand for what looked like a thumb issue. Hollowell participated as normal. Drake Harris dressed normally but didn't even take the full warmup reps with his bros. Ty Isaac was held out with something minor, and Kalis had his back issue. He should be back today.
Meanwhile, any and all optimism about Butt's return seems reasonable. He went through warmup drills with everyone else and looked just fine. If he's at the stage where he can plant and cut at full speed with a month before ND he should be ready to go by then.
Return reversal. In a bit of an oddity, it looks like Peppers is more likely to get time as a punt returner than at kick returner, where Raymon Taylor was Norfleet's backup. Usually kickoffs are where you blood new guys because a muff just means you got a touchback or some bad field position instead of disaster.
Hagerup! Booted a 70 yarder, drawing the first applause of the night. #B1G.
The thing that is hilarious. Dennis Norfleet stacked behind Devin Funchess. We do not have a photo of this yet, but when we do… oh, when we do.
Phil Collins count: 0.
I think we killed it. I didn't mention this all last year because I didn't want to jinx it but after not only the nonstop music from the spring game but also this scrimmage, I think I can finally poke my head out and say: "In The Big House" is dead. Deaaaaaaaaad.
I swear to God, Special K, if you bring it back after I mention this I will find you. That's the best thing about making up a fictional bete noire DJ: you can threaten it all you want.
Formations. Michigan at least showed a lot of stuff, mixing under center snaps with the pistol and shotgun. The formations featured a lot of 2TE looks, and what seemed like a decreased emphasis on the FB. Nussmeier really likes motioning FB/RB/TE types out wide to trips formations, which gives the defense a dilemma: do I run a linebacker out there and tell 'em it's man coverage (and spread the box) or do I live with the potential mismatch that comes when one of my corners is dealing with AJ Williams?
This will get more interesting when Butt is on the field. Right now a 2TE lineup of Williams and Heitzman or Hill is emphatically 2TEs; with Butt you can really put a defense in a bind.
Corner blitz hot reads. Two or three times Gardner IDed a corner blitz and just threw a hot stop route to the vacated corner for nice gains.
FLEET house KO. High five!
August 18th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^
First of all, DL is easier. The mental aspect of that position group is far less than the OL, and the DL isn't learning an entirely new set of plays like the offense is.
Second of all, the D is just better than the offensive line this year. We knew that already. So the D has fewer things it does poorly and needs to work on.
Also, don't act like the offense never moved the ball. The times when the D worked on their inadequacies could have been on some of those longer pass plays that were completed, maybe Hayes's long gain on the wheel route. Or maybe the time we were able to punch it in on the goal line.
August 18th, 2014 at 3:05 PM ^
I disagreed with you a lot last year and argued until I was blue in the face about Borges, so when I started reading your post I just figured it would be yet another thing I disagreed with.
As I started reading it I concluded I was right, but as I went on you began to win me over until finally I reached the end and felt much better about the upcoming season. I'm being honest here to so please accept my thanks. You made some very good points about things I never took into consideration and those points have changed my thinking to the point where I find hope where there was none before. I wish I could + you more.
August 18th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
Thanks BinY, I really appreciate you saying so (assuming that you are, in fact, being honest -- hard to tell in here sometimes).
May I ask what points, specifically, swayed your thinking?
August 19th, 2014 at 8:26 AM ^
The things I never took time to consider (stupidly on my part, especially since I do coach, though not football) is that the offense is more than likely repping things they struggle at in practice. It only makes sense that when you practice, you spend the most time running plays that you need to work on and much less time running things you are already good at. For some reason I didn't consider that and I believe it was simply my pessimism clouding my ability to think logically.
It also makes sense that the defense would rep things that they aren't performing very well in this setting too, but the defense has had the same coach for the past three seasons and very likely has much less that they need to "learn' from scratch like the offense does. Couple that with the idea that defense is most ofetn times ahead of the offense at this stage and I think there is still reason to be optimistic.
For me (and perhaps many others) this pessimism isn't normal, in fact I'm usually a pretty optimistic person. I think the past several seasons has made pessimism (or at least a "wait and see" mentality) necessary simply for self preservation. I don't enjoy being pessimistic about the team I love, it just kinda happened.
After reading your post I felt better and I appreciate that. Your optimism and sticking up for borges last season drove me nuts, but in this instance it has pulled me out of the mire I was in regarding this season. Thanks again! (though yeah, you were hard on Erik in Dayton. Good on you for apologizing).
August 19th, 2014 at 10:57 AM ^
Optimism is infectious, but unfortunately pessimism is even more infectious.
I frustrated myself with my defense of Borges, to be honest. I was strictly concerned with continuity, and thinking that Michigan didn't need another change at this juncture in its rebuilding process. That said however, I think that hiring Nuss was a homerun, and any continuity disruption is probably offset (and then some) by his ability.
I know it's a bit cliche to say, but golf is microcosom of life -- or at least is IMO. As someone who played a bit professionally, and caddied on the Tour(s), learning to remain positive and focused on the potential upside was essential. I had a caddied who used to always say, "Theys can go in from anywhere boss ... the hole don't know!" Similarly, you might hear a caddy say to his player, "we can get that up and down from there ..." There is ALWAYS a chance, and just because it's difficult or the odds are long, the ball can go in.
Football and golf are vastly different. But, if we take ole Tommy's advice and remember that significant improvements happens all the time -- just like what we Michigan fans witness with our maligned defense in the transition from 2010 to 2011. The expectations weren't high -- we were hoping for a return to below average from complete and utter suckatude. But instead we got a quantum leap back into a nationally recognized elite defense.
Will this happen with the offense (and the OL in particular)? Who knows? But I know it CAN happen, HAS happened in the past, and therefore I feel its important that we all BELIEVE that it WILL happen (sorry for the ALL CAPS Dayton). I have faith in our kids and our staff.
Thanks again BinY. Despite our (and other) disagreements, interacting/debating Michigan football is something I love dearly.
GO BLUE!
August 18th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
We knew the OL would be a work in progress. Expect a "four horizontals" offense to start the season. Important thing is reps, reps, reps -- this isn't just an identity; it's an investment for the future. I'm just wondering what's going to push the DL in the meantime if the starters can't even give the twos a challenge.
I'm mildly surprised at Peppers playing corner; I figured they'd get him reps at nickel since he has the size to not merely be a project there. Either way we'll probably need 3-4 good corners so I don't think the position is too crowded.
The WR-CB competition has me giggling with excitement. Blake Countess is getting pushed for playing time, Darboh and Freddy Footwork are sleeping monsters and the units are only going to be pushing each other in practice all season. When the season starts there won't be a challenge they aren't ready to face. DG may only have like 2 seconds to get rid of the ball out of shotgun, but it sure helps when you have four legit targets. There aren't enough DBs to go around.
Assuming it's not Borges redux and we compensate for bad blocking by smashing our heads against a wall even harder, the 2014 Wolverines will most likely be a WCO. Maybe not even a half bad one. But we'll contine to rep 2TE IZ with the occasional "throw over Funchess' head and watch him jump 12' into the air with a CB hanging on for dear life" just to keep it fresh.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
I see your point but if DG was going to become Vince Young that would've happened last year. Problem with vertical passing attacks is that it takes time for the receivers to go downfield. That's time this OL won't be able to give, which is why I expect a lot of horizontal routes. You can rep IZ all you want, and we will because we'll need it, but in the meantime the offense will need to rely heavily on screens, timed routes, hot reads and constraint plays to keep the chains moving. I'd like to see a vertical passing game with DG -- that would be phenomenal -- but he'll be gone before the OL gets good enough.
A lot of attention will be on Funchess, but I think one guy who'll get a lot of targets this season is Freddy Footwork. I've only seen a little of him in a winged helmet but his feet are wicked. He's not only a route technician; he's downright shifty. He'll be tough to press, and will make a few linebackers miss in space. The wideouts (probably Funchess and Darboh) will get their post/fly routes but the main benefit won't be long TDs so much as pulling the safeties off the LoS because they may be impossible to single-cover. Point is, the pressure will be on the receivers to burn single coverage until the back seven is forced to play a passive to avoid YAC, and that will hopefully open up the run game. The good news is, I think they're up to the task.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
There's no substitute for actual game experience, I don't think there's anyway of getting around it. These guys will start to gel eventually this season. We've got to be patient with youth. Probably not too many offensive lines in the country that are as good right now, with two weeks of practice left, as their eventually going to be in mid October.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^
Scanned the comments looking specifically for someone who tabbed a Norfleet/Funchess stack picture. Very disappointed by the masses that I do not see one.
/s
August 18th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
...you just weirded me out.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
That was my mom. Should have said hello.
August 18th, 2014 at 6:49 PM ^
Oh, he knows who your mom is
/self-five
August 18th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
One of the things I'm most interested in seeing is, if the question about whether Hoke or Borges was most repsonsible for the whole "smashing our heads against the wall even harder" aspect of last season is answered. We have a more experieinced QB and what looks like really, really good WR's who are being pushed by great DB's. Investment of the future aside, which I do buy into but also believe that one can both invest for the future and throw a quick out to a wide open WR when needed.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
for defensive linemen? Or would they be doing different things based on their positional needs?
August 18th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
look at last year, the Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State games were lost by a combined total of 9 points. Better D last year could have won all of those games bringing a 7-6 season to a 11-2. Even if the offense is only incrementally better this year but the D makes major strides Mich should win 9-10 games. Thats my story for now...
August 18th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
is it less painful in year 4 Hoke than the disaster that was the defense of RichRod year 3?
other than Mattison, not seeing much progress here.
August 18th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
Absolutely. It's just one position group. Under RR, our D was awful at every postiion. We had 0 good defensive games.
I know we were frustrated last year, but in about half of our games (OSU included) our offense put together outstanding performances. Our defense never did that under RichRod.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
There's some reason for optimism for the OL, We weren't productive at all by the numbers, but there were some encouraging signs at least the first team OL are going in the right direction (the back-ups... hooo boy). Like the spring, the line seemed focused on blocking the DL at the LOS first. Last year we'd have instant penetration when guys would try and release to the LBs too quickly, leaving their combo buddy in an impossible situation. That was almost completely eliminated except for that one "woah" play by Hurst, which is as much Hurst being a freak off the snap as it was about OL not doing their jobs.
The downside to the LOS first approach was the LBs were completely clean to come up and fill holes very close to the line. Watching a couple of bootleg clips of the scrimmage, I noticed just how aggressive the LBs were to play run. They were often two steps to the line before the handoff was made. Both these resulted in a lot of ~1 yard gains, but there were much fewer negative plays. This, IMO, is ok at this point. You have to learn to walk before you run.
As these guys get more reps together, they should get a better feel about how much help their combo buddy needs and they will get less conservative about blocking the DL, and move to the LBs earlier. A little improvement here can make a big difference, getting out that extra 1/2 yard early may be the difference between a crease for the RB to slip through and getting stuffed. Remember, these guys have been constantly shuffling as recently as last week, so the "building chemistry" phase hasn't really started yet.
I also thought pass pro was much improved. Gardener still had pressure, but the D was also being incredibly aggressive. I wouldn't put too much stock into the offense 1s ran with the defense 2s because there was so much shuffling on the defense. For the most part the OL bought some time and even if they got beat eventually, there wasn't much of the instant pressure of last year except when there was simply too many rushers to pick up. I agree with Brian, Gardner and Morris both did a better job getting rid of the ball, whether it was hot reads or throwing the ball away.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
This defense is good. I see a lot of worrying about the OL which is warranted BUT...
Wouldn't you be more worried about this team if the O had run all over the D on Saturday?
August 18th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
Based on what I'm reading here and what I have been reading all weekend I want to make sure I understand the sentiment appropriately: Michigan can recruit and develop playerz all over the field, guys who are 3* are blowing up, and 4-5* are mostly living up to expectations- WR, TE, RB, QB, all look like they have promising futures or presents, while on D things are going peachy at every position and even where there is questionable depth, things still seem solid. And at the same time I'm supposed to believe that this coaching staff is taking a hoard of 4-5* O-linemen and turning them into a pile of mush that couldn't block a litter of kittens?
I don't buy it.
August 18th, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^
That's BS. First off, we have 2 4 star or better OL on the team who are RS So or older. Only two. One of those didn't play in the scrimmage due to injury, but according to Hoke he's in line the start, and the other is Erik Magnuson who is starting and looking solid. Still only a RS Soph though.
Stop acting like we aren't developing our offensive linemen. By all accounts, guys like Magnuson and Kalis and Braden and Glasgow and Miller (all of our linemen who are older than a RS Frosh, save Bars) have improved consistently. Glasgow couldn't get a Big Ten scholarship and is now a solid Big Ten starter. Braden couldn't see the field last year, and this year he earned a starting spot early. These guys are improving.
Very few programs have 4-5* lineman looking very good early, and when they do that's not really a development thing because they haven't had time to develop them at that point. If you want to talk about development, you have to give them time to develop. I'd say Schofield and Lewan developed, right? Those are the only guys who have been with Funk long enough to judge, but maybe Miller and Glasgow as well, but they are in line to start so we'll see how they do this year. Glasgow looked solid last year though.
August 18th, 2014 at 9:07 PM ^
Eh, maybe you should re-read my comment, particularly the last sentence because clearly you and I are in 100% agreement on this.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
So does this mean that we should start recruiting heavily at the school Mason Cole came from?
August 18th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
I realize that Michigan is not going to win all it's games. Well, is unlikely to win out this season. But the gloom and doom around here sometimes is suffocating. The lack of patience with the OL is mind-boggling. I definitely am in the camp that it takes time to set up an OL the right way, and we're heading in the right direction.
At this point, I believe the OL will be mediocre, and the DL will be great. I have never heard Greg Mattison as positive as he has been. The depth throughout the defense is astounding. I already thought the LB corps would do well, and the secondary, but with the DL really coming together, you have three solid position groups. The weakest area seems to be safety, but we have so much strength and depth at corner, it is possible that we might be able to shift someone from corner to safety in order to have the best 4 - 5 on the field in the secondary.
There hasn't been a whole lot on special teams, other than noting that the kicking game is solid. If special teams is good, Hagerup will be able to pin the opposing offense way deep when our offense has stalled. I really think that when we have the opponent pinned back deep, our defense will be able to get a safety here and there, and we will have some INT's taken back for a score. I also think we will see improvement in our return game.
As regards the offense, I still think it will be much better than many think. First, while the OL isn't opening holes for the RB's, I think they will do much better at giving pass protection this year. Giving Devin more time, plus Devin having more receivers, plus Devin making better decisions on throwing it away, should lead to much greater production in the passing game. As the passing game gouges other teams, this will open things up a lot more for the running game.
As regards the much maligned OL, I do think it will probably end up being Cole, Mags, Glasgow, Kalis, and Braden. I think they will indeed learn from playing together for lots of downs. I also believe they have a very good opportunity to be 6 - 0 to start the season. If they get that far, they should be gelling together, and they will have a chance in every remaining game. Probably the biggest challenge from being 6 - 0 is that people will think Michigan is better than it really is. They aren't there yet, but they will be.
I believe that Michigan will end the season with two losses, but will come away from MSU and OSU with at least one win.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
Somewhere John Navarre just cringed.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
I have never seen that photo but I vividly remember that play.
That would make a great caption contest on a rival board.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^
I recall the last time Michigan switched from an ISO to a Zone blocking scheme around 2006. They brought in the Denver Broncos O-line coach to help with the transition and all the linemen were asked to drop weight so they could more effectively get out in space as one and into the second level as necessary. They nearly won the national championship that year with Mike Hart making the one-cut to perfection. My point is, the transition shouldn't be this hard, should it???? Could it be our O-line recruits aren't suited to a zone scheme? For all of Rich Rod's faults on D, his zone-read offense put up points with a small but athletic offensive line that could run. Yes, Nuss at 'Bama ran an effective zone with giant linemen, but as with all things 'Bama the last few years, they had the best recruits in the country resulting in an O-line that was both big AND could run. Seems to me that unless you can get 5-stars across the board like that, freaks who are big and athletic, you need to slim down on the line to make a zone run game work. And Michigan just doesn't have those kind of linemen right now.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:30 PM ^
To be fair, Rich Rod was running the ball with Denard Robinson. He was a pretty good runner.
Michigan is still trying to ID a primary ball carrier.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
You aren't going to be able to judge what the linemen can do until the season actually starts, espeically after one night of scrimmaging.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
I'm perfectly willing to reserve judgment until the season starts, and I'm actually more of an optimist than most on the upcoming season, but all the problems with the O-line so far seem to be exactly the same as when Borges took over for Rich Rod, but in reverse--trying to play Man-Ball with Rich Rod's zone-linemen didn't work well, and now we're trying to run zone with recruits who were brought in to play Man-Ball. The software got updated without the hardware update, so to speak. Oh well, what do I know. I'm just an asshole with a keyboard and an internet connection.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
I'm pretty sure a few of the linemen were recruited by zone teams like Bama...
August 18th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
Yes, and they would have been molded to fit the team's plans. Bulk up to play man-ball or slim down to run zone, rinse, repeat as necessary (unless you're a freak O-lineman who is both big and athletic). My point is that we seem to be stuck in the middle, which is why the transition has been so difficult so far. The fit isn't there yet. But I do think they'll eventually get there.
Is that a dead horse I see over there? It is. Gotta go!
August 18th, 2014 at 6:16 PM ^
You don't really slim down to run zone blocking, but it's not like any of our OL (aside from Braden) are that big anyway. It's not like Bama's OL was a bunch of 290lb guys. Most of our OL are between 295 and 305. That's pretty average.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
...and Rich Rod's were both outside zone. This is inside zone, fergodsakes.
In all seriousness, they're quite different.
Inside zone: downhill b/w tackles play, where goal is to get vertical push by OL using combo blocks and coming off those to 2nd and 3rd level defenders that show in gaps. Back makes a read off of one designated DL and makes one cut, then is vertical.
Outside zone: reach blocking scheme designed to attack off-tackle or wider, where goal is to seal the defense inside by OL reaching man on outside shoulder or releasing quickly to 2nd level to cut off pursuing LBs. Back reads playside DE--if he's not reached, back cuts inside the OT. If DE is reached, back continues outside and makes the same read on the primary force defender: not reached = cut inside, reached = go outside.
Wisconsin has run a lot of inside zone over the years and their OL ain't the most svelte, nimble bunch around.
Sarcasm aside, you can see by the philosophy of the schemes why IZ likes big hog mollies and OZ likes more athletic guys.
August 18th, 2014 at 4:36 PM ^
IIRC from an ESPN (SI?) preview article before the Game that year, that Michigan team ran both inside and outside zone equally often. Having said that, i can't say I disagree with you either, and you may very well be right. Bottom line for me is that a zone team, whether Inside or Outside, requires a different type of lineman than a Power-ISO team. Much like a 3-4 requires a different type of D-lineman than a 4-3. But your point is well taken. Perhaps an Inside zone scheme is more similar to Power-ISO than it is to Outside zone--in terms of the O-linemen best suited for it.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
August 18th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
All I want this year is a line that can block someone a little bit. that is all.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
But went through and watched the videos I could find and wrote up a bit of my initial impressions. Agreed with much of Brian's analysis, particularly about the defense.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
great stuff Space
August 18th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
Now's the time to panic. Space Coyote agreeing with Brian??!?!?! Mass Hysteria! Dogs and Cats living together!
/s... hopefully obviously
August 18th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
I'd be interested on your take on whether our LBs were playing honestly or not. It seemed to me like a lot of times, they totally didn't respect play action and were able to diagnose run and scream towards the LOS before the handoff was made. I wonder if that's something they'll be doing (and having the safeties cover the underneath stuff?) or if this is just one of those things where they've seen the offense so much, they can read and react much faster than in a real game.
August 18th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
Opposing defenses will do the same thing -- they won't respect play action unless there's something to respect. This is something the O-line has to contend with until defenses are punished for overplaying the run. You might as well practice that, and the defense has no reason to do something instead that defies common sense.
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