Upon Further Review 2010: Defense vs Penn State
Formation notes: After two games in which Michigan deployed a lot of 4 man fronts and mixed in some 3-4 and 3-3-5 looks Michigan was almost exclusively stack against Penn State. They did move Demens (and Roh/Fitzgerald) back at halftime. First half:
Second half:
Substitution notes: Martin played maybe the first two series before coming out, and didn't do anything in that time. He was replaced by a combination of Sagesse and Patterson. Black and Banks are now platooning regularly, with Banks still getting most of the snaps. RVB is the line's ironman. He never comes out.
At linebacker it was Demens and Mouton the whole way with Fitzerald getting a drive or three when Michigan thought Roh wasn't playing well. Cam Gordon and Thomas Gordon split time at spur. Rogers was replaced by Talbott for much of the game. Vinopal went the distance at FS.
On with it:
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O29 | 1 | 10 | Ace trips | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 3 | PA Fly | Floyd | Inc | ||||||||||
| Play action bomb against three deep; McGloin sets up and throws deep to his tiny guy Smith. Ball is underthrown and Floyd is in decent position, though a long enough throw beats him. Floyd has a chance to intercept but doesn't look for the ball quickly enough and a throw that looks like it was to him hits the turf. Um. I have to: Floyd +1, cover +1, pressure -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O29 | 2 | 10 | I-form twins | Base 4-3 | Run | Off tackle | Banks | 0 | |||||||||||
| Banks(+2) gets immediately playside of the PSU RT and drives him into the backfield. Michigan's running some sort of stunt on the backside that looks pretty unsound and as a result Demens was swallowed by two OL; Mouton is walled off by another—none of this matters because Banks has driven into the path of the RB and tackled him at the LOS by himself. Bad omen for the future. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O29 | 3 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Pass | 3 | Scramble | Demens | 11 | ||||||||||
| One DT drops off to chuck the RB, looking for a screen. Martin(-1) comes through to flush McGloin, but with only three guys rushing there's a gap to the other side of him and McGloin steps up, sees no one, and runs. Demens(-1) is the guy nearest to him and gave up the corner because he drifted too far inside on a TE crossing route. This is definitely his fault: C. Gordon is going with his guy all the way downfield. Martin gets the -1 for coming up the wrong side and giving up the lane. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O40 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | N/A | PA Throwaway | Van Bergen | Inc | ||||||||||
| RVB(+1, pressure +1) gets upfield of his blocker and immediately releases into McGloin, forcing him to toss it away. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O40 | 2 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 5 | Slant | Floyd | 16 | ||||||||||
| Michigan shifts late to man coverage and Floyd(-2, cover -2) isn't even in the same zip code as Smith on a simple slant. He can't even make a tackle, giving up another eight yards after the catch. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M44 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | Kovacs | 4 | |||||||||||
| Michigan moves late to a one-high by, sending Kovacs into the box, and the shift gets PSU in a bad playcall. Seems like a designed cutback and a really bizarre scheme: Demens is like a yard from Martin and gets hit by a tackle; Mouton is way back and is scraping to the nominal frontside of the play only to get blown up by the FB as he drags himself out of position. Kovacs(+0.5) is there in the hole as a result of the late move to tackle near the LOS but he grabs ankles and allows Royster to spin forward for a decent gain. I'm guessing I'm going to neg a lot of guys because of this weird setup but not yet. This was the "This Is Not A Stack" play. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M40 | 2 | 6 | Shotgun 2-back TE | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Pin and pull zone | C. Gordon | 3 | |||||||||||
| Completely bizarre play from C. Gordon(-0.5) here, who is the contain guy to this side. Instead of flowing down the line and keeping outside leverage somewhere near the LOS he takes a weird looping downfield angle that sees him five yards downfield by the time the RB gets outside; he also impeded Roh with his weird delayed move outside. RVB(+1) had driven his guy well upfield and forced an outside angle by the RB, which allowed Gordon time to recover and hold the gain down. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M37 | 3 | 3 | I-form | Stack two deep | Pass | 3 | FB screen | Mouton | 8 | ||||||||||
| Three guys and still no one to sniff out the screen. Mouton(-1, cover -1) failed to read it and dropped very deep when he should have been staring right at it. Demens had a guy coming across his zone to drop into and then flows to tackle—without that this will go for a lot more. (RPS -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M29 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Power off tackle | Banks | 5 | |||||||||||
| Banks(-1) crushed two yards downfield by a double. Mouton comes up to hit a pulling guard and restricts the hole but there's nothing anyone can do to prevent Royster from burrowing behind his linemen for a decent gain. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M24 | 2 | 5 | Ace trips | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 3 | Quick out | Banks | Inc | ||||||||||
| Banks(+1, pressure +1) knocks down the quick out at the LOS. Probably open for the first if not batted. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M24 | 3 | 5 | Ace trips | Stack two deep | Pass | 5 | Flare | Roh? | 7 | ||||||||||
| Michigan sends five and RVB(+0.5) swims through an OG to get to McGloin, forcing a dumpoff that is so open I have no idea who I should even blame. Roh(-1) is the most likely suspect (cover -2, RPS -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M17 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 3 | Throwaway | Black | Inc | ||||||||||
| Michigan covers(+1) McGloin's first read and then Black(+1) is one-on-one with the RB as PSU slides their protection. He gets cut but manages to stay up and threatening, forcing a rollout and a throwaway (pressure +1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M17 | 2 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Counter | Mouton | 14 | |||||||||||
| Double shoves Martin out of the hole; he shoots up under it but to no avail. Demens takes a step to the playside and is then engulfed by two OL because he's too damn close to the LOS to do anything about it. There's a hole and one blocker for Mouton to deal with; he shoots past the guy and is on the verge of a +3 for a monster play when he lets Royster through his tackle(-1 Mouton, -1) and pick up a huge gain thanks to a missed tackle(-1) from Vinopal(-2). RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M3 | 1 | G | I-form big | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Power off tackle | Banks | 3 | |||||||||||
| Banks(-1) destroyed by a single block and pancaked, giving the edge. Kovacs(-1) blocked and does not keep contain, giving up the edge for Royster as well. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 0-7, 7 min 1st Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O44 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | C. Gordon | 20 | |||||||||||
| Another huge cutback lane. I'm not entirely sure who this is on because depending on assignment it could be any of Roh, Cam Gordon, and Van Bergen. Van Bergen is upfield as the unblocked backside guy and is cut by a TE pulling to the backside. Roh is flowing to the frontside and seems too close to Demens for that to be a good idea; Cam Gordon is either way too far outside or properly setting up to catch any bounces outside. -2 Roh for filling the same hole as Demens and -1 Gordon for being the guy shot past. Mouton actually made a nice read and flowed from the frontside of the play but for naught; Vinopal comes up and forces Royster to cut outside, where Rogers tackles. (RPS –1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M36 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Sack | Mouton | -11 | |||||||||||
| An end around pass ends badly as Michigan covers(+2) both available receivers well and Mouton(+2) reads the end-around, gets out on the edge, and attacks. He'd sack but the guy's falling to the ground as he gets there anyway. Pressure +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M47 | 2 | 21 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Corner | Floyd | 27 | |||||||||||
| The underneath coverage on this is indeed a debacle but the super debacle is JT Floyd(-4, cover -4) getting so completely lost in three deep coverage on a guy in his zone that he's not even the tackler on an underthrown, softly-tossed lob thirty yards downfield. What the hell is Floyd doing on a hashmark, facing inside, in a three deep, on second and twenty one? YOU HAVE HELP INSIDE. BWS picture-paged this if you hate yourself. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M20 | 1 | 10 | Ace twin TE | Stack two deep | Run | Inside zone | Demens | 19 | |||||||||||
| Michigan horrendously misaligned as Penn State motions a TE over to give them two to the short side of the field. Michigan hardly reacts at all. So there's five PSU blockers to the short side and three Michigan defenders. Compounding this, Michigan just screws up. Demens(-2) runs to the backside when he's got Vinopal walking down and Mouton filling a backside lane, leaving no one to fill the frontside gap that he should have; there's not even a counter here, he just runs to the wrong side of the line. Banks kicked out and Roh(-1) blown up by the inline TE, Roytser into the secondary like that. (RPS -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M1 | 1 | G | Goal line | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Dive | ? | 1 | |||||||||||
| Whatever. This isn't even M's to-date successful goal line package. RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-14, 1 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O20 | 1 | 10 | Ace twin TE | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Counter | T. Gordon | 3 | |||||||||||
| Cam pulled for Thomas as SURPRISE, moving a deep safety to linebacker makes him confused. M adjusts to the motion this time, and Penn State runs a counter at it expecting an overreaction. Demens, who's still a yard behind his NT, gets caught with a step and sealed as the NT is Patterson and he does the usual.. Michigan does have two guys in the hole versus one blocker thanks to good reads by the backside folk. Blocker runs by Gordon to get Roh(+0.5) so T. Gordon(+0.5) hits at the LOS; they fall forward because there's no help. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O23 | 2 | 7 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | Out | T. Gordon | Inc | |||||||||||
| McGloin throws a decently open out well wide of his receiver. Third and short in all likelihood if accurate. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O23 | 3 | 7 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Middle screen | Demens | 5 | |||||||||||
| They throw another screen; this time Demens(+0.5) is tasked with the tailback. He doesn't tackle but he does get into the play enough to delay the guy as he has to cut back behind Demens and the guy blocking him. RVB(+0.5) takes this opportunity to peel back and make a diving tackle attempt that's spun through but does slow Redd; Mouton(+0.5) and Demens converge to tackle short of the sticks. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 7-14, 13 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O26 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | PA TE flat | C. Gordon | 20 | |||||||||||
| Cam Gordon(-2, cover -2) sucks in way too far, not only giving up the pass on the corner but not being anywhere near enough to tackle after the catch. Why on earth did they pull Thomas off for this? | |||||||||||||||||||
| O46 | 1 | 10 | Ace twins twin TE | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Power off tackle | Kovacs | 9 | |||||||||||
| Michigan again hugely, vastly misaligned as PSU brings in their WR/TE guy to be a second TE to the short side of the field, where be Kovacs; said Kovacs(-1) is blasted five yards downfield and JT Floyd(-1), the overhang guy, is met and blocked seven yards downfield. When Royster has to bounce because Mouton and Demens have cut off the inside there's no one out there. Banks(-1) was also single blocked and couldn't even slow Royster as he broke outside. (RPS -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M45 | 2 | 1 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | Banks | 7 | |||||||||||
| Another cutback opened up by Banks(-1) getting washed down the line. I think. We come to this play late and I'm not entirely sure what's going on. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M38 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | PA TE flat | Mouton | 10 | |||||||||||
| Another play where I can't tell who's screwing up on a wide open pass in the flat. It's either Mouton or Kovacs. Minuses for both. Cover -2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M28 | 1 | 10 | I-form | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | Van Bergen | 3 | |||||||||||
| Roh has been pulled for Fitzgerald. Woo 3-3-5. Here RVB(+0.5) beats a guy, forcing another cutback; Black(+0.5) has slanted under his guy to the point where it has to go behind him, giving Kovacs(+0.5) the ability to read the cutback and make a weak ankle tackle at the LOS that could be run through but for Sagesse(+0.5) fighting to the ball and finishing it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M25 | 2 | 7 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | PA throwaway | Kovacs | Inc | |||||||||||
| No one open (cover +1) as I think they were looking to go to the FB on the throwback but Kovacs(+1) reads the play and sits back on it, causing McGloin to chuck it OOB. Decent but not immense time. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M25 | 3 | 7 | Ace trips | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Cross | Demens | 6 | |||||||||||
| Completely mistimed blitz from Floyd(-1) on the overhang sees him both tip it and leave late, so it's easily picked up. No one anywhere near McGloin (pressure -2) and he has plenty of time to find a crossing route as it nears the sticks. Demens is in the area in pursuit and tackles short of the first down, but only a yard short. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M19 | 4 | 1 | I-form big | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Power off tackle | C. Gordon | 2 | |||||||||||
| Demens(+3) shoots the gap between the NT and DE at the snap, blasting into the guard pulling around to provide a lead block, shucking him, and meeting Royster a yard in the backfield. Monster play, and a dead drive if he can get some help. Marvin Robinson(-1) comes up and wraps up Royster's shoulders; Cam Gordon(-2) takes an angle upfield and comes too far inside, running himself out of the play when Royster spins free. This is an amazing play by Royster, but Michigan should never have let this happen. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M17 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Counter | Sagesse | 13 | |||||||||||
| Sagesse(-2) crumbles to the ground against single blocking before the handoff. Doom. Demens is again too close to the LOS to have any hope of scraping past releasing OL (RPS -2) and Roh can take the outside shoulder of the leading guard all he wants but that doesn't mean there's anyone coming to help. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M4 | 1 | G | I-form big | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Power off tackle | Banks | 3 | |||||||||||
| Banks(-1) easily sealed by a single block, which allows another OL to pop out on Mouton without delay; everyone plays this right but this is an I form big against something other than a goal line package from the 3 (RPS -1). | |||||||||||||||||||
| M1 | 2 | G | Goal line | Goal line | Run | QB sneak | ? | 1 | |||||||||||
| They get it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 10-21, 3 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| M37 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 3 | PA FB screen | Mouton | 17 | ||||||||||
| PSU just killing this coverage where Kovacs runs his ass off into a hole at the sideline 10-15 yards downfield. Michigan again rushes three and no one reads the screen, with Mouton(-1) the guy who's zone is closest; he compounds a deep drop by getting cut to the ground. Demens(-1) didn't read the direction of the releasing linemen and steps towards Royster, making certain he won't be able to track this down. Fitzgerald(-0.5, tackling -1) whiffs a tackle just past the sticks and gives up another six. (Cover -2, RPS -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M20 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Power off tackle | Banks | 0 | |||||||||||
| Banks(+1) takes on a double and holds at the LOS, eventually driving the OT over him back a bit and causing Royster to trip. Fitzgerald(+0.5) came down at a good angle to squeeze the hole tight. Royster seems to trip over legs that are there because Banks made a good play and Demens(+0.5) flows to the hole to finish the play at the LOS. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M20 | 2 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 3 | Post | C. Gordon | Inc | ||||||||||
| Talbott now in at field corner, PSU goes after him and it does seem like he's got position—Talbott's at least on his back unlike certain other corners. Cam Gordon(+1, cover +1) gets a good drop and tips the pass, causing an incompletion. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M20 | 3 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Pass | 5 | Corner | Vinopal | 20 | ||||||||||
| Guh. Michigan blitzes and C. Gordon(+1) sets up a blocker on the edge to the inside, juking by him to get a free run at McGloin, who tosses up a punt off his back foot. This punt is a slightly underthrown corner route. Ray Vinopal(-2, cover -2) is too far away from the receiver to make the slightly underthrown bit matter and waves helplessly at the ball as the receiver brings it in; they fall into the endzone. While McGloin's basically been handed scads of yardage by Michigan, he deserves some props here: his ridiculous back foot just having fun Wrangler Favre throw that should be easily intercepted is a fairly well thrown touchdown. FML. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 10-28, 1 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O24 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | 4 | PA Deep Hitch | Van Bergen | Inc | ||||||||||
| Roh blitzes into the interior and doesn't really get anywhere. Talbott(-2, cover -2) is beyond way off on this 15-yard deep hitch and this will be complete but RVB(+1, pressure +1) reads the play and closes in on McGloin, deflecting the ball and causing it to come up well short. Fortunate. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O24 | 2 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | Patterson | 1 | |||||||||||
| Same play from PSU that was picture paged; here Michigan is again using Roh as an interior blitzer; his attack draws two blockers and allows Patterson(+0.5) the luxury of just one; he slants past that guy and forces a cutback from Royster. Mouton(+0.5) is now playing a regular linebacker thing, not whatever he was doing in the first half, and reads, meeting the FB at the LOS. He's cut to the ground but his body is in the right spot and Royster slows, at which point Kovacs(+0.5) grabs him and gang tackling happens. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O25 | 3 | 9 | Ace 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Pass | 4 | Deep hitch | Talbott | 40 | ||||||||||
| Michigan drops back into a zone coverage with C. Gordon escorting the slot guy deep. (I now agree with BWS totally: it was Demens responsible for the Iowa TD). Talbott's on Moye on the outside and is in great position to break up the pass or even intercept but he screws it all up, letting the ball through for the completion and missing a tackle, turning a three and out into many yards. Talbott -3, cover +1, pressure -2. Srs. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M35 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | Stop and go | Floyd | Inc | |||||||||||
| Roh out, Fitz in and they do the same thing again; this version of the 3-3-5 is mostly a 4-3 with one tiny DT. PSU runs a slant and go and Michigan is in three deep with Floyd(-3, cover +1) in what should be great position to make a play on the ball, but he again gets totally lost. He's running a yard away from the sideline, facing it, in a spot that no one would ever think useful. So instead of being in a spot to intercept on a bad decision he can only watch a receiver almost catch a poorly thrown ball he should be all over. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M35 | 2 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Run | Power off tackle | Patterson | 5 | |||||||||||
| Patterson(-1) is doubled and gives a lot of ground quickly, eventually getting pancaked five yards downfield. However, the playside is jammed up because RVB(+1) drove his guy back and fought inside, closing off the running lane and forcing a cutback. Mouton responds as quickly as possible but with Patterson getting hammered like he does all he can do is hold the gain down. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M30 | 3 | 5 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 4 | Rollout out | C. Gordon | 7 | ||||||||||
| Vastly too easy as C. Gordon(-1) does not react to the out fast enough and this is an easy pitch and catch (cover -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M23 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Down G | Floyd | 4 | |||||||||||
| Headed outside with the playside TE blocking down and the two guys inside of him pulling around. There's a WR/TE to that side, too. Kovacs(+0.5) is momentarily doubled and gets shoved out of the play, but does at least close off an interior cutback. Mouton charges up and gets cut but creates a pile; Floyd(+0.5) comes up hard to make a tackle. Royster tries to leap through it but doesn't make it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M19 | 2 | 6 | Ace 4-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 5 | Out | Floyd | 5 | ||||||||||
| Floyd beaten on a quick out (cover -1) but is at least there to tackle. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M14 | 3 | 1 | I-form big | Base 4-4 | Run | Power off tackle | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Michigan slants the line right and sends two linebackers into the gap right, which is exactly where PSU is going with the ball. DL get crushed out of the hole but that's what you expect; Mouton(+1) roars up into the hole to take on the outside shoulder of the pulling guard, which funnels the tailback to Demens(+0.5). Demens engages to tackle but it's 50-50 whether it's a first down or not until RVB(+1) comes in. RVB was well to the backside, shoved his blocker back, and shot through the same hole the linebackers hit to help. Nice job. (RPS +1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: FG(31), 10-31, 10 min 3rd Q. This drive is basically good play and one 40-yard mistake by a freshman. If this is what was going on consistently I could live with it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O20 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Power off tackle | Van Bergen | 3 | |||||||||||
| Trying to go outside it seems. Line blocks down on the two DL, leaving RVB(+1) alone. He reads the play and heads upfield at the back, absorbing the pulling G and lead FB, and forcing the RB inside. There the RB meets a heap of bodies; Demens(+0.5) was responsible for creating the lack of gaps in the line. The delay allows a bunch of players to tackle. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O23 | 2 | 7 | I-form 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Pass | N/A | PA FB screen | Demens | 7 | ||||||||||
| This again. Another very slow read by the LBs; this time Mouton is up to take a cut near the LOS and forces the ball inside but Demens(-1, cover -1) is nowhere to be found and there's a lane the FB hits for first down yardage. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O30 | 1 | 10 | I-form twins | Base 4-3 | Run | Down G | Black | 12 | |||||||||||
| It looks like M is trying a similar slant to the one that got them the third and one stop on the previous drive but then Demens runs right into the middle of the line and Black runs upfield so I guess it can't be. It's pretty weird, though. Black(-1) heads upfield and is not blocked but does not sit down in an effort to combat the run, he just runs upfield, takes a shove from some OL, and is gone. Big gap. Mouton(-1) needs to get outside the pulling tackle but does not. Kovacs does what he can to funnel it inside against a blocker, and then RVB(-1), who stunted and flowed down the line the whole way, overruns Royster and turns this from like six into 11. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O42 | 1 | 10 | I-form twins | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Down G | Floyd | 6 (Pen +10) | |||||||||||
| So Floyd is rolled up to the LOS and Kovacs is overhang. Banks and Floyd to one side of the field? Let's run right at it. Floyd(-1) starts executing a pass drop before the handoff and gives up the corner on a play that otherwise could have been stopped near the LOS. Umpire calls Sagesse(-1) for grabbing the C and preventing him from getting out on a linebacker. Need to be more subtle about it, eh? | |||||||||||||||||||
| M48 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Pass | N/A | PA rollout wheel | Christian? | 34 | ||||||||||
| PA gets McGloin a billion years as RVB(-2, pressure -3) sucks into the playfake and removes any and all pressure. McGloin has forever. PSU runs a post-wheel combo against Christian, Gordon, and Johnson, IE three freshman, two of whom are playing their positions for the first time ever. Gordon gets beat but I don't really blame him; Christian(-1, cover -3) was late getting over. (RPS -2) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M14 | 1 | 10 | Ace twins twin TE | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Inside zone | Sagesse | 4 | |||||||||||
| RVB(+0.5) squeezes down on the pulling TE and there should not be much in the way of holes, but Sagesse(-0.5) gets booted out of the center, opening up a small crease that creates a decent positive gain. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M10 | 2 | 6 | Ace 3-wide | Base 4-3 | Run | Off tackle | Roh | 5 | |||||||||||
| Roh(-2) gets hooked and gives up the corner easily. Michigan seems misaligned, too, as PSU OL have incredibly easy angles to block Michigan LBs. (RPS -1) Floyd comes off a guy to tackle at the sticks. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M5 | 3 | 1 | I-form big | 3-3-5 stack | Run | FB dive | Sagesse | 5 | |||||||||||
| Sagesee(-2) is crushed, erasing the MLB; Banks(-1) slants inside a TE but takes a way upfield angle and can't close down the resulting hole. Kovacs is pulled outside by a pitch fake and Mouton eats a free release from a tackle. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 17-38, 4 min 3rd Q | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| O25 | 1 | 10 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Down G | Roh | 5 | |||||||||||
| Black(+0.5) does get sealed off but gives no ground and absorbs two blockers, leaving two on the edge against just one PSU guy. Roh(-1) is the outside guy and goes a little too far upfield, then gets chopped to the ground by the pulling guard. Demens is flowing from the inside and can't quite run Redd down as he breaks outside. Redd runs OOB after about five. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O30 | 2 | 5 | I-form 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Inside zone | Black | 1 | |||||||||||
| Black(+2) comes underneath the RT and into the running lane. He forces the RB away from the gaping lane behind him caused by Patterson(-1) getting blown back three yards and forces Redd to leap into a cluster of bodies in an attempt to avoid Black's tackle. RVB(+0.5), who's shooting inside when unblocked now, helped knock him off balance. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O31 | 3 | 4 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 3 | Rollout out | Talbott | 5 | ||||||||||
| Way too easy. No one within miles of McGloin (pressure -2) and the little out is open in front of Talbott(-1, cover -1) | |||||||||||||||||||
| O36 | 1 | 10 | Ace twin TE | Base 3-4 | Pass | PA sack | T. Gordon | -10 | |||||||||||
| Michigan PA blitzing all the way with Thomas Gordon(+2, RPS +2) sent off the corner on a McGloin search and destroy mission. He gets upfield too quickly for McGloin to adjust and tackles solidly for a huge sack. (Pressure +3) | |||||||||||||||||||
| O26 | 2 | 20 | I-form twins | Stack two deep | Run | Down G | Sagesse | 6 | |||||||||||
| Banks slants under his blocker and it takes a good adjustment from the pulling guard to wall him off. Sagesse(-1) is blown downfield immediately by the backside guard after getting scooped and the linebackers have to deal with a ton of blockers. Demens actually gets doubled, so he's doing well just to stand his ground. Fitzgerald(-0.5) overruns it, leaving Sagessse to come off his block seven yards downfield and tackle, which good for you but really the whole issue is that you're seven yards downfield. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O32 | 3 | 14 | Ace 3-wide | Base 3-4 | Pass | 5 | Corner | Floyd | Inc | ||||||||||
| Michigan sends blitzers and then sends a delayed LB once it's clear the TE is staying in. No one gets there (pressure -2). McGloin can throw a corner route; this one is well covered by Floyd(+1, cover +1) and the resulting throw is well high. Floyd was grabbing, but these days PI isn't PI unless it's called, same for holding. Rubbin's racin'. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 24-38, 13 min 4th Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||||
| M49 | 1 | 10 | I-form 3-wide | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Zone stretch | Van Bergen | 2 | |||||||||||
| They run at RVB for the first time in what seems like forever; he gets a push on the two OL over him(+0.5) that allows Fitzgerald(+0.5) to flow hard to the outside, absorbing the playside tackle and leading FB, and cutting off the outside. Cutback forced. This time Banks(+0.5) is flowing properly and is there to tackle with help from Mouton(+0.5) | |||||||||||||||||||
| M47 | 2 | 8 | I-form 3-wide | Stack two deep | Run | Counter | Fitzgerald | 3 | |||||||||||
| Michigan blitzing here; Fitz and C. Gordon come from the outside. RVB(+1) gets inside a tackle and takes out the pulling guard as this is supposed to go right up the middle of the field. Royster takes it a gap outside into the B where Fitzgerald(-1) is supposed to be; he runs too far upfield and gives up a gap between himself and the RVB mess. Demens(+1) was dropping into a zone to prevent any quick slants behind the blitz. When he reads run he comes up quickly and makes a solid tackle(+1) two yards downfield; Royster falls forward for two more. Plus for the Demens drop because I believe his pass pro responsibilities came first because of the Gordon blitz and he did react quickly enough to hold this down to 3. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M44 | 3 | 5 | Ace 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 4 | Rollout hitch | Kovacs | 14 | ||||||||||
| Michigan finally covers the out but in doing so they open up the hitch inside of it. Kovacs(-1) is nowhere to be seen on a play with no deep routes and a rollout in a situation where a first down is a serious threat of game over (cover -2). I'm not sure if Demens is doing the right thing here since he seems to have the tailback and moves up towards the LOS. If he stayed back that's where he'd be. Also this could be Floyd or Mouton since they both end up covering the out. Any of these folks could be at fault. Just don't know. Do know that this is a pretty insane call for the situation. Let's have two deep safeties twenty yards downfield. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M30 | 1 | 10 | I-form twins | 3-3-5 stack | Run | Down G | Mouton | 0 | |||||||||||
| Mouton(+1) flows, hits the pulling G at the LOS, gets outside of him, and stands there, eventually drawing the affections of the FB. Floyd(+0.5) comes up to hit the FB, too, cutting off all holes; Demens(+0.5) has scraped from the inside and delivers the tackle, though there's a bunch of bodies and a lot of falling so it wasn't a difficult one. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M30 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun trips TE | Stack two deep | Pass | 4 | Scramble | Black | 4 | ||||||||||
| PSU slides its protection and lets Black(+0.5) in on a tailback; he gets cut but does convince McGloin to start scrambling around; no one open (cover +1), McGloin decides to take off. Four Wolverines converge after a few yards. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M26 | 3 | 6 | Shotgun 3-wide | Stack two deep | Pass | 3 | Flare | ? | Inc | ||||||||||
| No one open (cover +1) and McGloin does something I don't think we've seen all day: checks down. Sad face. This is dead meat if caught and is poorly thrown anyway. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: FG(42), 31-41, 5 min 4th Q. PSU's last drive is academic and not charted. | |||||||||||||||||||
Chart.
Chart.
| Defensive Line | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Van Bergen | 10 | 3 | 7 | The solitary player to have a good day. |
| Martin | - | 1 | -1 | I'm going to throw myself off a bridge. |
| Banks | 5 | 6 | -1 | I'm picking it out right now. |
| Sagesse | 0.5 | 6.5 | -6 | Not high enough. |
| Patterson | 0.5 | 2 | -1.5 | Too high. |
| Black | 6.5 | 1 | 5.5 | Hey… wait, what? I guess so. |
| Washington | - | - | - | DNP |
| TOTAL | 22.5 | 19.5 | 3 | Lost out to a terrible OL. |
| Linebacker | ||||
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Ezeh | - | - | - | DNP |
| Mouton | 6 | 5 | 1 | Very difficult day; made that one awful missed tackle on Royster. |
| Roh | 0.5 | 7 | -6.5 | Is not a linebacker. Is not a linebacker. Is not a linebacker. |
| C. Gordon | 2 | 6.5 | -4.5 | Doesn't know WTF he's doing. Clearly inferior to… |
| T. Gordon | 2.5 | - | 2.5 | …but Cam played more than a guy who'd established himself as decent. |
| Leach | - | - | - | DNP |
| Moundros | - | - | - | DNP |
| Demens | 6.5 | 5 | 1.5 | Still picking guard out from his teeth. |
| Herron | - | - | - | DNP |
| Fitzgerald | 1 | 2 | -1 | More PT because Roh is not a linebacker. |
| TOTAL | 18.5 | 25.5 | -7 | Position moves a disaster. |
| Secondary | ||||
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Floyd | 3 | 12 | -9 | Awful, awful, awful. |
| Rogers | - | - | - | Did he play at all? |
| Kovacs | 3 | 4 | -1 | At least he's around zero. |
| Johnson | - | - | - | Did play a little but did not make an impact. |
| Talbott | - | 6 | -6 | Played in place of Rogers. |
| Christian | - | 1 | -1 | One exploitable play. |
| Avery | - | - | - | DNP, I think. |
| Ray Vinopal | - | 4 | -4 | Obviously tiny. |
| TOTAL | 6 | 27 | -21 | Worst ever. |
| Metrics | ||||
| Pressure | 7 | 11 | -4 | No pressure on PA. |
| Coverage | 11 | 27 | -16 | An utter debacle. |
| Tackling | 1 | 3 | -2 | This counts as good. |
| RPS | 3 | 13 | -10 | Let's align our MLB two inches from the nose tackle. |
[RPS is "rock, paper, scissors." Michigan gets a + when they call a play that makes it very easy for them to defend the opponent, like getting a free blitzer. They get a – when they call a play that makes it very difficult for them to defend the opponent, like showing a seven-man blitz and having Penn State get easy touchdowns twice.]
I'm going to dispense with the cute. This was a debacle. Michigan abandoned a defensive philosophy that hadn't exactly shone against Iowa but did put Michigan in a position where better play here or there from one player would have gotten redzone stops. They forced five three-and-outs and endured an avalanche of short fields and turnovers, looking sort of respectable against a veteran offense with solidly above average numbers. The Mathlete had their performance about three points worse than an average defense. They did this without Mike Martin.
Michigan gets a bye week. They play a team without a mobile quarterback running the same assortment of conventional power and inside zone plays they've faced. They:
- Install Ray Vinopal at FS.
- Move Cam Gordon to spur and displace the Johnson/Gordon combo.
- Install a bizarre three-man line package that's somewhat like a stack but not really a stack.
All of these moves fail. Cam is the worst spur we've had all year because he's been playing it for a week and a half. Vinopal is clearly overmatched whenever called upon. And the 3-3-5 sees Michigan give up 41 points to a team that was 82nd in yardage, 99th in scoring, and starting a backup walk-on quarterback. Penn State scores on all but two of nine real drives. 41 points on nine real drives. Without a single turnover.
Every single move made in the bye week is a detriment, and two people have now told me that at half time the adjustment made to Kenny Demens's alignment was a result of Demens himself asking for it. Michigan badly regressed after a panicked bye week adjustment that saw them slide to the 3-3-5 and fail at it, which is exactly what happened in 2008. This doesn't even cover it…
…because the chart doesn't know Robert Bolden was out.
Michigan needs to pick one thing and do it. Right now what are they? Are they a stack? Are they a 4-3? Are they a 3-4? The answer to all of these questions is "no."
You know who did this? You know what is going on here? Do you know the thing that is happening to Michigan's defense?
"They're going to have to learn about us, OK? Let them try to stop a pro-style [defense], which has multiple personnel groups and multiple formations. Let's see how they are going to do. They've had their advantage because I've come into recruiting late. Well, now it's Xs and Os time. Let's see who has the advantage now."
We've been Weis-ed. This is the equivalent of running a spread option against Georgia Tech and then abandoning it a quarter into the season. Michigan is running around with ten freshmen playing meaningful time and not one of them has any idea what they're supposed to be doing down to down. Greg Robinson has never had a successful college defense except for his one year at Texas where he just went with the flow before moving on, and his pedigree comes from the NFL. GERG E. Coyote, man.
So… your firing stance after the review of the game?
Even stronger. Michigan needs to get a proven collegiate defensive coordinator by paying ridiculous money and boot at least two and probably all of the other defensive assistants so he can bring in whoever he wants, and he needs an iron fist. There are two possibilities here: either GERG thought this stack was a good idea and needs to be fired, or GERG cannot maintain control over the gameplanning despite what happened in 2008 and needs to be fired along with everyone else.
GTFO.
Got a better example of the stack incoherence that got Kenny Demens eaten?
Yeah:
One step, he reads it, he tries to get back, he's way too close to the LOS and any release from an OL eats him.
How much brunt do the players bear?
Quite a bit, obviously. I mean:
JT Floyd had three instances of the worst coverage I've seen in my life. The one where he correctly read a stop-and-go only to run himself to the sideline five yards in front of the WR is even worse than this one, which is heroagagdddgsagasfying as is. In its glory:
McGloin threw about four terrible passes that a secondary with "players" "somewhat near" the "opponent" coulda/shoulda intercepted. On zero of them was the coverage within yards. Floyd's regressed badly and while Michigan's secondary was horrible with him they're not going to be much more horrible without him.
I won't get on anyone else too badly since we all knew the NT was death minus Martin and the other guys with big shiny negatives are freshmen who shouldn't see the field until they're redshirt juniors (Vinopal, Talbott) or second year players who've been jerked around into positions they aren't suited to and don't know very well (Roh, Cam Gordon). It's obvious why they're bad. This is Floyd's third year and he's not good.
It's symbolic that this is the play where it all went to hell:
Demens has that dead to rights if he can just get some gang tackling help. Marvin Robinson whiffs, Cam Gordon vacates the only area Royster can go, and Royster makes a terrific play to spin outside for the first down. Great play, but you can't spin past three guys without something having gone horribly wrong. That's a true freshman and a redshirt freshman who was a wide receiver last year and a safety last week. FFFUUUUUUUU.
Heroes?
Ryan Van Bergen.
Goats?
Greg Robinson, everyone in the secondary, Not Mike Martin, and whoever decided Craig Roh should play linebacker.
What does it mean for blah blah blah?
Everyone will score every time they touch the ball this year and when Greg Robinson is fired after the season Michigan will hire a Tecmo Super Bowl cartridge to run their defense.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:21 PM ^
that I put the scissors away at my desk before I read this. I may have done permanent damage.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:23 PM ^
I didn't think it was possible to feel any worse. Boy, thanks Brian!
So Greg Robinson is DC in title only. This was the case from the very beginning. He's not coordinating shit. He's just another low level assistant. Rodriguez probably has had the other assistants more or less "reporting" directly in to him.
We should have seen this scenario a mile away the moment Greg Robinson first arrived because GERG brought with him zero new assistants himself, he had no power or oversight to fire or get rid of the RR-crew, and he willy-nillied himself into adopting 3-4, 3-3-5. He didn't make a stand or state how it was going to be. Instead Robinson from the outset had the unenviable task of "managing" incumbent defensive assistants who were all, to a man, personally hand-picked by his boss, Rich Rodriguez back in Morgantown years ago. Impossible situation.
If you ever interview for a management position where this is the field of play, and where you have been provide zero authority to implement your ideas/programs and to manage and make appropriate changes, then there should be alarm bells going off in your skull.
But after getting shit-canned from Syracuse HC position, Robinson was probably elated to be offered any job at all.
Robinson is not only incompetent and can't recruit, he doesn't have the balls to tell Rodriguez and loyal staff members to "go to hell" about the formation changes and "I'll be running the defense my way".
As for the young UM players, it's fucking game 9 and they must be really confused. By game 9 even the younger players should start to exude more confidence and start pinning their ears back a little more.
Another opportunity missed for players to develop, IMO - as has been the case for the Michigan defense since 2005.
About that staple gun, I'll take two please.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^
I pretty much agree, although I think that Robinson might still be a competent DC if he were allowed to pick his own assistants and run his own scheme without interference--but at this point it's probably too late for him here. We'll need to get a new DC after the season, and give him complete control. (I think firing RR would probably mess up the offense and set us back even further than we are now.)
November 4th, 2010 at 9:26 PM ^
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know that much about coaching football (ie. Pretty much nothing) but, in my uneducated opinion, it seems like NFL success (more focused on calling plays and having elite talent execute…over-simplification, I know), no matter how long ago it was, doesn’t necessarily translate to college (more focused on actually teaching and developing young people).
If you discount his NFL success (I also don’t give him much credit for the Texas NC) then you’re left with his ancient history at UCLA (where he had a year as OC…isn’t there a heuristic about switching sides of the ball?) and the disaster at Syracuse. I guess I’m saying I don’t think there is any evidence that he would be a competent college DC.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:02 PM ^
November 4th, 2010 at 6:04 PM ^
his strangely self-depracating statement that it was all his fault and that he was terrible or something to that effect which was clearly sarcastic.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
Good points. What I don't get though is why, if these are the same assistants that helped put together a good defense at WVU, can't they do the same here? You would think that, if they could help Casteel succeed, they could also help GERG succeed. Is it that Casteel is a stronger personality who could whip these guys into shape but, with a weaker manager, they run roughshod over everything?
Or is it possible that defense just isn't as important in the Big East? If we assume that the Big East is a weaker conference, maybe WVU's defenses were weaker than they appeared; in other words, they looked better than they actually were because they were the one-eyed man in the land of the blind. (If so, then Casteel wouldn't help us; though it certainly seems that his defenses executed better, so I dunno.) This might also explain why RR was able to focus so exclusively on offense in the Big East, which has been a seemingly disastrous habit in the B10.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
WVU was a respectabe defense regardless of league. I would kill for those WVU defenses which would have likely meant at least a win over Iowa and a closer game against MSU. I'll go even further. I would take any defense in the Big East over ours right now, including the Shafer-led syracuse bunch. Hell, I would take most of the MAC over our defense right now. We are one of the top ten worst defenses in the country right now, adn that includes ND, UConn, and BGSU.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
From this play:
M35 1 10 I-form 3-wide 3-3-5 stack Pass Stop and go Floyd Inc Roh out, Fitz in and they do the same thing again; this version of the 3-3-5 is mostly a 4-3 with one tiny DT. PSU runs a slant and go and Michigan is in three deep with Floyd(-3, cover +1) in what should be great position to make a play on the ball, but he again gets totally lost. He's running a yard away from the sideline, facing it, in a spot that no one would ever think useful. So instead of being in a spot to intercept on a bad decision he can only watch a receiver almost catch a poorly thrown ball he should be all over.
Is this play an evidence of poor coaching, poor talent, lack of experience, or a combination of all? I want to say that it's a combination of lack of talent and experience, based on the following points:
- I would assume that the cornerbacks are tought how to defend a receiver down field while still looking up for the ball. This is a fairly large assumption on my part since I have never played football on any level, and thus have never actually seen what goes on in a "typical" football practice. So correct me if I am wrong, but assuming that that skill is tought, then for this play to be blamed on bad coaching would mean that our coaches are either teaching bad technique or are just not working on it enough in practice.
- A lack of talent would mean that Floyd will probably have a hard time defending this type of play for the rest of his career, unless he commits himself to getting better (I'm not saying he's unmotivated or lazy, but I believe that lack of talent can be overcome with hard work).
- A lack of experience would mean that as Floyd matures, and sees this type of play more in practice and in games, he will learn from his mistakes and his coaches, and will learn to put himself in better position to make this play.
What do the rest of you think?
November 4th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
It is time that we stop assuming anything has been taught to anyone playing any position on defense. Either we've got the dumbest group of players ever or our staff can't teach technique, scheme or even aggressiveness to save their lives. So depressing.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:42 PM ^
Strictly my opinion but I would say it has more to do with inexperience/lack of talent than it does coaching. Floyd I believe played safety in high school..this is his 3rd year of playing corner at UM...assuming he has played football since he was a kid when the going gets tough he most likely like other players reverts back to habits/instincts. Thats not to say that good coaching cant overcome habits and instincts but it has to be drilled and practiced until it becomes habit and now that the NCAA is watching its up to the kids *sarcasm*. I still believe in Rich Rod and still think he's the man for the job but I think he needs to give the power over the defense to the DC. Ultimately as head coach he makes the final decisions but if he doesn't trust a DC to do what's best for the team why have him as your DC. Hopefully these guys play the last 4 games with a sense of pride and will their way to a few stops here and there. A bowl game and the extra 15-20 practices that would come with bowl season is beyond important to this team.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:26 PM ^
I deduced it is the defensive coaching staff.
Morgant Trent did the exact same thing over and over and over.
Corrected?
Never.
"Keep on playing son. You're doing alright. Just like we did it last year and the year before that, and the year...."
November 4th, 2010 at 2:41 PM ^
You were too kind to the players who got pluses.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:47 PM ^
Is this everyone pushing the metophoric panic button?
November 4th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^
Point was made several times above, but wow. Just wow. How do we manage to shoot ourselves in the head while aiming for the foot???
November 4th, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^
November 4th, 2010 at 2:53 PM ^
I'm hoping desperately that this a Purdue/Justin Siller hiccup in horribleness - they haven't been good, but this shows just how really horrible they were...if the D can go back to being just sort of horrible, UM might have a chance against Illinois and Purdue...
November 4th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^
Great breakdown Brian. I do wonder if anyone thinks this might have just been a particularly bad game by the defense, coupled with missed opportunities? Even against MSU and Iowa, this defense performed far more admirably than against PSU, and while the personnel changes obviously didn't work, it does seem like the unit is bound to bounce back a bit this week. I'm not saying it will even shut down the Illini for a quarter, but 3-4 punts might be enough to keep UM in the game and let them pull out a victory. Illinois does not have an elite offense (of course we said the same thing about PSU), but I think if they get into a shootout on the road that might be too much for them. I'm not expecting the defense to play much better, but I think even a 15% improvement could be enough for a win.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:11 PM ^
November 4th, 2010 at 3:27 PM ^
How can you say we've seen the future of our defense? I know you're pissed because UM just lost a game that we all wanted to win, but get a grip man. This squad is such a skeleton of its potential self, it is definitely not the "future of our defense."
November 4th, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^
The defense looked good against teams like UConn and BGSU, which had mediocre QBs and relied on running the ball for most of their offense (I know BGSU likes to throw, but starting a 3rd-stringer didn't help). I'm not saying the defense will bounce back to anything approximating a "good" defense, but giving up 20-25 points would probably mean a victory.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^
Specifically, my right middle finger, which is losing its battle with the very hard piece of plastic that is the down key on my keyboard. Pound. A terrible play. Pound. Another terrible play. Pound....
November 4th, 2010 at 3:25 PM ^
This is a minor point, but for the record Washington, Ezeh, and Avery all played on defense during the PSU game, according to the player partcipation release. They're all listed as DNP in the UFR charts. Washington made his first career tackle.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^
November 4th, 2010 at 3:21 PM ^
Last 3 games that we have lost the defense has forced ZERO turnovers
MSU 0 turnovers U of M 3 turnovers (at horrible times)
Iowa 0 turnovers forced U of M 4 turnovers
PSU 0 turnovers forced
We havent given the offense the ball back at all... Either by forcing them to punt or getting a turnover
November 4th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
the defense actually had some big stops, but it was the offense that could not capitalize. Plenty of suck, but still some stops. Ditto Iowa. PSU was a completely different animal. Two punts on the day - thats it. The offense didnt do itself any favors, but that game was on the defense.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:27 PM ^
Umpire calls Sagesse(-1) for grabbing the C and preventing him from getting out on a linebacker. Need to be more subtle about it, eh?
It's funny because he's Canadian.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:15 PM ^
that is a very strange call.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^
Is RR ignoring the defense or meddling in it too much and forcing his way on things because we can't have it both ways? I've seen both frequently posted on hear, often coming from the same poster. Which is it? If we're calling for heads we need to decide which narrative to follow. If RR is meddling, he needs to learn to empower GERG and tell his buddies to STFU and get in line or if he is "neglecting the defense," then GERG needs canned.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^
I think the point that people who are "having it both ways" are making is that it seems that RR neglects the defensive side of the ball until it gets so bad that he can't neglect it any more and then comes crashing down with some radical quick-fix idea that fails.
Know thy team throughout, grasshopper.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^
We have a primary problem, GERG and his incompetance as a instructor of fundamentals and his inability to teach young players. Hell, I'll even leave his crazy schemes out of the equation. It's very obvious, as emphasized by Brian and others and backed up once again by this UFR. We are getting WORSE. He can't coach guys up.
I draw 2 conclusions of my own. Number 1- It's good the problem has been identified so clearly. Even RR can see it, right. DB? I would think so. This doesn't bode well at all for the rest of the season, but there is hope in cleaning house on D and being good next year. Just average would be fantastic. Thats all our offense needs Number 2- What if RR doesn't see things as they are and DB doesn't pull the plug on RR?. That's death to this team's future in my eyes. But I get hope when RR says this problem can't be fixed overnight that means he does know the GERG era is over and he can swallow some humble pie and let a strong ,proven DC coach our defense next year.
November 5th, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^
Wouldn't part of that blame also fall on the position coaches?
November 4th, 2010 at 3:44 PM ^
The UFR is always an interesting (if depressing) read. As noted by a commenter above, some of the DNP guys did play - I believe I remember seeing Q. Washington come in on at least one of the goal line plays.
The play I most want to go back and look at again after reading this is the 20 yard TD pass to the corner of the end zone (the Favre Wrangler back foot chuck-a-luck). Both in real time and on replay I found myself saying 'Vinopal has good coverage, that's just one hell of a throw'. The UFR gives Vinopal a -2 for being too far away. Seems harsh to me - a safety coming over to cover a corner route is going to have a hard time getting all the way to the sideline unless the pass is a duck and this one clearly wasn't.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:21 PM ^
November 5th, 2010 at 12:50 AM ^
Before the PSU game it seemed a lot of the guys were having a hard time with the positions they had been playing the first 7 games. Why they thought some of these guys would immediately grasp what they were supposed to do in a new position is beyond me.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:26 PM ^
...the reality of who to blame is going to matter in the end; If RR, stays GERG has to go in order for him to be seen as making changes to what is an embarrassment of a defense. If RR goes, GERG obviously goes. I have been saying that GERG has been a poor choice since last season, but if he is not making scheme decisions or position decisions, then in my opinion RR has to go too. If RR thinks the D is such a trainwreck that the only way to improve it is to make those calls himself, and if the PSU game was the outcome of his decision making, then he is lost at sea as a football coach. This is completely unacceptable; 3-3-5, injuries, inexperience--no one cares. You are getting your ass handed to you in the Big Ten over and over and over again by programs which you historically dominate. DB has to make changes and demands in order to restore the program; it's his job to right the ship and get this disaster back on track. RR is in no position to make a single demand; his way has not worked for Michigan football. Could it? Sure. Has it? In no way. I don't care about the philosophical universe where a 3-3-5 is an effective scheme or where the Big Ten presents unique match up challenges that preclude this system or that; this team is being destroyed in conference on a weekly basis by mediocre offenses for three years now. How can RR look at this and not want to kill someone? Is he insane coming out and talking about players and young guys and injuries? I want the coach to come out and tell me how disgusted he is and how he is going to change it, to take the blame on his shoulders for once in his career and give a sense of outrage and a plan to correct this problem. That is leadership, IMO. I don't see nearly enough teeth gritting and fire from this staff and it translates to the play on the field. The coaching staff look lost; hence the players. The coaching staff lacks intensity; hence the players. Greg Robinson couldn't start a fire in an explosives factory. Rich Rod saves his passion for yelling at his guys for mistakes and trying to rally the troops to get a stop down by two touchdowns in the 4th quarter. This team drives me fuc*ing insane.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:29 PM ^
I really do. You bring up some great points, but do you think that yelling/getting hot at press conferences is really a good thing?
November 5th, 2010 at 12:03 AM ^
...but RR cannot blame the players; they're scholarship kids learning the game on his watch. I want him to come out and say that this is not acceptable, that this is not the standard of football that he will accept of himself as a coach, of his staff, and that he recognizes that this is not the quality of football that will be played at a storied program like Michigan. Tell me I deserve better from him and the staff. Tell me more than "well, aw shucks, we'll go look at the film, it's hard to tell without looking at the film..." Really? You have a defensive staff watching every play from the field and from the booth and it's hard to tell? I'm watching the game and it's not that hard to tell and I know shit about coaching football. I don't want him to yell, I want intensity and a sense of personal responsibility; I want him to take it on his shoulders and lead. If he expects the accolades and the big pay day when he wins, he should also accept responsibility for the losses; man up and own this shit and reinforce that you don't believe it is up to the standard you expect from yourself and this program. OWN IT. I'm not sure he should be fired; I don't have the facts about what is really going on and who is doing what, etc. But if I see another one of these press conferences with the slumped shoulders, grabbing the podium with both hands and constant equivocation after getting your ass handed to you, I'm going to puke. It's funny; everyone talked about Lloyd Carr and how he ran a closed shop and sucked with the press, but he had a sense of intensity and dignity on the podium-- he gave credit to his opponents, and you could tell that he shouldered the responsibility for a loss.
Look, I don't expect us to win every game, I don't expect young players to execute on every play, I don't expect a depleted defense to be dominant. But I do expect the head coach to take responsibility and not project the sense that circumstance is the problem; life sucks. Succeed anyway.
This team cannot execute on defense and RR needs to own it in no uncertain terms, publicly and with passion. I think that (and four down lineman who can rush the passer and take some pressure off of the secondary) will go a long way toward helping this team's confidence, which is obviously shattered.
November 5th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
Noted.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
I'm not completely on the Fire RR Express yet, but I've saved my credit card info on their ticketing website.
It's highly disturbing to me that RR intervenes to make mid-season defensive changes a la Purdue 2008. That, to me, is a sign of massive discombobulation around team management. They do look lost. I think RR is in CYA mode from here on out and isn't going to donate any self-criticisms to the pitchfork crowd. That's too bad, because sometimes publicly accepting responsibility is what's best for the team.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^
The underneath coverage on this is indeed a debacle but the super debacle is JT Floyd(-4, cover -4) getting so completely lost in three deep coverage on a guy in his zone that he's not even the tackler on an underthrown, softly-tossed lob thirty yards downfield. What the hell is Floyd doing on a hashmark, facing inside, in a three deep, on second and twenty one?
Just curious, I haven't read every UFR all the way before. Have we ever had a player rated minus-four on a single play before? I haven't seen it myself. Not saying I disagree, the defense was pretty sad, but, wow.
Don't hold back man, tell us what you really think of JT Floyd...
November 4th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
Cam Gordon got a -6 for the play where he tried to backtrack and let the ball go over his head, forcing him to do a 180 and fruitlessly chase Rudolph into the end zone.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^
probably saved the game for us because we left the ball in the hands of the offense to win the game rather that letting ND chew up the clock only to score anyway.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:02 PM ^
Brian, I cannot imagine how brutal it must have been to sit through that hideous eyesore of a performance again, much less break it down. Major kudos.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:16 PM ^
this UFR was incredibly therapeutic to read
November 4th, 2010 at 4:11 PM ^
never had it so bad. That was the worst. That was liverwurst.
I applauded all the changes on D, so I have to take part of the blame.
What I remember most from the game: JoePa at halftime, having to swallow his tongue when asked why he thought they were doing so well. You just knew he wanted to say, "Because they suck! It's like they want us to win! I think they might be throwing the game!" And after the game he just gave RichRod the most pitifully compassionate and doe-eyed you-poor-fuck look I have ever seen.
P.S. It was nice to see that every PSU play wasn't successful. I thought they had been.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
I can't read the play-by-play anymore. It's too much sadness for me. That said, thanks for continuing to do it. If nothing else, it demonstrates that you are probably the only non-college coach to actually break down film instead of simply pontificating about it.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:15 PM ^
"We'll just get back to Ann Arbor, watch the film, correct our mistakes, and go from there."
Oh Jonas, you so crazy.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^
Shortest 'comment' section (end of UFR after Chart) I've ever read. Brian is seriously pissed and rightfully so.
The defense was bad after Iowa, but, this is the best they can do with a bye and 2 weeks to prepare? That points to how bad this defense is going to be still next year. I mean, they couldn't improve with 2 weeks to prepare for a specific offense that had all the publicized injuries and walk-on quarterbacks.
I just don't see where the hope is that these players will improve significantly by next year - new DC or not. Maybe by the 2012, but, until at least then UM will have to continue to outscore opponents.
Sad state of affairs.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:57 PM ^
Check out this article on Brandon Graham's take on the 3-3-5. Quotes near the end are especially telling:
Been my opinion of numbers on the line, and probably a lot of people's, for a while...
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