FORMATION NOTES: Rutgers did some weird stuff. On a number of snaps they'd start off looking like an over, then move a LB down into a three-tech like spot while flaring a DE out. I called those under fronts, and since Rutgers is pretty small all over it was just a way to sow confusion. An example; Rutgers shifted from this:

To this:

There's a standup 3-tech and an "ILB" who is actually a cornerback. It's a bit weird.

They also ran some more conventional under looks.

For its part Michigan went back to a heavy dose of gun. Removing three goal line plays, Michigan had 42 shotgun snaps to 13 under center. (A couple of those were goal to go runs from the 5 and 2, respectively, FWIW). This was not a panacea but did happen to coincide with Michigan's best rushing output against a Power 5 team not named Indiana in a long time.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Line was Cole/Glasgow/Miller/Kalis/Braden the whole way. Green got the bulk of the RB snaps until he was knocked out; Smith and Hayes got the rest. WRs and TEs as usual, though Butt is working his way into considerably more playing time as the season progresses.

[After THE JUMP: torchclowns, multiple torchclowns]

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M21	1	10	Shotgun 2TE empty	1	2	2	4-3 over	Pass	TE out	Butt	Inc
Green motions out, empty backfield. M ends up with six guys in the box against seven blockers but throws anyway. Quick TE out well behind Butt, can't make one handed catch. (IN, 1, protection 1/1)
M21	2	10	Shotgun D 3wide	1	1	3	Okie one	Run	Inside zone	Green	26
Rutgers standing seven guys on or near the LOS with one LB back. M runs at this and pops through a hole, finding no one on the second level. Kalis(+1) stepped left, recognized he had no one either on the line or the second level and stopped to wall off a slanting DL that Braden needed help with. Miller(+2) got same slant, pursued, shoved guy way out of his lane; Glasgow(+1) almost gets beat by a swim move but stays connected and shoves his guy upfield. Just enough of a crease and no second level for Green(+1). I do kind of want Green to do better with this desperate ankle tackle by the S but he found a small niche for a big gain.
M47	1	10	Shotgun D 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Run	Inside zone	Green	0
M to the line immediately, does RR look for snap, then get call from sideline. Rutgers overplays the run here, leaving the bubble open. Tough to decipher; Rutgers has its NT cocked over Miller and attacking hard; Miller gives some ground early but then the DT falls; backside block with Glasgow(-0.5) and Cole(-0.5) sees the other DT split them and no one can get to a linebacker; Green(-1) still has an opportunity to blast NS for three or four but decides to dance around and gets nothing. RPS -1.
M47	2	10	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	4-3 under	Run	Pin and pull zone	Green	1
Hill(-2) loses a down block that should be easy. DE extends and refuses to get sealed so a pulling Kalis has to deal with that and Green ends up with little space filled with two unblocked Rutgers players. Safety was coming down on this pretty quickly as well. Braden(+0.5) got a nice kick at least.
M48	3	9	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel under	Pass	Dig	Funchess	23
M checks after seeing what Rutgers looks like. Probably a penalty as Norfleet backs off the line at the last second and isn't set, refs +1. Rutgers leaves a dig wide open, good protection, Gardner throws it behind Funchess, who spins, catches the ball, breaks a tackle, and gets a big gain. (MA, 2, protection 2/2, Funchess run +)
O29	1	10	Ace 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 over	Run	Inside zone	Smith	2
Kalis(+2) turns and buries the three tech. Braden(-2) falls down, allowing a linebacker through unfettered; Smith has multiple options that seem okay as the corner is there but the rest of the line has gotten movement; he chooses inside, where the unblocked guy gets him after a couple. Cole(+1) and Glasgow(+1) had driven DL far downfield; one major error here obscured otherwise good work.
O27	2	8	Shotgun empty	1	1	3	3-2-6 dime	Pass	Out	Darboh	6
Simple pitch and catch. M picks up a blitz. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O21	3	2	Goal line	2	2	1	Goal line	Run	Lead zone	Smith	0
Braden(-1) does not pick up that the DT is slanting to him and that he needs to help Kalis; he takes his presnap uncovered read and moves to the second level, giving Kalis an impossible job. Kalis starts giving ground as he tries to stay attached to a guy who started playside and is roaring further thus. Smith(-0.5) still has a chance if he cuts right behind this and goes upfield hard, because Miller(+1) has gotten push and depth on his guy. Instead he tries to follow his FB, which is understandable, too long. Butt(-1) loses his guy definitively as well, finally inducing a cutback that's too late now.
Drive Notes: FG(39), 3-0, 10 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Ace twins	1	2	2	4-3 over	Run	Counter power	Green	6
Counter step from Green with Hill and Glasgow leading through the hole. Playside end flies upfield irresponsibly, Glasgow can't block him because he shouldn't be able to; rather large gap. Kalis(+0.5) and Braden struggle to deal with the DT but do get him dealt with; struggle means Braden is late to the second level and doesn't get much of a block on the playside LB. Hill(+1) does. He gets under the guy and blasts him back to the first down marker. Not the hardest thing to do when he's already set up but that is authoritah. Butt(-0.5) kinda loses the force corner and allows him to constrict space so Green(+0.5) has no choice but to run right at an S; he does sort of hurdle over him for some YAC.
M31	2	4	Ace biggish	1	2	2	4-4 under	Run	Zone stretch	Green	1
Man can I do without the infinite embattled coach shots. Chesson your wee TE. For one, once Michigan makes a wee TE Rutgers shoots an S down, presenting a full on nine-man box. They slant playside hard since the S lets 'em. Kalis(-1) doesn't perceive the slant and tries to move to the second level. Miller(-1) has a hard job but gets driven back too far, forcing a cutback. Chesson does a crappy job on a DE and I'm not minusing him for that because that's what happens. RPS -1.
M32	3	3	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	3-3-5 nickel	Pass	Sack	N/A	-3
Darboh is blasted off his route by a DB, a couple of weak hitches underneath are covered, Gardner bugs out after his first read doesn't look good. M has blocked this just fine, and just throwing it up to Funchess is viable. Gardner runs himself into a sack. No one was open, though. (BR, N/A, protection 2/2, RPS -1, Darboh route -1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 3-3, 5 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Ace tight	1	2	2	4-4 under	Pass	Corner	Funchess	23 + 15 pen
Five sent by Rutgers, Cole gets two guys and picks the interior one eventually. Smith comes around to pick up a blitzing LB, so there's enough of a pocket for Gardner to step and fire because he does so in rhythm. Throw is a lofted corner route to Funchess that is right on the money and sets up some YAC. Illegal hands to the face tacks on 15. (DO, 3, protection 2/2)
O37	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Flanker screen	Funchess	8
One of M's abort plays with rest of team running a pin and pull. Chesson(+0.5) and Norfleet(+0.5) get blocks and those are the only two guys in the area on the snap so Funchess can probe for good yardage. (CA, 3, screen, RPS +1)
O29	2	2	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	4-3 under	Pass	TE seam	Butt	Inc
Very slow developing PA but line holds up fine and Gardner fires a rope to Butt 20 yards downfield. Butt doesn't have great separation; DB is yanking at his arm as the ball arrives a bit, but man this hits him in the chest. (DO, 3, protection 2/2)
O29	3	2	Ace 3-wide	1	1	3	4-4 under	Pass	Waggle flat	Norfleet	4
Kind of predictable waggle here with Norfleet a Tiny TE dragging across the formation. Rutgers edge guy is headed straight at Gardner on the snap, he turns around to find that unpleasant information, and loops a ball to Norfleet like he did against ND, Norfleet grabs it and manages to get the first down narrowly. (CA, 3, protection N/A) This is a lot of work for four yards.
O25	1	10	I-Form 3-wide	2	0	3	Nickel over	Pass	TE seam	Butt	20
Close replay of previous seam except Butt gets more separation and the throw here is in front of him, requiring a spectacular one-handed stab that he of course makes. Given the location of the linebacker under him Gardner runs the risk of hitting him if he's closer; probably prefer he throws it higher but then maybe the safety becomes relevant. (CA, 1, protection 2/2)
O5	1	G	Shotgun trips	1	1	3	30 slide	Run	QB draw	Gardner	1
Rutgers stunts and gets a guy in free. Glasgow(+0.5) does recognize it after initial contact from the DT, coming off to get some variety of block on the stunting DE. Cole(-1) never sees it and continues futilely chasing the DE; Gardner cuts behind Glasgow and gets tackled by the free guy. RPS -1, stunt was always going to be hard even when Glasgow recognized it about as fast as reasonably possible.
O4	2	G	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 even	Run	Zone read keeper	Gardner	4
So I guess one advantage of breaking the huddle with ten seconds left is occasionally the D freaks out? Rutgers puts four guys over the trips, bad from the four, and Gardner(+1) keeps on a zone read type play on which Cole(+0.5) kind of bumps one end and then goes and kind of gets a block on the DB, both of which kind of blocks are enough for Gardner to get to the corner. Somehow. RPS +1? I guess.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 10-6, 14 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M10	1	10	Ace	1	2	2	4-3 under	Run	Counter zone	Green	1
Rutgers blitzes off the corner and that guy makes an unblocked tackle. Looked pretty good otherwise but can't know for sure. (RPS –2.) Miller(+1) pancaked his guy and Kalis(+1) kind of ended up on top of a guy who burrowed under him but to no avail.
M11	2	9	Shotgun D twin TE	1	2	2	4-3 under?	Pass	Improv	Chesson	6 + 15 pen
I'm a bit boggled by this, as Rutgers appears to move a LB down to three tech and flare a DE to act as SAM, so it's a 4-3 under with a standup DT. Okay? M with another all hitch, Gardner has Funchess open for five yards and immediate tackle, decides not to throw for some reason, starts rolling out, and then finds Chesson at the sideline for a decent gain that was harder than it needed to be. Oh well? (CA, 2, protection 2/2). M gets a first down on another hands to the face call.
M32	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 over	Pass	Deep out	Norfleet	20
Rutgers sends five with man behind it and two LBs hunting near the LOS for scrambles or Green popping out. Gardner has plenty of time and finds Norfleet on an out on which he was matched up with a LB; good time. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
O48	1	10	Shotgun D 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel even	Run	Inside zone	Green	8 (Pen -10)
M to line, checks. Backside looking rough as Butt releases downfield immediately, which looks like an arc block against no one to block. Miller(-0.5) is having some difficulty with the NT; Green(+1) feels the edge is there and goes for it, he's right as Cole got some depth but really this is just Rutgers not having a force guy. Glasgow(+1) gets a good second level block and Norfleet(+0.5) gets to a point where he can wall off a WR. Cole(-2) called for holding, and it is legit.
M42	1	20	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Out	Chesson	Inc
This feels like a bad route as by the time the ball gets to Chesson Darboh is a few yards away, allowing a guy nominally in a deep third on him to come off and nearly intercept. If this is an out it feels like it needs to be cut off sharply instead of rounded so that this DB can't fall off Darboh so comfortably. Gardner just about completed this and was under some duress as Cole(-1) let his guy in to bump on or near the throw so I don't have a big issue with the decision. (CA, 0, protection ½, Chesson route -1)
M42	2	20	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel over	Pass	Scramble	Gardner	14
Woof on the pass protection here as Braden(-2) gets straight up discarded by a DE and Kalis gets driven back... I think that's not great but it might have been okay; Gardner(+2) bugs out just in time to evade the DE and gets a terrific block from Hayes(+1) to give him the sideline and a big gain. (SCR, N/A, protection 0/2) M gets to the line a la RR and then there is no playcall to the point where M has to take TO.
O44	3	6	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	Nickel even	Pass	TE out	Williams	Inc
Late safety blitz confuses Kalis(-1), who hits a guy moving inside, Miller(-1), who is not looking for this guy, and Braden(-1), who ends up blocking nobody as people fly around him. Gardner gets immediate pressure up the middle, gets a heroic ball out to Williams, who drops it. (DO, 3, protection 0/3) Gardner must be going CUMONG MAN after this play.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-6, 7 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M26	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Slant	Norfleet	Inc
Just a flat drop. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M26	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 over	Run	Power O	Green	11 (Pen -9)
Similar to play called back on last drive as Rutgers has no one to set an edge. Butt(+0.5) does a decent job on an end; Kalis pulls to a LB and stands him up; Chesson(+0.5) chases a linebacker inside and escorts him past Green(+1) without getting a block in the back, and that's one D with no leverage. Kalis(-2) gets a wholly unnecessary holding call, wiping out the gain. RPS +1.
M17	2	19	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel under	Pass	Screen	Hayes	11
Well set up and mostly well executed. Glasgow(+0.5) looks around for immediate threat, sees none, and turns back in case there's a trailer. There is, he blocks him. Kalis(-0.5) only gets a weak shove on a DB who gets a play on Hayes; Chesson(+0.5) significantly delays a LB but does get thrown away in time for that guy to come down; Hayes(+0.5) is pretty fast and avoids the CB tackle. RPS +1 (CA, 3, screen)
M28	3	8	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel even	Pass	Sack	N/A	-4
Protection good at first on five man rush, but after Gardner has a couple of reads he doesn't like he is getting a guy looping around to him and starts bugging out. He almost has a lane but Miller got tripped by a DT and things close down. (TA, N/A, protection 2/2). M protected reasonably well and Gardner had time to find options.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-12, 5 min 2nd Q. M gets a short field after the failed fake punt on the next possession.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
O43	1	10	Ace 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Run	End around	Norfleet	8
No edge again, so this is basically free yards. Kalis(+0.5) pulls and gets in the way of the DE who biffed; Cole(+0.5) does wall off the next most dangerous guy on the line. Butt(-1) falls on the second level, so Norfleet(+0.5) has no choice but to run into a safety; he manages to bang out a few YAC. RPS +2.
O35	2	2	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	4-3 under	Run	Inside zone	Smith	2
Frustrating on Smith(-2)'s part here. M interior line blows Rutgers up; Smith cuts away from a sure first down to expose himself to a charging unblocked safety. Braden(+2) absolutely buries his man; Kalis(+2) blows into the NT and then releases downfield, then picks the NT back up. Glasgow(+0.5) also walled a guy off. They give M the first down, review it, still give it to M, looks like a bad call. Refs +1.
O33	1	10	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	4-3 under	Pass	Post	Chesson	28
Rutgers sends six with a seventh waiting for a scramble out; Michigan does a great job of picking it up. Smith ends up picking up a DT with the best pass pickup M has had since Vincent Smith left; Gardner starts to bug out but then regains faith and looks downfield, delivering one of his awkward no-step floaters. This is directly to Chesson in between two defenders for a big gain. Okay! (DO+, 3, protection 3/3)
O5	1	G	Ace	1	2	2	4-4 over zero	Run	Inside zone	Smith	3
Miller(+1) takes on the NT; Kalis(+1) hits him as well, NT starts collapsing back, Miller ends up burying him. Other blocks are a push, and this is just a grind play up the middle so Smith hits it straight NS. I think they short him a yard but they just gave him one so call it even.
O2	2	G	Ace	1	2	2	Goal line	Run	QB sneak	Gardner	1
They hurry to the line and snap it with (probably) 28 seconds on the clock, which is bad since the tempo advantage isn't worth the time here. Gardner spins to the half-yard line before a DB sticks him.
O1	3	G	Goal line	2	3	0	Goal line	Run	Down G	Smith	1
Hurst in. As per usual he is not needed. Braden(+0.5) and Williams(+0.5) get the small push necessary for Smith to blast in.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 17-12, 1:43 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M41	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Sack	N/A	-13
Relatively decent pickup for a six man pressure; Kalis ends up blocking no one because of the protection; Gardner just has to get rid of this faster, he's got some dumb little hot routes for decent yardage and doesn't throw it, instead hesitating and becoming lost. (TAx, N/A, protection 2/3, team -1)
M28	2	23	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Scramble	Gardner	11
Basic screen looks open for good yardage but Gardner decides to bug out and run. Not a bad decision with the NT headed for the screen, actually. (SCR, N/A, protection N/A)
M39	3	12	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel even	Pass	Skinny post	Chesson	Inc
This is obvious interference on a catchable ball that the refs ignore. So... hurray. Refs -2.. Good protection on a six man pressure. (CA, 0, protection 3/3, Refs -2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 17-19, 11 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M31	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 even?	Run	Pin and pull zone	Green	-2
Looks pretty good until a LB shoots a gap behind Miller(-2), who doesn't see at all who he might have to block until too late; he turns around but can't touch the guy; guy tackles Green in the backfield. A slight shove there put Green one on one with an S.
M29	2	12	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Pass	Scramble	Gardner	8 (Pen -10)
Miller(-2) called for an obvious hold on a block that still sends Gardner scrambling for what he can get. (SCR, N/A, protection 0/2)
M19	2	22	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Okie one	Pass	Comeback	Darboh	Inc (Pen +11)
Five sent, M picks it up, Gardner throws at Darboh, CB jumps route, Darboh tackles him, M gets lucky flag. Not a good decision, had Chesson for something. (BR, 0, protection 2/2, Darboh route -1) Refs +3.
M30	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 even	Run	Power O	Hayes	4
Cole(+0.5) and Glasgow(+0.5) turn in one DT and put him on the ground; Chesson cannot get to a LB before he's way upfield of him and that puts too many guys on the edge to block. Bubble, etc. Hayes(+1) does a nice job to set it up outside and then cut NS, probably a nice gain except MIller(-1) couldn't get the other DT sealed at all and he comes from the other side of the play to hit after a few yards.
M34	2	6	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	4-3 under	Run	Power O	Hayes	1
Seven guys in the box and two deep safeties and M just goes at it; still not effectively preventing things like this. Slant beats Cole(-1) badly; he loses his guy upfield, absorbing the pulling Kalis and forcing a cutback. Backside blitz then eats Hayes after he makes that cut inside where he has to. RPS -2.
M35	3	5	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Okie one	Pass	Post	Funchess	INT
Pressure, picked up okay, Gardner pumps, then throws a vastly off target ball that a S intercepts. (INX, 0, protection 3/3)
Drive Notes: Interception, 17-19, 4 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M31	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 under	Run	Inside zone	Green	8
Rutgers with a shift to LB 3tech again; Glasgow(+2) hurls him away from the play; Miller(-1) ends up falling; Glasgow pops off to take his guy on the second level. Cole(+0.5) got a good kick for some room and Norfleet(+0.5) gets an extended block on a slot LB to provide room for Green(+0.5), who just goes straight upfield for the most part but did cut behind the Glasgow block well.
M39	2	2	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	4-3 under	Pass	Flanker screen	Funchess	0
Chesson(-2) gets beat by the corner badly; he blows Funchess up immediately. Not a bad idea. (CA, 3, screen)
M39	3	2	Goal line ace	1	4	0	Goal line	Run	Inside zone	Green	8
Miller(+2) buries the NT; Kalis(+1) moves left and then perceives the slant coming his way and stops to wall off the other DT. Glasgow(+1) gets to the second level; Green has a crease right up the A gap, with only the S to stop him. He runs him over, going down in the process.
M47	1	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	4-3 over	Run	Counter power	Green	21
Counter gets LBs hesitant. Williams(+0.5) does an okay job on the playside end; Kalis(+1) pulls and gets a seal on playside LB; Cole(+1) got to the backside guy to chop him down. Green(+1) into the secondary, running through a safety tackle for bonus YAC. RPS +1.
O32	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 over	Run	Zone read keeper	Gardner	8
Think this is a called play rather than a true read. Rutgers does a slant to this play, with a DT ending up the contain guy, but he's drawing a blocker. The unblocked guy is a DE folding back who gets super confused about who has the ball and gives M time to get around the contain guy. Glasgow(+0.5) gets a good block on the next man inside that's aided by the zone fake; Butt(+0.5) also gets a second level block; Gardner(+1) jukes that end with help from the Cole(+0.5) block and picks up a nice gain. RPS +1.
O24	2	2	Ace	1	2	2	4-3 under	Run	Inside zone	Smith	5
This breaks outside because Funchess(-1) holds the hell out of a cornerback after whiffing on a block, refs +2. Decision to bounce highly questionable with Michigan getting a lot of push to the interior, with Miller(+1) and Kalis(+1) caving in the center of the Rutgers defense. Glasgow(-0.5) had some issues with his guy but they were minor ones.
O19	1	10	Ace	1	2	2	4-3 under	Pass	Waggle scramble	Gardner	19
Waggle is not looking good with a CB sent off the edge to specifically combat this; Gardner(+3) makes that guy miss somehow, points guys downfield, breaks a tackle, and scampers into the endzone. (SCR, N/A, protection N/A)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 24-26, 9 min 4th Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M14	1	10	Ace twins	1	2	2	4-3 over	Run	Counter power	Smith	9
Standup end to the playside dives in, plays it badly, ends up blocked by Kalis(+1) and trying to lurch backwards at Smith. Hill(+2) completely clobbers a linebacker; Cole(-0.5) doesn't do a great job on the second level; Smith(+1) runs over a guy and picks up some YAC.
M23	2	1	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	4-3 even	Run	Power O	Smith	4
Stacked WRs to the field leave 6.5 in the box with one an overhang corner. M runs a straight power play which is blocked fine but a safety at 9 yards is coming down so hard he makes contact at the LOS; Smith(+1) spins through a tackle to pick up the first down. Cole(+0.5) and Williams(+0.5) popped the end in with Williams doing okay on a linebacker; Kalis(+0.5) pulled and got a hit on a LB. RPS -1.
M27	1	10	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	4-3 over	Pass	TE flat	Hill	12
All day, Gardner takes his time and checks down to Hill(+1), who runs through a tackle for a first down. (CA, 3, protection 3/3)
M39	1	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	5-2 under	Run	Power O	Smith	4
Rutgers blitzing with just one LB type behind the line. Rutgers slanting away; Braden(+1) puts his guy on the ground; Williams(+0.5) pushes his guy some; Butt(-1) ends up upfield of Williams instead of going to get a safety or LB; Glasgow(+0.5) gets an okay block on his pull; Smith runs upfield for an okay gain.
M43	2	6	Shotgun empty	1	2	2	Okie One	Pass	Slant	Funchess	17
Man coverage, quick throw to Funchess, who got inside the DB but still has him on his back. Ball is pretty good but could be better; Funchess fends off a rake for a catch and some YAC. (CA, 2, protection 1/1)
O40	1	10	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	4-4 under	Pass	Fly	Darboh	Inc
Darboh has a step; protection is good; Gardner way, way overthrows it. Had Hill again for a nice gain on a dinky throw. (IN, 0, protection 2/2)
O40	2	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	4-3 even	Run	Inside zone	Smith	1
If this is actually a read a keep looks like the move here as the DE is shuffling down too far. Gardner(-1). Braden(-1) gets rocked back and discarded; Kalis also kind of loses his guy but the guy gave a ton of room to do so so that actually opens up a hole. Norfleet(-1) is cracking down on a linebacker and has an opportunity to hit him but doesn't actually follow through with it. Those guys plus the backside end tackle.
O39	3	9	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Okie one	Pass	Rollout out	Darboh	Inc
Everyone's rollout out avoids a seven man blitz from Rutgers and does get a first down until the refs derp it away. (CA, 3 (counted as completion), protection 1/1, RPS +1, refs -2)
Drive Notes: Missed FG(55), 24-26, 3 min 4th Q. M does not get the ball back.

This was less totally pointless.

That it was, and it makes the Shane Morris start even more inexplicable—let alone the decision to go with Shane Morris until he literally could not be on the field any more. Devin Gardner's got problems, but he's the best Michigan has.

Can't you be even a little positive?

I totally can.

Okay.

In situations that warrant such behavior.

Argh.

Does this not?

I mean, it does, a bit. They moved the ball, some, they scored three touchdowns, they didn't look totally inept. There was a bit near the end there where Michigan was kind of plowing them.

We are still trying to get hype about putting up 338 yards on Rutgers.

Maybe not hype so much as non-despondent?

All that has migrated a level higher than the football team for me. So let's look at the

charts

charts.

Devin Gardner 2013

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	DSR
Central Michigan	2	10(1)+	1	1	2*	-	-	1	3	82%
Notre Dame	7+	16(1)++	4(1)	2	3*	-	1	4	4	82%
Akron	3	14(2)	-	5	3**	2	1	3	1	59%
UConn	2	13(1)	1	5*+	-	1	-	5	5	76%
Minnesota	4+	7(1)	4	1	-	-	-	1	2	92%
Penn State	7+	12(2)	-	5+	2**	3	1	4	4	66%
Indiana	5	18(3)	1	1	3	3	-	-	5	78%
Michigan State	1	15(2)	1	5	4*	6	-	4	1	50%
Nebraska	-	17(1)	1	4(1)	2*	5	-	6	-	62%
Northwestern	5	21(6)	3	5	6*****	1	2(1)	6	4	65%
Iowa	3	12(5)+	2(1)	5(1)	-	2	2	4	3	68%

Devin Gardner

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	DSR
App State	1	11(4)	-	2(1)		1	-	1	1	82%
Notre Dame	3	17(3)	2	1	6(1)**	3	-	2	2	68%
Miami(NTM)	1	9(1)	1	3	2	-	1	2	2	65%
Utah	2	9(2)	5	5**	1*	1	1	4	3	60%
Minnesota
Rutgers	4	14(3)	1	3*	2	2*			4	73%

This is a strong performance, so what's with the offense stalling and the like? The WRs had three flat-out drops, the OL drew four holding calls, and Gardner had what I think is the first-ever TAX when he took a thirteen yard sack instead of dumping the ball off. Oh, and he threw a horrible interception.

Gardner did seem a lot better but that was probably just the Minnesota game coloring my viewpoint.

Yes. Gardner's capable but erratic, and that's not going to change. He can float perfect passes to Funchess; he can do the same to Chesson with his little hop step thing, and then he can try that on a deep ball to Darboh and miss by ten yards:

Oh and also… this:

Oy. That might not even be a bad decision, it might be an attempted punt to Funchess that has a decent chance of working. Whatever it is, it is probably 20 yards off target. This is why you have technique, to prevent things from going this badly.

Gardner's athleticism was deployed on purpose in this game, more than once even. The run to the pylon for his first touchdown looked doomed for almost the whole play and then at the end it's not even close:

He also scampered for a touchdown on a waggle that Rutgers had specifically deployed a defensive back to blow up. After, Hoke told his radio show that…

"As coaches, you look and you see 'well, maybe this is the kind of quarterback we need to have,' " Hoke said Wednesday night on his weekly radio show. "And do some things, maybe, a tad differently but still (within) the framework of the offense."

And I vomitclapped.

The run game looked functional, for the most part?

Yeah?

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	Total	Notes
Cole	5	5	0	I'll take it.
Glasgow	9	1	8	Blowing guys off the ball.
Miller	8	5.5	2.5	Also yes.
Kalis	12.5	3.5	9	Outside of an unnecessary holding call, wow.
Braden	4	4	0	Erred big when he erred but it wasn't often.
Magunson				DNP
Williams	2		2	Okay edge blocks mostly.
Kerridge				DNC
Hill	4	2	2	One plus here for a broken tackle, not in totals.
Butt	1	3.5	-2.5	Did not have a good day.
TOTAL	45.5	24.5	65%	Just about hit the number.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Gardner	7	1	6	Legs, useful.
Morris
Green	5	1	4	Just in time to get injured.
Smith	2	2.5	-0.5	Some tough YAC, some weird reads.
Hayes	2.5		2.5
Johnson				DNP
Shallman	-	-	-	DNP
Kerridge	N/A	N/A	N/A	moved to TE for now
Houma				DNP
TOTAL	16.5	4.5	12	It's good when Gardner has numbers here.
Receiver
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Funchess	1	1	0
Chesson	1.5	2	-0.5	Got a screen blown up.
Darboh
Norfleet	2	1	1
Canteen		-	-	DNP
Dever	-	-	-	DNC
Jones	-	-	-	DNP
TOTAL	4.5	4	0.5
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Protection	38	9	81%	Braden 3, Miller 3, Kalis 1, Cole 1, Team 1
RPS	10	9	1	eh

This was the best performance from a Michigan offensive line in a long time. That protection number against the guys leading the nation in sacks and a run game that was picking up handfuls of yards on the regular without having anything super long to distort stats mean Michigan just about hit the 2/3rds positive number you want to see in the blocking and put up an excellent protection mark.

I have no idea why this happened or if it is replicable. When we've seen this happen on this team for one particular unit, the next test generally sees the unit implode.

But Gardner had a ton of time and when he got sacked it was usually on him or the WRs; without those sacks Michigan went for 5.5 yards a carry. That's pretty freaking good when your long on the day is 26.

So the line was good and the QB was good and Michigan got 336 yards?

Here's how Michigan's non-touchdown drives ended:

1. Third and two stuffed as OL fails to pick up slant.
2. Gardner has no one open on third and short, with Darboh particularly blasted off a route. He gets sacked.
3. Williams drops a pass on third and six.
4. Gardner sacked after good protection when he can't find anyone open.
5. Chesson hit before ball arrives on possible/probable conversion, no flag.
6. Horrible INT
7. Ref derp on Darboh conversion.

The wideouts did not help matters much, with three flat drops and those instances where nobody got open on third down, and the refs made some critical errors on third downs Michigan could have/did convert.

And they did get 24 points! I may be experiencing lowered expectations.

So… they ran?

Yeah.

A healthy chunk of this was some sort of structural issue in the Rutgers defense that saw Michigan pop outside the tackles frequently, with nothing approximating an edge set. One example:

That ended up with a holding call on Mason Cole but even without that Green is going to get a healthy chunk because no one forced him back to the rest of the defense. This was a theme.

Michigan ran this power counter a couple times, saw this, and then just started running straight-up power to similar effect. Rutgers DEs were either unprepared for this or playing it poorly. Continuing the themes: this was also called back for a totally unnecessary hold, this one on Kalis.

That seems bad.

It is bad!

That kind of seems like the same problem Michigan is having on defense.

And don't forget special teams. It is the same kind of imprecision seemingly resulting from a lack of focus. Field a punt on the four, airball a tackle on a tight end, hold when there's no need to even risk it… it's just kind of a holistic badness.

Improvement, though? Michigan did run effectively.

You are getting blips and bloops of increased understanding. When Green ripped off a big gain on Michigan's first drive it came on an aggressive slant that Kalis felt and stopped for:

That one was maybe a bit easier than some other decisions like that you might have to make because Kalis wasn't presented with a second level player. It seem like he sees he doesn't have linebacker and then the uh-oh clicks on. Can he deal with this slant if he sees a target? I'm a little dubious about that, but he did have more of a decision to make in the fourth quarter when he again anticipated a slant and sprung Green for a nice gain.

That's one step forward; here's one step back. It's a little hard to see with the zoom out here but Kalis gets put in a bad situation when his guy slants hard and Braden does not make the adjustment Kalis did in the clip above:

Often when a guy gets dumped in the backfield it's not his fault but the guy next to him who didn't perceive that his pre-snap read—I'm not covered—is invalidated by a slant.

Still, they were better, and when they did not elect to hold uselessly those runs popping to the outside were nice.

Well, since we're going with Smith now, how was Smith?

About how he's been. He pounded out some tough yards; I still think he needs to make more rapid decisions to go north and south. In the play linked just above he's probably doomed either way but once Kalis ends up in the running lane his only hope is to cut right behind that and try to bull his way through. This is is definitely a cumong man:

They gave him the first down but man Michigan blocked that better than two yards.

Is Khalid Hill emerging?

A bit. He had that block on Michigan's final touchdown drive that put a pretty good linebacker on his butt, and he had a similar, if less difficult, play earlier:

He also had a nice catch and run to pick up a first down. He seems to be cutting into AJ Williams's time, but that can only go so far since Hill doesn't seem to be the inline blocking type and Michigan is running a ton of 2 TE sets.

Meanwhile, Jake Butt should be more prominent perhaps.

I know he dropped one just before this. Shhh. We're being positive.

Receivers?

[0 = uncatchable, 1 = circus catch, 2 = moderate difficulty, 3 = routine]

Player	0	1	2	3		0	1	2	3
Funchess	1		2/2	2/2		7	1/2	5/7	18/18
Chesson	1		1/1	1/1		4	0/3	2/3	8/8
Darboh	2			2/2		5	2/3		9/9
Norfleet				2/3			0/2	0/1	10/11
Canteen						2		1/1	2/2
Butt		1/2		0/1			3/4		3/4
Hill				1/1		2	0/1	0/1	3/3
Williams				0/1					2/3
Heitzman									1/2
Jones						1		1/1
Green							1/2		1/1
Smith							0/1
Hayes				1/1		1			2/2
Johnson
Kerridge							0/1		1/1
Houma

ROUTES: Darboh –2, Chesson –1.

There was some stuff that I felt was route sloppiness. The Darboh PI-type-substance was one; I also thought that Chesson was some yards away from where he should be on this play:

Having two guys in close proximity is usually not good, and here it allows the guy tracking Darboh deeper to fall off him and make a play on the ball. It seem like Chesson needs to get to the sideline five or so yards further upfield so that no one can make up the separation between the WRs while the ball is in the air.

Heroes?

Kalis, Glasgow, Gardner

Maybe not so heroic?

The tackles, the receivers.

What does it mean for Penn State and beyond?

Here's a sliver of hope. It is trying to destroy you.