rundown of Michigan's riser
Upon Further Review: Defense vs. Northwestern
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Highlights from Dangerous Logic; special thanks to IBFC for providing the second half for review. Mutter mutter roommates.
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O27 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Stop |
| Ball is hopped a good five yards short of his man. (IN) | ||||||
| O27 | 2 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | 18 | Screen |
| First in a bevy. We blitz Burgess; Harris is sealed by a wide receiver coming down to block him... bad angle for him. Where's Harrison(-1)? I don't know. Harris does well to get as far outside as he can despite dealing with two blockers, but Harrison is really late, giving Sutton the sideline. (CA) | ||||||
| O45 | 1 | 10 | Base 4-3 | Pass | Inc | Slant |
| Open for about five, but Lane drops it. (CA, cover -1) | ||||||
| O45 | 2 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Seam |
| Bacher's pass bounces harmlessly, as Herbert wasn't looking for the ball. Harris(+1, cover +1) is in outstanding coverage. | ||||||
| O45 | 3 | 10 | Base 4-3 | Penalty | 5 | Offsides |
| Taylor(-1) | ||||||
| 50 | 3 | 5 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 17 | Stop and slant? |
| This route probably has a name but I don't know what it is. Herbert runs a hitch, gets Burgess to come up on him, then releases inside, finding a gap in the zone. Bacher gets off a nice pass despite getting killed by Woodley(+1, pressure +1, cover -1). | ||||||
| M33 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Double screens |
| Fakes a screen out to Sutton, then comes back to Herbert on the other side of the field. Low and dropped... would have gone for a lot of yards otherwise. (IN) | ||||||
| M33 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Run | -2 | Zone read  |
| Good god. Woodley(+1) penetrates into the backfield about three yards; Harris(+1) comes up behind him and pounds Sutton. If he didn't make the tackle Crable and Englemon were also right there. | ||||||
| M35 | 3 | 12 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | -13 | Sack |
| Woodley(+3) comes around the outside, swatting the ball out of Bacher's hands. Sack, FF, FR. Niiice. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Fumble, 0-0, 12 min 1st Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O20 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | 23 | Corner |
| Peterman wide open in front of Adams. Actual time to throw from Bacher (pressure -1, cover -1) | ||||||
| O43 | 1 | 10 | Base 4-3 | Pass | 8 | Cross |
| Play action with an end around fake. Bacher picks out a small hole in the zone; Herbert tackled immediately. (pressure -1) | ||||||
| M49 | 2 | 2 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Slant |
| Taylor(+1) appears to be dropping into a short zone? No way. I guess. He gets a momentary push on the DL, then drops back. He's probably a screen spy on this play. He happens to be right in the throwing lane. (BA cover +1) | ||||||
| M49 | 3 | 2 | Nickel | Run | 4 | Off tackle |
| Sutton squeezes off tackle for the first down but is then popped by Adams(+1), jarring the ball loose. Hall scoops it up. | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Fumble, 7-0, 8 min 1st Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O19 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Run | -2 | Off tackle? |
| Hard to tell the play design since Woodley(+2) is chipped by the TE and then into the backfield, shedding the attempted block from the fullback like he is an impudent child. By the time the cavalry arrives Woodley is already bringing the RB down. | ||||||
| O17 | 2 | 12 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Screen |
| Dropped. Took too long to set up, anyway, and a slashing Hall(+1) would have crushed this for a loss if caught. | ||||||
| O17 | 3 | 12 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 8 | Screen |
| Woodley(+1) runs this down, coming from the other side of the field on a stunt, reading the play, and chasing down Sutton. Dang. | ||||||
| O25 | 4 | 4 | Punt Return | Penalty | 5 | Running into kicker |
| You know, if we aren't ever going to block a punt we could probably forgo this bit. | ||||||
| O30 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | 8 | Stop |
| Lane in a small gap in the zone; Harris CROOSHES him after the catch. (cover -1) | ||||||
| O38 | 2 | 2 | Nickel | Penalty | -5 | Illegal formation |
| Wipes out a nice Sutton gain. | ||||||
| O32 | 2 | 7 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Comeback |
| Play action fake suckers no one. Jeremy Van Alstyne (!, +1) gets a QB hurry, forcing an incompletion. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| O32 | 3 | 7 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 6 | Stop |
| Bacher forced to come down to a receiver short of the sticks on this rollout; the two deeper guys are covered. Hall(+1) makes a stiff, sure tackle to prevent the first down. (cover +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 3 min 1st Q. Really two three-and-outs back to back because of the penalty, though one was penalty-aided. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O3 | 1 | 10 | Base 4-3 | Run | -1 | Off tackle |
| Yeesh. Branch(+1) burrows into the backfield, leaving Sutton to meet unblocked Burgess and Barringer. | ||||||
| O2 | 2 | 11 | Base 4-3 | Run | -1 | Off tackle |
| Jordan slips trying to make a cut away from a penetra ting Taylor(+1). |
||||||
| O1 | 3 | 12 | Base 4-3 | Pass | Inc | FB screen |
| Uh... yeah, that's not going to work. Taylor(+1) is on top of Bacher so fast that he throws off his back foot, wildly inaccurate. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 11 min 2nd Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O26 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Dumpoff |
| High and through Sutton's hands. Englemon(+1) in good coverage(+1). | ||||||
| O26 | 2 | 10 | Nickel | Run | -1 | Shotgun sweep |
| Biggs(+1) gets penetration, disrupting the play and stringing it out into the arms of Burgess(+1), et al. | ||||||
| O25 | 3 | 11 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 0 | Screen |
| Harris(+1) dives between blockers, stripping them from Sutton and allowing a pursuing Englemon(+1) to make the tackle. | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 10-0, 5 min 2nd Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O9 | 1 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | ??? |
| Jamison is about six inches from another flyby strip job like the one that ended Northwestern's first possession. He misses, Bacher throws yards wide of his receiver. Miscommunication. Hall nearly picks it off. | ||||||
| O9 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Out |
| No idea why they're throwing at Hall. He jumps this, nearly intercepting the ball and knocking it down. (Hall +1, cover +2) | ||||||
| O9 | 3 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Out |
| Adams comes unblocked through the middle. Bacher throws a jump ball; Morgan Trent(+1) is there, breaking up the pass. (pressure +1, cover +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 10-0, 2 min 2nd Q. Breaston fumbles the punt. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| M44 | 1 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 0 | Screen |
| The old play where they get someone to fake a block, fall down, and wander out to the other side of the field, wide open. This they do, but Hall(+1) comes up, laying a thumping blow on the receiver. (Hall +1, cover +1). This play doesn't work against zone. | ||||||
| M44 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 9 – 10 | Screen |
| Adams(-1) misses a tackle, turning zero yards into seven. Too bad: we had this play nailed. Holding call downfield brings it back. On review: holding is horrifically weak and should not have been called. | ||||||
| M45 | 2 | 11 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | -1 | Screen |
| DO YOU SENSE A PATTERN? Branch(+1) is spying on the play; Englemon(+1) comes up and helps blow the play up. | ||||||
| M46 | 3 | 12 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Deep post |
| Hall in better position to catch this ball than the receiver; he goes up but gets bumped. The pass skitters through his hands. Still (Hall +1, cover +1). | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 10-0 EOH. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O46 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | 8 | Slant |
| Northwestern in this double stack formation with one WR lined up directly behind another on each side of the line. We press the first guy on the right side of the line; the other guy runs a slant under him. With the second DB on the play eight yards off the LOS, he's wide open. (Cover -1) | ||||||
| M46 | 2 | 2 | Nickel | Run | -2 | Off tackle |
| Biggs(+1) pushes the OT into the backfield, forcing Sutton to go around him. By the time he does, Burgess(+1) has discarded a WR – who was never going to be anything more than an irritation to him – and cut off the corner. | ||||||
| M48 | 3 | 4 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 8 | Slant |
| Good throw and catch in front of Harrison(-1, cover -1) | ||||||
| M40 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Run | 4 | Double reverse |
| No, seriously: not one of those silly end-around reverse things but an honest-to-god double reverse featuring four guys touching the football. Alan Branch(+1) gets out on the corner to hold the gain down. | ||||||
| M36 | 2 | 6 | Base 4-3 | Pass | 25 + 6 | Swing |
| Plus roughing the passer on Taylor(-1). Simple swing pass where Sutton beats Graham(-2) in coverage. (Cover -1) | ||||||
| M6 | 1 | G | Base 4-3 | Pass | Inc | Cross |
| NW tries to get the ball to their fullback again... he has a couple steps on Crable but Bacher hesitates and eventually throws up a duck that is yards short of his man. (IN, pressure -1, cover -1) | ||||||
| M6 | 2 | G | Nickel | Run | 2 | Off tackle |
| Jamison(+1) and Johnson(+1) are double-teamed but hold up, leaving both linebackers unblocked. Graham makes the play. | ||||||
| M40 | 3 | 6 | Nickel | Pass | -2 | Swing |
| Bacher pressured by Branch(+1) up the middle and is forced into a jumping, looped pass to Sutton that gives Michigan plenty of time to react and converge. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: FG, 10-3, 9 min 3rd Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O34 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Int | Corner |
| Hall(+2) is in zone. He initially makes a move to the shorter or two routes designed to go against the zone, then backs off into the corner route, making the interception. (Cover +2) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Int, 10-3, 6 min 3rd Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O33 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | 6 | Hitch | |
| Zone blitz doesn't get there on this three man drop. Hall is there to hold this down to about four but misses a tackle(-1). Jamison has dropped into a short zone and finishes the play. | ||||||
| O39 | 2 | 4 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Run | 0 – 10 | Off tackle |
| Holding drawn by Shawn Crable(+1). Harris(+1) and Branch(+1) converge to hold this to no gain anyway. | ||||||
| O29 | 2 | 14 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 12 | Hitch |
| Peterman sits down in front of Harris in the zone. Fine if this is a no-YAC route, but Harris(-1) doesn't react quickly enough and lets him pick up most of the yardage he needs. (cover -1) | ||||||
| O41 | 3 | 2 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Panic |
| Empty backfield; Michigan sends two blitzers, leaving Woodley entirely unblocked. Bacher heaves it to avoid a sack. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 17-3, 1 min 3rd Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| M24 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Pass | Inc | Flat |
| Likely a screen to the fullback. Otherwise insane: why do teams continue to think that trying to block Woodley with a back is a good idea? Woodley(+1) steps around Sutton and gets a QB hurry, forcing the incompletion. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| M24 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Run | -6 | Off tackle |
| You know, Crable(+3) has this amazing knack for making plays from the interior of the line in the run game. He's lined up in the standup DT spot right over the center. He engages and goes right around him, getting to the handoff almost before the exchange is made. Outstanding play. | ||||||
| M30 | 3 | 16 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Int | Fly |
| Pocket holds for a long, long time, giving Bacher time to take a shot... which is way underthrown and intercepted. Barringer(+1) makes the interception. Only +1 because Lane was open on this one. (IN, pressure -1, cover -1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Int, 17-3, 13 min 4th Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O11 | 1 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 23 | Underthrown Fly |
| One of those balls that's hard to defend because it's hideously underthrown. Trent in good position – better position than Lane – but can't react quickly enough to the unexpectedly short ball. No blame assigned. | ||||||
| O34 | 1 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Seam |
| Overthrown; receiver was bracketed anyway. (+1 Harrison, +1 cover) | ||||||
| O34 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Inc | Out |
| Hall(+1) jumps the route; I think he gets the PBU. In any case he makes the completion a really difficult one. (cover +1) | ||||||
| O34 | 3 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | -8 | Sack |
| Momentary hesitation/confusion plus a clever blitz that gets Harris(+1) unblocked == quarterback goo. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 17-3, 8 min 4th Q. | ||||||
| LINE | DOWN | DIST | PACKAGE | TYPE | YARDS | BRIEF |
| O23 | 1 | 10 | Nickel | Run | 3 | Off tackle |
| Backup DL in. Brandon Graham is momentarily sealed, creating a small crease. He disengages and makes the tackle. | ||||||
| O26 | 2 | 7 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 15 | Out |
| Yeah... this is essentially garbage time. Soft stuff, won't penalize the coverage, especially with the backups (mostly) in. | ||||||
| O41 | 1 | 10 | Base 4-3 | Pass | Inc | Fly |
| Charles Stewart(+1) in excellent coverage deep. | ||||||
| O41 | 2 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Run | 2 | Off tackle |
| NW has given up. Nice play by Crable, at DE, to stand up his guy and tackle at the appropriate moment. STOP RUNNING THE BALL. (+1 Crable) | ||||||
| O43 | 3 | 8 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | 16 | Out? |
| Jamison(+1) hits Bacher just as he releases the ball, forcing a popup that heads right for Lane... who's still really, really open. (+1 pressure, -2 cover). | ||||||
| M41 | 1 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Run | -6 | Speed option |
| That's more like it. Nice job by Woodley(+1) to string the play out; Harrison(+1) to beat a block and get the TFL. | ||||||
| M47 | 2 | 16 | Nickel | Pass | -6 | Sack |
| Woodley(+2) around the outside. Croosh silly quarterback. (pressure +1) | ||||||
| O47 | 3 | 22 | Nickel | Run | 12 | QB Draw |
| Infuriating 12 yard run on third and 22. Damn you and your rush distortion. | ||||||
| M41 | 4 | 10 | 3-3-5 Nickel | Pass | Int | Cross |
| Harris(+1) picks off a pass thrown right to him. (cover +1) | ||||||
| Drive Notes: Int, 17-3, EOG. | ||||||
So that was pretty okay.
Yes, after some initial shakiness Michigan was a three-and-out machine. If you count the drive with the running into the kicker penalty as two separate three-and-outs, then Northwestern's drives had this many plays: 8, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 8, 1, 3, 3, 4. One eight-play drive ended with a Woodley sack/strip/recover, the other a field goal. The rest of the day featured two first downs. Northwestern's hideous rushing totals were not due to a ton of sacks but rather a complete inability to even get back to the line of scrimmage when they ran the ball. It was a dominant performance.
Northwestern's a bad team but they were much worse earlier in the season when they were trying to pretend Brewer and Kafka were quarterbacks instead of getting Bacher in there after a fall camp injury. They actually have a passing game with him around, so this game might mean a tiny bit. Not much but a tiny bit.
Chart?
Chart.
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodley | 12 | 12 | ||
| Biggs | 2 | 2 | ||
| Taylor | 3 | 2 | 1 | Both minuses were stupid penalties, one offsides and one roughing the passer. Becoming a bad habit. |
| Branch | 5 | 5 | Relatively quiet. | |
| Johnson | 1 | 1 | ||
| Germany | - | - | - | |
| Jamison | 2 | - | 2 | |
| B. Graham | - | - | - | |
| Crable | 5 | - | 5 | Relatively quiet in the pass game. Created a 6-yard TFL by himself, though. |
| Harris | 6 | 1 | 5 | Solid day. |
| C. Graham | - | 2 | -2 | Was beaten on the Sutton swing that led to NW's only points. |
| Burgess | 2 | 2 | ||
| Hall | 8 | 1 | 7 | Northwestern kept going after him, oddly, and paid the price. |
| Harrison | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Stewart | 1 | - | 1 | So he's faster than Ross Lane. |
| Sears | - | - | - | DNP. |
| Adams | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Englemon | 3 | - | 3 | Nice day against screens. |
| Barringer | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mundy | - | - | - | DNP? |
| Trent | 1 | - | 1 | |
| "Pressure" | 11 | 4 | 7 | Ton of short drops and screens kept these numbers down. |
| "Coverage" | 13 | 12 | -1 | Decent day. |
Any worries about OSU pop up in this game?
Not really. Michigan got a whole lot of work on that screen thing and did well save for the first one, which went for 18 yards. The defensive line was as dominant as you might expect against Northwestern's OL. The running? Eh... not so much. The complete bludgeoning of the NW run game is heartening, since a capable outside runner deployed from the spread was the last Pokemon waiting to be collected before the Ohio State game. Obviously the OSU offensive line is vastly superior to Northwestern's, but we've faced good tackles and bad, good guards and bad, inside pounders and shifty outside guys and pounded them all into paste. Ohio State's probably the best running offense we'll see this year (Wisconsin could potentially be better), but I have no worries about the defense shutting down the ground game. Troy Smith running around willy-nilly is another matter.
Anything else of note?
Not really. It was Northwestern; we crushed them; next.
Ball State?
Uh... has three wins over teams who collectively have three wins. They'll go splat.
