Early Keys to Beating ND

Submitted by Blue_Bull_Run on
Here are my three offensive and defensive keys to the game. Some are probably obvious, but here goes:

Defense
1) Play 60 minutes. The defense was awesome in the first half, and not bad in the second half. My concern, however, is that we don't have the depth to exchange blows with a tougher opponent for 60 minutes.

2) Continue to excel in one-on-one situations. Aside from Warren losing his cool towards the end of the game, I thought that both he and Cissoko (i.e. Floyd Simmons) did an excellent job of covering receivers. Moreover, I noticed that even Stevie Brown was hanging with receives he was assigned to cover. And, to top if off, they all tackled well. This positive trend needs to continue against ND.

3) Better blitz packages. Against WMU,I think we generated most of our pressure because our DL was superior to their OL and by bringing an extra line backer. It worked, but I'd like to see some more complex blitz packages against Jimmy Claussen, who will probably be better prepared than Hiller was. I think GERG was holding back, but let's see what he's got for us next week.

Offense
1) Personnel: MINOR RAGE and 'Lace. Ok, this key is really made up of two points. First, Props to Brown and Shaw for picking up nice yardage, but neither of them possess Minor's ability to rack up yards after contact. Not even close. Even though yesterday's numbers were good, MINOR RAGE is a significant upgrade and will really help us against ND.

Second, I think its clear that DRob needs to get on the field even when Tate is running the offense, and also that DRob needs to do more than just run the QB draw.

2) OLine improvement. I didn't think the OL played well enough to control the line of scrimmage against a top DL. Not sure how good ND's DL is, but the OL needs some work.

3) Offensive rhythem and play calling: We need to see if our offense can put together the long drives. Also, I think RichRod was holding back on the play calling, as we didn't see much yesterday. Do people agree with that?

Finally, I want to point out the obvious, so... Tate will be critical the our success. I likes his accuracy and patients, and he even looked good with his back to the play on the play action TD to Koger.  Two unanswered questions: Is he tough enough to run against better athletes? Second, I don't think he was seriously pressured at all yesterday - he was able to run away from the little pressure that WMU got on him. What happens when Tenuta dials up a big boy blitz?

Comments

I Wrote a 4 Wo…

September 6th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^

Real good points.

I think in the 2nd half at least RichRod held back on the offensive playcalling and I do hope GERG held back a little bit in the blitz packages as I feel like in the 2nd half, when it seemed like we blitzed more, Hiller started to get rolling a little more.

I think Tate will be okay against big blitzes. He seems so calm and composed and I think yesterday only could have helped.

Having Minor should only help the running game, too. I wonder how much, if any, RichRod held back on his playcalling with Denard.

I LOVE that play (used with both Tate & Denard) where it's a fake handoff (maybe an option), a rollout, and the option for a little bubble screen. That play was not stopped all day, and seems really tough to defend.

tmiller

September 6th, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^

Great points. My 2 cents gets a little more specific.

1) If you saw the stats from the ND game, almost all their points were big plays over-the-top. The safeties will need to play GREAT.

2) BG and Toh will need to make it very uncomfortable for Clausen and collapse the pocket so he doesn't have enough time to get downfield.

3) The offensive Tempo needs to speed up. Most people would say to keep their offense off the field, but with the way our defense was swarming I say score quick a few times and make their offense get out their and get hit and beat up. This will only work if we score.

4) We must have long drives to keep them pinned back. A great stat would be to have all their drives start in their territoy.

El Jeffe

September 6th, 2009 at 3:03 PM ^

I noticed that we were *this* close to getting to Hiller on his 3- and 5-step drops. In order for Tate (Golden, not Forcier) and Floyd (Michael, not Simmons) to get open deep, Jimmah! will have to use a lot of 7-step drops, making him more vulnerable to BG et al. and to blitzing LBs and safeties.

jbragg2

September 6th, 2009 at 12:18 PM ^

In my opinion (for what its worth) BG will be able to dominate the OL everytime i watched him for a play it seemed like he was pushing his man 4 or 5 yards back granted i know it was WMU but he seems to have that ability to just muscle his way to the QB. He creates his own pressure up front which helps GERG by not having to blitz all the time and keep more guys in the secondary.

The tackling yesterday was 100% better then last year. Just simple plays that would have been 10-15 gains last year seemed to be stopped at the first defender.

Personally I think RR had a set list of plays he was going to use to get a good lead and then go with the simple run run run type of plays. ND doesnt have much to work with next week as watching film goes so we will be able to open up against them with some new packages which hopefully involve tate and denard both being on the field

wishitwas97

September 6th, 2009 at 12:54 PM ^

if the secondary can cover Tate and Floyd. Their running game aren't all that good. Hope that Brandon Graham have a monster game like WMU into pressuring Clausen all game long.

Offensively, they must keep the TO into a minimum and have Tate and Shoelace make good decisions since Tetnua will throw everything but the kitchen sink on them. If both are able to make good decisions, they will make ND pay for blitzing.

NJWolverine

September 6th, 2009 at 4:02 PM ^

I agree that stopping the receivers is key and I agree with the implication that getting to Clausen first will be the way to do that.

I also like your comment about Tenuta. Blitzing, however, against a spread is disastrous and if they do that the slot receivers will have a field day, along with Denard. If they commit to attacking the QB and not the ball, a simple, easy and in Denard's case, preferably short pass to the slot will create open space. Also we'll have seniors at RB who can locate the holes created by blitz, which is why a healthy Minor is key. There is nothing worse than over pursing the spread because if you do that you're pretty much creating open space for the playmakers, including the QB.

James Burrill Angell

September 6th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^

.....PRESSURE!!!!!!

If we don't put a TON of pressure on Clausen, we're in trouble because those receivers are too good. If their passing game is neutralized, Notre Dame will NOT beat us with a running attack. PERIOD!

One, two, three, four.....PRESSURE!

Tim Waymen

September 6th, 2009 at 2:14 PM ^

I don't think our secondary is in such horrible. First, D Warren and Floyd Simmons (Boubakar Cissoko is too hard to spell/say anyways) are an excellent duo. It seems like Stevie Brown is finally being used in the right position. I didn't see enough of the safeties to form a good enough opinion of them. I think the big concern is the lack of depth behind Warren and F Simmons. JT Floyd is not ready for the big time yet. Hopefully Turner and Witty can get to where they need to be. As good as Tim Hiller is, however, we haven't really seen how good M's defense is against a far better passing offense such as ND's. Not only that, but M didn't have to work as hard most of the game as we were already dominating early, so there was less urgency. Things should be different when the teams are more neck-and-neck.

Tha Quiet Storm

September 6th, 2009 at 3:13 PM ^

that worries me is our safety play. They really weren't tested yesterday and Clausen loves the play-fake and deep ball to Tate and Floyd. If we can keep him from throwing those bombs we have a great shot to win.

the_big_house 500th

September 6th, 2009 at 4:05 PM ^

Our secondary is really going to have to watch blitzing Clausen cause so far in that Nevada game he did an amazing job under the pressure of Nevada's secondary attack. Floyd was wide open all game Warren is gonna have to be on him tighter than flies on shi*t!

Elno Lewis

September 6th, 2009 at 4:11 PM ^

sacrifice a nun this week. That should help the team win. Not a pretty nun, or even a really holy nun. Just a run of the mill nun. One that won't be missed much. And, she doesn't have to suffer a lot either.

Lordfoul

September 6th, 2009 at 6:43 PM ^

The O-Line is ready to go IME. I didn't see really any plays where they weren't getting to the linebackers on run plays and made all of our backs look good. I also think that Tate's ability to roll out and throw on the run will mitigate much of the pressure ND will bring.

I also think that our defense was playing just as vanilla in the second half as our offense was. The prevent look of playing off of the receivers was designed I think to keep big plays from blowing up this unit's confidence. Also JT Floyd can't blanket anyone.

We had several grinding drives of some length as well so I don't know what you are seeing there. Plus putting D-Rob in for many of the plays that Tate is in will just tire both of them. Alternating them keeps their legs and heads fresh.

I think we will come out against ND with a fury on defense with alignments not seen against Western because we didn't need them. Our offense will not look as good but will be competent. This is going to be a close game from my perspective. Of course I thought that in 2006 as well ;).

ToughD

September 6th, 2009 at 8:07 PM ^

I think ND will try to put pressure on the Freshmen, however bubble screens and dumps to the slot will slow that down and then that will cause the WRs to be open for deeper passes due to one on one coverage.
Denard could really cause major problems if he can look the field more and not be so quick to takeoff running.

jsquigg

September 6th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^

I agree with you for the most part, but I thing the defense was doing some complex things up front in the first half. I was amazed at how they would show pressure from one side, but that player would sprint into coverage while a blitz would come from a player who wasn't showing blitz ahead of time. Gerg definitely took his foot off the gas in the second half.
As far as Shoelace running the ball too much, in the second half I think it was more a matter of him either giving up on a designed pass or not making the right read on an option play. On the play in the second half he had an option to pitch it to a receiver coming around for a reverse, but he kept it and lost yardage.
It's also good to keep in mind that Rodriguez was using the second half to get all of his young players some real game experience. I just hope Sherideath gets comfortable flashing signals...

NJWolverine

September 6th, 2009 at 8:30 PM ^

ND tried that last year and a lot of holes opened up for the RBs and WRs. That was probably why ND was one of the only productive offensive performances last year. If they do that this year, with a competent QB, Minor/Brown/Shaw/Smith/Robinson and the slots will run all over them and Tate will have very open receivers once the damage is done.

Blitz packages only work if you know where the ball is going. For example, you know the ball will be in the pocket with an immobile QB. You know a power back won't cut to the outside. If you commit three guys to rushing the QB, you're leaving the sides wide open for slots and potentially the QB. You're just not going to guess correct every time, so there will be some major openings if they do indeed blitz.

Before the torrential downpour last year, Michigan marched down the field. If they use the same defense this year, the results will be even more devastating.

We have the game if the defense can get to Clausen. Even if he does have time, I still think the game will be competitive.

Durham Blue

September 7th, 2009 at 12:29 AM ^

Michigan gashed WMU whenever we ran straight up between the tackles. I would like to see a little more of that against ND. I admit that it's sort of boring but I believe this OL wants to prove itself while punishing opposing D linemen. And it is a great way to wear down the other team.

All-N-4-Michigan

September 7th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^

Well, isn't Craig Roh thought to be more of a pass-rusher than a run-stopper. Maybe this match-up with ND, and Brandon taking double teams, could lead to a productive game for our frosh. Of, course Warren and Cissoko need to be ON. Barwis....Gerg.....get those guys pumped up!!

Tater

September 7th, 2009 at 1:46 AM ^

I think RR sandbagged a lot Saturday. Luckily, he didn't have to show ND much of the playbook because what they were doing worked so well. The long plays were more individual execution than causing any gross mismatches in the defensive backfield.

I probably underrated ND because I really don't like them, but have to admit that they did look really good against Nevada. They were able to turn the "pistol" into a water pistol, which is no small accomplishment. This will be a lot tougher game than I thought it would, but I still see UM winning it by about ten.

UM 24, ND 14.

griesecheeks

September 7th, 2009 at 3:00 AM ^

i think this game will be won or lost on offense, rather than defense. we have to keep ND's d on the field as much as possible, to wear them down and also keep the D fresh and hungry.

i think it's just about given that clausen will get a couple of big plays deep to Tate or Floyd. it's going to happen. but, as others have mentioned, i think (due to the deeper drops) BG and CR will get some chances to wreak havoc in the backfield and maybe cause a clutch fumble or a lame duck pass for a pick. and I'm just not all that scared of the ND run game.

where we will have problems is if the O stalls out or turns the ball over, setting up demoralizing quick strike opportunities on our side of the field.

from the offensive side of things, I'd love to see some quick slants added in to counteract the inevitable blitz barrage. i think tate's accuracy will be a critical asset as I don't see that many longball opportunities presenting themselves during this game.

psychomatt

September 7th, 2009 at 3:36 AM ^

Clausen is not very mobile and does not throw well on the run, but if he is able to sit in the pocket he will pick you apart. Also, blanket Kyle Rudolph. He is big, has great hands and is a favorite target when Clausen is under pressure.

Fresh Meat

September 7th, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^

I completely agree that the key to this game is pressure on Clausen. Whatever you think about the guy (I happen to think he's a complete douche) he is a competent QB. More importantly,and this is my small addition, he has nice weapons around him at WR. Floyd and Tate are high level WR's and they have elite speed. Those two can cause problems for any secondary in the country. But, it takes time to get down field and you need to set your feet as a QB to throw the deep ball. Therefore, Michigan can win this game if Clausen doesn't have time to hit them deep. If we can't get pressure on Clausen, we will be in trouble.

griesecheeks

September 8th, 2009 at 4:00 AM ^

see, I think Clausen's going to find Tate and Floyd at least once each on a big one. I'm more concerned about our offense responding /controlling the clock. im thinking that if Jimmah's stat line reads something like 18-21/35, 250 yds 2td/2int with 3 or so sacks, we can definitely live with the couple of big plays.

if we start turning the ball over in our own territory or leaving them great field position and chances for quick strikes, that's going to be a problem.

tn wolverine

September 7th, 2009 at 12:44 PM ^

I think it will come down to coaching. The Def. cords are a wash. I have great respect for Tenuta (not Judy) and GERG is a proven winner. So it comes down to head coaches and we have a huge, distinct advantage in that category. Charlie Weis's big signature win is against Hawaii !!??!!! Rich Rod's big sig. wins came against Georgia and some of the other power houses of college football. I'll take his proven record against Weis's bravado.