Moving Picture Pages: Stunting The Veer

Submitted by Chris of Dange… on

Analysis courtesy Brian, per usual.  Original Picture Pages at http://mgoblog.com/content/picture-pages-stunting-veer.

I apologize for the lack of slo-mo this time around; my video editing SW seems to have a mind of its own and decided 'no slo-mo for you!'  OTOH, my lower-case letters are actually lower-case this time, so there's that.

Setup: Purdue comes out in the Wildcat with WR Justin Siller at QB, which immediately causes anyone who remembers the 2008 game to break out in hives.  Then they realize that Greg Orton and Kory Sheets aren't on the field and they relax a bit.  Michigan tips that they're going to drop Roh into coverage (Brian's original PP says he plays standup, but really he's just late to put his hand down) and stunt Ryan behind Martin (shown by Ryan lining up a yard downfield from Martin).

Wha'hoppon: Ryan does indeed stunt and Roh does indeed start to drop, then he reads the mesh point and heads for the edge to contain the outside run.  Siller reads Demens heading outside as well, so he keeps.  There appears to be an opportunity straight up the middle, as Purdue has two linemen heading downfield and nobody's in the hole...

...except Ryan.  The pulling RG doesn't see him stunting into the hole and chooses to double RVB instead.  The LG does see him but is too far downfield to pick him up.  Ryan gets practically a free run at Siller, and it's only Siller's agility that makes this a regular TFL rather than a semi-vs-Smartcar moment.

Full YouTubage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzm-mAPvcw8.

Comments

Deep Under Cover

November 2nd, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^

I posted this in the Picture Pages thread, but I am going to post it here as well to hopefully start a conversation on why I might be wrong on what I saw in this play:

I think Siller is making two reads, the tackle and Roh.  I could be wrong about this, but its how it looked to me, like the stunt was designed to cause the wrong read.  On a keep, Siller heads straight upfield, so he reads where the tackle is (looks like Martin is getting kicked out, really he has contain) and he sees Roh (who is unblocked, further making me believe he is a key) making a move with the the RB, so he keeps.  He doesn't have time to see Ryan crashing inside on the stunt, so he read his keys right, but those were keys we set up to be read that way.

It looks to me like the playside guard is shooting upfield kick the backside linebacker out of the play (who isn't there) and the pulling guard is either supposed to head outside or simply find the first man inside he can (kind of like you said).

Like I said, I could be wrong but I really think Siller was keyed on the backside tackle and playside end.

nav1llus

November 3rd, 2011 at 3:42 AM ^

You might be right about that, certainly this defense looks set up to defeat the veer reads at first glance.

However, I don't see why the play couldn't be run to the opposite side, in which case it would quickly defeat the single blitizing saftey and go big either on the give or, with Ryan stunting and getting sealed, on the keep through the gap.

Basically, with a play that can run either direction*, this seems like a whole lot of work to create false reads for a mere gamble at success.  Instead, I think this is more just an example of what CAN work well against a veer, rather than what was designed to work well.  Furthermore, even with the actual play direction, if EITHER of the guards notices the stunt there is a gap to one side of Ryan that could go big on the keep - certainly for the first down.

 

*disclaimer: Not positive this play can actually go to the weak side, with personel on the field for Purdue and such.

Deep Under Cover

November 3rd, 2011 at 9:27 AM ^

True, but we know Michigan flops their alignment based on the offensive alignment, so if the play is flopped around you would have the FB and double wideouts on the other side, and Michigan would flip with them and still be able to stunt it the other way.

nav1llus

November 4th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^

I guess I was thinking that Purdue could line up in the same formation and just reverse ther reads and direction of the run. I see now that would entail a handoff to the FB, which generally wouldn't be ideal, but that's still what I was getting at.

Do you think Michigan is lining up with respect to the fullback or the wideouts? in this case, it's the same side, but if I purdue moved their FB and threatened the other way, or was using two HB's, I would be very concerned.

I feel guilty for saying this out loud, but is defense seems so one sided that I would worry that a team like Illinois could exploit this formation with a reversal of direction for big money. Unlikely?