ND game wrap up (with pics!)

Submitted by SFBayAreaBlue on

Woo HOOOOO!!! 

Great dramatic game.  Glad we won.  Here's some final thoughts on the game:

Overview

I was right about a lot of things, and wrong about a few things in my scouting report.

Got Right:

  • ND doesn't have the right linemen for their offensive scheme yet
  • ND WR merely serviceable due to inexperienced QB play
  • Crist overthrows on the fly (except for one major exception!)
  • Te'o was a beast
  • Roh was a beast
  • Allen was very dangerous
  • Lots of tricky ways to get the RB the ball (shovel pass, counter draw, shotgun quickpitch)
  • Wood muffed a kickoff (just like last week) and didn't factor into the passing game.
  • ND corners good on run support
  • ND outside backers lost contain
  • Our D reacted well to familiar plays they see in practice.
  • Weird things happen in south bend (phantom TD that should have been a touchback)
  • We won a shootout (not really THAT many points, but lots of yards by both teams), by a close margin (not exactly one point)

Got Wrong:

  • Crist is a much better athlete than given credit for as shown by his first TD scramble that was called back on a penalty.  Had one good read on the option.
  • Rudolph was not slow (at least in a straight line)
  • Te'o didn't miss many tackles (except on Denard, but that was due to speed, not jukes)
  • ND corners were not burnt deep.  We didn't really try any one on one matchups, because that's the way our scheme was for this game.  They did play soft giving us lots of 8 yard comeback routes.  But our big pass plays came on busted coverages and playaction suck-ins, not speed on toast.

Unexpected:

  • Crist missing half the game.  As big as he is, didn't think he'd get dinged up.
  • With Crist out, ND pretty much ditched the spread for a while and went to more under center power formations.
  • ND's D-line was much better than anticipated.
  • Our secondary played much better than expected! (but that's not saying much)
  • Our WR did a great job of holding onto the ball even when taking big hits.
  • We are making up for last year in the turnover battle.
  • I never thought that any ND coach could be as amusing as Jabba the Weis, but Brian Kelly's facial expressions were priceless.

And now for the fun stuff

Tate's Hug

tateRRlovefest

If it was a scripted hug, RR wasn't in on it.  Don't know what got to Tate, but whatever it was, I'm glad it happened. 

TateRRlovefest2

Slow Linemen take away a big chunk of the "spread" playbook

Here's ND's first attempt at a wide screen. Notice that 4 of the offensive linemen aren't even getting to the play, and the fifth is taking his defender with him.

NDcantscreen

This leaves one defender completely unblocked.  Combine that with Rudolph being a better receiver than blocker and you get massive fail.  The whole point of a screen is to get your linemen down field to block the 2nd and 3rd levels.  But ND's linemen are still too slow for that.

NDcantscreen2

So later in the game, instead of running the bubble screen like you should to the sideline, ND calls for the middle screen.

NDcantscreenagain

But we're running a zone blitz (disguised nicely) and Herron bats the ball.

NDcantscreenagain2

The wide screen would have prevented the batted ball because of the angle created.  But when you don't have the right personnel to get down field...

Our Defense blew up some familiar plays

When you see a play over and over again in practice, the reads become reflexive and it's easier to defend.  Here's a sweep play that could have gotten big yards for ND.

recognizsweep

They pull two o-linemen around the outside, so we should be outmanned on the corner.

recognizesweep2

Roh does a good job of holding his ground making it a longer way to go. Then Floyd? who is playing rolled up, makes an excellent play by taking on the lead blocker.   Our middle backers see the pulling action and flow instinctively with the ball carrier.

recognizesweep3

But what really blows up the play is Ezeh getting on his horse and flying through the gap before Allen can get to the edge.  If he's a step slower, then the play gains at least 10 yards down the sideline, and maybe goes all the way.  But because of the quick recognition, it results in a TFL.

Craig Roh

Here's a play that shows what a beast Roh is turning into. 

noreadoption

It's just a simple base zone read option, but the QB isn't making a read on the play because he's too inexperienced. There's no way he should have handed off the ball.  Keeping it or throwing the flare would both have been better options. But check out Roh!

rohbeatsdouble

He fights through a double team to make a TFL.

rohbeatshold

And he was being held!

Roh did get pancaked once when he did a spin move right into one of the hulking guards, and he missed a couple of tackles, but he was in the backfield most of the day.

Dilithium!

Speaking of Beasts.  There's this kid, maybe you've heard of him, called Denard.  People say he's fast.  Errrrmmm... yeah.  So what does speed do to a defender?

dilithium

It makes them look stupid! Check out the angle the ND OLB has to take to account for warp drive. And 

dilithium2

Too bad for them that Denard doesn't run in straight lines 

dilithium3

WOW! Just a nice little 30 yard gain, when there was a completely unblocked defender.  

But what's the difference between a nice gain and a homerun? 

greatblocking

Answer: DOWNFIELD BLOCKING! On the 87 yard TD, there was just great downfield cut blocks. 

And He can pooch punt!

suprman

You da man!

Armando Allen

I thought we did a really nice job containing him.  But he showed flashes.  Here's a play were Mouton was a step slow to react or didn't read the pre-snap alignment.

alignment

Allen lines up a half yard behind the QB signaling either pass or inside run. 

alignment2

The left guard pulls but Mouton doesn't immediately recognize it. (he had a very nice day, just a little slow on this one play)

alignment3

ND does a very good job of holding. But on this instance it didn't affect the play, so I don't care. Mouton still has a chance to make the tackle,

alignment4

but Allen has enough ball skills to get by him and pick up a nice gain. 

On the next play he made 3 people miss with a jump cut and a spin, and then he ran over Cam Gordon, causing the announcer to repeat his favorite "Quick Twitch" line.

He really got things going in the second half, nearly breaking one for the distance on a shotgun quickpitch.

We can has functional DB's?

JT Floyd got an INT when Montana misread the coverage, which like, WOOOOOO!!!!!

FloydzoneINT

Don't you just love Frosh QB's? I mean, when they play AGAINST us, not FOR us.  

The Kid from Hawaii

Teo was a beast for ND all day long.  Here's an example of him reading the screen and just flying to Shaw almost before the ball can get there.

Teo

Teo2

Teo3

Teo pretty much single-handedly destoryed our screen game.

My name is JONAS!

Jonas Mouton had a pretty good game.  Here he is against that same play as before.

Mouton

Ezeh was faking a blitz before the snap, but you get virtually the same action.

Mouton2

Mike Martin takes on the double team, preventing the center from getting to the second level. Mouton fills the hole and hits Allen head on before he gets a chance to even make a move.

Mouton3

And Kovacs was there to clean up, since at that point we had 8 in the box against the ineffective Montana.

Mouton's pass drops look to be much improved.  He got the INT on the flea flicker, and he tipped the ball to Kovacs after our first missed FG attempt. He also layed some lumber on a number of hits. Not perfect, but much improved from last year. I credit GERG!

ND's D-Line was pretty strong

At least when Denard wasn't making them look silly. I think Molk was having trouble with the size of and strength of the ND nosetackle.  Here he is getting pushed back in a short yardage situation.

ndnose

ndnose2

ndnose3

He almost gets pushed all the way back into Vincent, but the little guy picks up the first down.

Here's another play where Molk (who is a pretty darn good lineman) had trouble with the nosetackle.

qbsweep2

It's a QB sweep to the left.  And it looks pretty well blocked. 

qbsweep3

But the playside guard didn't get enough of a chip on the nosetackle as he released to get on Teo.  

qbsweep4

And Molk can't keep him engaged enough.

Their D-Line play probably explains why the other running backs couldn't do much.  Here's Shaw making a bad read on an earlier zone dive.

badzoneiso

First off, Denard should have thrown the flare, since Teo was playing run all the way.  But it might have been a called run, not an option since there's no double team.

badzoneiso2

Our left tackle has given up inside leverage, but for some reason Shaw cuts left, instead of to the right. 

badzoneiso3

On this play, Patrick actually gets a good drive block opening up a lane, but to no avail.

Brian Kelly

Kinda hard to blame kelly for losing that game, but ND fans did anyway.  Sure he did Weis them at the end of the first half (bwAHahahahah! I love that his name has turned into a verb!) But he's playing with personel (especially linemen) that don't fit his system. And his starting QB missed half the game.

So, what do you do when three different QB's throw interceptions and you end both halves of the game with an uncatchable ball into the cheap seats? 

You make faces.

healmosthaschinhair

Lots

Iwrotetheplayonmyhand

and lots

Kellyhuh.

and lots

kellywantshis2dollars

and lots

Kellyscoreboard

and lots

kellyvisorless

and lots

kellyunbelievable

and lots

kellywheresmyvisor

of faces.

kellymushoigna

First I was like

kellypain

Then I was like.

kellyigiveup

First I was like...

kellyfirstiwas

then I was like...

kellytheniwas

And then I was like....

kellyandtheniwas

PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE A GOOD ANIMATED GIF OF THIS! I hate microsoft and can't get moviemaker to import .mp4 files.

The Phantom TD

I'm kinda glad that the refs didn't call Jones on this douchebag move.  Not that dropping the ball makes you a douchebag, but dropping it so that you can put your hands up to your ear in a douchebag manner makes you a douchebag.  Because if the play had been called CORRECTLY, there would be even MORE whining from the notre lame fans.

douchbag

Douchebag.

Tips for MSU:

Crist holds the ball too long because of inexperience and he's not confident (or accurate) enough to stick the ball into coverage to take advantage of physical mismatches. But he's a good scrambler who looks to make the long pass when coverage breaks down.  Probably worth keeping DB's back and giving up some smaller runs by him.

Use combo coverages to always have a man near Floyd and Rudolph. Floyd will get discouraged if he's not a big part of the game. But rolling corners up into the flats worked well for us.  We got at least two INTs because of the underneath zone.

Always key on Allen when he's in the game,  He's the most dependable part of their offense, and if you can neutralize him, you're really limiting what they can do.

GET A HAT ON TEO! And drive block him.  He caused Denard's fumble by coming off of vincent smith's block and pursing from behind.  Vincent actually had  a decent block oh him, but couldn't sustain it.

With State's power running game, I'd run it right at him!  He's super fast, but not as big as some other linebackers. 

blockingteo

blockingteo2

blockingteo3

Slow developing plays and cutesy draws won't work as well against their strong D-Line.  And their corners come up well on outside runs. Quick hitting iso's, dives, and inside traps are your best bets. When they start to pinch or go to 8 man fronts, I'd work the veer option on the edge to take advantage of their OLB.  (don't know if state has this in their playbook)

Good luck spartans.

Comments

BlockM

September 13th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^

That was awesome. Thanks for putting into pictures all the little things I hear about but never know enough to pick up on during the game. Another 20 years of picture pages like this and I might have a decent handle on the game of football.

Meeechigan Dan

September 13th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^

I had talked myself into believing that BK would somehow be exempt from the personnel mismatches that have plagued RR because I think he is an outstanding coach, because ND would be lucky, and because he would be embraced by the current team glad to be rid of Jabba.

Of course, I was wrong. You can't escape personnel mismatches if you want to dramatically change the system, which he does. I still think he will have greater early success than RR with all the support and lower attrition, but he will have his moments, too.

Meeechigan Dan

September 13th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^

The best Diary I have read in many moons. Understandable. +1 and the "freestyle" telestrator work was a scream! Do many times again.

Disclaimer: NO TIPS FOR STATE. State Evil >>> ND Evil

kman23

September 13th, 2010 at 5:35 PM ^

Amazing Job. Love pictures because it really gives you a clearer image of what the players see over video that runs at 100 mph. 

 

On the third play (ND Sweep right) it's Kovacs not Floyd that takes on the lead blocker. The image before you can see the guy is white. Not anything big but he did make the play, so I thought he sorta deserved the credit.

 

Do you think the ND shifting the d-line at the last second screwed up the blocking assignments? Molk would have had the NT on an angle (since he was originally between the C and G) but the NT shifts directly over him killing Molk's athletic advantage and forcing him to go 1 on 1 in a strength fight. Couldn't Michigan have gone to the zone blocking scheme to cancel out both the NT strength advantage (since he's being cut by the G and has to run wide) and Teo (needs to fight off a C/G AND the run goes right at him)? I know Rich Rod doesn't run the zone blocking scheme 90% (didn't we run this last year sometime with Minor?) of the time but I think when Michigan is facing a HUGE NT it's the way to go. Schilling or Omameh could cut the NT allowing Molk to block Teo (and Teo won't get away from Molk). Also, Smith and Shaw seem like they'd be perfect fits in the 1 cut and up scheme. It seems with a week between teams we could add the zone block left and right and just run that time to time to keep the opponent honest and off guard. Maybe I'm way off base, just thought that might help.

SFBayAreaBlue

September 13th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^

the late shift into a 1 deep with the olb or corner coming to the edge made a bigger difference in the play calls and the QB's reads.  This is why denard had to run the ball so much in the second half.  I thought the coaches did an excellent job with adjustments, notice we ran the qb draw up the middle when we saw everybody clearing out of the middle of the field and the ILB's splitting like mad.

jimmymin

September 13th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^

I'm definitely of the often mentioned belief that it is the trenches where games (and eventually championships) are won.

That's one of the aspects that I really enjoy about Coach Rod's (and Barwis') approach to this team and one of the main reasons I have quite a bit of optimism, mainly for the offense, this year is multiple comments on how good and how much competition there is amidst the O-line.

It really feels like this is the first year in what seems like a while that we have not only talented depth, but also young and pretty experienced depth on both the offensive and defensive lines.  It's the depth that allows you to "reload" every year.

I'm not knocking on Carr, because I know that he put out some pretty impressive linemen in his day, but it seems that the class of linemen that Coach Rod and Barwis create is on another level when it comes to athleticism.  Then again, I know that injury always plays a huge role, (please have mercy angry michigan linemen hating god!) so here's to a injury-free line-of-scrimmage controlling season!

TheOracle6

September 13th, 2010 at 6:25 PM ^

The faces of Kelly are epic.  In each one of those frames he was thinking of a different curse word to further belittle his quarterbacks.  A .gif of this would be priceless.  Great diary sir, very well done.

BlueGoM

September 14th, 2010 at 7:49 PM ^

Wow.

I mean, wow.

Rich Rod looks like he wants no part of it.

Maybe he was just like "A hug, yeah whatever kid I'm trying to coach here.".   Maybe Tate should stick to the headset.

Also I want one of those hats RR was wearing. 

Emarcy

September 15th, 2010 at 1:40 AM ^

I could really NBSee that hold on Roh.  Too bad the refs didn't.  Or maybe the guy got off with a warning.

Nice work on the picture pages.  The exclamations are awesome.

imafreak1

September 15th, 2010 at 9:47 AM ^

The 3rd and 1 play where V. Smith carries and Molk gets pushed back is the main play (leaving aside uspecified holds that weren't called) that I've seen ND fans complaining about the refs on. Seems they think the spot was over generous, but we can't tell from these pics. Previously, I had thought that only PSU fans were silly enough to complain about random spots in the first half but I guess not.