Good Running QB = Soft Defense
What softens up a defense? What takes the edge off the aggressiveness? What causes blown assignments? We have seen this before and were asking the same questions after Donavan McNab, Troy Smith and whoever QB'd the Horror, among others, had their way with us. You need back 7 speed, ability to play man coverage and front 4 containment or you can not defend a running QB that can pass decently. Poor/inconsistent LB and safety play have been our Achilles heel for some time now.
Right now, we are not built to handle teams with great running QBs, but realistically, few teams are.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:20 AM ^
I used preview then posted. Here is the content:
What softens up a defense? What takes the edge off the aggressiveness? What causes blown assignments? We have seen this before and were asking the same questions after Donavan McNab, Troy Smith and whoever QB'd the Horror, among others, had their way with us. You need back 7 speed, ability to play man coverage and front 4 containment or you can not defend a running QB that can pass decently. Poor/inconsistent LB and safety play have been our Achilles heel for some time now.
Right now, we are not built to handle teams with great running QBs, but realistically, few teams are.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:43 AM ^
going to the quicker, faster, leaner LB's and Safeties. Unfortunately for Michigan they either have these new quick LB (Mouton/Fitz) with no experience or old fashion Big Ten LB left over from Carr (Thompson/Panter) who have some experience but lack the athletic abiblty to stay with these spread offenses.
RR is already trying to get these quicker LB at Michigan but they need time to mature and with that Michigan's Defense will get progressively better against the spread.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:47 AM ^
October 8th, 2008 at 4:41 PM ^
A big part of it is that with a running QB, the defense has to account for one more potential ballcarrier than it does when the offense has a dropback passer. In a sense, when a team with a dropback passer calls a running play, the defense has an 11-10 personnel advantage, since the QB just hands off and gets out of the way. Whereas when a team with a mobile QB calls a read zone play, it's 11-11 and one defender must account for the QB, making it harder for him to make a play on the RB (if he gets the ball).
Other issues:
-The offense simply has more options on any given running play, making its ground game less predictable
-A lot of pass plays can become de facto running plays when the QB decides to scramble. Fear of giving up yards on the ground to running QBs forces DBs to remain focused on the QB while they're backpedaling to cover the WRs - and the slightest hesitation in either direction can mean either an open running lane for the QB or an open WR downfield.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:28 PM ^
just stay in our assigned lanes and not chase people down from the opposite side of the field while running past the QB who still has the ball.
When we did stay at home and contain the QB and option back, we played alright. When we ran after the first guy to potentially have the ball we failed.
I think Juice Williams had a cloaking device and a holographic projector faking us out.