Inside the Playbook - Spring Links

Thought on a slow Friday leading up to what appears to be a wonderful weekend, people wouldn't mind wasting away several hours touching up on their football schemes and techniques. I've gotten back into the flow of things a bit the past month or so, and thought I'd provide some links to some of what I've put out this spring. Some are applied to other teams, but will related to Michigan as well.

Last year, Michigan really struggled defending Nebraska's speed option out of their Cover 1 defense. But it wasn't because theory was incorrect. Michigan, looking like they'll likely run even more cover 1 this year, needs to solidify their teaching of techniques if they want to be able to defend the speed option this year. Here's how that should work.

LINK (Preview)

 

Minnesota runs a ton of pistol, and with a strong running pair at QB and RB, they really threaten between the tackles. But how do they also work to threaten the edge? In this post we look at Minnesota's base offense and how they utilize WRs in their run game. Michigan may do some of the same at times, and OSU certainly does as well, among other B1G teams.

LINK (Preview)

 

Two links looking at the 4-3 Over. First, the basics of the MSU Over front (which in many ways is similar to Michigan's), and a look at what it means for Michigan switching from an Under front to an Over front (pre-spring game, but still applicable with a bit more 1-high coverages than anticipated).

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LINK (Preview)

 

Here we look at two pass concepts that MSU has put into their playbook and how they are intended to work. Both of these concepts are a notch above your standard "double slants", but are far from some of the complicated route structures that Borges preferred. Likewise, they are much more similar to a Nussmeier passing structure, though not exactly (you'll have to read HTTV for that). In this post, we examine these pass plays.

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