October 15th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^
dnak438 also had a post up about this about 30 seconds after Rash. Also had better blockquoting, but whatever. First come, first serve.
October 15th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^
I won't be offended if you'd rather keep his "better blockquoting" around. I posted this because I found it interesting and thought others would too. I don't care if my post is the one that stays or not.
October 15th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^
The traditional midline involves the reading of the defensive tackle, where the fullback heads up the “middle” while the quarterback steps around. The midline lead has a lead blocker for the quarterback, typically a playside fullback or slotback, though it can also come from the backside.
...
I don’t see this as a difficult adjustment for spread teams. You would just need to fold the tight-end, H-back, slot, or other player up on the middle or playside linebacker.
I'm glad to know that lots of us are reading Smart Football and reflecting on how it impacts Michigan. I think this stuff would be great to break out against good opponents like Iowa or tOSU, to keep their D-line thinking and off-balance. It may result in a couple of big plays initially, and in the future it would give them one more thing to prepare for.
October 15th, 2010 at 2:23 PM ^
October 15th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^
I like that every genius out there feels the need to post about their 3 qb system or new trick plays every 2 minutes. Then that post can generate 80 responses on how RR sucks or how he's great, but here we have an article about actual strategy and people can actually learn something and nobody wants to enter into a discussion.
Don't let the facts get in the way of a good session of yelling. HOW COME WE ARE RECRUITING SO MANY SLOT BACKS!!!!!!!!
October 15th, 2010 at 3:04 PM ^
I was hoping that we could get some discussion going on this. There was another Smart Football post that I linked earlier this week about the midline read (as opposed to the midline lead). A few people suggested that Michigan should be hesitant to run midline because it would put Denard in danger. But doesn't he run through the middle of the line on a QB iso quite often (this is a rehash of what I said in the earlier thread)?
The midline lead seems like it could be very similar to the QB iso, with the added wrinkle of keying off of the D tackle. I like the idea of being able to throw subtle differences out of similar pre-snap looks.
October 15th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^
I think are QB lead is very similar to the midline in the way it's blocked but we haven't used the option out of it, which seems strange at first, but I think it is clearer when you think about it. RR has said multiple times that the offensive death star is not fully operational and I think this will be part of the process eventually.
I think why it hasn't been utilized yet is that
a) the only people to stop us so far are ourselves
b) the reason we stopped ourselves were failures in execution by the line or Denard in making the reads or the throws.
If our failures were based on incorrect reads I think they spend more time correcting that then they do implementing more things. I think one of the big things that everybody knows but never thinks about is the limited time the coaches have to get this stuff done and implemented. We all know about the practice rules thanks to the Freep and we know they don't have unlimited time like the pros to get everything done. They talk about the balance between too much and not enough all the time in terms of information.
I really think a NC is possible in 2011 and the seeds of that will be sewn in December when we get our "free" practices back for the bowl game. I think this will be the time where the coaches can implement the entire playbook and get Denard ready for a monster 2011 when I think we will be nearly impossible to defend. You have to remember Denard is still a pup, he completely botched that MSU game with his reads. 2 missed blocks by Shaw and Dorrestein and 5 or 6 bad throws/reads by Denard stopped several for sure TD's in the 1st half.
I think the midline is coming if not this week then maybe for Penn St since we have the bye week, I'm sure they will use that time to expand things a little bit more.
October 15th, 2010 at 4:02 PM ^
but I think that's just because everyone has an opinion about how great or not great RR is, but most of us don't know much about Xs and Os. Most of what I know is from reading this blog, Smart Football, and playing NCAA football on my PS2, so it's hard to have an opinion other than, "Why haven't we tried this? This could work!" or "We're doing fine, we just need to execute."
October 15th, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^
is this one that specifically addresses running the veer and midline from the shotgun. Unfortunately I don't understand what he's talking about... but it does suggest that running the midline from the gun is not entirely novel.
October 15th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
Oldmid
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