SB Nation breaks down Purdue's offense
Nothing that surprising here, but their use of TEs and misdirection is interesting. One thing that occurs to me is that it looks like they have a number of slow-developing plays that depend on the line holding their blocks for a while, which could be difficult against Winovich/Gary/Hurst and our various blitzes.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
How ironic. So will Don Brown at about 4:00pm this Saturday.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:48 AM ^
I feel like we are going to crush them. Maybe I'm just a homer? Don Brown is king of half-time adjustments, even if they come out with some things in the 1st half that scare us. It's going to come down to how many points can Mich offense put up. It's awesome getting defensive and special teams touchdowns, but soon enough we are going to be in a close enough game where we definitively need redzone TD's rather than field goals.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
September 20th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
Agreed. They put up 35 points on one of the worst defenses in the country, so I can't see them putting up more than 20 on UM, guessing closer to 14.
Even with our offensive struggles, our worst point total has been 29 points. Although this team hasn't looked great through 3 games, I think UM still easily covers. If the offense starts clicking at all, this should be a blow out.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
skipped right over winning into 'easily covers'.....
September 20th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
September 20th, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^
those 29 points on field goals and defensive touchdowns, plus a punt return.
Having said that, this team's general M.O. (not the team itself) reminds me of '13 MSU. Really bad offense at the start of the season but a great defense. Offense came along as the season progressed. Won Rose Bowl. Many caveats apply and I wish there was a different team to compare to, of course. MSU was more experienced, too.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
To be far to purdue, they were up like 28 or 35-0 at half and went pretty conservitive for the entire second half.
That being said, I think Michigan D holds them in check.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
To be far to purdue, they were up like 28 or 35-0 at half and went pretty conservitive for the entire second half.
That being said, I think Michigan D holds them in check.
September 20th, 2017 at 5:03 PM ^
And 7 to immediately start the second, after which Purdue put in 2nd and 3rd stringers. I can promise you that if Brohm wanted to put 50 on Mizzou, it would have been a strong possibility. There was a lot of Jared Sparks (3rd stringer, wildcat-esque QB) in the 4th quarter of that game, alongside a healthy diet of Dario Fuller up the middle.
This isn't to say that Purdue will score at will against Michigan - they haven't faced a defense in the same ZIP code as Michigan yet. They just let off the gas more-or-less after a single half of football against Missouri.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
I agree that U-M will win, probably handily, but this early in the season, all stats are heavily skewed by a lack of sample size. So a large portion of Missouri's poor rating is their bad game against Purdue, which makes it barely more informative than knowing the score of the game.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
Missouri gave up 43 points and 6.6 ypp to friggin Missouri State in week 1- to say nothing of their horrendous defense last year. They bad. Real bad.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
Bingo Bango!
September 20th, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
Was a basketball game.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
I agree. Lots of MgoChicken Littles cominhg out of the woodworks lately, but I'm struggling to see how Purdue is going to be competitive in this one. Not only are their offensive plays slow developing, but their WRs drop tons of catchable balls. Their OL will be overmatched and it could be a long day for Purdue if Michigan is getting to the QB. On the flip side, Purdue's defense is comparable with Cinci in terms of talent, and they tend to not fling LBs from all directions towards the LoS like Air Force.
This might be a tight one through halftime, but I'm thinking it will end up being a 31-13 type of game that boosts the team's confidence heading into the bye week.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
and opponent--for Michigan going into a bye week. I look to this game to quell many of the fears about the offense, give Speight and co. a real chance to shine.
And two weeks afterward to polish up? Fantastic.
I just saw that ESPN has Bowling Green at the very bottom of their great "Bottom Ten" rankings, which may speak volumes about MSU (who beat BG 35-10, and started the chest-pounding). I doubt MSU gets past ND, but I don't care. I think we are going to destroy them in a feast of blood and gore at the Big House and go barrelling into the heart of the batting order with confidence.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
I fear teams with good defenses more than teams with good offenses. Don Brown will probably download Purdue's offense, and Purdue's crappy defense won't let them stay in the game
This feels the same as 2015 BYU or Northwestern to me. There's hype to the other team so I'm slightly concerned, but at the same time, my brain is trying to tell me this looks like a significant mismatch. Wouldn't surprise me if we throttle them
September 20th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
Great, now I'm scared for Saturday. I'd feel confident saying we CANNOT get into a shoot-out and win...
September 20th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
Have you MET Devin Bush?
Rashan Gary?
Chase Winovich?
Maurice Hurst?
(just to name a few)
Do those names mean ANYTHING to you?
SMH.....shoot out....
September 20th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
That is the only area where I'm concerned. Not hugely concerned, but Cincinnati and Air Force, to a lesser extent, missed some big plays in our secondary. I will do the whole cackle with glee thing if Purdue can't exploit the youth in our secondary.
September 20th, 2017 at 2:17 PM ^
Lavert Hill may be more likely to score a receiving touchdown than the Purdue receivers.
September 20th, 2017 at 3:46 PM ^
Actually, I haven't met ANY of those guys. Have yoooouuuuuu?????
Honestly, I think I have lingering PTSD from the RichRod years. Remember how'd we'd win our first three or four games and then totally fall apart once B1G play started? I've never recovered...
September 20th, 2017 at 4:16 PM ^
for the RRPTSD, for I totally understand that, but we have Don MFFTS Brown as our DC and Greg "Coach Matty" Mattison feeding raw meat to our D-Line.
Mr. Plow....I mean David Blough, isn't going to have much chance to test our "young" secondary before he's got a mountain of white (with maize and blue accents) squishing him into a greasy spot ont the turf on a regular basis on Saturday.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
Secondary will get challenged this game but I don't see how their O-Line can hold the line of scrimmage for several seconds to allow their recieivers to get downfield. Expect Don Brown to bring all different types of blitzes to get pressure on Blough.
That fake flea-flicker in their spring game was awesome.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
Blough was a turnover machine last year. We'll see how he deals with Don Brown pressure.
Also, Harbaugh's gonna shake those red zone TD pickles out of the jar this week. [Michigan Replay - 9/17/17]
September 20th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
His analogies are fricken incredible. I caught that one right away when I watched Inside Michigan Football on Monday
September 20th, 2017 at 5:09 PM ^
Blough makes 2-4 plays a game that make you go "why on earth would you ever throw that ball." He magically didn't have any of those against Missouri, but I don't think that's likely to repeat itself on Saturday.
That said, Blough is a lot more talented than Hayden Moore or <AIR FORCE QB>. I'm also of the opinion that Malik Zaire is horribad, and would rather have Blough any day of the week. What I'm trying to say is, it's not a stretch at all to say that Purdue will be the best offense Michigan has faced this year.
September 20th, 2017 at 9:29 PM ^
I think Air Force will have a better overall offense this year than Purdue, but Purdue will be more dangerous in terms of being able to exploit the weaknesses in the Michigan defense. AF was just too one-dimensional, and that dimension had to attack Michigan's defensive strengths.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
I see purdue opting for more screens in this game because of how outmatched they will be in the trenches. If theyconsistantly try longer deloping plays, I feel like michigan will get a bunch of takeaways.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:54 PM ^
Double post
September 20th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
"Hold" is the keyword.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
thanks for posting. I think you are right, some of the slow developing trickery probably won't work against us.
Based on the article, my guess is they are going to have to go vertical, throw quickly, and test our talented but young DBs. They have no choice - pick your poison. I am wondering how much "Dr. Blitz" is going to attack, or protect the secondary.
This will be a good test for our defense - more of what we are likely to see in the coming weeks against teams like Sparty and Maryland, for example.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
Don Brown has already answered your "pick your poison" question - he will not protect the secondary. He was asked that specific question during fall camp - would he dial back the aggression/blitzes to help out the secondary. His answer was a definitive NO. They're big boys, they'll have to hold up thier end of the bargain. DB stops his aggressiveness for no one!
September 20th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
but our blitzing and aggressiveness played against us at times in Cincy game. Felt like their offensive coordinator outcalled us a few times (or just got lucky - whatever).
Just wondering if he will mix it up a little, and give some more blitz looks while backing off, especially if front 4 are giving great pressure on their own.
I trust that DB and the defense will be ready!!!
September 20th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Cinci's offensive success come from screens, illegal picks that were not called opi like they should have and one QB run where the back up DE did not take the QB on the scrape exchange.
The OC for Cinci was far from out calling Brown.
September 20th, 2017 at 10:43 PM ^
successful screen plays against an aggressive blitzing defense not considered a smart move by the offense?
You can say it is lucky, and I don't want to suggest Cincy's Offensive Coordinator is smarter than Don Brown. I would rather have Don Brown than any other Defensive Coordinator.
But you proved my point - anticipating our blitzes, Cincy made some good calls that worked against us. Just saying it is important to mix it up on our side.
September 20th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Cinci's offensive success come from screens, illegal picks that were not called opi like they should have and one QB run where the back up DE did not take the QB on the scrape exchange.
The OC for Cinci was far from out calling Brown.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
Our secondary doesn't need protection. At this point I think it's safe to say that the secondary is a group of strength and even an asset even in run support. As long as McCray isn't forced to cover slot-type backs and receivers it will be long day for Blough and company.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
secondary is definitely young and talented. But we are 3 games in, and I would not consider Florida, Cincy and Air Force to be "passing juggernauts".
As the The Wolf stated so eloquently in Pulp Fiction - "Well, let's not start sucking each others dicks quite yet." The young secondary needs to be truly tested - this will be a great game for them to do so.
With all that said - love this group! Go Blue!!!
September 20th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
Of the three teams we've played, one team has a brand new head coach installing a brand new system, one team hasn't had anything resembling an offense in 7-8 years, and the last team's offense's whole philosophy is predicated on hardly ever passing the ball.
I think our secondary can definitely turn into a strength eventually, given the level of talent that's back there. But I would not say they've been highly tested yet, so they're still a relative unknown. We're going to find out a lot about the secondary on Saturday.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
September 20th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
Don Brown:
September 20th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
Sack city!
September 20th, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^
Peyton Manning's home town.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
My guess is Brohm is going to opt for getting rid of the ball quickly and testing the secondary. They're still relatively untested at this point. FL has no offense, neither does Cincinatti really, and Air Force has an offense but they don't throw the ball. This is going to be the first really big test for Hill and Co. this year.
In addition to that, I doubt Brohm can realistically expect his OL to consistently hold blocks against Michigan's DL. You've got maybe a few seconds before anyone between Gary, Hurst, Winovich are burying your QB into the ground. Won't be surprised to see Brohm going for dink and dunks and taking what Brown's defense gives him.
September 20th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
He probably knows his OL and run game is going to go nowhere so I'd guess he's going to look at a lot of screens, quick passes, maybe misdirection? to try to negate that disadvantage because their OL probably isn't going to last long against our D-line and Murder Squirrel combo
September 20th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^
Florida's offense had 380 yards and 26 points verse tennessee. I think we should hold out a few more weeks to declare they still have no offense in 2017. Not that they will be good or above average, but i feel they are actually much improved from years past.
September 20th, 2017 at 2:59 PM ^
63 of those yards and 6 points came on a hail mary at the end of the game. 7 points came from a pick six. So the offense generated roughly 317 yards and 13 points.
I think it's same to say that Florida's offense is bad and will be bad. According to S&P+ they are ranked 74th. Michigan's much derided offense is ranked 49th.
September 20th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
real test of the season. But I expect the front 7 to do some major eatin' this weekend.
Also, happy for Purdue to get an awesome coach. The Big Ten needs the perennial cellar dwellers to get ascending talent like this. That fake flea flicker from the Spring game was awesome.