UCF Snowflakes: The Offense

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This thread will be the repository for any thoughts and hot takes on the offense and the offensive playcalling. 

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 5:47 PM ^

I am going to reply to both above comments here. 

First, I wasn't talking about "trick plays" per se, I was talking the creativity that Harbaugh's running offense is known for -- the shifts, the unique formations, the misdirection, etc.  We say none of that.

I think that may be the consensus, in here, but I highly doubt that is the consensus amoung football coaches.  I think there are lot of people in here that are totally underestimating UCF.  Are they a great team?  No, but they're not as bad as they were last year, and they have a pretty good up and coming coaching staff.  Their defensive scheme was simple and apparently effective -- stop the run at all costs, and it cost them!

 

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rice4114

September 10th, 2016 at 5:32 PM ^

They stacked the line yes. We won in blowout fashion. Now that said we can have a discussion on Olineman not being able to block one on one. Blocking 8 rushers I get it. But when a 300 pounder cant move a UCF dlineman at all that is troubling. Will we be fine? Probably but Iowa, Wisky, OSu, and MSU will provide a much stronger defensive line. Improvement needs to happen by leaps and bounds.

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triangle_M

September 10th, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^

Blocking was bad but all teams have their days.  It's a team sport, special teams was lights out, defensive line play was solid and shut their passing game down (6/22 for 56 yards) while Speight ripped them apart.  Ohio State looks like crap today against a middling Tulsa team so I'll take this performance / win over theirs (assuming OSU wins). 

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GotBlueOnMyMind

September 10th, 2016 at 6:37 PM ^

Alabama also couldn't run against an inferior defense that was stacking the box. Let's pump the breaks a bit on saying the season is doomed until Michigan faces a team that isn't selling out to stop the run.



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SD Larry

September 10th, 2016 at 6:46 PM ^

for Wilton Speight to establish some confidence passing for over 300 yds.   We need a good  passing attack, especially if teams stack the box as UCF did today.

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UofM626

September 10th, 2016 at 6:49 PM ^

On most of his comments, they hit harder and they rushed better then us as well. I'm a bit concerned with the offensive line and the way they seem so complacent. Our offensive plays seem to take forever to evolve. The running backs looked bad today as well IMO... We look slow compared to other elite teams.

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BlueinLansing

September 10th, 2016 at 7:13 PM ^

will show just how stupid crazy UCF was in trying to stop the run.  They sold out nearly every first half play shooting gaps with no regard for the consequences and thankfully Harbaugh picked them apart for it.  We took what we could get and that was throwing the ball.  Yeah I would like to have seen us plow that team into paste, but this oline isn't going to do that to anybody.  They did enough.

My concern for the oline is the same, they are simply average with some upside but not elite and Brian will reiterate we knew this.

 

Play calling still mostly vanilla staple Michigan/Stanford stuff, took advantage of over agressive run ninja safeties and went over the top a couple times.

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bacon

September 10th, 2016 at 7:33 PM ^

Solid game. It's nice that we're back to the days where people are unhappy with our performance after a 37 point win. It's like we're Michigan again.

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HollywoodHokeHogan

September 10th, 2016 at 8:09 PM ^

I don't know why people are bitching about the pass blocking. Speight had a ton of time, with a few exceptions. You can't expect the qb to have 20 minutes on every play. They blew like two blitz pick ups. That's not bad given the number of attempts.



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reddogrjw

September 10th, 2016 at 9:12 PM ^

scored more points this week against a better opponent than in week one

no worries - running vanilla offense and defense - I expect it to open up more next week

want to commit 9 in the box or whatever?  we can throw it too

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GoBlueSPH

September 10th, 2016 at 9:59 PM ^

I wasn't impressed with the OL, but I'm not as worried as others on the board. They sold out on the run, and they were effective at stopping it. We adapted and took it to the air, which destroyed them. I don't really see the problem.



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J.

September 11th, 2016 at 2:15 AM ^

Context. They had a ton of short fields in this game, and UCF's style led to more total drives for both teams.  Michigan was stopped once in the Hawaii game, out of eight drives.  They were stopped something like six times today, out of about twelve drives.  (6 TDs, 3 FGs, ~3 punt attempts?)  So, while it's accurate to say that the offense scored more points than in week one, it's not particularly meaningful.

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uminks

September 11th, 2016 at 12:51 AM ^

Harbaugh will just become pass happy.  However, I thought Michigan's O-Line should have pushed CFU around a bit more and was a bit disappointing that we could not just run down their throats, even with them stacking the line. The OL need to improve and the RB are still messing up on cuts and finding their open lanes. A bit frustrating but I think they will improve through the next several games at running the ball.

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Sten Carlson

September 11th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^

Yes, that was a bit disappointing, but it is also a bit unrealistic and perhaps underestimates not only UCF's talent, but the determination with which they stuck with the "run-stop-at-all-costs" scheme. Usually, like we saw in the OSU v Tulsa game (or any of the other lopsided match-ups), the underdog stacks the box and stops/slows down the big boy's run game for a bit. The big boy then passes to open up the defense, and the defense backs out of its run stop mode because it's getting beat over the top. UCF, for whatever reason, didn't do that despite repeated deep passes connecting, and Harbaugh's obvious willingness to air it out. It's one thing to pay lip service to the mantra of "we're going to stop the run" and another thing to crash the LB's and Safetys with their hair on fire all game long. As I said elsewhere, thank goodness we have a staff who immediately recognized UCF's scheme and didn't slam the RB's into a wall and let UCF stick around and gain confidence. Had they, those lapses on defense would have been far more unsettling.

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