Using Timeouts for Defensive Substitutions

At least 125 other teams are either average or above average in dealing with defensive substitutions.  I'm sure it's less difficult than a quadratic formula.

If the offense is going no huddle, no subs, they are getting just as tired as the defense.  If someone on the D needs a breather, I suggest getting a stinger for a play and not wasting timeouts.  

It’s not a terrible idea if it’s the first half, maybe in a 3rd and long situation to increase your chances of getting off the field vs some stupid breakdown because the DL can’t get to the QB.

Maybe the tackler can lay on their guy a little longer, or slowly get off of them. And if the defense has the chance, maybe grab the football and “jog” it over to the official. That probably risks a delay of game though.

I have no problem with a defensive player taking a dive. It’s not fun to watch, but it’s the only safe response to the no huddle, no time to sub rules.

I personally think that they should allow a 5-10s substitution time period regardless if the offense subs or not. CF feels like the NBA the last few years where all the rules favored offense, and I would say this year’s NBA rule changes have made the league much more fun to watch.

It is part of the game.  Sometimes they pass the ball when a run is expected.

The defense is more likely to call a timeout to setup a goal line stand.  First let's see if the fast tempo offense can get into the red zone before you burn a timeout.

I wondered why we didn't use them against Sparty when we were obviously going to be out of position when they snapped the ball in the red zone. If nobody's going to "come up lame", then call a TO and regroup. When you're up 16 points, that TO could be the difference between giving up a TD or eventually forcing the opponent to decide between a FG or going for it on 4th down.

There's no rule against subbing anyone off, you just might get caught with too many men on the field if the other team isn't subbing.  I like the Les Miles timeout of having someone get a cramp.  I mean if teams aren't going to get called for constant holding, I don't think there's any moral dilemma with some mild cramps sitting players down.  

UM is gonna need to Saturday. That defense is gonna be gassed.

No, this is not a good idea.

It starts with a false assumption—that Aidan would be subbed off if they could get him back on.

But they’re not subbing off one of the top 5 players in college football.

Michigan got dinged by tempo against MSU when MSU converted third downs against pass rush packages and Michigan wanted to get its base personnel back on the field. I don’t need to tell you that Aidan is not going to be subbed off for a third and long situation.

So Michigan axed the tempo subs against Penn State and got tempo plays against some suboptimal packages and still kept PSU out of the end zone.

Thing is, TOs have different utility in basketball. Each gains you, at most, a single possession in a 60-80 possession game.

A time out in football is much more valuable to either save a possession by averting a costly offensive penalty, or even better, to work with other time out to preserve and entire high-leverage possession (or provide a much better suite of offensive options in a high-leverage possession) at the end of a half or a game.

You don’t burn a time out to get a DT swapped on first down on your 30 early in the 3rd quarter when you can use it to attack the middle of the field to get into field goal range with 15 seconds to go trailing by 2 points, or to gain a chance to get the ball to try to get a FG at all.

The time and the game situation options TOs provide at end of half moments make them far too valuable to torch to get a couple of substitutions somewhere.

You can easily get 1 guy on and 1 guy off when another team is in no huddle, you just have to have practiced it and be prepared.

This team clearly hadn’t done so, hopefully they have fixed the issues.

Especially in the second half, timeouts are too valuable in an end-of-game situation to use them like in basketball. You take a time-out if you must, but every coach wants to have all three remaining for the two-minute drill, in case they are needed. Also, in basketball you can carry over up to two time-outs into the second half; in football, you cannot.

Obviously, you must be prepared for tempo, and in the MSU game Michigan was not. With only three TOs per half, that cannot be your answer for tempo. Michigan probably should have used some of their TOs, but there were more than six plays in that game when Michigan wasn’t properly set.

I’ve said this before. All timeouts should be reserved for the D. That’s how you should start a game. Situations in the 2nd half can alter this but at the start of the game the coaching staff should assume all TO’s belong to the DC. It only makes sense in modern football. The offense gets to choose their play and even if the D is throwing a curve at you it should be “oh well they guessed right, we lose 4 yds and live to play another day” The D is constantly having to adjust and react and a wrong call can be an instant TD. 

In the first half, it's probably worth it.  M could avoid the scene in Penn State's second drive in which they knifed down the field against our second D Line the entire drive.  A timeout is clearly less valuable than giving up a touchdown, particularly in the first half.

We don't even need timeouts all the time though.  If we're playing to win and not worrying so much about being gentlemanly, one of our d linemen should just stay down and take his breather on the field, forcing the refs to stop the game and get a leisurely substitution.  This approach has been used against tempo since 2007, and no rule prevents it.  Win or lose Michigan, in some cases, it can be our choice!

The number of plays for OSU’s first half drives against MSU were: 12, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, and 10 plays. The defense getting tired during those drives was not the problem.

Hopefully, we can keep our offense on the field so the defense can rest in between OSU drives, not during them.

For most teams and coaching staffs, this would be a "hell no," but realizing how poorly time outs are generally used by this coaching staff, having designated scenarios for their use might not be the worst idea...just not for substitutions.