A word of caution concerning TripOp teams...

TripOp < Natty

And I hate Natty.

2013 was Dantonio’s best. 2015 was his luckiest until Alabama. Bama made luck irrelevant.

Since pass rush won't be as big of a concern this week, the interior DL needs to be more focused on sucking up blockers and occupying rushing lanes.  Vincent Gray looked like a tackler and we know Metellus and Ross can hit.  Those three should be strong help for the edge defenders.

You are right, the service academies will turn any game into a rock fight.  Ignore the point spread, ignore that rushing yards against stat.  Just clean up the shit from last night's offense execution, get a win and get to the bye week to prepare for Wisconsin.

Army had 284 yards against rice. 

If if they have 400, I will freak the f out

Army generated 284 yards of total offense against Rice.  If we are to assume Army should easily put up 400 against us, that means Rice is going to have one of the best defenses in the nation this year.

edit: beat me to it.  

A Pre-emptive strike I see

I hope your preemptive strike works, we'll see next Sunday. LOL Good info!

I expect us to play some version of the 1-9-1 defensive formation for most of the game, as none of their players weigh more than 250 pounds, and all 11 of them will be running in every possible direction simultaneously the entire time they have the ball. 

Army had 284 yards against Rice.  They will have some success next week at times and get a few frustrating 1st down conversions, but there is no reason to fear anything about this football team.  

Okay.

Army will put together a few good drives.

They won't score much though.

Nothing to be concerned about.

Have you ever met anyone who was obnoxiously overconfident before playing a service academy?? Ever???

  So don’t TripOut on the TripOp though be careful not to TripUp because it could be a TripOpTrap. 

Ok, thx, op. 

I’m not going to worry about next Saturday’s result unless they lose. Triple options are so damn hard to prepare for. OSU barely beat Navy the year they won it all. Alabama gave up 300+ rushing yards to Georgia Southern a few years back. It happens against these guys. I just don’t understand what you possibly have to gain by scheduling a service academy. You literally have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

If you win, no one cares. If you lose, you’re a laughingstock. You spend so much time preparing for an offense that in no way prepares you for anything else you’ll face the rest of the year.

So many other ways to honor the military besides playing Navy, Army or Air Force.

No blitzing 

Army played a USA Conference team in their opener just like Michigan and Ohio State. Rice managed 181 yards on the ground and 63 through the air. Army rushed for 231 yards and passed for another 53 in their 14-7 win. Quarterback Kelvin Hopkins was their leading rusher carrying 21 times for 80 yards. He won the game late with a TD pass, only one of three completions in the game on eight pass attempts.

Looking at the highlights, Army seems to be fast to the ball on defense. They use a four man front and vary their backend looks depending on the situation.

They are pretty good at defending the edge and do a good job of penetration using speed and quickness. They like to run blitz in the A-B gaps. It's hard to judge their secondary because Rice only threw the ball 14 times, completing seven. But of those, a few were of the wide receiver screen and bubble pass variety, which got blown up. I am assuming they were just good outside reads.

Army's biggest play of the game, was a double reverse off their triple option action look and fake that sprung a wide receiver, Christian Hayes, for 35 yards. It was the Black Knights biggest play of the game.

They have a very athletic team and while undersized at many spots, make up for it with solid technique and discipline in what they do. They only recorded three TFL's. They allowed 6 yards per rush but only gave up a 3-11 third down efficiency ratio and 10 first downs, forcing Rice to punt 5 times while holding the ball for 25 minutes. On offense, they held the ball 9 minutes longer with 17 first downs.

Army punted just four times and failed to turn the Owls over while giving up one fumble. Because they pass so infrequently, when they do it, it seems like a surprise. And so when Hopkins hit his receiver late in the fourth quarter, he was wide open in a Rice zone coverage.

Michigan has better athletes and size advantage against this team. Whether it uses that advantage to full advantage is the big question. This is a game of reading keys and maintaining discipline.

Army will test Michigan on both sides of the ball. While a different opponent than they normally face in the course of a season, this team will present both a mental and physical challenge that Michigan is rarely forced to confront. And that's what makes the Black Knights a dangerous team.

As long as we come out with a win, and we dont get anyone's knees blown out with cut blocks, I will be happy.

We held Air Force to 232 if I remember correctly (this is so easy to look up but I refuse). We should hold Army under 300. There, I said it. Over 350 and I’ll be a little disappointed.