taylor lewan hates donkeys

oh good this again

The great unresolved question we batted around Monday on the podcast was the perpetual great unresolved question of the last year and a half: "quien es mas falto, Denard o Borges?"

I'm not done with things yet but am I leaning Borges, except since Michigan went into a shell against a good defense and won the game instead of throwing five interceptions and losing it, by "blame" I might actually mean "credit." Michigan won, and outgained the other offense by about 50 yards, and was only about 50 yards short of the output spread genius Urban Meyer managed against the MSU D. In terms of the OH MY GOD TOTAL DEBACLES that have speckled the Borges/Denard partnership, this ranks much lower than having under 200 yards of offense before you're forced to chuck the ball all over the field. See: Iowa, ND 2011, etc.

That said, a quarter into the game, Spartan safeties have made tackles at the line of scrimmage twice, Chris Norman is regularly meeting lead blockers two yards in the backfield, and the only significant gains Michigan has acquired are on a Gallon throwback screen on which it looks like Norman busts hard and the ten-yard Kwiatkowski out. Here's an example of the first two phenomena:

This is a super-aggressive quarters defense that Indiana exploited against both MSU and Ohio State—which is attempting to run the same scheme—with various cover-4 beaters. Michigan elected for the shell, and won.

Even so, man. Michigan has spent weeks setting things up as they played Bye, Virtual Bye One, and Virtual Bye Two; Michigan State is coming off three consecutive hard-fought games. I'm not sure if Spartan Overpreparation is a real thing or not—I hope so. Otherwise we're putting all our chips on the idea that Borges really doesn't have the faintest clue how to run a spread offense and that things will get better once a Real Quarterback™ is in place*.

*[If you've ever made this assertion I hate you.]

An Example

Okay. So here's Michigan's end-around version of the veer that they've been putting on the field for a few weeks now. It looks different; it's really just the same thing as the veer, though.

[Please forgive the crappier than normal image quality—the BTN was taking wide shots, which is generally good for this sort of thing, but this week's torrent is bleah for whatever reason.]

Anyway: Gallon in the slot, Michigan in a Borges-standard three-wide pack. The alignment of Gallon hints at the end around motion, BTW. MSU is in their standard 4-3 even. The guys at the top of the screen are going to be the relevant ones. Gholston is the DE, Denicos Allen the LB.

As Gallon goes in motion, Allen—and only Allen—moves to the LOS outside of Gholston. Live this gave me a sense of disquiet. That's not sliding some linebackers over. That's an awfully specific thing to do.

A  couple of moments later, the snap has been made and Denard is in a quasi-mesh point with Gallon. I say "quasi" because the action here is so fast that it's hard to believe there's any real read component.

Anyway. Four MSU players are relevant here.

1. The boundary corner blitzes. He is the contain guy if Gallon gets the ball.
2. Allen is now the End Man On The Line Of Scrimmage—EMLOS(!). His goal is to get the two-for-one that allows Bullough to be the free hitter, or at least foul the hole and thus rob whoever gets to Bullough of his burst of impetus.
3. Gholston is the main cutback defender. Once Allen is the primary hole he's got to prevent anything from cutting behind it.
4. Bullough is the guy MSU would like to be the free hitter a la Demens. Bullough's ridiculously good at football and sheds blocks like whoah; having him as a free hitter is a luxury few teams have.

On the Michigan side of things, Lewan is adapting to the play as it develops and pulls out some of the old zone playbook. When Gholston dives inside of him he goes with it, using his momentum to take him past the point where he wants to go. Toussaint also reads the funny business going on and heads straight for Allen. Omameh is pulling; his eventual destination should be Bullough.

This is hard to see in the next still, so watch for it in the video: the legs you see poking out here like the Wicked Witch of the West with a house on her…

…are in fact the remnants of a killer cut block on Allen by Toussaint. But Allen has still gotten his two for one:

Omameh is literally hopping outside that block. A moment past this and the two players will be even, which means Denard can't follow him, which means he's not blocking anyone, which means two for one, which means Max Freaking Bullough is a free hitter.

Michigan's one saving grace on this play is the Lewan-Gholston matchup. Denard gets a cutback lane because Lewan has blasted Gholston to a point on the field even with the playside and backside DTs. Bullough is surprised by Denard's attack angle, as is Norman, and both have a tough time cutting back as fast as Denard can.

They're unblocked, though, and there are many of them. Denard can only squeeze out four yards…

…as Gholston lies pancaked underneath Lewan yards from the play.

Video

On separate run-throughs check out:

1. Toussaint chopping Allen
2. Lewan dominating Gholston
3. Denard picking through traffic
4. Michigan getting four yards off of two great blocks.

Things And Stuff

UNLEASH THE EPIC RABBLING COMMENT THREAD. Guys, I'm totally sorry, but sheeeeeeeeeeeeit. This is happening all the damn time. The play above is MSU knowing what's coming as soon as Gallon goes in motion and having a plan to combat it. The plan works—pretty much, anyway—despite the playside defensive end ending up on his stomach eight yards away from the play.

Michigan's not getting anything of the sort in kind, and the first play on which Joe Reynolds makes an appearance features this defensive formation:

filed under "lol 100% run" in the MSU playbook

That wasn't a fakeout, man, those jakeryans came at the snap, leaving one corner anywhere near a simple curl/flat or smash combo with the twinned receivers.

This was a run. A –3 yard run. Yeah, sure, opposing defensive coordinators don't know about Michigan's substitution patterns. Probably just a coincidence.

That cannot happen. You cannot allow the opposing defense to align like that. Michigan allows it all the time.

Okay, okay, is going away from all run all the time a danger that makes Denard chuck interceptions? Possibly. I watched Denard make those curl/flat throws as a clueless sophomore, though, and you just can't let the above happen. I'm finding lots of wins for MSU based on their prep for this game, and few for Michigan. The throwback screen that worked was more Norman busting hard than anything schematic working.

I know they got some stuff later, so I'll probably be less peeved about this when the UFRs come out. I am pretty disappointed that M spent the first quarter running absolutely nothing new against Michigan State of all teams.

Lewan vs Gholston is no contest. It was no contest a year ago, it's no contest this year. He made a couple plays that didn't show up on the scoresheet when he was well-schooled on Michigan's sweep play and used his athleticism to shoot a gap—and Funchess took out Schofield in the process—but once he gets locked up, game over man. He did himself a disservice by not playing for a 3-4 team. He'd be a terror in ND's scheme. As a 4-3-even DE, he's the third-best player on his own defensive line.

Toussaint got a win here. This went a lot worse for him when he was trying to lead Denard into iso runs and Chris Norman was tearing ass at him. The lack of Rawls was pretty weird given the context.

Players don't really matter here except at the margins. Gholston got annihilated and Michigan got four yards. That was MSU's worst case scenario on this play.

Michigan's counterpunches to this sort of thing are not even really the Dileo completions. Dileo catches his first two balls on second and eleven and third and six; the last one was clearly not a play action situation, so all you've got to show for this is the single catch and run from the second quarter.

You should be able to punish the level of aggression shown by the MSU defense in some way. Michigan could not last year and could not this year—at least not in the structure of the offense. Last year, Roy Roundtree broke a tackle to turn a slant into a touchdown. This year, Denard juked and juked and juked to get his 44-yard run towards the end on a QB draw that had absolutely nothing to do with the base rushing offense.

The most alarming thing so far: Michigan's first pass on first down is three drives in. It has a play action mesh point of the sort MSU has been tearing after all game, and no MSU linebacker takes a step to the line of scrimmage. Why? The line sets up to pass block immediately, without anyone pulling. Michigan has not had a run play yet without a pulling lineman.

Denard doesn't have anyone open and ends up throwing his worst pass of the day, a near-INT that was so bad two MSU players had a better shot at it than any Michigan guys. Clearly he has not gotten through all his bad decision mojo, but I'm mystified that Michigan would not even try to draw those linebackers up by running plays that look like the ones they've already put on the field.

Formation notes: The Air Force defense is the opposite of their offense when it comes to formations. They run their 3-4 on virtually every play. They started off in some unusual (for them, anyway) formations, got burned for 79 yards on the second, and then decided to do this every play:

That may look like a four-man line but the line is directly over the C and tackles; the standup end is a linebacker, with AF's other linebacker flared out over the opposite hash.

For Michigan this is "double stacks," BTW.

I did not call this out specifically—it's just shotgun twins twin TE but note the inversion of the line TE—Kwiatkowski—and Funchess, who is in an H-back spot inside of him. Michigan used this mostly to get Funchess on wheel routes.

Substitution notes: A mishmash at WR with Gardner, Gallon, and Roundtree all seeing about the same number of snaps. Jackson and Jerald Robinson were next in line. Funchess, Kwiatkowski, and Williams split a good number of TE snaps.

Toussaint was the only tailback all game save for a few Smith snaps; the line was all starters.

Show? Show.

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun triple stack	1	0	4	Nickel under	Run	QB counter	Robinson	1
Looks like read option in the backfield; Lewan pulls around into the hole. Omameh(-2) lets a DT go straight upfield into the Lewan pull; Lewan delays to prevent a TFL and Denard has to deal with that unblocked LB in the hole. RUN-: Omameh(2)
M21	2	9	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Okie	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	79
AF goes with a six man front and one MLB behind it with a cover two shell in the secondary. They send five, backing two out, those two are tasked with covering the receivers. They're looking at a bubble screen fake, and bug out. They're gone. Michigan blocks the four frontside guys, with Mealer(+1) and Barnum(+1) getting a scoop on the DT that gets Mealer(+1) to the second level, where he pancakes a safety. Gardner walls off a corner, and then Robinson(+3) is one on one with the last guy. You know how that ends. Ermagerd. RPS +3. This was easy, really.
RUN+: Robinson(3), Mealer(2), Barnum							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-0. 8 min 1st Q. By the time M gets the ball back plays are 24-2 AF.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M27	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB iso	Robinson	-1
This is either a run blitz or a really great read; one AF MLB shoots forward at the snap, getting past Mealer(-1) before he can come off a combo block. Maybe Molk makes this play, but it's not awful to not be able to do it. The DT Mealer and Omameh(-1) are trying to combo is shooting way left at the snap, so this is a blitz, I bet. Omameh totally loses the guy. Hopkins(-2) runs right by the blitzer, and this gets Denard buried in the backfield. RPS -1. RUN-: Omameh, Mealer, Hopkins(2)
M26	2	11	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	PA TE seam	Funchess	21
Why, hello. LBs suck up on run fake, Funchess wide open, nailed, caught, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (CA, 3, protection 1/1, RPS +2)
M47	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Base 3-4	Run	Inside zone	Toussaint	1
AF tips a blitz like whoah and Michigan does not check. They send a corner and LB, slanting the line away from that blitz. Barnum(-2) gets confused and lets a DT through untouched. This is not good. Toussaint dances through it for a yard or two. Omameh(-1) also did not pick up the blitz and let that LB through clean. Bubble? Open. RPS –1, gotta have a check. RUN-: Barnum(2), Omameh(1)
M48	2	9	Shotgun double stack	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	PA drag	Gallon	8
Gallon comes in motion as the ball is snapped; M fakes the zone and flips it out to him in space. Same play that he got open on against Alabama but Denard overthrew it. This one is on the money. Gallon gets the edge on the slowish AF defense and nears the first down. (CA, 3, protection N/A, RPS +1)
O44	3	1	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	7
AF running another blitz up the middle with stunting action. Michigan's pulling outside of a TE and Omameh(+1) plugs a blitzer, ending that backside threat. On the playside, Kwiatkowski(+1) seals the playside end, Toussaint(+0.5) kicks the OLB (easy), and Barnum(+0.5) pulls through to get an OK second-level block. Robinson is about to test those safeties again when a linebacker who was originally blitzing to the backside recovers for the ankle tackle. Nice recovery by that guy. RPS +1; blitz put AF in a bad spot.
RUN+: Omameh, Barnum(0.5), Hopkins(0.5), Kwiatkowski							RUN-:
O37	1	10	Shotgun triple stack TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB counter	Robinson	7
Run to the other side with Schofield pulling. AF blitzes right in the intended gap; Schofield(+1) slows up to wall the guy off… guy goes after Toussaint. If Schofield keeps going and bips a safety... oh well. Denard now has a big hole thanks to a big kickout from Lewan(+1) and Barnum walling off a LB who bit on Toussaint. S fills well, Denard tries to go around him and is chopped down by pursuit.
O30	2	3	I-Form	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Run	Iso	Toussaint	5
Mansome block from Hopkins(+2) who takes a blitzing LB, stands him up, and thrusts him out of the hole. Mealer(+1) adjusted well to a moving LB and escorted him out of the way; Omameh(+1) put a potentially problematic DT on the ground. Safety fill is rapid since he was moving forward on the snap as AF went to an eight man front.
RUN+: Hopkins(2), Mealer, Omameh							RUN-:
O25	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Run	Inside zone	Toussaint	-1
This is just an old Rodriguez inside zone and that it doesn't work is kind of on three people. One: Denard. End isn't crashing but a keep is attractive here. Two: Mealer(-1), who can't get much of a block on a playside LB. Three: Toussaint(-2), who refuses to cut it up and ruins excellent blocks from Barnum(+1) and Lewan(+1) on the backside. Maybe the end shuts this down, but probably not for zero yards. Also... we could use some belly here. FWIW, yeah, Omameh and Schofield are in the backfield but this is essentially fine on zone blocking. That's where they went. Toussaint needs to cut.
RUN+: Lewan, Barnum							RUN-: Mealer, Toussaint(2)
O26	2	11	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB iso	Robinson	-8
AF tips a safety blitz, no checks on either side. Michigan runs directly into it. Lewan is expecting to kick a DE who screams inside of him; nothing he can do. Denard runs around and goes down. RPS -3. This was dead. Moar checks. This was so tipped.
O34	3	19	Shotgun double stack	1	0	4	Dime	Pass	Rollout out	Gallon	Inc
I think. This is a rollout flood route on which AF blitzes and still has everybody blanketed. Denard eventually throws it at a double-covered Gallon, getting it batted near the LOS. Given the situation I don't really mind the attempt—it's a crappy punt in a world of crappy punts if it gets picked off. He had Roundtree if he wanted to throw across his body... does he? I don't know. He's there for a reason, I guess. I'm just going to punt and BA this. (BA, 0, protection N/A, RPS -1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-3, 13 min 2nd Q. Gallon costs M 25 yards by not catching a punt before the next drive.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M12	1	10	Shotgun triple stack TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB iso	Robinson	6
AF blitzes right up the intended gap; Toussaint(+1) takes that guy out of the play. Mealer(+0.5) does an okay job with the NT; Barnum(+0.5) gets a linebacker he released directly into. Robinson(+0.5) gets a half for moving past the blocks in an optimal way.
M18	2	4	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	Zone stretch	Toussaint	0
AF stunts, sending the playside DT right into Mealer. He goes low, submarining him and taking out Barnum. Not sure what Mealer can do about that. Omameh and Schofield now have to block guys inside of them that are at angles they are not expecting; they don't do this well. Even if they do, the peel-off leaves an unblocked guy waiting to fill. Williams(-1) did get owned on the edge and that didn't help. Rest of it seems RPS -2. Bubble open, BTW.
M18	3	4	Shotgun 4-wide	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	Out	Jackson	8
Stacked to the boundary. Bubble yawningly open. Michigan does it the slightly harder way by sending Jackson on an option route at about six yards. He breaks open, but not by much, and Denard shoots it in there like he's a WCO QB. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
M26	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Wheel	Funchess	24
Play action fake to Smith sucks up the OLB, who dodges Funchess like he's blocking. He and Gallon break deep against one safety, who takes the inside. Funchess is open, Denard sees it and hits him. Big paws man. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
O45	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Run	Broken play	Robinson	2
Denard(-1) bobbles the snap. I was going to call this an iso since the play worked out like that but after watching it a couple times, Smith is definitely expecting a mesh point and just improvises after he figures out it's not coming. This is a half-step from breaking big, in fact, but a blitz from the OLB gets Denard around the legs just as he's about to burst. Barnum(+1) and Omameh(+1) paved the way.
RUN+: Omameh, Barnum							RUN-: Robinson
O43	2	8	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Base 3-4	Run	Inside zone	Toussaint	1
This one is on the right side of the line as AF slants to get it to the backside. Schofield(-2) is supposed to latch on to that slant and push him past where he's trying to go; instead he just whiffs and dude makes contact in the backfield. This is really all Schofield; Barnum is looking for someone to block in his zone and this is not a tough thing to do. All Schofield has to do is push the guy and Toussaint has a nice lane on the cutback he did find. RUN-: Schofield(2)
O42	3	7	Shotgun 4-wide	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	Hitch	Gardner	12
AF brings the heat. Both Mealer (-1) and Omameh(-1) get blown by, with Omameh's being more relevant. Denard has a guy in his face, and where previously he may have backfooted something turrible this time he shoots one out to Gardner in rhythm. It's a little upfield, but that's fine. (CA+, 3, protection 0/2, Mealer -1, Omameh -1)
O30	1	10	Ace Big	1	3	1	Base 3-4	Pass	PA TE corner	Funchess	30
PA gets Funchess one on one with a safety and Denard all day. Funchess loses the S because he's thinking waggle, and Denard fires it. It's a little short, but the S is still running as Funchess finds the ball, so it's not really very off. Much better this than missing. (CA+, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +3). FUNCHESSSSSSS
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 14-3, 7 min 2nd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M38	1	10	Shotgun twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	Run	QB iso	Robinson	7
Looks like Toussaint(-1) blows an assignment and heads into the wrong gap. He ends up running into Omameh near the LOS; unblocked MLB. Robinson(+1) bounces it and gets the edge thanks to Schofield(+1) driving his guy a couple yards off the LOS. Interior blocking looked good, FWIW
RUN+: Robinson, Schofield							RUN-: Toussaint
M45	2	3	I-Form	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	0
AF walks down a safety and blitzes him right into this. They tipped this too, but no checks never checks. RPS -2.
M45	3	3	Shotgun double stack	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	Dumpoff	Smith	Int
Pass is a little high and hard for the 5'6" Smith, bouncing off his hands and getting intercepted. Denard had all the room in the world to run, but this was also wide open for a first down. (MA, 2, protection 1/1) On replay I don't even know if this is MA. Very catchable.
Drive Notes: Interception, 14-3, 5 min 2nd Q. Next drive starts with 1:16 in the half and two TOs.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M19	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	Zone read keeper	Robinson	10
AF shows blitz and backs out of it. Funchess's guy is backing out at the snap. Funchess ends up chasing him a bit, then decides to release downfield. Denard(+1) pulls since there's no one containing him and shoots up in the gap for a first down. Funchess probably should have clocked a linebacker instead of going for the safety, but oh well. RPS +1.
M29	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Rollout hitch	Roundtree	5
A crappy throw takes Roundtree off his feet, robbing him of YAC and keeping the clock running. Accurate and this is 8-10 and a stopped clock. (MA, 2, protection 1/1)
M34	2	5	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	In	Gardner	5
Eight men in coverage; Denard can't find anything except a short one to Gardner at the sticks. Accurate, at least. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M39	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Deep hitch	Gardner	19
Three man rush again; Denard surveys and finds Gardner open between levels in the zone, zips it for a first down. (CA+, 3, protection 1/1). They burn nine seconds before the next snap.
O42	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Post	Dileo	Inc
AF sends seven; picked up. Denard stares down Dileo and does not see Gardner coming open beneath him. He forces it into three guys. No es bueno. (BR, 0, protection 3/3)
O42	2	10	N/A				N/A	Penalty	Illegal substitution	--	-5
Bleah.
O47	2	15	Shotgun trips	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Post	Jackson	Inc
I'm not charting this given the situation. May as well force it. Do think Gallon was a better option, but whatever. (NC, 0, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: EOH, 14-10.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M42	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	58
AF sends a blitzer off the corner. Toussaint(+1) deals with him. Omameh has to get around that issue and does. Robinson slows up for him. Now both are on the edge with a linebacker. Omameh(+1) blows him up. Robinson cuts inside that. Lewan(+2) has donkeyed a slanting DL all the way to Schofield(!), so there's a gap. Mealer(+1) sealed away another DT. Williams and Barnum are doubling a linebacker. Denard(+2) has a big cutback lane. Dileo(+1) cracks down on the other OLB and gets a bonus block on a DB who wasn't making the play anyway. Gardner's stalk-blocking the corner to that side; Denard(+1) jukes that guy inside out and seeya. No shoes necessary.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 21-10, 14 min 2nd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M35	1	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	Run	QB sweep	Robinson	1
M pulls Omameh and Schofield around two tight ends to the boundary. AF is stunting things; Williams(+1) does a good job to shove the playside DE past everything. Another DL has stunted himself out of the play, and Lewan(+1) gets the third despite the stunting. Michigan crushes the second level, and the only thing that can prevent Robinson from getting five or six yards is Robinson(-2) not cutting upfield and instead jogging out of bounds.
RUN+: Lewan, Williams							RUN-: Robinson(2)
M36	2	9	Shotgun triple stack TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB draw	Robinson	10
AF tips that blitz again, and this time it seems like we do get a check. Robinson fakes a WR screen to Gallon and takes off. Just like his opening run, the two linebackers haul for WRs on the outside, so if Denard can get past the line he will get yards. Pump fake gets one for free; Lewan(+1) stuffs the other blitzer and there's an avenue outside. No gap in the middle, unfortunately, or this could have been a massive gain. As it is it's an easy first down. Denard(+1) for speed and things. RPS +1.
RUN+: Robinson, Lewan							RUN-:
M46	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	5
Barnum(+1) pulls and gets there. He takes on a run-blitzing LB at the LOS and wins. Toussaint(+1) kicks the OLB. No chance on the safety because Barnum got used at the LOS but he's got to be cautious and it's a decent gain.
RUN+: Toussaint, Barnum, Williams							RUN-:
O49	2	5	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Slant	J. Robinson	10
That's not Milliner. The Other Robinson gets inside position and uses his body to wall off the DB; Denard nails him. Body-caught, but results-based charting. (CA+, 3, protection 1/1)
O39	1	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	Pass	Wheel	Funchess	26
TEs both in two point stances. Michigan runs a Toussaint fake and then goes pass, with Funchess running a wheel down the sideline. Man coverage, AF linebacker tries a chuck or something, and that's over. Denard floats a perfect touch pass over the LB. Funchess bobbles it but does bring it in. Great throw maximized YAC. (DO, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
O13	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	6
This time the other way. Kwiatkowski(+1) seals the DE; Lewan(+1) shoves a slanting DT and then gets a second level block. LB spins off it but is significantly delayed. Robinson(-0.5) gets spooked by that fellow and runs a little outside where he should, giving up some yards when a guy Dileo cut decently can make a tackle from his knees.
O7	2	4	Ace Big	1	3	1	Base 3-4	Pass	Waggle out	Gardner	7
Play action fools the entire AF secondary; easy pitch and catch for Denard and Gardner. (CA, 3, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 28-17, 6 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M1	1	10	I-form Big	2	2	1	Base 3-4	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	1
Ugh, just throw the damn ball to Gallon and see if this AF corner's eight-yard cushion is something he can make up. That's a guaranteed five yards. Instead, M runs a power. Williams(-1) loses a DE to the inside. Omameh(-1) does not get there, and that's all she wrote. RPS -1.
M2	2	9	I-Form	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Pass	Hitch	Gardner	Inc
Extremely token run fake and max pro. Robinson fires a hitch, accurate but maybe a tiny bit late. Gardner gets his hands on it but ends up dropping it as the CB rakes it out. Could be route here, as separation was not gained. (CA, 1, protection 1/1)
M2	3	9	Shotgun double stack	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	Out	Jackson	Inc
Zone blitz gets two ILBs in Robinson's face, so he flings a dart to Jeremy Jackson that he bobbles and then the OLB backing out knocks down. Dileo had separation and could have turned up for the first; Jackson is just slow. In any case, this was probably a yard or two short of the first down unless Jackson did some mansome OLB dragging after the catch. (CA+, 3, protection 0/2, team)
Drive Notes: Punt, 28-17, EO3Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M34	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	6
Omameh's back to pulling really badly, as he ends up two yards in the backfield at one point and Robinson has to slow up for him. He does plug the linebacker that shows, I guess. Tentative +1. Lewan(+1) and Williams(+1) club the playside DE with Williams coming out on a LB. Barnum(+0.5) gets the easy NT block; Toussaint(+0.5) kicks the DE, and Denard only has a safety to deal with.
M40	2	4	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	PA seam	Dileo	Inc
Robinson gets instant pressure from the edge as a blitz comes and has to dump it immediately. Dileo is covered by one of those linebackers coming out from the center of the field and Denard chucks it high of everyone anyway. I'm filing this PR. I don't mind this from Denard. (PR, 0, protection 0/1, team, RPS -1).
M40	3	4	Shotgun 4-wide	1	0	4	Base 3-4	Pass	Out	Jackson	9
Three-step rhythm throw (except this is a shotgun). This is west-coasty. It's Purdue-y. It's a short out to Jackson for the first down. (CA, 3, protection 1/1). Jackson gets some bullish YAC, too.
M49	1	10	I-Form twins	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Pass	PA post	Roundtree	Inc
Toussaint gets a great cut block on a blitzing OLB that gives Denard time. He pumps, indecisive, and then he's got to go. He runs up in the pocket and as he's getting tackled by that OLB unloads 50 yards downfield to Roundtree, who is open by a step; pass is way long. (IN, 0, protection 2/2)
M49	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB draw	Robinson	7
AF sends a double A gap blitz, backing off an OLB. Barnum(+1) catches one LB and escorts him out of the hole. Toussaint(+1) kicks the other one. Crease. Williams(+1) gets a good downfield block on that OLB who backed out. Robinson is one on one with a safety and ends up trying to cut behind Williams; Safety chops him down by the ankles.
O44	3	3	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	11
DE slanting inside on the playside makes Omameh move around him, which slows him. Denard slows, too. By the time he's finished doing that, Williams(+1) has shoved that DE all the way past the back of the line, Schofield(+1) has blown the playside DE past Barnum's guy, and a big cutback lane opens that Robinson(+2) takes. Dileo(+1) cuts off a linebacker and bang secondary.
O33	1	10	I-Form twins	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Run	Waggle corner	Gardner	20
Toussaint again gets a nice cut block on the OLB coming hard on the edge. Denard is now in plenty of space and can leisurely pick out Gardner breaking open 20 yards downfield. Hit in the numbers, easy catch, big gain. (CA+, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
O13	1	10	I-Form twins	2	1	2	Base 3-4	Run	Iso	Toussaint	-1
S nominally covering the slot comes on a Kovacs blitz and nails Toussaint for no gain. RPS -2. No blocking matters here.
O14	2	11	Shotgun empty	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Delayed slant	Gardner	Inc
Gardner hitches up at five yards and then extends his route when a LB comes up to cover, and Denard goes for him. He's about to have a completion nearing the sticks when an DL who's not even bothering to rush gets a hand up at the LOS and bats it down. Foiled again! RPS +1, great little route. (BA, 0, protection 2/2)
O14	3	11	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Base 3-4	Pass	Dumpoff	Toussaint	Inc
Air Force sends six. Picked up but Robinson is spooked and dumps it to Toussaint, low and tough. Not caught, not getting the first down even if caught. RUN THE BALL DENARRRRD. Taking off here has possibilities, man. (IN, 1, protection 3/3)
Drive Notes: FG(31), 31-25, 8 min 4th Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	DForm	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M43	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	Run	QB power	Robinson	2
Playside LB splits Toussaint and Barnum, getting upfield of Barnum and forcing Denard inside away from blocking. This gives AF a free hitter, who tackles Robinson in the hole. Think Toussaint(-1) has to go at this guy and cut him so Barnum can come around. Stunt made the blocking down very easy FWIW.
M45	2	8	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	Run	QB sweep	Robinson	2
Williams(-1) gets shoved back and loses his guy, which picks off Brink and gives Brink's guy an avenue to flow. Toussaint(-1) never actually gets a hat on the contain guy, and these folks combine on Robinson for a short gain.
RUN+: Schofield							RUN-: Toussaint, Williams
M47	3	6	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	Pass	PA rollout hitch	Gardner	Inc
Wide open as the smash route takes the corner to that side deep. Robinson finds it and leaves it short, but catchable. Gardner cant' bring it in. (MA, 2, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 31-25, 2 min 4th Q. Michigan's final snaps are kneels.

I like this not playing Alabama thing.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

My favorite bits are Denard running until your brain melts.

Me too!

My second favorite bits are when Denard throws the receivers are not coated in a blood-red harbinger of doom.

I feel you.

I'm even feeling pretty good about this chart you're going to hit me with.

Do… you want to? You know, do it? The thing where I say—

CHART

—chart and you interrupt me to say—

CHART

--chart. The love is back!

[Hennechart legend is updated.]

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	DSR
2011 through MSU	13	66(12)	11(1)	34(1)	17	2	3	10	4	55%
2011 after MSU	9	77(9)	7	17	9	6(1)	5(2)	9	5	69%
Alabama	4	15(2)	1	4	3	-	-	3(1)	1	71%
Air Force	1	14	3	2	1	-	2	1	-	75%

Boom. Denard's misses:

• Dumpoff to Smith that's a little high and hard marked MA. This was the INT.
• Two iffy throws on sideline stop routes, one of which takes Roundtree off his feet inbounds on Michigan's hurry-up drive at the end of the first half, one of which forces Gardner to try and dig out a low throw on Michigan's final real snap. Both MAs.
• Fifty-yard bomb to Roundtree thrown while on the move and getting tackled. IN, but not a big deal.
• Dumpoff to Toussaint as he's getting pressure on third and eleven. IN.

There was also a crappy read right at the end of the first half. That's it. Denard Robinson killed Tacopants tag: deployed.

I mean, I'm just like you guys. Wheels on the money, corner routes on the money, even one of those dinky Purdue routes in traffic squeezed in there. He stood in against pressure and shot darts out to his WRs. QBs make mistakes. There are those little frustrating moments when the guy won't just RUNNNNNNN and you're going HNNNNNNGGGG because look at all that space on third and three. But if you're trying to tell me this is not a significant leap forward, you crazy.

This is pretty.

MAINTAIN PLZ

I am so Funchized right now you guys.

you're what

I am Funchized to the max.

that's not even a thing

Oh, man, this is great stuff.

Fine, fine, I am so Funchized.

That's not even a thing.

I clipped all four of his catches not because I set out to do so but just because it happened. Each was a big gain, each was virtually unstoppable for safety or linebacker, and all but one made you think that Funchess was going to have awesome hands as he plucked the ball out of the air with the twelve-inch skillets attached to his wrists. Was the seam a little behind him? Maybe if it's Dileo the throw forces a spin and a tough catch. Funchess just reaches out for it. Was the touchdown a little short?

Maybe if we're talking about Martavious Odoms or Jeremy Gallon going for that. In Funchess's case, feed the man up high.

Aigh Toussaint?

Let's do another variety of chart first.

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	Total	Notes
Lewan	8	-	8	Blew some guys off the ball; locked out edge guys.
Barnum	6.5	2	4.5	Solid.
Mealer	4.5	2	2.5	Seems like a decent player.
Omameh	5	5	0	Pulling getting bad again; got blown by a couple times.
Schofield	3	2	1	Not tested that much.
Kwiatkowski	2	-	2	Did okay.
Moore	-	-	-	DNP
Williams	5	3	2	Very blocky.
Funchess	-	-	-	Blocking is for saps.
TOTAL	34	14	71%	What they needed to do against Air Force.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Robinson	11.5	3.5	8	XOXOXO
Bellomy	-	-	-
Toussaint	5	5	0	Pretty good day blocking on rollouts FWIW.
Rawls	-	-	-	DNP
Smith	-	-	-	DNR
Hayes	-	-	-	DNP
Hopkins	2	2	2	Denard running meant not much Hopkins.
Kerridge	-	-	-	DNP
TOTAL	18.5	10.5	8	fast
Receivers
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Gardner	-	-	-
Roundtree	-	-	-
Gallon	-	-	-
Jackson	-	-	-
Dileo	1	-	1	--
J. Robinson	-	-	-
Darboh	-	-	-	--
TOTAL	1	-	1	Eh.
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Protection	33	5	87%	Team –3, Mealer –1, Omameh –1.
RPS	17	13	+4	A lot of RPSes.

Those line numbers have extremely low amplitude because Michigan only got off 28 rushes—Air Force had 71!—and the high RPS numbers mean that I attributed a lot of stuff to play design/response instead of blocking. Like, on the 79-yarder there was only one second level player who needed thumping. That means fewer treats to pass out to the OL and more for Borges. Similarly, getting whacked in the backfield by an unblocked blitzer is not on the OL.

When the line did get called upon, they did well. Mostly.

Okay. Now: Aigh Toussaint?

I'm not sure it was much about Toussaint. He missed one cut pretty badly. Other than that, I'm not sure what he was supposed to do:

Air Force tipped blitzes a lot and Michigan didn't check out of their play but once or twice (and I didn't actually clip the check). Not sure if that's on Denard or Borges, but a lot of the time when Toussaint was getting the ball he was dodging unblocked guys in the backfield. Lewan said this was "embarrassing" OL performance; I do think they had some problems but I think it was mostly Toussaint getting the wrong chamber in Air Force blitz/slant roulette.

Michigan's success in the air was the flipside of that business. Michigan's final TD was easy easy because even Air Force's corners freak out about run.

But the right side of the offensive line is a problem?

I'm not sure Schofield had enough relevant reps in this game to make any sort of declaration. Omameh was pretty bad, though. I was probably too kind when gave him a +1 on some of his pulls. He's back to that arcing thing where he ends up running eight yards when he can run five. And too often yesterday did he let slanting guys right by. Here's the first play:

Have to get a shove on that guy even if he hops past you. Schofield had a similar error on a zone where Air Force slanted hard playside and the only thing preventing Toussaint's good-idea backside cut from working was the whiff. I don't see stuff like that from Lewan.

Robinson only had 4.5 YPC if you take out the big touchdowns, though.

Thanks, Danny Kanell. The way Air Force was playing left them exposed to monster plays. The 79-yarder saw a blitz and both LBs bugging out into a potential bubble screen:

the youtube url for this play has "Wee" in it

There is no one on the second level, period. Air Force did a lot of stunting and slanting  blitzing in order to make up for their size deficiencies, and when it worked it got Michigan in second and long. The long runs were a cost they were hoping not to pay. You can't just take them out and expect to say anything meaningful.

Norfleet?

Yo I got your magic midget right here.

He'll get some carries Saturday.

Did you forget something?

Right, receivers:

[Passes are rated by how tough they are to catch. 0 == impossible. 1 == wow he caught that, 2 == moderate difficulty, 3 == routine. The 0/X in all passes marked zero is implied.]

Player	0	1	2	3		0	1	2	3
Gardner	1	0/1	0/1	5/5		5	0/3	1/2	5/5
Roundtree	1		1/1			2	0/1	1/1	2/2
Gallon	1			1/1		2	0/1	2/3	2/2
J. Robinson				1/1		1			1/1
Dileo	1					1	1/1
Jackson	1			2/3					3/4
Darboh
Chesson
Kwiatkowski									1/1
Moore
Funchess				4/4					4/4
Williams
Toussaint			0/1					0/1
Smith			0/1					0/1	2/2
Rawls

Notice the large drop in 0s. Obviously. The only routine drop was a Jackson out when Michigan was backed up on the goal line. Wouldn't have gotten the first down but would at least have gotten Michigan away from the goal line and give Hagerup an opportunity to boom one. Smith's 0/1 was of course painful.

Heroes?

Denard! Also Funchess.

Goats?

Omameh had a rough day on the OL.

What does it mean for UMass and the future?

UMass will be a walkover.

As for the future, if Denard puts up the same sort of accuracy against UMass that ND game will be monstrous for the fan excitement level. Put up a bunch of completions against the Irish and keep that streak going and it's that MSU game for the Roses. Revert and we're all feeling pretty crappy about ourselves.

Toussaint gets an INC; the right side of the line is the biggest worry now, along with the tight ends holding up against bigger teams.

But, hey, Funchess and a rapidly developing Gardner combine with Denard's running to pose a tricky question for upcoming defenses. The passing just has to be for real.

Previous: Podcast 4.0, the story, quarterback, running back, wide receivers.

LT	Yr.	LG	Yr.	C	Yr.	RG	Yr.	RT	Yr.
Taylor Lewan	Jr.*	Elliott Mealer	Sr.*	Ricky Barnum	Sr.*	Patrick Omameh	Sr.*	Michael Schofield	Jr.*
Erik Magnuson	Fr.	Joey Burzynski	So.*	Jack Miller	Fr.*	Kyle Kalis	Fr.	Ben Braden	Fr.

This again. One year after Michigan's offensive line looked pretty shiny as long as you did not consider the cliff after guy #6, Michigan's offensive line looks really shiny… as long as you don't consider the cliff after guy #5. Or maybe guy #4. In a best case scenario, still guy #6.

Last year, Michigan had Michael Schofield to step into the lineup, and needed him to. This year any injury will see a walk-on or freshman—probably a true freshman—hit the field. Yipes.

But let's not think about that. As long as the starting five stays intact, the line should be quality. Taylor Lewan is projected as a first-round NFL draft pick, Patrick Omameh is in his fourth year as a starter, Michael Schofield started most of last year and moves to a more natural position, and the other two guys are redshirt seniors. Michigan should have a better line this year even without David Molk.

That first step's a doozy, though.

Tackle

Rating: 5 of 5, not considering depth

Guralnick/Greilick, Detroit News

At this point, "Taylor Lewan is the next Jake Long" is not hope or hype or projection but just a (pretty much) true thing. Lewan may not go first overall in the NFL draft but he's already being projected in the top half of the first round next year, should he choose to depart.

After a promising but penalty-filled freshman year, Lewan cut out the holding calls and stoned opposing pass rushers, snap in, snap out. The primary reason ultra-hyped MSU DE Will Gholston started playing judo chop with various Lewan limbs was that he had no hope of impacting the game in any other fashion:

TAYLOR LEWAN
AGILITY TO PULL
sprint counter
gets outside on p&p
another sprint counter
HATES DONKEYS
donkey McNaul
donkey Short
donkey Meredith
donkey some guy
donkey-ish Hankins
DONKEY HANKINS
ETC.
nice seal on Worthy
stands up Binns
gets Toussaint edge
DOES BIFF
loses balance
fails to cut on screen

In a game where the Michigan OL was overwhelmed, blitz or not (Mark Huyge got 7 protection minuses), Lewan had a measly +1. Across twelve games of fending off the opposition's best pass rusher he racked up a total of four protection minuses. Two of those were for not cutting a guy on a screen; a third was not getting out on a corner on an attempted double pass. The fourth is somewhere in that video above, and I'm not even sure what that was. Even counting that there was literally one QB hurry going one-on-one with Lewan last year, to say nothing of actual sacks. There is a reason he is getting the NFL hype.

(Note that when blitzes cause confusion not localizable to one or two players that sends in free rushers I file that under "team." Lewan's no doubt responsible for some of those. When he identifies a guy to block, it's over.)

The black lining in our silver cloud was Lewan's lack of impact in the run game. He started off well, with three games around +10 in the UFR run chart and a 7-3-+4 against ND in limited opportunities—Michigan did jack before eviscerating Gary Gray in the fourth quarter. This was noted.

how often have you thought about Taylor Lewan this year? Not often, right? Mostly when he takes some donkey and punches it so hard in the nose shards of cartilage come out the back of its donkeyhelmet, right? (In a non-personal-foul acquiring way, of course.)

After that, he struggled to register on the run chart until late. His Big Ten season:

Game	Opponent	+	-	T	Comment
5	MINN	5.5	6	-0.5	Yeah, surprised me too: had a couple busts and one bad whiff.
6	NW	4.5	2	2.5	Why so low, numbers? Discussion later.
7	MSU	6	5	1	Lucky to have both arms in his shoulder sockets.
8	PU	7	1	6	Would like to see him more involved somehow.
9	Iowa	6	7	-1	Off day.
10	Illinois	8	5	3	Had some mistakes in space.
11	Nebraska	9	-	9	Finally some productive donkey hatred. Belly helps him produce; also got Toussaint the edge on a play that would have gone badly otherwise.
12	OSU	9.5	1	8	Effective against DTs, mostly, also getting to the second level.

There's a certain amount of busting plays that is part and parcel of being an offensive lineman, especially one learning a new offense. That doesn't bother me. What does is the overall lack of positives until the tail end of the season. Heavily involved linemen will be putting up twice the positives and negatives as the above—Omameh had eight games where his positives were above ten and five where they were 13 or greater. Lewan didn't get there, and I think this was because of Omameh, ironically:

What is with those Lewan numbers?

The system doesn't try to judge blocks that are far away from the play and often declares an easy thing done okay to be a zero, so backside tackles and down-blocking guys a gap away from the play rarely register. Lewan rarely registered and this week's picture pages were examples of Schofield pulling, Schofield pulling, and Schofield pulling. Why is Michigan pulling the converted tackle backup and running away from their donkey-hating first round tackle?

The only conclusion that makes sense is they hate pulling Omameh. When they did pull left, they pulled Molk or Schofield and Molk, only rarely trying Omameh.

We'll talk about that when we get to the right guard, but Omameh came on in those last three games in which Lewan finally got some traction. Once they could pull the right guard, the left tackle got to express his donkey hatred.

With Omameh figuring it out and another year of experience for both, Michigan figures to be more left-handed on the ground; combine that with the pass blocking mentioned above and factor the injuries Lewan dragged around all year and the projections for his 2012 should be sky-high. He should be an All-American, or at least play like one.

[hit THE JUMP to find out about the other starters, but probably not the backups.]

THING OF THE WEEK. No thing.  :(

Formation Notes: So here's this:

See that guy way at the top of the screen? That's Hopkins. WTF? I don't know. Michigan showed a half-dozen snaps with this formation, often motioning the RB (sometimes it was McColgan) out of the backfield to his position on the edge of forever. They didn't seem to use this for anything.

As for SDSU, I gave this a passing mention in the Toussaint picture pages and here it is again: this was not what I expected the 3-3-5 to be. As you can see above, SDSU would often align in a four-man front—the above is over-shifted—by using one of their teeny linebackers as a standup DE. Only rarely did they deploy a true stack:

They did blitz off this to create different fronts, but mostly it was an array of standard fronts run with really small guys. I was disappointed—I wanted to see what this thing was all about.

Michigan didn't bust out much else worth noting.

Substitution Notes: Nothing out of the ordinary save Watson supplanting Moore at the second TE spot. Not good for next year—he's a senior. Smith and Toussaint got the vast bulk of the RB snaps, with Hopkins getting a few. Hopkins also saw a little time at FB. Schofield came in for Barnum after he got injured.

At WR it was the usual.

Show? Show.

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	DForm	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M39	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 man	Run	Zone read dive	Toussaint	2
Late shift by SDSU sees backside end slide towards the C and a linebacker come down over Koger. Seems like a D meant to defend ZRD and it does. Backside LB scrapes over to take Robinson; handoff. Late-shifted DE has an advantage on Huyge on the backside; Omameh(-1) should have paused to offer a scoop there but thought he was uncovered, which he was until the late shift. Huyge(-0.5) could have done better here, too. RPS -1. RUN-: Omameh, Huyge(0.5)
M41	2	8	Shotgun trips TE	2	1	2	3-3-5 man	Run	QB power	Robinson	3
First of a number of plays that sees a second tailback, this time Hopkins, flare out into a WR position. Michigan never makes this relevant, so its purpose remains a mystery. Man... there are eight guys in the box here and no one deeper than five(!) yards save a corner way out over Hopkins. Robinson checks, flipping Toussaint, and runs power at the overloaded side of the formation. I'm not sure what he thought he saw. Koger(-1) gets beat up by the playside DE, forcing an early cutback from Robinson. Lewan and Barnum(+1) blow the NT up; Lewan does not peel fast enough to take out a linebacker. Molk(+1) seals away the other DT, leaving a cutback lane for Robinson. He takes it; it's filled by the extra guy in the box pursuing down the line and the LB Lewan did not get out on. RPS -1.
RUN+: Barnum, Molk							RUN-: Koger
M44	3	5	Shotgun trips	1	1	3	3-3-5 two deep	Run	QB draw	Robinson	19
I thought this was a scramble live but the receivers aren't running routes. Also, Huyge goes after a LB after it's clear he's dropping into a short zone. SDSU blitzes up the middle; Michigan picks it up thanks to Barnum(+2) shoving one guy past where Molk(+1) can pick him up, then popping out on one of the blitzers to shove him past Robinson. Smith(+1) blows up the blitzer to the other side. Robinson(+1) is through the gap Barnum provided. He makes a linebacker miss and is into the secondary. As he's angling away from a pursuing safety one of the linebackers comes back to trip him.
RUN+: Robinson, Barnum(2), Molk, Smith							RUN-:
O37	1	10	I-Form	2	1	2	3-3-5 man	Pass	Waggle WR flat	Odoms	Inc
Open but well overthrown. Not even much pressure on him. (IN, 0, protection N/A, RPS +1)
O37	2	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-3-5 man	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	32
God, I want Michigan to run QB oh noes to the RB on a streak right up the middle here. Maybe later. SDSU has seven in the box against five blockers, M runs anyway. Backside LB running right at Robinson; handoff. Molk(+2) takes a hit from a lineman and bounces down the line as Omameh(+1) pancakes said DL. Molk shoves a blitzer past Smith. Omameh's blocked a dude with his back as Huyge shoves a man down the line; Lewan(+1) fends off a DE for a long time. Barnum pops out to the second level after letting that LB Molk picked off run by him and does wall off a pursuing LB but no plus since that was easy and he might have screwed up. All this is is just enough for Smith(+3) to have a tiny, tiny crease that he stumbles through inexplicably. Nice thing about getting through seven guys in the box is there is no second level; he runs a long way. RPS -1
RUN+: Molk(2), Lewan, Omameh, Smith(3)							RUN-:
O5	1	G	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 under	Run	QB power	Robinson	5
More of an under look with 3-3-5 personnel. Michigan runs at the 250-pound DE pretending to be a three tech and crushes him. Huyge(+2) gets under the guy and starts crushing him towards the endzone. Omameh(+1) helped, then popped off to steamroll a linebacker. Barnum(+1) pulls around to do the same to another linebacker; Molk(+1) and Watson(+1) kick out their guys to make this easy.
RUN+: Huyge(2), Barnum, Omameh, Watson, Molk							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-0, 10 min 1st Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M39	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	3-3-5 man	Pass	Fade	Roundtree	Inc
Tough to complete this with very good coverage from the Aztec corner. Denard floats it up in a decent spot; Roundtree comes underneath the coverage to get a one-handed stab at the ball. Shouldn't they be throwing this to Hemingway, not Roundtree? There are better ways to test this cover zero look. (CA, 1, protection 2/2) BWS picture paged this, though I disagree with the conclusion. More later.
M39	2	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 two deep	Pass	Throwback screen	Gallon	8
Not a tunnel screen since this play goes well outside the tackle box. Lewan is flaring out to help; Barnum is supposed to get out there too but gets hung up at the line. Linebackers are gone and Denard hits the easy screen; Lewan can't actually block the corner but does delay him enough for Gallon to scoot upfield for a good chunk. (CA, 3, screen, RPS +1)
M47	2	2	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-4 tight	Run	Speed option	Robinson	53
Outside zone blocking. I'm just saying? I'm just saying. Huyge(+1) and Omameh(+1) execute a beauty scoop block that seals the playside DE and gets Huyge out on the weakside LB. That plus a good block from Koger(+1) on the edge plus two San Diego State guys taking the pitchman means that when Robinson cuts upfield he is one on one with some grass for a touchdown. Credit to Watson(+1), the backside TE, for getting out on the backside safety to remove all doubt. RPS +3.
RUN+: Huyge, Omameh, Watson, Koger, Robinson							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 14-0, 6 min 1st Q. Lloyd Brady sighting.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M30	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 under	Pass	Oh noes hitch	Roundtree	10
Draw fake into a ten-yard hitch. Robinson nails it this time; had Hemingway screamingly wide open but his first read is there, so no complaints. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
M40	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	3-3-5 under	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	6
This should have been a bigger gainer, but Smith made a bad cut. He makes it because Barnum(+1) pancaked the NT and he thinks he can cut back for a big gain. He ends up running into the fallen Barnum and slowing down; doesn't matter too much because Omameh(+1) destroyed the playside G with help from Molk; Huyge(+1) out on the playside LB. Without the delay by Smith(-1) he's out on the corner nearing a first down before being angled OOB. With it the MLB has time to shuck Molk's block and the playside DE has time to recover after getting way upfield.
RUN+: Molk, Barnum, Omameh, Huyge							RUN-: Smith
M46	2	4	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-3-5 under	Pass	PA slant	Roundtree	Inc (Pen +15)
Zone read fake to patterns that SDSU have covered pretty well. Robinson is getting pressure and has to get rid of it. He picks the most open of the routes—still not very open—which is Roundtree's slant and throws a ball that looks like it is sailing high. It's close enough that Roundtree being interfered with matters, though, and Michigan picks up a flag. Not charted since I can't really tell if this is accurate or not. (N/A, 0, protection N/A)
O39	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 even	Run	QB iso	Robinson	4
Playside DT holds up well enough against a double from Barnum and Molk. They can't seal him away. They do get some push. Outside blitz eliminates one linebacker, leaving two for Smith and the peeling Barnum; they both get blocks. SDSU maintains leverage, forcing it back inside, where the DT makes the tackle. Adequate all around.
O35	2	6	Ace 3TE	1	3	1	3-3-5 under	Pass	PA dumpoff	Smith	8
Gallon lined up as a TE. This does not sucker SDSU: the safeties are moving backwards at the snap. The two guys in the route go deep; Gallon has like three guys surrounding him. No one takes Smith as he leaks out of the backfield, so Robinson checks down when the deep stuff is uber covered. Smith shoots for a first down, then fumbles. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, Smith -3)
Drive Notes: Fumble, 14-0, 1 min 1st Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M29	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	3-3-5 under	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	4 (Pen -10)
Late shift inside by the playside DE; he goes straight upfield at Barnum. Barnum seems to throw him to the ground with his strength but picks up a holding call. I guess he's got his arm around the guy's shoulder but he's not pulling it; this seems pretty weak to me. Smith still has to cut upfield behind Barnum's block, which puts him in a bunch of traffic. Omameh(+1) got a good seal on a guy playside of him, which allows Smith(+1) to pick his way for a couple yards. Barnum -1 for allowing the penetration and picking up the flag. On replay this is a really bad penalty. He's not holding the dude, he's pushing him. Refs -2.
RUN+: Omameh, Smith							RUN-: Barnum
M19	1	20	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	5-3 stack	Pass	Quick hitch	Roundtree	5
Quick three step strike to Roundtree. Fine on first and ten. First and twenty, though? (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M24	2	15	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	5-3 stack	Pass	PA quick seam	Koger	Inc
Zone read PA gets Koger and Hemingway wide open in the short seams. Robinson takes the easier throw to Koger, nailing him in the numbers. Dropped. If caught a certain first down and maybe more. (CA+, 3, protection N/A, RPS +2)
M24	3	15	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Okie	Pass	Scramble	Robinson	11
SDSU stunt gets Barnum blocking no one and almost gets Denard sacked; Molk comes off his guy and manages to hand him to Omameh at the last second to prevent total chaos. Team minus there but pretty decent work by those two. Denard has a lane thanks to a Smith pickup and comes up through the pocket, where a couple spies are. He's got no one open so he takes off. Maybe he had Gallon on an out but not seeing that is no surprise given the heavy pressure. (PR, N/A, protection 1/3, team -2, RPS -1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 14-0, 14 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M19	1	10	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	3-3-5 even	Run	Zone read dive	Toussaint	6
Lewan and Watson momentarily double the playside DE-type substance (actually a LB), with Lewan chucking him upfield and Watson(+1) sealing. Molk(+1) controls the center well, so there's a crease frontside for Toussaint. Lewan(+1) and Omameh(+1) get good second level blocks; Barnum(-1) gets shoved off balance by his guy, forcing Toussaint to slow up and cut outside of him, where an aggressive safety is there after just a few yards.
RUN+: Lewan, Watson, Molk, Omameh							RUN-: Barnum
M25	2	4	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Speed option	Toussaint	5
Barnum hurt; Schofield in. Toussaint motions to the option from the opposite side just before the snap. SDSU blitzes into this; Denard(+1) makes sure to suck up the edge guy before pitching. Toussaint(+1) has to dodge the charging safety, which he does; QB guy then gets stiffarmed; pursuit now tackles the slowed Toussaint. Two broken tackles for five yards = RPS -1.
RUN+: Toussaint, Robinson							RUN-:
M30	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Run	QB iso	Robinson	3
Oh, man, Robinson misses a huge cutback lane. SLB moves to the line late and blitzes upfield; Koger(+1) kicks him out way out of the picture. SDSU line slants playside, beating Molk(-1) to the point where Smith has to hit this guy on the LOS. Lewan(+1) has managed to get playside of his guy and wall him off, allowing a cutback lane. Robinson(-1) begins to take it but instead of exploding outside into open space he inexplicably bowls over the guy Lewan's blocking.
RUN+: Koger, Lewan							RUN-: Molk, Robinson
M33	2	7	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Zone read dive	Toussaint	7
Denard misses a keep read. Play still works as Schofield(+1) gets enough of the NT to give Toussaint(+1) a crease he hits speedily; Omameh(+1) kicked out a blitzing LB and Molk nailed the MLB. Safety comes up to hit at the sticks.
RUN+: Schofield, Toussaint, Molk, Omameh							RUN-: Robinson
M40	1	10	I-Form	2	1	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Busted play	Robinson	-1
Robinson tries to hand off but Smith thinks it's a pitch. Robinson manages to get somewhere near the LOS.
M39	2	11	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Pass	PA RB flat	Smith	Inc
Blitz gets two guys in Robinson's face immediately and he just dumps it off to the flat thinking that will be open; it's not. This is actually a good throw considering—he's under a lot of pressure and the coverage is there; he places it in a spot where Smith can get it and pick up some YAC if the LB doesn't make the diving PBU, which he does. Instant pressure plus coverage on the hot route == RPS -1. (CA, 0, protection N/A)
M39	3	11	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 under	Pass	Out	Hemingway	9
Half roll does nothing to prevent pressure; Smith does not cut an edge blitzer and Molk(-1) lets another guy through to block no one. Robinson gets lit up. He throws just before that, hitting Hemingway in front of tight coverage. It's a bit high but not so much that Hemingway can't go up and get it. (CA+, 2, protection 0/3, Smith, Schofield, Molk)
M48	4	2	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Speed option	Robinson	7
NT goes right by Omameh but is not flat enough to make that count. Molk(+1) slides down the line, finds no one to block, and sets up. He never actually impacts the LB twisting from the inside but delays him with his presence. Lewan(+2) hates the playside donkey, donkeying him into the donkeyground. Koger(+1) kicks out the LB on the end; Robinson slashes up for the first.
RUN+: Lewan(2), Molk, Robinson, Koger.							RUN-:
O45	1	10	Shotgun twin TE twins	1	2	2	3-3-5 over	Run	QB power	Robinson	34
Robinson sees something he likes and checks. This flips the RB to the strongside; Michigan runs power over there. SDSU twisting, I think. Barnum(+1) adjusts to the twisting DL over him, kicking him down the line and into the guy next to him. That erases both. Lewan(+1), Koger(+1), and Watson(+1) are two on three on guys on the strongside POA and blow those two off the ball. The combination is a cavernous cutback lane for Robinson(+2) that he takes. Molk(+1) has wandered out to the first down line, where he takes out a safety; Robison accelerates behind and is again angling away from the last man when someone trips him from behind.
RUN+: Molk, Barnum(2), Lewan, Koger, Watson, Robinson(2)							RUN-:
O11	1	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 over	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	9
SDSU misaligns and does not adjust to TE motion. Lewan(+2) annihilates and pancakes the playside DE. McColgan(+1) kicks out EMLOS. Koger(-1) releases into the MLB and actually gets his butt kicked, falling backwards. This is fortunate as it impedes the progress of the backside DE, who Molk(-1) bumped but did not seriously delay. Toussaint(+1) zips into the hole, steps through an arm tackle, accelerates once clear, and nears the goal line.
RUN+: Lewan(2), McColgan, Toussaint							RUN-: Koger, Molk
O2	2	1	Goal line	2	3	0	Goal line	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	1
SDSU guesses right and gets linemen into the backfield by diving; not much you can do there. This could still make it if Barnum(-1), the puller, doesn't whiff between two linebackers. Toussaint's following him and manages to split those two guys for a moment before they rope him down. Run-: Barnum
O1	1	G	Goal line	2	3	0	Goal line	Run	Naked boot	Robinson	1
Does not fool two guys on the edge; fools everyone else. Schofield(+1) is left standing, realizes what's happening, and gets out to wall off the interior guy who knows what's going on.
RUN+: Schofield							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 21-0, EOH
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-4 tight	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	0
No safeties. A 3-4 front and man on the WRs. They twist two DL, getting a guy in to roar down the line like an unblocked EMLOS on a scrape. They also have a linebacker forcing the handoff. Schofield(-1) is beaten badly by the playside DE. DE is in the hole ready to tackle; Smith(-1) should have cut it up behind that block, but realistically that's not much better. Too many guys when you've got five blockers against seven defenders. RPS -2. RUN-: Schofield, Smith
M20	2	10	Shotgun 2TE twins	1	2	2	3-4 base	Run	QB power	Robinson	8
Huge hole as Koger(+1) and Huyge(+0.5) cave in the playside DE; blitzing LB comes outside and is kicked out by Smith(+0.5). Robinson hits it straight up. Schofield(+1) was pulling and got a downfield block that buries a DL; Koger gets his extra half-point by moving out into the second level. RPS +1; this was wide open.
RUN+: Koger, Huyge(0.5), Schofield, Smith(0.5)							RUN-:
M28	3	2	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-4 tight	Run	QB inside zone	Robinson	7
Twist stunt by the playside DE and NT. Schofield(+1) manages to adjust, pushing the DE past the play and giving a last lunge once on his knees that gets that guy to the ground; Molk(+1) rides the twisting NT way out of the play; Denard(+1) sees the crease and hits it. Huyge(+1) got a great driving block on the backside DE; Koger(-0.5) lost the backside LB; Omameh got a decent shove on the MLB. Denard has room for the first and can grab some extra yards before Koger's guy makes an ankle tackle.
RUN+: Schofield, Molk, Huyge, Robinson							RUN-: Koger(0,5)
M35	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-4 tight	Run	Zone read keeper	Robinson	-3
Major error by Robinson(-3), who was definitely covered and should have given. Toussaint looked like he had a lane for either some yards or a very large number of yards. He manages to pop outside and looks like he will be able to run to the corner but then compounds his error by stopping and trying to cut back against the grain. No sale. Just run to the corner, man, it's not like this SDSU DE is going to catch you. RUN-: Robinson(3)
M32	2	13	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	3-4 base	Pass	Rollout curl	Jackson	Int
Rolling the pocket. I don't know why. This is "smash," which is similar to a curl-flat concept with the outside receiver running a circle route and the inside guy running a corner, but it's against man and Denard stares it down, allowing the underneath guy to sink into the route. It's picked off. It didn't help that the rolling pocket cuts off his reads, makes it harder to find spaces to run, and exposes both backs to cut blocks they miss, pressuring Denard. Stop rolling the pocket, fergodsakes. (BR, 0, protection 1/3, Toussaint, Smith, RPS -2... this route got no receivers open and got Denard pressured.)
Drive Notes: Interception, 21-0, 12 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M24	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 over	Run	QB power	Robinson	4
Lewan(+2) obliterates the playside DE. He is not slanting and he ends up on his chest yards away from where he started. His block is so good it's a problem for Schofield, who gets clipped by the donkey Lewan is hating and can't get out on the MLB. File under one of those things. Omameh(-2) should be there to pick up the slack but even though it looks like he looks right at him he moves on to someone else. Instead of hitting a crease up the middle Denard has to bounce away from the MLB, robbing Hopkins of his angle on the other LB. Koger(+1) got a good driving kickout that put a guy on his butt, too.
RUN+: Lewan(2), Koger(2)							RUN-: Omameh(2)
M28	2	6	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 under	Pass	PA FB flat	Koger	Inc
Playside LB gets straight upfield, pressuring Denard. This opens up the FB flat for probably first down yardage; Denard misses entirely. (IN, 0, protection N/A)
M28	3	6	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 even	Pass	TE Hitch	Koger	Int
Roundtree starts in the backfield before motioning out. SDSU sends three; they get picked up and provide a lane upfield. RUN! You don't run. Y U NO RUN. He throws it to a covered Koger and I believe the DB does bat this skyward; he had Dileo coming open on a not covered hitch and he's DENARD ROBINSON RUN. (BR, 0, protection 3/3)
Drive Notes: Interception, 21-0, 10 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M7	1	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 under	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	5
Hopkins at FB. Koger(+1) blasts the playside LB/DE well inside. Watson(+1) kicks out the safety type guy outside. Molk(+1) seals one DT; Schofield momentarily does the same to the other but lets him spin off. Hopkins bashes into a LB a couple yards downfield as Lewan(+1) blows out a LB. Omameh(-1) is pulling around into this cavernous space and runs directly into Hopkins. If he pulls inside of Hopkins he gets a block and Toussaint can hit it up for seven or eight. As it is he bumps Hopkins and Toussaint bumps him. Toussaint has to bounce outside, which Omameh also does; this is where Lewan has kicked his linebacker . Buncha dudes converge.
RUN+: Koger, Molk, Lewan, Watson							RUN-: Omameh, Schofield
M12	2	5	Shotgun twin TE twins	1	2	2	3-3-5 under	Run	QB power	Robinson	6
Same check that led to the post-fourth-and-two touchdown earlier, with Smith flipping sides and Michigan running at the heavy side. Lewan(+1) and Schofield double the playside DT, eventually depositing him three yards downfield in a heap. Watson(+1) scoops the playside DE-ish person with Koger, getting him sealed. Koger eventually passes him off; Omameh(+0.5) does whack him on his pull. Still not getting out into the second level there but he blocked someone. Molk(+1) has sealed away the backside DT so Robinson can just run up the backs of his OL until he nears the first down and jump over them to get it.
RUN+: Lewan, Schofield, Watson, Omameh(0.5), Molk							RUN-:
M18	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-4 base	Run	Zone read keeper	Robinson	0
This is probably a good keep since Toussaint gets annihilated but Koger(-2) just fans out, blocking no one. This leaves a DE unblocked and a twist stunt gets another guy free to contain from the inside and Denard has little choice but to go down near the LOS. RPS -2... defense had this beaten up even without the Koger fan. RUN-: Koger(2), Huyge
M18	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 under	Run	QB iso	Robinson	3
Another twist stunt is handled better, with Molk(+1) and Schofield(+1) blowing one twistee down the line and Omameh(+1) picking off the other one. It looks like Robinson is about to burst through the small crease provided when he's hacked down from behind by a guy who got upfield of Lewan(-3), beat him, got up, and tackled. That should never happen.
RUN+: Omameh, Molk, Schofield							RUN-: Lewan(3)
M21	3	7	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-3-5 stack	Pass	Screen	Smith	32
SDSU sends five and they all suck upfield. Grady's in the slot and has press man over him; he takes that guy away from the play and blocks the spying MLB. That's seven defenders gone. Denard dumps it off to Smith and he's got a convoy with nothing to do. I guess I would like Smith to maybe set up his blocks a little better here but you never know when you're going to get cut down from behind. (CA, 3, screen, RPS +3)
O47	1	10	I-Form	2	1	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Power off tackle	Smith	0
SDSU plays to spill, shooting the playside LB down the line and blowing up McColgan(-2), who topples backwards. Koger(-1) ran past the first threat, and those guys tackle. RUN-: McColgan(2), Koger
O47	2	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Pass	PA quick seam	Dileo	18
Zone fake to the quick seam, ain't no linebackers, nails Dileo, catch, first down. (CA+, 3, protection N/A, RPS +2)
O29	1	10	I-Form	2	1	2	3-3-5 under	Run	Dive fake to pitch	Smith	1
We never run the dive, LB gets out on it, Smith doesn't do anything but run OOB, grumble grumble this play.
O28	2	9	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 under	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	2
Twist stunt dominates Schofield(-2), who gets shoved back into Smith after a correct handoff  Smith(+1) manages to get past the LOS after keeping his balance on the bump and accelerating into the gap left by the stunt.
RUN+: Smith							RUN-: Schofield(2)
O26	3	7	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 even	Run	Speed option	Robinson	3
This is not a great check to the short side of the field on third and seven, but it's also a missed cut from Robinson as Schofield(+1) and Lewan(+1) had comboed the backside DT and Denard had a huge cutback lane he does not see. Instead he goes playside, where Watson(-1) couldn't do much with his man; he gets out on the edge and allows one of the LBs to flow up on Robinson without opening the pitch. Denard does cut up, but late, and guys come off now-bad blocking angles when he has to go behind because of the safety charging on him.
RUN+: Schofield, Lewan							RUN-: Robinson, Watson
Drive Notes: Missed FG(40), 3 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M30	1	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 stack	Run	Power off tackle	Hopkins	8
No twist stunt and M still runs the same thing; with Watson's motion and little reaction from SDSU they are misaligned and have little chance to stop this. (RPS +1) Watson kicks out the EMLOS as Lewan and Schofield double on the pinched-in DT. Easy all around. Koger(-0.5) gets a free release and does a crappy job blocking the playside LB but that's okay because McColgan(+1) and Omameh are there to help on this one dude. Hopkins runs up dudes' backs before taking a stiff shot from a filling safety and fumbling.
RUN+: McColgan							RUN-: Koger, Hopkins(3)
Drive Notes: Fumble, 21-0, 2 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-4 tight	Run	Zone read dive	Smith	-2
Twist stunt screws Michigan. Schofield(-1) gets knocked back by his guy and Molk can't do anything about the guy disengaging over the top; no cutback with a guy slanting behind and a player for Denard. Smith is nailed by the twister. RPS -2. RUN-: Schofield
M18	2	12	Ace twins	1	2	2	3-3-5 even	Pass	PA Deep post	Roundtree	Inc
Play action. Both safeties are bailing at the snap because it's second and twelve but somehow they manage to let Roundtree behind them. Robinson lets it go over the top but is just long. (IN, 0, protection ½, Toussaint)
M18	3	12	Shotgun trips	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Pass	Dumpoff	Smith	5
Plenty of time; Robinson can find no one open. Robinson thinks about running but he's about to get tackled so he slings a dumpoff to Smith. He's immediately tackled. (TA, 3, protection 3/3)
Drive Notes: Punt, 21-7, 14 min 4th Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M8	1	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 under	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	11
So the hidden reason this play works: Watson holds a dude who beat him badly. Refs +2. Anyway, same thing as earlier Hopkins power that worked: motion Watson to the strong side, watch SDSU fail to react, run power at it. Koger(-1) gets slanted under and his guy bangs Omameh, who goes backwards and bangs Toussaint. Watson(-2) is beaten by his LB and flings him to the ground without a call, otherwise this ends two yards in the backfield. The hold gives Toussaint a bounce, which he takes. It should be noted that if this play managed to go where it was supposed to, Lewan(+1), McColgan(+1), and Schofield(+1) had all gotten great blocks.
RUN+: Lewan, Schofield, McColgan							RUN-: Watson(2), Koger
M19	1	10	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-3-5 under	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	-1
This time they just line up with Watson over Koger, no motion, and the same LB who just got held shoots into the backfield past McColgan(-1) as a twist stunt gets a lineman past Huyge(-1) and the pulling Omameh(-1) and the MLB runs past Lewan(-1). Three unblocked guys meet Toussaint in the backfield. RPS -2. RUN-: McColgan, Lewan, Huyge,
M18	2	11	I-Form	2	1	2	3-3-5 stack	Run	Power off tackle	Smith	0
Playside DE slides outside when he sees the downblock, avoiding Huyge(-1) entirely. Koger(-1) has to take him and doesn't do well with it; since two OL are now blocking no one there are two LBs for the single pulling Schofield since McColgan had to kick a dude out. RUN-: Koger, Huyge
M18	3	11	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Pass	Dig	Roundtree	Inc
Denard has a very tight, NFL-style window he can fit it in over a level in a zone here and wings it high. Chad Henne could make this throw... some of the time. It would be a DO if complete, and he did find the one small window in which he could hope to pick up the first here. (IN, 0, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 21-7, 10 min 4th Q. Boy do I hate this drive. So, so hard. On the next SDSU drive the announcers will complain about not running any time off the clock. But... but... they used power?
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M43	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-4 base	Run	QB iso	Robinson	30
Twist stunt. Schofield(+1) initially has trouble with it, giving ground, but does lock out the DT and eventually pancake him Molk(+1) tracks and kicks the guy coming around. That combo means cutback. This is possible because Koger(+1) kicked out the backside EMLOS. Huyge(+2) dominates his DE, and Omameh(+2) pops out on a MLB. By the time Robinson cuts back behind the twist stunt Huyge and Omameh are essentially carrying their guys downfield. He has an absolute cavern. By the time these guys stop moving backwards they're almost at the first down line! Robinson into the secondary where I give him a token +1 for being fast as hell.
RUN+: Schofield, Molk, Koger, Huyge(2), Omameh(2), Robinson							RUN-:
O27	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 even	Run	Zone read counter	Toussaint	11
RR-era play with the H-back peeling backside to pick off EMLOS and the RB hitting the hole that leaves hard. Schofield(+1) blocks the playside DE inside. Koger(+1) kicks out EMLOS; Lewan(+1) donkeys a linebacker, Toussaint(+1) makes one hard cut and is free.
O16	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Run	Zone read counter	Toussaint	9
Different D means blocking doesn't work nearly as well. Huyge(-1) has a guy right over him and releases downfield; this means that guy is creeping down the LOS. Koger(-1) probably should block him but goes for the kickout on the contain guy on Robinson. There is nowhere to go for Toussaint(+2) until he takes a lovely jab step into the unblocked DE. DE slows a bit to form for a tackle. More importantly, the NT—who Omameh(+1) is blocking well but blocking to the wrong side now that everything is all futzed—sees it and fights outside. Toussaint then starts running back towards the nominal playside, where Molk(+0.5) and Schofield(+0.5) took on a blitzing LB, stalled his momentum, and start driving him downfield. Toussaint runs up their backs until the pile stops.
O7	2	1	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 stack	Run	Zone read counter	Smith	7
This is what a 3-3-5 is supposed to be: three man front, late arriving fourth from unpredictable direction. This time MLB is 3 tech, and he zooms upfield of Omameh(+1); Omameh kicks him out admirably. Blitzer is shooting the gap behind a slanting NT, expecting Smith will end up there. He thinks about it, then sees Omameh's block on the MLB, bouncing past a diving tackle attempt impressively. Another guy is coming at him, bro, and he stops on a dime, running through his arm tackle, stumbling. The last guy has gone to his knees to take him down; Smith powers through him for the final two yards. Bad. Ass.
RUN+: Smith(3), Omameh(2)							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 28-7, 6 min 4th Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M33	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	3-3-5 over	Run	Zone read counter	Toussaint	6
Opens right up; Molk(+2) takes on a DT and plows him back. Huyge(+1) gets a reach on the other DT, though he was slanting to him. Omameh(+1) shoots out on a linebacker; Toussaint(-1) misses the cut behind and runs into an unblocked LB.
RUN+: Molk(2), Omameh, Huyge							RUN-: Toussaint
M39	2	4	I-Form Big	2	2	1	3-4 base	Run	Power off tackle	Toussaint	-4
LB shoots into McColgan(-2) who again buckles backwards, causing a pile that sucks in the puller. Toussaint bounces but is tackled. I mean, really, if power loses yards in this situation... RUN-: McColgan(2)
M35	3	8	Shotgun twins twin TE	1	2	2	3-3-5 under	Run	QB power	Robinson	2
Okay, I'm not going to nail people for a meaningless run here. I will mention that Miles Burris was very impressive and I bet he gets drafted in the mid rounds at least. Huyge whiffs on him here, robbing Denard of a possible cutback.
Drive Notes: Punt, 28-7, 2 min 4th Q

That was okay.

Yeah.

Weekly run game breakdown. Hit me.

I cut out two goal-line carries from the one as distorting and didn't count one broken play out of the I (it lost a yard), leaving the following:

• Eight power plays from the I: 3.5 YPC
• One dive-fake-to-pitch: 1 yard
• 1 QB draw: 19 yards
• 1 QB inside zone: 7 yards
• 4 QB iso: 10 YPC
• 7 QB power: 8.8 YPC
• 4 speed option: 17 YPC
• 4 zone read counter: 8.3 YPC
• 11 inside zone read plays: 5.5 YPC

Under center YPC: 3.2.
Shotgun YPC: 8.8

None of the power plays were in short yardage situations. Five were on first and ten, one was on second and eleven, one was on second and four. Five of the seven were "big" formations with two TEs and one WR.

Running power under center sucks, full stop. It sucks against a terrible run defense on first and ten. It sucks even more when Michigan puts two tight ends on the field. There is no reason to do it—any theories about wearing the defense down have to account for the fact that when you run for 3.2 YPC you do not wear the defense down because it is not on the field. This is not just because you can run Denard a lot better from the shotgun: RBs averaged 6.9 YPC on carries from it.

And the under center numbers would have looked even worse if Watson was flagged for a blatant hold on Toussaint's bounce-off-the-OL 11-yarder.

people don't go that way by themselves

I cringe every time a fullback hits the field.

That's depressingly consistent.

Speaking of depressingly consistent, let's talk about inconsistency.

Don't do this to me.

CHART

[Hover over column headers for explanation of abbreviation.]

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	DSR
2009, All Of It	1	7	6(2)	3(1)	4	4	-	-	?	44%
Notre Dame	3	25(8)	3(1)	4	1	-	4(1)	2	-	71%
Michigan State	4	14(3)	1	7(1)	1	-	-	2	2	68%
Iowa	1	11(3)	2	3(1)	2	-	1	-	-	64%
Illinois	4	9(1)	1	4	1	3	1(1)	-	-	60%
Purdue	2	12(1)	1	3	1	1	1	3	-	68%
WMU '11	-	6(1)	4	3	1	-	-	-	1	56%
Notre Dame '11	6	7(1)	1	6(1)	5	1	1	1	-	50%
EMU '11	1	10(1)	-	5	1	-	1	1	1	59%
SDSU '11	-	10(2)	-	4	2	1	-	1	-	53%

Four games and we have a trend: a 15% reduction in Denard's DSR despite laying a lower caliber of competition than the common opponents we winnowed last year down to. Michigan called 42 passes in last year's ND game, a number that is completely incomprehensible this year. The regression: it's real, it's depressing, it's got to get fixed in the next two weeks if we're going to capitalize on the Big Ten sucking more than a sucky bunch of sucks have ever sucked before.

Receivers

	This Game					Totals
Player	0	1	2	3	0	1	2	3
Hemingway	-	-	1/1	-	2	-	4/5	1/2
Roundtree	2	0/1	-	2/2	1	1/3	1/2	4/4
Odoms	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Grady	-	-	-	-	2	-	0/1	2/2
Gallon	-	-	-	1/1	1	-	-	8/8
J. Robinson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dileo	-	-	-	1/1	-	0/1	1/1	2/2
Jackson	-	-	-	1/1	-	-	-	-
Koger	-	-	-	0/1	2	1/1	1/2	3/4
Moore	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-
Toussaint	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0/1
Shaw	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Smith	1	-	-	2/2	1	-	-	4/5
Hopkins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
McColgan	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1/1

Just the one drop, but it was a drag: the Koger quick seam that was going for 20 if caught.

For the OL, keep in mind that Michigan had 44 carries that averaged 7.3 yards an attempt. Numbers ho.

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Lewan	15	4	11	MOST EXTREME DONKEY ELIMINATION
Barnum	6	3	3	Only played about half the game.
Molk	16.5	2	14.5	I guess that stuff about no big plus days from him does not apply to tiny teams who are tiny.
Omameh	14.5	5	9.5	Ditto him: his lack of POWER was irrelevant because the guys over him were like 250, tops.
Huyge	9.5	3.5	6	Surprising amount of power run over him.
Schofield	10.5	5	5.5	Erratic but not a huge dropoff.
Mealer	-	-	-	DNP
Watson	7	2	5	Did surprisingly well; will it hold up outside of the Lollipop Guild?
Koger	10	8	2	Too many misses.
TOTAL	79	32.5	46.5	+41 last week against EMU, FWIW. Expect something similar this weekend.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Robinson	8	6	2	I should probably just give him +10 to start for being ridiculously fast.
Gardner	-	-	-	DNP
Toussaint	6	1	5	Darting runs for nice yardage. Same YPC as Smith w/ long of 11 instead of 32.
Shaw	-	-	-	DNP(!)
Smith	8.5	5	3.5	Big chunk of the minus his fumble.
Hopkins	-	3	-3	Fullback
Rawls	-	-	-	DNP
McColgan	3	5	-2	Got rocked on two separate power plays.
TOTAL	31	9	22	Contributions from non-Denards: can they last?
Receivers
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Hemingway	-	-	-
Odoms	-	-	-
Gallon	-	-	-	--
Roundtree	-	-	-
Grady	-	-	-	--
Jackson	-	-	-
Dileo	-	-	-	--
TOTAL	-	-	-	Nothin'
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Protection	16	8	66%	Team 2, Smith 2, Toussaint 2, Schofield 1, Molk 1
RPS	13	15	-2	Twist stunts were a problem.

So: epic thumping delivered by that offensive line, as you would expect given the size of the opposition. Michigan's problems came on a lot of twist stunts. Denard had 200 yards on 21 carries and I give him a +2, which is laughable even to me. I gave him a –3 for one bad keep read that he compounded by not getting to the corner with his speed; instead he held up and got tackled for a three yard loss. He also missed a couple of gaping cuts and some of the holes he had to run in were ridiculous. Like this one:

He did get a +1 for the cut but by the end of this play Huyge and Omameh will deposit their guys on the first down line. So… yeah. Give it up for the OL.

I thought they were totally overrated?

They suck out loud at running power from the I, if that's what you're asking, and might suck out loud running it from the shotgun against bigger teams, but you don't rush for 320 yards with a bad offensive line. When permitted to do what they do they do it well. When asked to do what they don't do they don't do it well. SCIENCE!

Meanwhile: how often have you thought about Taylor Lewan this year? Not often, right? Mostly when he takes some donkey and punches it so hard in the nose shards of cartilage come out the back of its donkeyhelmet, right? (In a non-personal-foul acquiring way, of course.) That is the mark of a great left tackle. There hasn't been a whisper of pressure from the left side all year.

Power! We use power.

You know the drill: we can sort of do it from the shotgun with the extra blocker/more spread out environment, but going big, as we do frequently and inexplicably, is a recipe for second and long. Even when it works it's not exactly because we're dominating guys. This was the setup on the last carry Hopkins is going to get for a while, an eight-yard power:

They ran off the right side of the line. Notice that Steve Watson has motioned to the strong side, where there are three SDSU players to the five on the weak side. SDSU does not slant. With the fullback that gives Michigan five blockers on three guys. Even our wack power running game can make that work.

If they are going to give up the free yards we can take the free yards. If they aren't… eh… not so much, and I'm talking like one yard not so much, not the four yard not so much that is the version of Denard not so much.

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What happened to the zone read?

As was expected/feared, the momentary light of day Denard saw does seem to be an effect of facing spread derp defensive coordinators. If Denard got a pull read on Saturday it happened maybe once; the two times he did pull he got zero and negative three yards. Tweaks are required to keep it going.

Weekly inquisitiveness about what's wrong with Denard.

There are infinite theories, all of which have some validity. Here's one from that BWS picture pages referenced earlier:

In Rodriguez's option offense, the focus was always to pick up yards and stay ahead of the down and distance. Any time they did take a shot downfield, it was the QB Oh Noes that were wide open. In this pro style offense, the coaching staff expects Michigan's players to simply out perform the defense, rather than keeping them guessing with simple routes and reads that would produce 5-6 yard gains and possible yards after catch*.

There's nothing wrong with this style of offense if you have the players to do it (the Chad Hennes and Braylon Edwards of the world). Michigan. however, is loaded with players that aren't necessarily able to out perform their counterparts, rather, they're able to make something out of nothing. Denard needs to recognize the cushion that the weakside defenders are giving Dileo and Hemingway and pass on the single coverage against Roundtree, who isn't much of a leaper.

I sort of agree but don't think the fault is on Robinson. The coverage matchup is exactly what Michigan expects and Robinson can't know how Roundtree will do with it by the time he throws the ball. You don't check away from a fade against one-on-one press coverage. You check to it. Denard threw a decent ball and the corner played it well. That's life when you are taking low-percentage shots down the sideline at Roy Roundtree.

Why you'd throw this at Roundtree is something of a mystery, but Borges is used to having pro-style receivers, not Purdue++ guys, on the outside. I don't like the playcall, don't like having Roundtree on the outside—it's killing his production—and don't like using Henne+Edwards plays when your assets are elsewhere. To me this kind of thing is on Borges. To his credit, Borges seems to acknowledge this:

Can you talk about Denard’s progress as a passer? “Well, it’s a work in progress with our offense. That’s the thing … because it’s different. Now part of that, too -- and I’m going to take the rap for that a little bit. I’ve got to get him some better throws. I’ve got to put him in position to complete some more balls so he can gain some confidence and gain some rhythm. Get in a little bit of a zone. He’s a capable passer, you know, but as a playcaller you have to consider everything we’re calling in terms of the passing game. This kid really threw the ball well in two-a-days and threw the ball well in spring. He did. All his numbers were better numbers than now. I think game situations are different. As he learns about how to do this, you’ll see progress. Because he does have a good arm, and he has an accurate arm when he’s comfortable. But part of that has to be my responsibility to get him in better situations to complete some throws.”

He's still getting his head around an offense where you don't need to seek out big deep chunks as aggressively because just you can stay on the field with your 6+ YPC running game.

Heroes?

Pick an offensive lineman, special commendation to Lewan and Molk. Also the collective tailback.

Goats?

Air Denard again, I-form power.

What does it mean for Minnesota and the future?

Michigan's going to plow the Gophers like they did the last two opponents. That's not that interesting.

Down the road, the Denard conundrum continues. Is he injured? Incapable of throwing these new routes? Uncomfortable? Was last year just a mirage? The answer to that series of fragments is the difference between contending for the division and contending for a middling bowl game. We just don't know, dude. I'm still clinging to the hope that there's something wrong with him physically.

Against Minnesota I'm hoping to see some dinkier routes Denard can hit in rhythm and no new wrinkles in the run game—none should be necessary. Can Michigan break 4 YPC running from under center against a tire fire of a team? Let's hope not!

Previously: The story, the secondary, the linebackers, and the defensive line.

LT	Yr.	LG	Yr.	C	Yr.	RG	Yr.	RT	Yr.
Taylor Lewan	So.*	Ricky Barnum	Jr.*	David Molk	Sr.*	Patrick Omameh	Jr.*	Mark Huyge	Sr.*
--	--	Chris Bryant	Fr.	Rocko Khoury	Jr.*	Elliot Mealer	Jr.*	Michael Schofield	So.*

Readers are advised to follow the same procedure as they might for the defensive line: look at the soothing, soothing starters and not the precarious dropoff—this time including a true freshman and non-entity "Dash Dash"—immediately after them.

Here the fainting should be kept to a minimum. Michigan returns four starters, inserts a well-regarded redshirt junior into the open slot, and ran for a crapton of yards last year. And the depth isn't all that bad. At various times new offensive line coach Darrell Funk has expressed a desire for seven or eight guys who are ready to play. That's how many they have: seven or eight, depending on which way the wind is blowing about Elliot Mealer today.

While not having a backup at left tackle looks ominous, in the event Lewan is forced off the field Michigan will just rearrange some guys and pull Schofield onto the field. The coaches have proclaimed their faith in both Schofield and Khoury, so Michigan won't get to serious collar-puling time until the third injury/suspension/abduction. Even that would likely bring a redshirt junior out of mothballs.

They'll be okay this year. The depth bomb hits next year as Khoury and Schofield draw into the starting lineup, leaving just Mealer and a horde of redshirt or true freshman behind the starters, including zero (0) backup tackles who won't be going to prom in a few months. At least those backups are backed by panting recruiting rankings. But that's for another season preview.

This season preview is concerned with the above offensive line and how well it will transition to MANBALL downhill running. It's not that they don't know how to do this. Here's the line doing this:

This is the third time I've pulled a different gap-blocked play from last year to claim they can pull, so… yeah, they can pull. (FWIW, that is not Power O but Down G.)  If you don't believe me, believe Mark Huyge:

"Last year, our primary play was outside zone, and this year it's coming at you. Really, they're not that much different. We ran the power last year, so we knew the footwork already, basically. [Offensive line coach Darrell] Funk tweaked us here and there a little bit. But it's just doing it more often."

Taylor Lewan also dismisses the idea the new offense incorporated anything he wasn't being taught a year ago:

"We have the same plays … Instead of an outside zone we might run a lead zone."

The issue is what happens when power goes from a constraint play designed to keep the defense honest to the bread and butter designed to make the defense cheat. The conventional wisdom is that power requires massive road graders a la the Wisconsin offense while the zone game requires guys who, while big compared to civilians, are less likely to annihilate a tackle one-on-one than dance their way into an advantageous position. Boy howdy can these guys do that.

They can do the other stuff when opponents are expecting an outside zone. Can they make it the base? And can they pass protect well enough to open up a full pro-style route tree? Well, we just don't know, Dude.

Tackle

Rating: 4 of 5

Taylor Lewan started getting hyped up as the next Jake Long as soon as he committed. That hype never waned until Lewan managed to start his RS freshman year on the bench behind Mark Huyge.

That dip was brief. Lewan forced his way into the starting lineup by the second half of the UMass game and quickly established himself as a man who perceives men in other football uniforms as donkeys and himself as the last survivor of a species destroyed by donkeys. Result:

TAYLOR LEWAN
hates donkeys
hate you, donkey
donkeyed DT plus LB
pancakes DT
caves in Clayborn
lol donkey
Ogbu through endzone
elite agility
mobility matches Martez
blocks safety(!)
kickouts
enjoy 0 tackles Clayborn
part II
goodbye PSU DE
reads scrape, adjusts(!)
not so good
gets QB pwned

That was pretty exciting, and when he turned Adrian Clayborn off in the Iowa game the Jake Long hype hit fever pitch. Not even Long had started at left tackle as a freshman. Then Lewan took sixteen straight holding or false start penalties and harshed everyone's buzz good and proper.

This happened in the same game…

After the third Lewan penalty Michigan Stadium was ready to throttle the guy. It would have taken most of the stadium to do so, but the "AWWWWWWWWW" coming from the stands suggested it was possible.

…as this…

He's good. The Clayborn line: one solo tackle, two assists, a half sack on the last desperate Michigan drive. Last year Clayborn had 70 tackles, 20 for loss, and 11.5 sacks. Against Penn State earlier this year Clayborn had ten tackles, three TFLs, and a sack. He's a holy lock first-rounder, and Taylor Lewan all but erased him.  …

That was a star-making performance. Lewan == Long has gone from optimistic ceiling to serious possibility.

…and Lewan established himself as the Mouton of the offense. He continued to sabotage Michigan drives with false starts and holds the rest of the year; when he wasn't doing that he was all but impenetrable.

He's not dumb. He knows he's got one big thing to work on:

"Last year, I had a lot of penalties and that's one of the main things I've tried to work on," he said. "My biggest problem was the penalties, absolutely. Everybody saw that. My biggest thing is to focus on that, stay onsides, stay aggressive between the whistles and not after.

"(But) I'm not trying to tone down the aggressiveness, because the offensive line, I feel, should be one of the most aggressive on the field. Have a defensive mentality on the offensive line."

The Mouton comparison is ominous since we just watched that guy start for three years without getting any better, but Lewan hasn't suffered at the hands of poor coaching yet and won't in the future. This should be the year he drops the crazy hot girl act and establishes himself as an All Big Ten left tackle. He'll still be a little penalty-prone but it will be worth it.

MARK HUYGE
decent downfield
pancakes LB
screen blockin'
wipes out Lloyd
could do better on S
decent at POA
washes scraper out
again washes scraper out
pulls a bit
down G LB
bad
can't maintain block

Opposite Lewan, Mark Huyge is barely holding on for the third straight year. A who-dat recruit Michigan snatched away from the MAC in the first year of Mike DeBord's zone transition, Huyge's done well for himself to be a sort of kind of three year starter.

That hasn't prevented him from losing his job over and over. Two years ago it was a rotating cavalcade of missed blocks at right tackle as Huyge swapped with Perry Dorrestein and got sucked inside to play guard in David Molk's absence. Late in the year Patrick Omameh emerged at right guard and Huyge was finally exiled to the bench.

Last year it was Lewan bursting onto the scene. Huyge popped up from time to time when Lewan's penalties were too infuriating for Rodriguez and when Dorrestein's back injuries cropped up again. He was okay, his pass blocking issues covered up by the offense and Denard, his rushing numbers usually a little bit above zero.

This year he's in another "dogfight," this one with redshirt sophomore Michael Schofield and, oddly, Omameh. Funk:

“Mark’s played all over the place, been a starter at three different positions. He’s set himself up to have a great senior year,” Funk said. “He’s a great kid, great with the young kids. He defers to Dave [Molk] in the leadership role, but they are both seniors who are always both counted on to be leaders. He’s playing right guard and right tackle, has that flexibility that he could play left tackle if we need him.

“I’m happy with how Mark is doing. It’s a little dogfight between him and Patrick [Omameh] and Michael Schofield, who is doing a nice job."

I hope that's just a motivational device for Omameh, who needs to get better against elite DTs but… well… more on him later.

Huyge has the lead for now, so he goes here. I wouldn't be surprised if some pass blocking issues crop up and give Schofield a shot at the job—Huyge has never been able to hold off elite rushers. The difference between him and Lewan in that Iowa game was stark:

…the Huyge/Lewan battle [was] resolved in the exact same way the Demens/Ezeh battle was: by some Iowa guy running over the backup. In Ezeh's case this was Iowa OL Julian Vandevelde. In Huyge's it was Adrian Clayborn.

Huyge wasn't terrible but when you play a third of a game and you don't get a single +/- on the run chart you're being avoided to some extent and just doing okay at when you're not. He got a –4 in pass protection; Lewan has a –3 in twice the time. Lewan was +7 on the ground, tied with Denard for the best score.

He'll be better, and he'll be needed unless the line miraculously skates through the season without injury. I'm just not sure he'll be the first choice at tackle when the Big Ten schedule rolls around, because...

Backup

Schofield and… Schofield

The aforementioned Michael Schofield is it, man. Jake Fisher's post-firing defection to Oregon and Tony Posada's instant exit leave Schofield the only scholarship tackle on the roster who's not, like, starting, man. That's not good.

At least Schofield was a consensus four star who picked Michigan over Notre Dame back when all our OL recruits belonged to Weis. He's spent a couple years bulking up and is now the obvious #6 offensive lineman:

"Schofield would be a top back-up if we started today ... but he could easily be a starter. He’s playing most days at a starter level. His big deal is he’s inconsistent, and that’s the whole group. We’ve got go make sure we’re consistently good.”

Huyge's flexibility will allow Michigan to flip Schofield onto the field if anyone other than Molk goes down. He's likely to start a few games in preparation for a full time role in 2011… unless he rips the job away from Huyge right now.

Given the way Huyge's career has gone and the general vibe coming from camp chatter and Funk's public statements, that's a strong possibility. Huyge's never been much of a pass blocker and Michigan's offense is going to require quite a bit more of that as Robinson starts making more and more five and seven step drops.

There's no one else thanks to Rodriguez's failures in the 2010 class and The Process. A discussion of the walk-on options would be pointless since in the event two tackles explode Michigan will flip Barnum (who played LT last year on the second team) or Omameh (who was widely regarded as the tackle of the future before he was needed as the guard of the present) outside and bring in Khoury.

Interior Line

Rating: 4.5 of 5.

This would be a five if Rich Rodriguez was still around. I've been badgering people about how awesome David Molk is since he was a redshirt freshman; Patrick Omameh's full-season debut was not quite spectacular but promised it right quick; Ricky Barnum is a touted recruit who's hitting the field as a redshirt junior. All were prepped to reach-block the living daylights out of opponents this year.

Now I'm not so sure. I think they'll still be pretty good, but worry that their strength is not their strength, if you know what I mean. I think they'll end up running a lot of zone blocking, whether it's by choice or hard lesson.

Your starting center for the fourth straight year is MGoBlog fave-rave David Molk. He drops f-bombs in press conferences, openly disdains stupid questions, and frequently makes the toughest block in football look easy. I love David Molk. This is what he does:

That was against freshman Akeem Spence but here's one of a few ass-kickings he handed veteran Penn State DT Ollie Ogbu:

DAVID MOLK
reach destroys you
a tough seal
reaches Spence
reaches Purdue
combo blockin'
a classic stretch
"that's six"
execute the scoop
another textbook scoop
lewanesque donkey hating
latches onto the NT
second level
MLB thump
devastating cut

Sometimes he joins Taylor Lewan in his donkey hating campaigns. He's getting a little All-America hype, and I think he could deserve more: CBS has him on the second team behind OSU's Mike Brewster. If my OSU blog interpretation is correct I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a Buckeye fan who wouldn't complain about the frustrating lack of dominance from their OL.

Molk is the perfect spread 'n' shred center, a major reason Michigan put up an unprecedented-this-millennium 5.6 YPC last year. If he's got weaknesses they apply to the transition he may or may not have to make.

While it's usually guards who end up pulling in gap-blocked rushing attacks, having a center who can do likewise is an asset. It opens up extra possibilities. Molk has the agility for that sort of thing but it seems like the act of pulling right after you've snapped the ball is one of those things you have to practice a ton to get right. Molk's spent his time doing other things. Additionally, when Molk takes on a DT with the intent of blowing him off the ball he's almost always doubling with an intent to peel off after a scoop. If he's asked to go one-on-one with bigger guys that might not go so well.

That is admittedly me trying to find a concern. David Molk is great. You can never tell which interior linemen are going to be up for postseason awards but I'll be incensed if he's not All Big Ten after a healthy year. I think he'll be a Rimington finalist.

in space, where he belongs

Returning next to Molk is redshirt junior Patrick Omameh. Omameh broke into the stating lineup at the tail end of his freshman year and immediately displayed an agility I'd never seen in a Michigan guard before. Last year he built on that. You know what I am about to embed, but are you sick of it? No, you are not sick of it.

PATRICK OMAMEH
te'ownage
Engage turbo.
completely plows Te'o
finishes the job
flashes strength
seals and pancakes the DT
controls, then destroys DE
kicks out Reyes
dominates the playside DT
second level
combo onto LB
Smith seeya
Clayborn in space
Te'os a PSU LB
screen cutblock

That was no fluke. He did the same thing to the same epic linebacker later in the game, did it to Penn State, did it to Adrian Clayborn, did it to a lot of people. If you get Patrick Omameh to the second level he is liable to turn an opposing linebacker into a safety-destroying club.

His weakness was a lot more obvious than Molk's, though: he had a lot of trouble with beefy, high quality DTs. He actually picked up a negative in the opener against UConn due to his struggles with Kendall Reyes…

He didn't exactly lose out, but as the only guy on the line anywhere near even he stood out as a sophomore. UConn's Kendall Reyes was a problem all day, bursting into the backfield on the Shaw ten-yard loss and causing most of the bounce-outs. Sometimes this just happens. I remember Eastern Michigan's Jason Jones doing a lot of damage, pointing out how good he was, and hoping this was true both for credibility and what it said about Michigan's offensive line. Jones eventually went in the second round of the NFL draft. I both think and hope Reyes is really good, headed for All Big East recognition. If not, Omameh has a lot of work to do.

…and had a rough day against Corey Liuget ("when he did get Liuget he struggled … Many times Schilling or Omameh had not been able to keep pace with that spring into the backfield [that Molk did.]")

There are worse things. Reyes did end up first team All Big East. Liuget was a first-round pick over the summer and Reyes may be one next year. A lot of players have bad days against them. But that is a downside that will be relevant this year when Michigan sees Jared Crick and John Simon roll into town. It'll help out immensely if Omameh can stand up to them mano-a-mano. I'm not sure if that will happen unless the zero extra pounds he's credited with is gamesmanship, which has been rumored. That seems like an obvious rationalization to me.

Omameh's lack of out-and-out POWER to run POWER, his agility, and Lewan's donkey-hating ways mean that when Michigan does use POWER to run POWER they are going to be heavily left-handed. Remember when the first play of every game was zone left over Jake Long for two yards? I'm hoping Borges isn't as predictable as Mike "The Avalanche" DeBord, but the breakdown of left-right might be similar to 2007.

As for Omameh's performance, he should get towards the fringe of All Big Ten. They spread these things out amongst linemen and Lewan and Molk are ahead in the pecking order so he probably won't get it; I don't think he'll necessarily deserve it but he won't be far off.

Ricky Barnum is the line's only newcomer. He'll fill in for the departed Steve Schilling. As a backup offensive lineman we don't know much about him; his only appearances on the field to date have been in uncharted garbage time. We do know he was a touted recruit who backed out of a Florida commitment to follow Rich Rodriguez north—which, wow, dude, that's a hell of a decommit.

He's gotten good reviews from insidery types for the bulk of his career, and these have spread to his coaches and teammates as he prepares for the big stage:

Barnum, a junior, however has received rave reviews from Funk and his teammates. Funk described him as most improved from last spring, and Lewan said he's been playing like an experienced, fifth-year senior.

In classic offensive lineman form, Barnum laughed off the praise and spoke about the big picture.

"It's not what I've done," Barnum said. "It's what we do as a team. We worked really hard in the offseason, and we're dedicated. We want to get better as a group."

Huyge echoes:

"Ricky keeps making tremendous strides," Huyge said. "The kid works really hard. I know in spring ball, he took a lot of reps, and that helps, and he's come a long way, as well."

Borges makes him sound a lot like the guy on the other side of the line:

On Barnum: "Ricky is as athletic as anyone on our line. Ricky is a tough guy." Biggest problem is that he's a little underweight, but he's gotten stronger, doesn't get pushed around, and "looks like a back out there sometimes when he runs."

"Underweight" in this case is 292; "looks like a back out there sometimes" is like looking in the Omameh mirror. File this under yet more evidence they're going to have to remain a primarily zone team the next couple years.

The only issue with his acquisition of the starting job is that he didn't have to fight too hard for it. Rocko Khoury and Elliot Mealer are the only plausible alternatives. While Khoury did an admirable job against Iowa, he's primarily a center. Beating out just one guy means you're necessarily more of a risk than someone who emerged from a thicket of a depth chart with a machete in his teeth.

The one thing that might hold him back early is injury. As of a couple weeks ago he was held out of the punting demo because of a knee issue. He still dressed, so it can't be too serious. He seems to have dumped the brace in recent photos; he'll probably be just fine.

Backups

Khoury against Iowa; Elliott with brother Brock

ROCKO KHOURY
played iowa
doubles w/ Schilling
more doubles
shoves on DT
not quite omameh
shed on second level

There are only two before you get down to walk-ons and freshmen. Rocko Khoury is the only one who won't cause some hyperventilation. When Molk was knocked out for the Iowa game last year he stepped in and performed ably. Most of the clips at right are Khoury doubling DTs with Schilling, which isn't the toughest job in the world. He does display a bit of ability on the second level; he does not reach someone into oblivion.

If Khoury draws in it will be a downgrade since he's not likely to do any of the exciting Molkomamehwan things I embedded above. It won't be a disaster. Michigan averaged 4.5 YPC in his start against the #6 rush defense in the country, almost a yard and a half better than Iowa gave up against the rest of their schedule. They'll live if he plays.

Redshirt junior Elliot Mealer is the sole other non-freshman option. That qualifier is probably unnecessary since the freshmen are either 340 or 270 pounds—he's the last line of defense between Michigan and someone totally unprepared to play in the Big Ten. The coaches clearly have him behind Khoury and Schofield and while they do make encouraging noises about him from time to time…

Elliott Mealer and Rocko Khoury are vying for back-up positions on the interior line, ‘right on the cusp’ but depth guys right now, Funk added.

…the overall impression is that they'd like to avoid having him on the field just yet. He's still much better than the alternatives.

Those alternatives are Chris Bryant, the 340-pounder, and Jack Miller, the 270-pounder. They are freshman OL. It would be best if they did not see the field.

[Ed-M: video problems now fixed.]

Formation notes: Nothing fancy from Michigan. I will note with pleasure the complete abolition of the I-form. Illinois took the ND approach by parking someone right over the slot receiver and either bringing a safety down or blitzing a corner or the slot LB to consistently generate seven man fronts. A presnap example:

Substitution notes: Huyge again went the distance at RT. Shaw got more snaps than he has since his injury. Gallon appeared to eat most of Grady's snaps. Jeremy Jackson took up the Stokes role of WR who never gets thrown at.

And here we go, kids, the first (and hopefully last) 10k word post in MGoHistory:

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA slot seam	Roundtree	75
Hey, that's a nice start. Illinois comes out with a guy over the slot receiver and will spend a big chunk of the game blitzing that guy off the corner for contain on Robinson while bringing the safety to that side down. On this one the slot LB does go with the bubble route; Roundtree is lined up inside of that. He goes straight downfield. One safety comes up in a robber zone as Illinois run blitzes; a linebacker comes free on the backside, then forms up(!) to contain, giving Robinson time to find Roundtree down the slot. Free safety was moving towards the centerfield zone, then bit on the run play, leaving Roundtree wide open (RPS +3). Denard hits him in the numbers 20 yards downfield and he's got a five yard head start on everyone. Touchdown. (DO, 3, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-0, 14 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M17	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB down G	Robinson	4
This is supposed to go outside with Lewan pulling around the down block of Koger(-1), but Koger got beat badly and the playside DE shoots upfield. There's a massive cutback lane, though, because Molk(+2) got a great reach block on the playside DE and erased him. The backside DE is flowing down the line just like that picture pages I did earlier in the year, however, because Omameh is releasing downfield. Robinson makes a good cut but misses a huge cutback lane outside after Lewan(+1) clubs his guy, Robinson gets run down from the backside of the play, fumbling. Michigan loses a couple yards on the exchange.
RUN+: Molk(2), Lewan, Schilling							RUN-: Koger, Robinson
M21	2	6	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Edge pitch decoy	Robinson	2
We get to this play late so it's tough to tell what happens. Michigan fakes that edge pitch they ran a few times last year in the hopes of getting someone out of position but there are three UI players to two blockers in the area and there's no room. Looks like Huyge(-1) missed a block but don't hold me to that.
RUN+:							RUN-: Huyge
M23	3	4	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Hemingway	11
Michigan runs a snag concept. Linebacker drops deep on the seam/corner, giving Hemingway a pocket of space at the sticks. Robinson's a little late with the throw, which could hypothetically get him tackled short of the sticks but Hemingway does that little orbit step that gets him around the inside pursuit and sees him pick up 6-7 YAC. Nice play. Picture paged. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
M34	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	13
They shoot the H-back to the backside on this; pretty typical inside zone for M. Illinois is using the slot LB as the contain guy so Webb doesn't really have anyone to block. Michigan's going at the gap between the weakside DE and DT on Illinois' overshifted line. Omameh(+1) momentarily doubles the playside DT to help Molk seal, then pops out on the MLB. Huyge(+1) walls off a crashing DE, giving Smith(+2) a crease that he sees and hits quickly. He then gets low and into the safety's shoulder, spinning off his tackle and turning five yards into 13. ZR+1.
M47	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	2
Lewan leaves a fraction early; the genesis of a later false start maybe. Schilling(-2) gets blown through like he isn't there on this one, sending Liuget into the backfield like a shot. Denard tries to take it outside but Liuget grabs him from behind, tackling for a short gain. Looked well defended otherwise but no one else seemed to get a good or bad block; mehs all around.
RUN+:							RUN-: Schilling(2)
M49	2	8	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Midline stretch	Smith	8
DE reads the play and slants under Lewan, sending him into the second level and giving Schilling(+1) a tough task to shove him by the play; he does. Molk didn't get a seal this time but did a decent enough job to harry the playside DT; he can't make a diving tackle on Smith, and the edge is open because Lewan's(+1) mobility and size are match for Martez Wilson's. Smith(+1) downshifts past the mess and cuts outside, getting run down by a safety. ZR+1 with Liuget forming up on Robinson. Illinois is the team best prepared for this in the league, I bet.
RUN+: Smith, Lewan, Schilling							RUN-:
O43	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Midline keeper	Robinson	2
The DT shuffles down the line and opens up a huge pocket of space; Denard keeps. Schilling gets a free release downfield and bashes the playside LB out of the play. Hooray beer? No, because Martez Wilson is exchanging with that LB and fills the hole. Michigan got baited. Robinson has to try the outside, which does not work very well. (RPS -1, but I'm not mad. That's clever. No ZR since I think Denard made the right read based on who he's reading.) Michigan drops the midline after this. It's clear the Illini are all over it.
O41	2	8	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Roundtree	Inc
Michigan takes advantage of the crashing slot LB by rolling Denard to his side and having him pull up to hit a wide open Roundtree for first down yardage and possibly a lot more if he can break a tackle, but he drops a ball in his hands. Tree! Why Tree, why! (CA, 3, protection N/A, RPS +1)
O41	3	8	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Flare screen	Smith	Int
Guh. Illinois blitzes from the side of the field where the screen is going and there are a lot of M dudes out there and not a lot of Illini, but as Denard throws one of the blitzers bats it in the air, allowing Wilson to make an athletic interception. Is this just one of those things? Should I RPS-1 this? RPS+1? I don't know. Huge two-play swing there. (BA, 0, screen)
Drive Notes: Interception, 7-3, 6 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M15	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA TE seam	Webb	Int
Illinois changes it up a bit, with the safety coming down into the box and the slot guy staying on Roundtree. Michigan does the lead draw PA, shooting Webb wide open into the secondary as one safety is biting like a mofo and the other one is headed out to the slot. On replay: wow. Wow. This seriously could be a TD if accurate, but Robinson wings it over the head of Webb and Webb seems slow to react. It's not a throw he can't get a hand on at least. It zings by his head and the safety digs it out. Major missed opportunity. (IN, 0, protection N/A, RPS +3)
Drive Notes: Interception, 7-3, 5 min 1st Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M22	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Hopkins	32
Illinois blitzes the playside corner. Molk(+2) with another defense-debilitating reach block on the playside DT. He is D-E-D dead. Schilling(+1) releases into the MLB and cuts him to the ground; he's done too. Omameh(+1) releases into the second level and doesn't actually have to get a block but does eliminate the SLB; Hopkins has one cut and acres of grass. Stonum(+1) cuts the safety who's come over to cover him because of the blitz and Hopkins is off to the races. He loses the race because he's 230 pounds. Check the replay for super Molk pwnage.
RUN+: Molk(2), Omameh, Schilling, Stonum							RUN-:
O46	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	6
So after this guy tries to get upfield and gets burned the poor bastard nose tackle (who I just looked up: RS FR Akeem Spence) gets murdered off the ball by a double team. Schilling(+1) and Molk(+1) shove the guy three yards off the LOS and Molk seals him away from the hole; Schilling peels off to pick off a linebacker to the backside. Though Wilson is filling quickly the Spence ownage has given Denard a crease he hits. Unfortunately, he falls as he hits it and gives up a couple yards.
RUN+: Molk, Schilling							RUN-:
O40	2	4	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Smith	5
Michigan runs the stretch towards the Illinois line shift instead of away this time so the blocking is different. Molk(+1) and Schilling(+1) have to scoop Spence, which they do. Spence ends up sealed two yards downfield and Molk pops off on a linebacker. Because of this, Smith(+1) can make a smart cut past Liuget, who beat Omameh(-1). Huyge and Shaw trip to the ground because of the Liuget penetration so folk can converge but not before another first down.
RUN+: Molk, Schilling, Smith							RUN-: Omameh
O35	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	1
Spence fights back here, defeating a Schilling(-2) single block and tossing him to the ground. He's in the hole, forcing a bounce out and minimal yardage.
RUN+:							RUN-: Schilling(2)
O34	2	9	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA RB flat	Shaw	Inc
Play action sucks the WLB in like whoah and Shaw breaks open into the flat. Easy first down and more on the way as Denard flicks it to him… dropped. (CA, 3, protection N/A, RPS +1)
O34	3	9	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Scramble	Robinson	1
Illinois slants its line a little bit and gets a guy in on Omameh one-on-one that catches him off guard. He doesn't let him through but he does give ground in the pocket. Doesn't warrant a minus but does cause Robinson to scramble out after he doesn't like his first read. He should either take off immediately or find Stonum on the sideline. He does neither, hesitating and pulling up, then deciding he has nothing and taking off too late to gain any yardage. Better than a bad throw, I guess. (TA, N/A, protection 2/2)
O33	4	8	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	3-2-6 dime	Pass	Cross	Roundtree	33
Three linemen come plus the corner; Michigan picks up all of them and gives Robinson a ton of time. He sits in the pocket and fires a dart to Roundtree. I think he sees this late, which is why it's behind him; there's a guy coming over and he has to put it there. The throw forces Roundtree to spin around to make the catch but it's not too bad and the spin just takes him upfield faster. He's a step past the linebacker and there's no one filling as he hits the endzone for the second time. (CA, 2, protection 3/3)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 14-14, 12 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M36	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	?	Pass	Hitch	Robinson	Inc
Late to this play so not sure but I think this is the exact same play Roundtree dropped the ball on right before the Wilson INT. Here Robinson gets some more pressure but 'Tree is just as wide open. The ball is zinged hard and to the outside, taking Roundtree off his feet and making this a difficult catch. He can't make it. Borderline MA/IN, 1/2 here. I think... (IN, 2, protection N/A)
M36	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB stretch	Robinson	13
Molk(+2) again reaches Spence one-on-one. They are killing him. Lewan(+1) kicks out the playside DE, Schilling gets a free release on Wilson. Omameh can't do much more than run after the WLB but does wall him off. Webb(+1) blew up the backside DE and provides a lane for Robinson ten(!) yards downfield. Robinson's first cut is easy but then he makes yards on his own.
RUN+: Molk(2), Schilling, Webb, Robinson							RUN-:
M49	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA rollout hitch	Roundtree	9
Third time it's wide open(RPS+1) and this time Roundtree brings it in. Sarcastic cheer from the crowd is super harsh for a guy who's already got 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns, eh? (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O42	2	1	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	8
Omameh(+1) kicks out Liuget. Schilling gets chucked to the ground by Spence but Spence is way out of the hole a yard downfield after getting blasted and is in no position to make a play, so that's a weird looking +1 for him. Smith(+0.5) has a gaping hole between the tackles. He takes on two linebackers after about five yards, picking up 3 YAC.
RUN+: Schilling, Omameh, Smith(+0.5)							RUN-:
O34	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	3
Omameh stalemates a backup DT but does not move him or seal him. Molk can't get playside of Wilson, so both those guys can shed and tackle Robinson as he creases the line. -0.5 each. Needs moar play action?
RUN+:							RUN-: Omameh(-0.5), Molk(-0.5)
O31	2	7	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Smith	6
Spence manages to not get crushed this time. Molk does fine with him but this not an obliteration. Thanks to a monster kickout by Lewan(+1), Spence's flow isn't enough to close down the hole and when Hopkins(+1) comes through he clobbers Wilson. Wilson's already engaged with Schilling so this is not a fair fight but that block goes from one yard from the LOS to five in a snap. Smith follows it but can't make anything more than the blocking gives him this time.
RUN+: Hopkins, Lewan							RUN-:
O25	3	1	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Penalty	False start	Lewan	-5
Yes: he rocks a fraction early and they get him.
O30	3	6	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA Rollout fly	Stonum	Inc
This is a decent throw but a bad decision. He's got Webb in the flat for a sure first down after Illinois bites on the playfake but decides to go for a covered Stonum near the goal line. Tough throw, very tough catch. Tough throw is made and the catch isn't. Robinson had a guy coming into his face and had to throw it quickly, but I'm not sure why they're reading long to short on third and six. (BR, 1, protection N/A)
O30	4	6	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	4-2-5 nickel	Pass	Cross	Roundtree	Inc
Illinois safety chases after another underneath route and opens Roundtree for the first; if the guy trailing him can't tackle it's a touchdown. Unfortunately the ball is well behind him and this allows trailing guy to break it up. (IN, 0, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 9 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Midline zone	Shaw	1
Huge error by Robinson (ZR-1) as the DT is too aggressive and with one linebacker hitting it up past any block and the other flowing hard he's gonzor unless this DT makes a ridiculous play. Lewan(+1) again kicked the DE outside the hashmark; keep the ball, Denard. Illinois flows hard, which is why the keeper is vastly open, and a linebacker gets in untouched. He can tackle because the hard flow prevented any linemen from sealing off frontside creases. I think I have to minus Molk here, too.
RUN+: Lewan							RUN-: Robinson(2), Molk
M21	2	9	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Post	Roundtree	75
So of course on the next play Robinson throws a gorgeous, could-not-be-better deep ball to Roundtree. Michigan slides the protection to combat the thing that gave them a little trouble earlier and the result is a ton of time for Robinson. He sits in the pocket and absolutely nails Roundtree on a re-enactment of that 97 yard touchdown from the spring game (ff to 1:05), except this time the guy chasing is faster and Roundtree gets run down inside the five. (DO+, 2, protection 3/3)
O4	1	G	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Base 4-4	Run	Inside zone	Hopkins	4
Some backups in for Illinois. Molk(+1) and Omameh(+1) obliterate one DT; Schilling(+1) hits the other back far enough and Hopkins just has to slam it up for four yards. This year Roundtree can get caught at the one all he wants.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 21-21, 6 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M27	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inverted veer handoff	Smith	3
Late moving safety adds another guy to the box. Michigan runs the Cam Newton at them, and with the DT staying inside this looks like the right read (ZR+1) but it's so open it could go either way. Late filling safety does a fantastic job to get outside of Shaw(-1) and gets some help from the LB who is coming off Robinson. Omameh(+1) got a driving, awesome block on the DT left in space to delay that LB and give Smith room, but defeating that Shaw block means Smith goes down hard after a few.
RUN+: Omameh							RUN-: Shaw
M30	2	7	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	3
A wad o' bodies. Blocks are all adequate but not great. This is a staple now and folks are ready for it.
RUN+: N//A							RUN-:
M33	3	4	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA rollout deep hitch	Stonum	15
Illinois not surprised here; after the DE keeps contain he shoots upfield at Robinson in the same manner he did on the previous deep ball to Stonum. This time Stonum is breaking his route off after selling the fly, though, and he shakes the corner by yards. Robinson dodges the crashing DE and zings it high to Stonum to get it over hands; Stonum leaps and brings it in. (DO, 2, protection N/A, RPS -1)
M48	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Shaw	3
Illinois slanting the line playside and having linebackers scrape to the backside with one of their safeties filling on the front. Lewan(-1) lets his guy playside, which costs Michigan some yards as he tackles near the LOS. A safety was filling at the same time but that was going to be at least a few more yards if the DE isn't tackling from behind. Double from Schilling(+0.5) and Molk(+0.5) had again destroyed Spence.
RUN+: Schilling(0.5), Molk(0.5)							RUN-: Lewan
O49	2	7	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Shaw	4
Adjustment from Illinois. They send linebackers over the top and blitz a corner. This means the linemen have easy blocks but Schilling gets hit by the DE and can't get out to the second level. Lead blocker has to hit the corner, leaving Shaw one on one with an unblocked LB. Contact made at the LOS; Shaw picks up four. RPS -1; Illinois sold out here and got it right.
RUN+: Shaw							RUN-:
O45	3	3	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Improve comeback	Hemingway	45
Three man rush from Illinois. None of them get anywhere near the QB. First read covered, Robinson starts rolling and has huge amounts of space to pick up the first down. Instead he pulls up and zips a dart right on Hemingway's numbers 20 yards downfield. Hemingway is fenced in by three Illinois DBs but does a moog dance around them, turning 20 yards into 45 and making me be like dang. (DO+, 3, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 28-21, 3 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
O26	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB draw	Robinson	6
Illinois zone blitzes, which throws off this play a bit since the expected lanes aren't there. Wilson blows through Smith and it's looking grim before Schilling(+1) shoves an over-aggressive Liuget past him, opening up a crease that Robinson(+1) sees and exploits. The blocking's all messed up so Omameh has no chance to get the linebacker he's tasked with and Molk's guy can peel off to run Robinson down from behind.
RUN+: Schilling, Robinson							RUN-: Smith
O20	2	4	Shotgun empty	1	0	4	Dime 4-3?	Run	QB draw	Robinson	2
Thoroughly bizarre, as it looks like a DE lines up over a slot receiver. It's a 6-6, 225 pound DE, yes. I'd probably audible into this too. Molk(-1) is stood up and then shucked by Spence. He does maintain his feet and stay in contact but Robinson has to slow as Spence shows up in the hole. Molk re-engages and Robinson goes to cut behind him. It looks like he may be able to squeeze out the first down when he slips.
RUN+:							RUN-: Molk
O18	3	2	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA slot seam	Gallon	Inc
Another "aaargh run it" play as Illinois does not get out on the edge here and Robinson can pick up the first down easily if he just takes off. Can't blame him for the decision, though. The UI safeties split and Gallon breaks hand-wavingly open. Robinson throws it way, way too short and turns a potential touchdown into a near interception. (IN, 0, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
Drive Notes: FG(35), 31-28, 40 sec 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M11	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Dime 4-3?	Run	Zone stretch	Hopkins	2
DE again hanging out near the bubble. Three down lineman, two linebackers, one blitzing guy on the frontside. Blitzing guy and playside DE get upfield of their blockers by attacking hard; this means that Smith and Lewan are both blocking one LB. Molk(+1) easily seals the NT and there's a huge gap... that Wilson is sitting in by himself. RPS -1.
RUN+: Molk							RUN-:
M13	2	8	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA rollout deep hitch	Hemingway	Inc
Michigan rolls the pocket towards the open side of the field, where a large number of Illinois players are shifted. Nickel blitzer forces Robinson to hold up and throw to one of two receivers on the curl/flat but he hasn't had enough time to let the route develop and the corner to that side can sink into the ball and get a hand on it. Otherwise well thrown. Still, a dangerous ball. (BR, 0, protection 1/1, RPS -1)
M13	3	8	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB draw	Robinson	-7
Yeah, this was actually a run. Both RBs release downfield to block, as does Omameh, and the DEs are permitted to roar upfield because that's where Michigan wants them. The problem is Liuget, who crushes Schilling(-2) backwards and shucks him. He's charging at Denard, delaying him and allowing those DEs to converge for an ugly looking finale.
RUN+:							RUN-: Schilling(2), Huyge
Drive Notes: Punt, 11 min 3rd Q. Ugly stretch.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M22	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Bubble screen	Roundtree	17
Michigan finally tests Illinois on the edge here as they keep blitzing this LB on the slot. They do so here. Safety fills but is a little late, at which point Roundtree(+2) smokes him on a juke and then spins through two more tackles at the sticks to turn a nothing play into a chunk of yards. Hemingway(+1) with a good block on the corner helped. (CA, 3, screen)
RUN+: Roundtree(2), Hemingway							RUN-:
M39	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	PA QB Draw?	Robinson	2 + 15 Pen
This is QB Lead Oh Noes, except the pass is a fake and Robinson takes off. This is a play action draw. So… yeah. Robinson has a lane between Hopkins and Huyge that the other Illinois MLB is trying to close down. He decides to cut back. This is not a good idea; Wilson comes off a block and tracks him down after not much. Illinois gets a weak, weak PF call for 15 more.
RUN+:							RUN-: Robinson
O44	1	10	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Hopkins	6
Liuget again smokes Schilling(-2) and is through immediately. Hopkins(+2) beats an arm tackle from him, runs through a Wilson tackle, and can get upfield; Lewan(+1) got a great second level block and Koger(+1) kicked out the playside DE
RUN+: Hopkins(2), Lewan, Koger							RUN-: Schilling(2)
O38	2	4	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB down G	Robinson	0
Looks like a stretch at first but not because that was the intent. Michigan blocks down on the playside DE with Koger and pulls Omameh and Huyge around. Koger(-2) does not get anything approximating a good block. He loses his guy to the outside on a down block. Not so good. Molk(-1) loses the playside DE. Huyge has to kick out Wilson and Omameh has no choice but to go behind Koger and block Molk's guy; with guys flowing down the line Robinson has nowhere to go and just tries to get back to the LOS.
RUN+:							RUN-: Koger(2), Molk
O38	3	4	Shotgun 4-wide	1	0	4	Dime	Pass	Snag	Stonum	17
Seems like the Illinois cornerback just busts here; everyone else is in man and he appears to be in zone, so he lets Stonum inside of him as he sits down on a snag; Robinson sees this quickly and zips it in for the first, with Stonum picking up some decent YAC. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
O21	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	2
I figured out what Liuget is doing. He's taking jab steps one way, convincing Michigan linemen that he's slanting, then coming back underneath as the other lineman releases downfield. That means he splits doubles by convincing one lineman he should immediately release downfield. That quickness is supremely impressive. This time he gets Molk(-1) on it, though he doesn't shoot through the line. Molk can only escort him upfield; Smith has to cut behind. Backside DT was doubled but no linebackers got hit because of the awkward cut; several free guys combine to tackle.
RUN+:							RUN-: Omameh, Molk
O19	2	8	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone veer	Shaw	19
This looks just like the inside zone but it's a counter, and kind of a veer. The entire line blocks down. Schilling(+1) gets a driving block on playside DT Spence; Lewan donkeys(+1) Wilson. Koger(+1) pulls to the backside to plug the DE, who was held outside by the threat of Denard. Shaw takes the handoff as if it's a regular inside zone, sucking linebackers and safeties to the frontside, cuts hard to the backside of the play, then drags tacklers the final five yards. RPS+2
RUN+: Lewan, Schilling, Koger, Shaw							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 38-31, 7 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	5
Molk blocks the playside DT, Schilling hits one MLB, and the play is basically a one-on-one matchup between Hopkins and Wilson. Stalemate, basically, and Wilson can come off to tackle at the LOS. Denard has room outside because of another good Lewan(+1) kick that opens the hole up wide enough for him to get decent yardage.
RUN+: Lewan							RUN-:
M25	2	5	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Roundtree	9
Illinois has been leaving the outside guys in man all day with these slot blitzes and Michigan uses that here, running a simple ten-yard hitch that the safety can't get out on. He's already been burned crispy, after all. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M34	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB stretch	Robinson	4
Playside DE slides inside; Schilling(+1) steps up to seal him away. It's Lewan and Hopkins versus linebackers. Lewan engages Wilson about a yard downfield; Wilson gets outside. Lewan keeps driving and gets some more depth as they flow outside. Blitzy McSlotGuy is holding contain; he steps up through Hopkins's block, sending Hop to the field uselessly, and tackles as Robinson hits it up. Robinson was going to get tackled by the other MLB but he might have gotten a few more yards without the whiff.
RUN+: Schilling, Lewan (0.5)							RUN-: Hopkins
M38	2	6	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB lead draw	Robinson	16
Wilson screws up, giving Smith the wrong shoulder and sending Denard outside away from his fellow MLB. Good block from Molk(+1) to deal with the playside DT and Huyge(+1) kicked out the DE effectively; Omameh(+1) nailed the other LB, who also screwed up by shucking to the wrong side. Robinson has space, cutting outside to pick up eight or ten more yards.
RUN+: Molk, Omameh, Huyge, Robinson							RUN-:
O46	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	3
Liuget beats Omameh(-1) badly, shoving him back and coming off inside; Illinois is running a scrape exchange and sends the DE shuffling down the line as Wilson pops out to contain Robinson. Bizarrely, Webb just ran out to block a safety instead of doing something at the line, so this was damned either way. No ZR. Smith is swallowed. He gets three because Schilling(+0.5) blew the DT downfield some. RPS -1.
RUN+: Schilling(0.5)							RUN-: Omameh
O43	2	7	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	TE Fly	Webb	Inc (Pen +15)
Robinson has a million years to survey. He looks left, finds nothing, and then comes back to his TE running a fly downfield against the overhang corner. Robinson chucks it up there and puts it in the right place, sort of. It's a bit short. This allows the corner to come through and break it up, but he gets a flag doing so. He did grab the arm but this is a real rinky-dink call. (MA, 0, protection 3/3)
O28	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	7
Nothing, really. Just a wad of bodies with no holes. Backside DE is shuffling down the line; Koger can't do much but hit him and drive him inside, which he does; Smith cuts behind it. Wilson hops out to cover the cutback; Lewan(+1) adjusts and gets a block that Smith(+2) can cut behind again. Tacklers hit him about four yards downfield; he gets three more.
RUN+: Smith(2), Lewan							RUN-:
O21	2	3	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Scramble?	Robinson	0
I have no idea if this is a called draw or Robinson just decides not to throw for whatever reason. I think it's the latter from the mannerisms but that's a WAG. Robinson scrambles upfield and then tries to break it outside into two basically unblocked defenders, getting chopped down. Pretty bad all around from DR. Just throw the bubble. (TA, N/A, N/A)
O21	3	3	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	Nickel 4-3	Pass	TE circle	Webb	Inc
I like bringing in the 2TE set and then going pass. Illinois sends six but no one gets home and Webb's circle route is open for the first. It's high-ish and forces a leap out of Webb but it still goes through his hands. Come on, man. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: Missed FG(38) 38-31, 3 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M35	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Yakety sax	?	-9
Forcier in. He fumbles his first attempt to pass. YAY.
Drive Notes: Fumble, 38-38, 14 min 4th Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M37	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA Hitch	Roundtree	11
Illinois actually shifting the outside corner onto this route as the safety drops back, maybe trying to bait Forcier, but his first read is Roundtree and Forcier nails him for a first down. (CA, 3, protection N/A)
M48	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Shaw	8
This PBP guy calls everything a trap handoff. WTF? Anyway, Illinois slants the other way and Huyge(+1) seals the playside DE immediately. This does not happen often. Shaw has a clear lane outside and the rest of the DL are done. Smith(+1) gets a feisty block on Wilson as Shaw cuts it up and though Schilling couldn't cut the other MLB Omameh(+1) moves out on him and harasses him; Shaw is tackled from behind after about four yards and ends up with eight.
RUN+: Huyge, Smith, Omameh							RUN-:
O44	2	2	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Scramble	Forcier	6
PA rollout from a stretch fake. Illinois covers everything including Smith's little flat route, but in doing so they open up the edge. Forcier brings it down and picks up the first with ease. (SCR, N/A, N/A)
O38	1	10	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Smith	2
Molk(+1) again seals the playside DT on a reach. Schilling(-1) falls to the ground, unfortunately, so Wilson's unblocked as Smith hits the huge obvious gap. Smith tries to cut outside, where Shaw's(-1) cut block attempt is easily stepped over by Wilson. At that point it's time to get whatever you can.
RUN+: Molk							RUN-: Schilling, Shaw
O36	2	8	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA Throwaway	Roundtree	Inc
Been running this PA rollout too much and the backside DE sees it quickly. He shoots up at Forcier, who manages to dodge the guy. At that point he chucks it well long of a double-covered Roundtree because otherwise this guy is going to nail him. RPS -1. (TA, 0, protection N/A)
O36	3	8	Shotgun trips	1	0	4	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Cross	Gallon	35 (Pen -10)
Virtual replay of an earlier play on which Robinson had Roundtree by a couple steps on a crossing route and threw it behind him. Here Forcier nails Gallon in significantly tighter coverage; Gallon is hit in stride and the trailer can't tackle, so he cuts it up and dives for the endzone, coming up just short. It comes back because Lewan got a legit holding call. (DO, 3, protection 0/2, Lewan -2)
O46	3	18	Shotgun 2-back	2	0	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Fly	Hemingway	Inc
Forcier sets up and bombs it deep to Hemingway. Coverage is decent but Hemingway has a step and room to the outside and could have a less contested catch if the throw is perfect. It's not. It's still very good, hitting Hemingway in the hands and falling to the turf as he gets bumped by the DB. I think this was deflected a little and even if not the DB was disrupting him, so this isn't a pure drop but you'd like to see him bring this in. (CA+, 2, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 38-45, 9 min 4th Q. Can't blame Forcier for any of this, man. Sharp after the 'sax.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Throwaway	?	Inc
Serious miscommunication on the M line sets Liuget free. Forcier tosses it well OOB. (TA, 0, protection 0/2, team)
M20	2	10	Shotgun empty	1	0	4	Split 4-3	Pass	Improv comeback	Hemingway	21
Illinois stunt gets Liuget somewhat through. He shoots into the backfield but Omameh does shove him through and Forcier can roll. Hemingway's open on a hitch route at the sticks so Forcier throws it; Hemingway attacks the ball to make sure no funny stuff and orbits past the corner. He sets off down the sideline for another ten yards. (CA+, 3, protection 1/2, Omameh-1)
M41	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone read keeper	Forcier	11
No contain at all so Forcier pulls (ZR +1) and is into the secondary. Umpire gets in the way or this could have been a few more before folks converged. This never happens when Denard is in.
RUN+: Forcier							RUN-:
O48	1	10	Shotgun 4-wide	1	0	4	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Quick out	Smith	5
Forcier reads man and hits Smith for what he thinks will be a good gainer but the Illinois safety is very aggressive and comes down on this fast, tackling after minimal YAC. And by that I mean zero. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O43	2	5	Shotgun empty	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	QB draw	Forcier	3
Should/would be massively open with big Illinois line splits but Koger(-1) gets smoked by the DE and Forcier has to cut outside of him. DE gets an ankle tackle on the cut; Forcier falls forward for a few.
RUN+:							RUN-: Koger
O40	3	2	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Shaw	4
Schilling(+1) and Lewan(+1) crush the backside DT so when Omameh(-1) loses Liuget Shaw has a cutback lane he can hit. Molk(+1) also got a good downfield block on the MLB.
RUN+: Lewan, Schilling, Molk							RUN-: Omameh
O36	1	10	Shotgun empty	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Quick out	Shaw	3
This time it's the outside corner coming up to hit immediately after the catch. Illinois has these route packages pretty well scouted. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O33	2	7	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Dime	Pass	Hitch	Hemingway	6
Forcier rolling out again and Illinois all over it, attacking with two guys and basically covering everything. Forcier chucks it as he gets hit to Hemingway along the sideline; two Illinois guys are there. The ball flutters over the first; the second comes up to plow Hemingway after the catch but cannot prevent him from dragging a toe. Illinois had this dead and Michigan beat it with a ridiculous play. (DO, 1, protection N/A, RPS -1)
O27	3	1	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	12
Illinois scraping this time after the Forcier keeper. Forcier hands off (ZR +1). This pulls the MLB to the contain side out of the middle. Lewan(+2) is moving to block him, reads this, and pulls back to nail the DE shuffling down the line. That's great. The scrape is designed to get that tackle blocking no one and Lewan has been coached here to read and react to that. I'm delighted by this. The backside DT is escorted down the line by Schilling(+1) and the hole opens up wide for Smith, who hits it. Molk cluelessly blocks some guy with his butt, allowing Smith to cut upfield, where the two linebackers hit him from behind.
RUN+: Lewan(2), Schilling, Smith							RUN-:
O15	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	2
Liuget blows through Omameh(-2) and makes a tackle at the LOS. This time the Illinois scrape comes from the other linebacker, so the shuffling DE gets inside too and there's nowhere for Smith to go. Michigan went at tempo here and Illinois adjusted quickly. I know Koenning got bombed but this is impresssive. RPS -1!
RUN+:							RUN-: Omameh(-2)
O13	2	8	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA Rollout Fly	Hemingway	Inc
The usual play action rollout. Illinois has a hard corner so the Koger route isn't super open but it looks open enough for some yards; instead Forcier tries to go for the endzone to a well covered Hemingway and ends up winging it OOB by a considerable margin. (BR, 0, protection N/A)
O13	3	8	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Dime	Pass	PA rollout flat	Koger	4 (Pen +5)
UI jumps so Forcier spends the play looking for the endzone and can't find anything. He checks down to Koger. Not charted.
O8	3	3	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Improv circle	Stonum	8
Lewan(-2) gets crooshed by the Illinois DE and Forcier has to deal with a guy coming right at him after a beat or two. Forcier dodges him easily and is now on the edge. He sees Stonum on the sideline in the endzone, and throws a ball low and outside. Stonum digs it out. (CA+, 1, protection 0/2, Lewan -2.) Stonum made an *outstanding* play to get himself open once he realized what was going on.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 45-45, 2 min 4th Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
M31	1	10	Shotgun empty	1	0	4	Split 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Roundtree	6
Another quick hitch underneath the coverage; filling safety is there in time to prevent much YAC. I think a momentary bobble by Roundtree also delays him a little. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M37	2	4	Shotgun empty	1	0	4	Split 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Roundtree	11
Same exact pattern and throw except this time Roundtree orbits outside, away from the safety, and gets a few extra yards. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M48	1	10	Shotgun empty	1	0	4	Split 4-3	Pass	Hitch	Roundtree	Int
The third time in a row is a little much (RPS -2) and the route is jumped and picked off. Ball was inside, making it easier to pick off, and shouldn't have been thrown anyway. (BR, 0, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Interception, EOregulation
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
O25	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA rollout throwaway	?	Inc
The usual stretch fake and rollout. Forcier looks deep and with a couple of Illini players coming up on him he chucks it away. Webb was momentarily covered underneath but came open late; Forcier should have taken the short throw for at least a few yards. (TA, 0, protection N/A)
O25	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Snag	Stonum	6
Snag concept again. Webb's deep corner is momentarily taken by Wilson, which opens up Stonum. Forcier zings it in; Wilson has come off and is there to tackle on the catch. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O19	3	4	Shotgun trips TE	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Rollout deep hitch	Hemingway	13
Forcier's got Roundtree at the sticks for the first down but decides to go deeper as Hemingway is sitting down about eight yards behind Roundtree. The corner to that side isn't really covering anyone, stuck halfway between the safeties. Forcier's got a smallish window that he hits. (CA+, 3, protection N/A)
O6	1	G	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Shaw	1
Safety in the box because it's first and goal and while Omameh and Molk effectively double Liuget and get out on Wilson that gives the safety a free run into the hole created. Shaw tries to cut back, where a shuffling DE has gotten inside the attempted pull block from Webb and tackles. Forcier should have kept as he'd be one on one with a safety with a decent chance of beating him and probably getting good yardage anyway (ZR -1).
RUN+:							RUN-: Forcier
O5	2	G	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone stretch	Shaw	5
Liuget shoots into the backfield; Molk(+2) has an easy time getting playside of him then but now has to slow up his momentum and prevent him from getting to Shaw. He does so, pancaking Liuget as he tries to come through. Omameh(+1) gets a second level block, Lewan scoops the other DT with Schilling but got it for free as that DT saw the Liuget play and hesitated because he thought a cutback was coming. Schilling(+1) gets a downfield block on Wilson and Shaw's got an easy five yard touchdown.
RUN+: Molk(2), Omameh, Schilling							RUN-:
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 52-45, OT1
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
O25	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA throwback wheel	Smith	14
Anything you can do I can do somewhat as well. Michigan runs virtually the same play Illinois just got another touchdown on and gets a big chunk of yards. The corner dropping in zone to that side does come off his receiver as he reaches the safety level and manages to tackle, but not before a big chunk. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, RPS+1)
O11	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Smith	2
Curveball from Illinois as they send their DE upfield and use the blitzing slot guy as a cutback contain. This works as Koger(-1) picks the wrong guy to kick out. Omameh(+1) had nailed the backside DT and Huyge released on Wilson, leaving Smith a big cutback lane if Webb attacks the LB. Picture paged.
RUN+: Omameh							RUN-: Webb
O9	2	8	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	PA throwaway	?	Inc
First two options covered, Forcier stands in until he can't anymore… he should definitely take off and try to scramble for yardage. It's wide open. Instead he does his scramble around thing and chucks it OOB. (TA, N/A, protection 2/2)
O9	3	8	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Slant	Hemingway	9
Forcier throws a slant that's blanketed by the cornerback. The ball deflects in the air and Hemingway snags it. Hooray skill! (BR, 3, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 59-59, OT2
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Type	Play	Player	Yards
O25	1	10	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone read keeper	Forcier	8
I can't tell if this is a good decision and a terrible play by Webb or Illinois getting Michigan. Forcier sees the DE crash and pulls; Illinois has Wilson scraping outside. Webb(-1) bizarrely releases outside and wanders downfield, blocking no one, so Forcier cuts it back inside and basically runs what Shaw would have run if the handoff was made. Molk(+1) seals Spence and Omameh(+1) releases, finds no one to block, and helps double the playside DE. Both linebackers saw the keep and went outside so there's an obvious crease. Shaw runs up it and hits a linebacker; Forcier runs up it and gets tackled from behind by about three guys.
RUN+: Forcier, Omameh, Molk							RUN-: Webb
O17	2	2	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Zone read keeper	Forcier	13 + 3 pen
DE shoots down the line and Illinois brings the corner in to contain. Forcier keeps(ZR+1) and will have the first down because Lewan got out and got enough of a shove on the backside LB to get him off balance. Could have done better but okay. The corner's crashing down; Forcier(+2) jukes him to the outside and nears the goal line. Two Illinois personal fouls put it at the one.
RUN+: Forcier(2)							RUN-:
O1	1	G	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	Base 4-4	Run	Inside zone	Shaw	0
Schilling(-1) gets driven into the backfield, forcing Shaw to cut back. A crashing DE tackles him as he does this; Shaw falls forward to about the foot line.
RUN+:							RUN-: Schilling
O1	2	G	Shotgun 2TE	1	2	2	Base 4-4	Run	QB lead draw	Forcier	0
Schilling(+1) wins this one, getting a much better push on a play designed to go behind him anyway. Shaw gets a lead block on the LB in the hole and Forcier just has to burrow behind it for a touchdown. He instead tries to leap. Wilson says no.
RUN+: Schilling							RUN-: Forcier
O1	3	G	Shotgun H-back	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Run	Inside zone	Shaw	1
Same curveball that Webb screwed up on in the second OT with the nickel guy coming down to contain; this time Webb(+1) correctly diagnoses the blitz and heads out on the slot guy. Never gets a block but does make the guy go around him and that's enough. Picture paged.
O3	2pt	2pt	Shotgun 3-wide	1	1	3	Nickel 4-3	Pass	Circle	Hemingway	3
Hemingway sells the slant on the same CB that just blew one up and got unlucky in the last OT, and a rolling Forcier has an easy throw for the game-winning points. Hemingway almost drops it, but does bring it in. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
Drive Notes: Touchdown(2PT), 67-59, OT3

Oh my god.

Seriously. That table is 8400 words. I am openly campaigning for the return of those hated clock rules starting now.

But at least this was the happy bit?

Yes, absolutely. Michigan comprehensively destroyed an excellent defense by land and sea. Despite Denard Robinson averaging 3.3 yards an attempt, the Illini rush defense gave up more than a full YPC relative to their season average. They consistently went one-high to do so, which opened up passing lanes that allowed Robinson to average over 15 YPA(!). Illinois' defense dropped from 15th nationally to 34th after the game, and while overtime has something to do with that Michigan gained almost 600 yards of offense in regulation.

That's all very impressive. Is it more or less impressive that it could have been a lot worse? Illinois shot themselves in the foot on offense from time to time but I think Michigan topped them by dropping balls, fumbling, and Robinson throwing inaccurately. It's one thing to fail to convert a third and three. It's another to miss a wide open tight end who's going to run until someone catches him from behind. Michigan did that plenty; there were opportunities to score even more points than they did.

It all makes for an interesting—

Chart?

Chart.

DENARD ROBINSON

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	ZR	DSR
2009, All Of It	1	7	6(2)	3(1)	4	4	-	-	?	-	44%
UConn	2	15(6)	-	-	3	2	-	-	2	-	68%
Notre Dame	3	25(8)	3(1)	4	1	-	4(1)	2	-	-	71%
UMass	4	10(3)	-	1	1	-	1	1	-	-	73%
BGSU	1	4(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1/1	N/A
Indiana	2	8(2)	1(1)	5(1)	-	-	-	-	-	9/11	66%
Michigan State	4	14(3)	1	7(1)	1	-	-	2	2	N/A	68%
Iowa	1	11(3)	2	3(1)	2	-	1	-	-	3/4	64%
Penn State	3	12(3)	1	4	2	-	1	-	-	6/10	63%
Illinois	4	9(1)	1	4	1	3	1(1)	-	-	3/4	60%

TATE FORCIER

Opponent	DO	CA	MA	IN	BR	TA	BA	PR	SCR	ZR	DSR
Iowa	3	14	1	2	4	-	-	1	1	N/A	74%
Illinois	2	11	-	-	2	3	-	-	1	3/4	72%

A schizophrenic day from Robinson, who was either throwing picture-perfect balls to wide open receivers headed for the endzone or badly missing wide open receivers headed for the endzone. There were three of each; Robinson hit Roundtree twice and Hemingway once but badly missed Webb (INT), Gallon (near INT), and Roundtree (breakup) on wide open routes.

Meanwhile, Forcier was robotically efficient when he wasn't going yakety sax on the first play of the game. He didn't pick up the same yardage numbers Robinson did but that wasn't all his fault. On his second drive he had a 35-yarder to Gallon called back and then Hemingway did not bring in a makeable 46-yard touchdown catch. He's clearly more comfortable sitting in the pocket.

This is the nicest thing I can say about Forcier: I no longer want to die when the inevitable Robinson ding comes. I want Robinson to return ASAP but I do not want to die.

And what about the receivers?

More schizophrenia here, where drops from Roundtree, Shaw, Webb, and a makeable touchdown catch dropped by Hemingway combine with a couple of 1s and a lot of yards:

	This Game					Totals
Player	0	1	2	3		0	1	2	3
Stonum	-	1/1	1/1	2/2		9	2/7	7/11	18/18
Odoms	: (	-	-	-		1	1/1	3/4	11/11
Hemingway	2	1/1	0/1	5/5		4	3/3	3/5	19/23
Stokes	-	-	-	-		-	-	1/2	-
Roundtree	2	-	2/3	7/8		10	2/3	5/8	26/38
Grady	-	-	-	-		4	1/1	3/3	8/9
T. Robinson	-	-	-	-		-	0/1	-	2/3
Gallon	-	-	-	1/1		1	-	-	4/4
Koger	-	-	-	-		-	-	2/3	7/7
Webb	2	-	-	0/1		2	-	-	3/4
Smith	1	-	-	2/2		2	-	0/2	12/12
Shaw	-	-	-	1/2		1	0/1	0/1	5/6
McColgan	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	1/1
Hopkins	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
Toussaint	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-

The drops were kind of a big deal. Webb's third and three drop forced Michigan into a missed field goal attempt. Stonum's immediately preceded the Wilson interception, and Hemingway's coulda/shoulda been a touchdown. Michigan did overcome the moderately tough Roundtree drop; Shaw's eventually saw Michigan convert a fourth and nine into a touchdown.

And the run game?

As with the defense you'll want to turn down the volume down (by about 20%) to get a relatively normal day at the office.

For context, Michigan averaged 4.9 YPC on 53(!) carries. They threw the ball 40 times, so that's slightly more pass oriented than normal. Those passes broke open for big gains because Illinois was bringing guys into the box consistently.

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Huyge	3	2	1	Did a lot of okay stuff. Not beaten, but didn't MAKE PLAYS either.
Lewan	12.5	1	11.5	Major cutback lanes provided on the regular.
Schilling	15	10	5	Got beat by Liuget a lot, but held up despite that.
Molk	16.5	4.5	12	Clobbered Akeem Spence consistently. Move to the stretch plays into his strengths.
Omameh	10	6.5	3.5	Easier day than Schilling since a lot of the time he had no one over him and Molk was killing Spence; when he did get Liuget he struggled like Schilling.
Khoury	-	-	-	DNP
Dorrestein	-	-	-	DNP
Webb	2	1	1	Reduced role?
Koger	2	5	-3	Not so good.
TOTAL	61	30	31	A slight step back from the Penn State game—slightly more positive but a lot more plays (53 vs 42) to get that number in.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Robinson	3	4	-1	Not a lot of room to make magic and some bad decisions on cuts.
Gardner	-	-	-	DNP
Forcier	4	2	2	Shiftiness paid off in overtime on a couple keepers. Desire to fly not so much.
Shaw	2	2	0	Fully healthy, it seems.
Smith	8.5	1	7.5	Excellent day. Hopefully he can keep it up.
Cox	-	-	-	DNP
Toussaint	-	-	-	DNP
Hopkins	3	1	2	Established as the third guy, it seems.
McColgan	-	-	-	DNP.
Jones	-	-	-	DNP
TOTAL	20.5	10	10.5	Still not great, but at least Smith had a nice outing.
Receivers
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Stonum	1	-	1	--
Odoms	-	-	-	--
TRobinson	-	-	-	--
Roundtree	2	-	2	One bubble.
Grady	-	-	-	--
Gallon	-	-	-	--
Hemingway	1	-	1	Does not get a number for this but the moog dance for the TD was wicked.
TOTAL	4	-	4	Moog dance.
Metrics

I think I may be paying more attention to Lewan than Huyge and will try to see if that's the case next week, but the number of runs that work because Lewan's kicked a guy outside the hashes or driven someone three yards downfield and opened up a cutback lane is significant, where Huyge is just a guy. Huyge did get a win in one other area:

PROTECTION METRIC: 37/44, Lewan –4, Team –2, Omameh –1

That's a tick over 80%, which is good. It might be pessimistic, too, because this is just 3/3:

And so is this:

I value consistency in protection over individual good plays, and that was a four man rush, and people are terrified of Denard scrambling. But Denard and Tate had Navarre-like time on several important plays, something that would be unimaginable last year, and don't get me started on 2008.

The only exceptions were when Lewan got beat a couple times, drawing a holding call that wiped out a Gallon crossing route that got down to the one and forcing Forcier to become MacGuyver again on the game-tying touchdown. He also turned a third and one into third and six on a false start. Lewan's the Jonas Mouton of the offense [Ed-M: except the guy making the occasional, drive-altering freshman mistakes is a redshirt freshman, not a 5th year senior]. I did love this, though:

That's a scrape designed to get Lewan blocking no one. I see OL release downfield and look around in vain for someone to hit all the time. Here he sees his linebacker head outside, knows it's an exchange and the DE is flowing down the line, and pulls up to kick the DE out. Result is a big gain.

As for the rest of the ground game, Smith's good day was offset by a bad one from Robinson. Michigan pulled out the inverted veer and the midline a little bit but dumped the midline after Illinois ran a crazy scrape Michigan was unprepared for that got Martez Wilson unblocked on Robinson. They dumped it after that. After four years of Juice Williams Illinois has more experience defending that stuff than anyone else in the Big Ten, so

I see a lot of Liuget above, and a lot of big negatives for the interior line.

Yes. Liuget went ham. Whenever someone was tearing into the backfield untouched it was him. He did this by feinting one way, as if he was going to slant. This would cause the lineman to the other side to release downfield. Then Liuget would change direction and burst through a double that didn't really happen. Bad things (or great play from the tailbacks) ensued.

That's why this was impressive from Molk:

 

Many times Schilling or Omameh had not been able to keep pace with that spring into the backfield; here Molk gets playside of him, hurls him to the ground, and sent Liuget to the ref making a flag motion.

But they were still positive?

Michigan abused the NT all day by running stretches away from Liuget and having Molk reach block Spence like he was stationary. Spence is a freshman and while he displayed impressive strength on a couple plays where he chucked Michigan blockers to the ground he was dead meat when Michigan got him moving. Molk was a beast. Watch him on this play:

I have seen more zone stretches than anything else in my time doing this and I can tell you that getting that seal on that reach block is rare and powerful. if that happens the defense is giving up at least five yards and usually a first down. Molk did it probably five times in this game.

The tailbacks seemed much better, right?

Yeah, though they dropped off a bit in the second half. Smith had a couple of impressive cuts and one spin cycle [Ed-M: video didn't make it] past a tackle; the other two guys ran hard and didn't seem to make any obvious mistakes.

Goats?

No one had an out and out bad day, really. I mean… 67 points, 45 in regulation, against a good defense.

All right then. People responsible for the few times Michigan didn't score?

Robinson's inaccuracy burned Michigan a few times, though Robinson's ability opened those passing lanes wide open. Lewan did kill a couple drives with mistakes. The tight ends did not have a great game.

Heroes?

David Molk, Roy Roundtree, Tate, Denard, Lewan, and a partridge in a pear tree.

What does it mean for Purdue and beyond?

This offense is going to move the ball on everyone, and will be stopped mostly by its own mistakes. Robinson's erratic accuracy is the biggest problem facing the offense now, and that's the #11 guy in passer efficiency we're talking about. Tate is an excellent backup Michigan could rotate in from time to time without enduring much of a dropoff.

The deep passing game was the main development here; if Michigan has that working good luck, everyone. I think they'll be able to put up points on anyone the rest of the year, even Ohio State—probably not enough points, but points.