charles woodson

currently on tinder? [Bryan Fuller]

Sponsor Note. Did you ever want a lawyer who just appears in UVs because he's writing interesting things? Maybe someone who also has probity? Does anyone other than a lawyer ever have probity? I don't think so, but Richard Hoeg's got it in spades.

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If you have or want a small business engage Mr. Hoeg for probity, and contracts, and incorporation, and all manner of legal whatnot.

Not a sponsor note. Here's a twitter thread from Hoeg on the early days of NIL and what looks like a full on gold-rush with little in the way of brakes:

There's going to be a lot of sorting out to do. The much discussed Barstool NIL scheme is probably going to make folks ineligible since they're basically a sportsbook with some bolt-on frat bro misogyny these days. Unless legal incorporation fig leaves mean that it won't. I have some sympathy for NCAA compliance officers these days, who just got handed a bucket of cranky toddlers with no instructions.

[After THE JUMP: the specter of two cokes]

Chuck Winters made some big defensive plays; here we're just happy he's holding onto the football [Bentley Image Bank]

Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014)Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009)Revenge is Terrifying (Colorado 1996)

This series: Four Games In September I (Boston College 1991), Four Games In September II (Boston College 1994), Four Games In September III (Boston College 1995)

This game: WolverineHistorian highlights

For the first time heading into a game of this series, Michigan and Boston College both hold onto their head coaches. After both teams turned in disappointing 1995 seasons, they're at least afforded offseasons without coaching turmoil. Naturally, the 1996 game and its aftermath are the messiest of the series.

The Wolverines are ranked eighth in the country after opening the season with wins over Illinois and at #5 Colorado. Boston College is giving Matt Hasselbeck his second start after he came off the bench to lead a comeback win in the opener at Hawaii; 1996 Drew Bledsoe couldn't have saved the Eagles from a 45-7 pasting at the hands of rival Virginia Tech in game two.

Third-year head coach Dan Henning, perhaps in an attempt to keep expectations low for his own sake, doesn't exactly give the home team any bulletin board material (via the Michigan Daily archives):

Let's take a peek ahead and see if this gambit worked:

Well, I'll be damned.

[Hit THE JUMP for fumbles, a biblical downpour, Jarrett MFing Irons, and a gambling scandal.]

The singlemost favorite double in the world. [Patrick Barron]

Usually in this space I like to talk about a thing that Michigan did differently to confound their opponent or add to the toolkit. This week, after a game when Harbaugh and his staff thoroughly outclassed Dantonio and his in all three phases, I'd like to discuss a thing Michigan has had in their kit for as long as Don Brown has been here, and how Michigan State came in with a gameplan to defeat it (and yes, how Michigan adjusted and went back to dominating).

That's because so many people were talking before, during, and after this game about Michigan's passing down coverage, what Gus Johnson, Joe Klatt and Urban Meyer were calling "Brackets Coverage" and which Brown, James Light, and this space shall call "Doubles."

Doubles Coverage

Unfortunately the guy who did the best job of explaining how Michigan prefers to defend passing downs was Urban Meyer, right before this game, so let's see what he had to say (I recommend the full video on Fox):

He's simplifying it, Urban's spread offensive mind thinking of it in terms of numbers: more defenders than offensive players over here, and over here, win: defense. But the basic gist of doubles coverage is understandable to every kid who's ever played playground football: play man and use the safeties to double-team two of the most likely receivers:

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Even on this level, who gets doubled is the important part; the how they get doubled is getting into the weeds.

[Which we shall, after THE JUMP]

Bryce Mostella is going to have a seance before a critical third and medium and I am here for it 

I'm making a 53-man roster with Michigan alumni. Here's the D.

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Each position gets a highlight. Or maybe a few. I had to cheat a bit. Also I probably forgot a bunch too.