jim harbaugh game theory stuff

Scoring Note: Brian did things differently but I’m going to start counting pass events in the chart because people never read the run chart as a running game chart no matter how often they’re reminded. I’ll still have the other charts, and note pass pro things, but the charts are going to be cumulative from here on out. That includes pass pro minuses and receiver routes.

Formation Notes: Indiana kept their 4-2-5 personnel on the field almost all the time but they changed up formations a ton. They even used a 404 Tite, which predictably obliterated the “zone reads” Michigan brought back to torture me.

On passing downs they went to a 3-2-6 dime that lifted a DT for a CB. If you stuck around to the end things got goofy. I won’t show them all but this is what I labeled Nickel Wide I because they have the LBs lined up in a I-formation.

Substitution Notes: Lots of injuries so the rotations were thinner than usual. Erick All didn’t play which meant lots of time for Schoonmaker, Honigford, and Carter Selzer. WRs went Johnson, Anthony (until he went out), Baldwin, Wilson, and Sainristil then Henning (until he went out) in the slot. Line returned Zinter and Keegan at the guard spots, and all five went all the way, with Trente Jones often out there wearing #80 as a sixth. Corum’s ankle injury was early and Donovan Edwards has been hurt (he didn’t travel vs MSU) so Hassan Haskins was still carrying the ball in garbage time, with Leon Franklin getting in first then Tavierre Dunlap getting a drive. Quarterback was McNamara (46/70 chartable snaps) most of the way. McCarthy got a few third and long situations after Michigan was up two scores, and got the second drive of the second half plus garbage time. Michigan’s clearly trying to give him some experience. He also clearly needs it. Wait, that’s for the next part.

[After THE JUMP: Tom Allen is very good at this; he just doesn’t have the weapons]

[Ed-Seth: If you like Harbaugh stories and want to support #ChadTough, read on.

Take This Job & Love It! is a collection of Jim Harbaugh yarns from his friends, family, coaches, teammates, and former players. A small sample of contributors: Shemy Schembechler, Jon Falk, Todd Anson, Jamie Morris, Jerry Hanlon, Bump Elliott, Mike Ditka, and Tappan Junior High coach/Phys Ed teacher Rob Lillie. The book is only available in Michigan stores or online.

The author Rich Wolfe is an old friend of Jack Harbaugh, and he’s written 50 other quasi-biographies like this, where he goes around to his subject’s friends and prints their stories. One is on Tom Brady, before that first Super Bowl.

For this one he called me with an idea: post an excerpt on the blog, and if anyone bought the book from that we’d donate 100% of the proceeds to #ChadTough. So here’s a few bits from a long section titled “A Roomie With a View” by former Michigan player and Harbaugh roommate Jerry Quaerna. If you’d like more, head to www.chadtoughharbaughbook.com. Or you can find it in some stores in Michigan but it’ll be more expensive that way.]

--------------------------

Excerpts from ‘A Roomie With a View’

By Jerry Quaerna (at right)

1. YOUR DADROCK IS UNACCEPTABLE

I was recruited to play football at Michigan. When I went there, Jim was my roommate. Jim and I were paired up as freshmen. We didn’t know each other. Then we lived together as fifth-year seniors. I got to see Jim before he was a big star and after he was big time. I had a long trip over from Wisconsin. I got unpacked, and I was sleeping on my bed in the dorm when Jim showed up with Jim Minick. He grew up with Minick in Ann Arbor. Minick spent 26 years in the Marines and is now Jim’s right-hand man on his Michigan staff.

I woke up and introduced myself to these guys. What was the first thing Jim did? This was back in the day. This was ’82. We had LPs. I was into music, and I had about 20 LPs and my turntable. Those were going to go out the window in three or four years, but I had a nice collection of vinyl there.

After Jim shook my hand, he went straight to my vinyl collection, and he critiqued it. I’m not kidding you. I had good stuff. I had the Doors, I had Jimi Hendrix. I had plenty of Beatles. I’m a big Beatles fan. Jethro Tull. I had Hot Rocks from the Stones. I loved that album. I had Black Sabbath. I had some great independent records. I had some Priest.

Jim is going through my records, and he’s saying, “Yep, no, yep, no. Doors, no. Beatles, nope. Jethro Tull, no.” When he’s done critiquing my collection, he goes, “You don’t have any Who.”

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of this and some other stories, or hit THE LINK to get them all]

The difference. [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]

There were shades of the dark, recent past. A non-existent running game. An ugly interception. Catching seemingly all the bad breaks.

One particularly bad aspect of that past was missing, however. While James Franklin cost Penn State a chance to win by kicking a field goal from the one and mismanaging their timeouts, Jim Harbaugh stood opposite him, competent and then some.

Michigan won this game due to coaching and finishing drives, and the two were inextricably linked. Both teams had one touchdown from outside the red zone, Michigan's a 26-yard pass from Jake Rudock to Jake Butt before PSU responded with a 25-yard fade to Saeed Blacknail. The Wolverines converted all three* of their red zone chances into touchdowns. Penn State also had three, but ultimately settled for three field goals, stymied by a stout Wolverine defense and their own conservative playcalling.

James Ross laid some licks. He wasn't alone. [Upchurch]

While the game remained close throughout, Michigan controlled most of the action, outgaining PSU 343-207. Outside of a bad pick, Jake Rudock continued his pinpoint ways of the last couple games, throwing for 256 yards and a pair of scores on 36 attempts. Amara Darboh moved the chains and earned a hard-fought touchdown on a steady diet of wide receiver screens and added a remarkable sideline snag; Butt found open spaces for 66 yards; Chesson stretched the field and chipped in M's best run of the day on a 20-yard end-around. While it was a frustrating day on the ground, the weapons in the passing game again proved their steadily increasing worth.

On the other side, Michigan allowed an early 56-yard run to standout freshman back Saquon Barkley and otherwise limited him to 12 yards on 14 carries. The defensive front beat up quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who managed just 131 yards on 37 attempts and took four sacks among many, many hits. By PSU's last-gasp drive, Hackenberg seemed out of it—quite possibly injured—and even started trotting off the field before barely getting the play off on fourth down; his final throw sailed harmlessly out of bounds.

If you're looking for the moment that turned around the game, the muffed punt that Chesson recovered inside the ten, setting up a one-yard Sione Houma plunge for a 21-10 lead, is the simplest answer. But if you'd like to say it's the moment Michigan hired Harbaugh, whose timely aggressiveness got the Wolverines a critical score late in the first half for the second straight game, it'd be hard to argue.

Ultimately, that's why this game will be fondly remembered—if quickly lost in the excitement of the week to come—instead of another nightmare in Happy Valley. Be gone, ever-fuzzier recollections of McGloin and Floyd and 27-for-27 and missed overtime field goals. Michigan is one Ohio State victory away from playing for the Big Ten East.

--------------
*Not including the game's final drive, when Michigan kneeled out the clock while inside the PSU five.