One of the questions we pondered after Saturday's game was where were the "July Drive" plays? By that we mean the weird stuff that coaches draw up over the summer and keep in their back pockets to spring on a specific opponent. Michigan certainly had this game circled on the calendar after last year's B.S. We all know Michigan State defines its entire program by hating this one opponent. And what did they bring out, other than the reverse with a QB lead blocking (that Michigan ran against them in 2013)?

Well, it was there. MSU's scripted opening drive was interrupted by penalties starting on the next snap, and the next was thrown off script by the 4th down stuff. So now State is back in the saddle and ready to do more with this tight end motion game they set up. You'll note in the above play they have the Y motion across the formation then give a stretch zone run look that way before reversing the opposite direction. Their next trick was to have that TE motion across then run a play-action wheel route to him out the back. You don't remember that play because Michael Barrett got on top of the wheel; Thorne was able to scramble for a chunk when Mason Graham went for a sack and Mazi Smith lost contain.

That sets us up for 1st and 10 here at the 37, and we're back on the script. For their next trick, MSU wants to run the opposite direction of the TE's motion. Here's how that goes.

What are they doing? Why didn't it work? The story's more complicated than I can break down in Upon Further Review, so let's get out the sharpies.

[After THE JUMP: It's just a rotation.]

What was MSU trying to do?

The play here is a version of J.T. Barrett-era OSU's power read (here's the graphic), except with counter action from the backfield instead of a straight veer. Same play, but the RB starts on the other side and the option is a pitch instead of a handoff.

The gist of the blocking is the same as with any power play: block down with the playside and swing around some backside blockers with the first of them kicking out the contain if any exists. A defender on the backside is left unblocked and unread—the expectation is that Michigan's edges are trained to form up and look for a read or a puller not dive inside, so they're gambling here that Taylor Upshaw (#91) will take care of himself. Similarly, the backside DT is to be cut if he goes upfield; if he slants to the backside that guy can be left alone and the LG is free to hunt downfield.

The read is actually on the MLB, Junior Colson (#25). If he comes inside they can turn him inside and pitch it out to the RB. If Colson follows the RB outside as expected, Thorne should be able to pull it down and run inside of that. If Colson tries to split the difference he gets kicked out by one of three pullers.

The key here is the defense should not be expecting its frontside edge to be blindsided by the tight end. Remember, the success of gap-blocked plays is all about how big of a gap you can pry open between the downblocks and the kickout.

The expectation here is that Mike Morris (#90), who loves to crash inside when he sees pullers coming across, will get crushed inside by the TE, creating plenty of space outside of him to run an option play. Trying that from a regular formation doesn't work well—Morris just too good of a player and MSU's working with the kind of talent that will voluntarily associate with MSU football. Every inch of fight that Morris can put up is less to spare for the intended gap. The TE from nowhere should gain that rare win vs Morris. Every block thereafter should be Advantage: MSU as you're running three 300+ pound pullers against two smallish linebackers and a tiny safety.

Given the Michigan's tendencies, MSU is expecting to get a big gashy run out of this, most likely to the running back once Colson activates against the pulling action. That's especially true once they see Benny slanting backside and Upshaw staying put, since that's two defenders they don't have to bother blocking, with Colson about to be a third.

It's good math for the offense. Two defenders are unblocked. A frontside defender is getting optioned. The inside of the gap they're attacking is about to be crushed. AND the backside guard is releasing to the second level onto a linebacker (Barrett) who seems interested in playing ball.

All of this plays off the reverse they just saw.

What did Michigan do to it?

Nothing special. They're in a pretty standard Cover 1 or press 3 rotation with a blitzing MLB. I think Nick Saban would call this "Liz." Rod Moore is rotating down to replace the blitzing Colson, who is replacing the slanting edge of the defensive line.

The slant however throws off the whole Michigan State plan. What Michigan lost by putting an extra DL to the backside they gained in adding a defender to the frontside and moving everybody's responsibilities over. The tight end thinks he's getting that key blockdown on Morris, but Morris is not the inside edge anymore; Colson is.

And now here's where we have to take this play to the next level. Michigan State had a playcall that expected one suite of defenders to block and got a different one. If they were a team that ran a ton of power—like, say, Michigan—they would be extremely grateful for this response. All it takes is an adjustment on the fly.

However that's not really MSU's running game. They're mostly an inside zone/outside zone team with a little bit of power that they run like zone—a style that commentators like to term "student body right" when they see it because it looks like everyone's just hauling ass to one side of the line.

And conversely, this is the kind of thing that Michigan sees all the time. Let's watch Mike Morris as all this unfolds. He notes the TE motion then looks inside; he only cares if the TE comes inside of him.

As they snap it Morris quickly notes that MSU is bringing blockers from the backside. Whatever they're up to he knows they're probably not intending to get involved in a traffic jam in the backfield, so he goes to create just that.

Note where his shoulders and feet are after the snap. He's slanting, angling towards an inside run. As soon as he registers the pullers he changes that. The right foot comes down as a plant. The shoulders square to line. He's missed his opportunity to take out three pullers but he can stop two of them. Meanwhile MSU's blockers aren't changing the plan one iota.

This is our crucial moment. If these blockers had studied at Michigan under Sherrone Moore they might have been prepared for a slant. This is my conjecture here but I think since they're just Airbnb'ing here in Power Town they're not prepared to adjust their directions when a road's closed. The TE is still heading for Morris instead of finding Colson. The second puller doesn't know about turning in edges when a guy ducks under you and still has his whole body turned sideways. The tackle following behind isn't even looking at the cars in front of him; he's scouting downfield for the safety he'll get to block when they all get outside. Thorne is still reading Colson instead of figuring out that Rod Moore is his guy.

And just like that Michigan has bought back the two defenders they lost on the backside. Morris is effectively occupying three guys: the TE and the two backside pullers. Thorne gives up on his read and pitches it too quickly to the RB so they don't have the read now either. Barrett is easily able to get playside of the releasing backside guard so there's no cutback lane. What we have left are the one lead blocker and a RB for Colson and Moore, who's now about to add himself to the party.

What State could have done, had they been practiced at this stuff, was shift everyone's responsibilities over one spot. The 2nd puller is in tough with Morris and that's probably still going to cost them a chance to swing the tackle around back but it's still possible if he can get Morris turned inside. That's why Morris changed directions to go upfield: so he couldn't get turned in.

Even if they lose that, they could redirect the TE to get Colson, who's taking himself inside, while Thorne looks up Moore, and they're back in business, with a free blocker to take care of one defender and a QB keep option remaining to remove another.

Instead the puller uses himself up to turn in Colson. The backside tackle reroutes downfield. The puller that Morris stopped is four yards in the backfield and at a dead stop—the running back can't afford to wait for him anymore. The tight end is completely useless. Moore has a clear path to meet the RB at the line of scrimmage, whence it gets two yards.

And it's 2nd down and 8.

Things

There was a lot going on here but ultimately we had two simple concepts: a power run versus a slant. When we hand out points Morris gets a pair for being reactive and blowing up the blocking. Minter could have gotten a rock/paper/scissors loss for calling a slant opposite a power run, which is just asking for something like this if it gets blocked up correctly:

However the slant is what ends up throwing off Michigan State's blocking and blows up their very set up, very planned, big surprising July-scripted play. What happened here is Michigan State ran something expecting to catch what Michigan's defense normally does, Michigan's defense did something they don't do normally, and Mike Morris reacted to the weird thing better than MSU's offensive players. The lesson here is for all of us who think of football play-calling as coordinators trying to gamble on the right plays. That makes some difference, but how your players are prepared for October is a much more important aspect of coaching than what you can draw up in July.