Michigan cheated against Maryland. I don't mean they broke a rule, or broke a non-rule that their rivals suddenly convinced their conference commissioner is a rule for the purposes of upending their season. I mean Michigan was stealing a player from their run fits for most of the game, essentially playing 10-on-11 up front to have a safety stay high doing nothing of particular interest. It wasn't the first time they played like this, nor are they the first school to play like it. Nor is there any great mystery why they've been playing like this. Not when we've spent all season calling it "Playing Ohio State."

Here we are on the first Maryland play from scrimmage and Michigan shifts to a Tite front.

Even though Maryland has only two potential pass threats to the boundary Rod Moore is high over that side. Junior Colson is in the wide space between the RT and the slot receiver. If Maryland wants to pass against this they have 3v4 defenders to the top and 1v2 defenders to the bottom, at least until the RB declares a side. That leaves just five defenders committed to the run, four if you factor the LB (Barrett) on the bottom hash has a pass zone.

[After the JUMP: Light boxes, heavy men.]

This is a light box, with four linemen for six blockers not and a second level of one linebacker and one cornerback (if the TE stays in to block). And sure enough off the snap Maryland is going to use that numbers advantage to get two doubles up front.

Both McGregor (DE on top) and Graham (DT on top) are holding their double-teams at the line of scrimmage. Until there's a handoff nobody else gets to commit to run defense. Once the ball is handed off, Moore, the safety at the top hash, starts to react to the run. So does Colson, the LB who was on the top hash. Those guys are reactive, however. What about the defenders being proactive? How are they supposed to fit all of those gaps when there aren't enough players?

The answer versus stretch is for the defensive linemen to fight to get playside of those doubles. McGregor up top is giving the RG no choice but to release to get a linebacker. Of course, once he does, McGregor is singled in the B gap with the RT, and Colson should be arriving to take care of the C gap. The frontside is closed.

Moving down a pair, Graham has done the same thing only more so. The center is in the backfield, and the LG is more or less useless unless he goes and gets Barrett. So now we move back another gap, where we find Kris Jenkins singled on the LT. Well shit, that's not fair.

Sure enough, Jenkins gets across that tackle's face to close down the B gap. Harrell is cutting off the backside edge, so the RB has to cut back *again*, all the way to the opposite C gap from the one this play was initially aiming at. I should mention here that this all takes time as the RB downshifts to search for cutback lanes and the back seven defenders rally. As things go awry, for example McGregor getting moved out by the RG, Colson can fill, with Paige replacing him outside.

By the time the RB hits the backside C gap that Jenkins abandoned, the two pass defenders from the boundary side are coming down to fill it. Wallace makes the tackle for a minimal gain.

So this is how Michigan wants to defend stretch:

1. Frontline defenders fight to get playside of their blockers to force a cutback.
2. One linebacker shadows the RB to provide help where he wants to go.
3. Keep him bouncing back until help defenders corral.

The point here is what happens when that DT doesn't prevent the frontside of his double-team from getting downfield. There's plenty of material coming from the backside to handle cutbacks, but you have to slow the run down. When it's working, Michigan fans are treated to what looks like an incredible play by the guy coming in from the backside. When I review these plays, usually the guy most responsible is actually the one who forced the cutback, not the pursuit.

Let's watch another one, again from a late shift to a Tite look, and see if you can recognize what's going on.

So this had a wrinkle, in that Sainristil activated quickly to set the edge. As for the next gap, Derrick Moore had no shot at getting to the C gap, so Colson, the RB's mirror, filled it. Moore skated playside of the other half of his double and filled in behind, and Grant did the same to the center, running it down once the RB had to cut back.

If they can get away with this, they can keep those help defenders back looking for passes. But this is a big ask, and they can't always. Here's the very next play after the first one:

This is a passing down, and Michigan is hoping to catch Maryland by blitzing Barrett into the backside. This means Barrett is now a frontline defender, and Colson becomes the LB mirroring the RB. That's not good—Graham is getting cut and McGregor is only going to be helpful on a full cutback. Maryland has two guys for Jenkins and the TE on the top might have an angle to get at Colson.

Also Maryland has two guys for Jenkins and the RT on the top might have an angle to get at Colson. As the play develops, Jenkins isn't able to get across the tackle.

He gives up ground because the one thing he can't do is give up the lane. The handoff was just made, so the pass defenders to this side are only just now starting to activate. You can see the WR (bottom right) going to pick off a safety, which means the cornerback should be showing up eventually. Harrell can cross his blocker after the RB goes by but can't make the play. The room created by Jenkins getting beat is the space the back needs to run away from Graham.

The LT is able to move on to pick off the CB, Johnson, but that's going to create a pileup so the RB cuts back, finally, into Colson.

If we're handing out points for this, Graham(+0.5) got over the cutblock and was relevant, Colson(+0.5) got around the LT, Jenkins(-1) couldn't get playside of the LT, and there's an RPS-1 for putting Barrett into a backside lane, making McGregor irrelevant to the play. I may give Johnson a (+0.5) as well for forcing it back to Colson.

The Counter

You may be thinking if Michigan likes to defend Stretch by getting their DTs aggressively to frontside gaps, there's probably a counter that punishes such behavior. And there is: Counter! This is a power play we've talked about a ton on this blog, because it was Michigan's base running play for most of Harbaugh's tenure.

To the DTs, the first steps of those those blockdowns look like the beginnings of Stretch. To a linebacker shadowing the RB, that counter step has the same effect. When one step is all it takes, you can get a lot of guys a lot of wrong-sided with that one step. And when you're playing short a man, that can be devastating. But Michigan has a plan for that too.

The key player is the edge, the one getting the kickout block, in this case McGregor. Remember how before Michigan always had an edge player sitting out there on the backside. This is where he comes into play, and this is why Michigan recruits these oversized athletes for the job. McGregor is looking for someone crossing to kick him out, and if he gets that, he has to crush that guy inside to cut off the lane.

This matters because it goes to the size of the gap, and the other side of the gap is likely to be a problem. The double on Goode, who's the playside DT, is dangerous, because Goode is going to spend his first step trying to get to his right, across the RG. The RT gets to use that step against him to widen that gap. If Goode gets under the G the RT can come off his block and pick off Colson. Remember, until the safeties can arrive, we're still playing a man down.

But here again the "Michigan's DTs are better than anybody" principle comes back into play. Because once that tackle leaves for Colson, Goode is one-on-one with the guard. And that's just not fair.

Goode (and Jenkins) whip past their single-blockers and initiate the tackle at the line of scrimmage.

Why it Matters

Like Maryland, Ohio State likes to run stretch as its base running play, and like Maryland, they use Counter as their favorite changeup. Unlike Maryland, Ohio State has the best receiver in the country, and a running back who can do a lot of damage if left in the open field, as well as other dangerous weapons like 5-star receiver Emeka Egbuka and future-pro tight end Cade Stover. Michigan would much prefer to leave their safeties back to deal with all of those guys. If they can trust their DTs to win individual battles with OSU's linemen with enough consistency, they might just get away with it.