Unverified Voracity Ran This With Navarre Comment Count

Brian

Countdown: 10.

black_death

I figure that if the children are alive when I get home, I've done my job.
Roseanne Barr

Hatch encouragement. Austin Hatch's latest Caring Bridge update is very encouraging.

Pick Six: the return. Notre Dame blog Blue-Gray Sky used to run an annual contest wherein blog users would pick six teams, five from the AP poll and one unranked, that users thought would do well. Because they know what verbs are and can count, they called this Pick Six. (Ohio State fans would have called it "Ramming Speed.")

One user around here has been missing it since BGS called it a day a few years ago and finally stopped waiting for me to do something about it. Presenting Pick Six: The Return.

Contest king Jeff does not have a prize, but I do: the top five all get a free MGoShirt from the MGoStore and the winner gets three.

manballPrintthe-team

click for store

All these could be yours. Or other items, like maize versions. Hit up the google doc to get registered, and don't pick Michigan if you want to win.

U MAD, media? Brady Hoke is trolling the media. They hit up practice and get to see a bunch of stretching and Brady Hoke punting, and then:

The media saw only one snap from organized drills, and it was a carry by running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, who is among the seven players vying to become Michigan’s first lead tailback since 2007.

That's worse than not opening practice at all. Someone photoshop Trollface onto Hoke pointing at something.

Tangent: I wonder if the Fort is back in earnest after watching a significantly lamer edition of the BTN's tour show. We got hardly any insight and they were so hard up for video they showed the same plays a half-dozen times. Will Michigan still issue an injury report this year?

No need to hit play. This is Hoke talking about his team from yesterday:

But I'm just putting it here so I can compare him to Towlie.

towlie-pointing

He's even pointing.

Q: How is will Campbell doing? A: I have no idea what's going on.

Send this to Borges a thousand times. Smart Football's latest post is on the speed option, something we've never seen the good side of Michigan. We've been annihilated by it time and again; never have we used its powers for good.

Apparently it's just what we already run with added oopmh:

What further makes the play so good is that these concepts are universal; they are not tethered to a single offense or system. The play works from under center or shotgun, and has been effectively used by teams with great running quarterbacks and it has been used by teams with more pedestrian quarterbacks as just a cheap way to get the ball to the outside.

In modern form, the play is simple. The line outside zone blocks, which means they step playside seeking to cut off the defense and to even reach them as they can. The linemen work together to double-team the defensive linemen before sliding off to block the linebackers, and the idea is to create a vertical crease somewhere between a spot outside the tight-end and the sideline. The offense leaves an outside guy unblocked, typically either the defensive end or the strongside linebacker. The quarterback takes the snap and runs right at the unblocked defender’s outside shoulder. If the defender stays wide, the quarterback cuts up the inside crease (and typically looks to cut back against the grain). If the defender attacks the quarterback or simply stays inside, the QB pitches it.

To everyone except the runners that's a read option or outside zone. Meanwhile, the quarterback is attacking the same side of the defense the line is and is moving towards the LOS when he makes his decision. The lack of true option plays last year was likely an artifact of Denard's rawness; adding them is a good way to suck defenders to that threat without getting him killed. (You can get killed running the option, of course, but speed options from the gun seem less likely for that to happen because the QB has more time to make a decision.)

Additionally, the speed option seems like a good way to combat scrape exchanges. If that DE is hammering down the line he's blocked himself when the play heads the other way, and then another defender gets optioned off.

Chris praises the speed option as a simple, economical wrinkle you can put in even when your quarterback is not particularly fleet of foot. Even if Borges is not an expert on running quarterbacks, adding a true option to Michigan's repertoire seems doable. As a bonus, the speed option gives Michigan a run play that uses Denard from under center. An example:

Michigan's existing zone system paired with under-center running that uses Denard. Sex? Sex.

You can take things back. If only the Big Ten had the humility of Iowa Corn:

"The overwhelming feedback has been negative," he said. "Because we've listened ... people want something different than what was proposed last week. And we as Iowa corn growers and the farmers we represent, we want people to be happy."

A temporary trophy will be designed for this year's game on Sept. 10. Fans will be able to suggest a design for the more permanent replacement.

"The new Cy-Hawk trophy, we trust, will truly be something fans will embrace," Floss said.

The vetoed trophy is en route to the third world, where it will become the African Cup of Nations. The temporary trophy will be briefly labeled "interim" until that hurts recruiting; then it will be not interim, but not hired, either.

If Jim Delany was in charge of this, the new trophy they debut for the 2012 game would be exactly the same instead of what it should be: a hawk in an F16 shooting a missile at a tornado.

Evanston: so hood. I saw this on twitter but dismissed it as a joke. It is not a joke:

Does Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa have a limp or not?

‘‘Your limp could be somebody else’s pimp walk,’’ Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

You'll have to forgive me a moment of regret that Michigan didn't score Fitzgerald during its coaching search.

(HT: Rittenberg.)

Even more Hart. Man, Mike Hart takes a coaching job and everyone's all up in his business. This time it's the Syracuse press reliving his high school days and publishing an extensive interview with him. Hart's career goals:

“As I look forward, I want to be a head football coach of a college program that wins a national championship. My next goal is to go down as one of the best-known coaches. I’d like to be on the level of Lloyd Carr. I plan on being a great coach one day.”

He also says his exit was because he couldn't stay healthy—"If it was my business, I wouldn’t risk my money on somebody who got hurt every fourth game, either"— and flatly refuses to ever work for OSU or MSU. Recommended.

Etc.: The Dayton Daily News has just discovered that Terry Talbott got a medical scholarship a month ago. Do not panic about Terrance's status—at least don't do so because of that. Bill Connolly throws up his hands when trying to project OSU's season. Corn Nation previews Michigan—hey, that's us! Their poll about the game is split nearly 50-50 as to who wins. Weird. Just Cover looks at MSU and their Vegas-set over under of 7.5 wins.

Comments

bklein09

August 24th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^

Maybe someone could help me out with this, but I swear that I saw a clip of practice footage in which it looked like they ran the speed option. Granted, it ended in a fumble.

In the play I'm thinking of, Denard takes the snap from center, runs out to the left, and then pitches the ball to the RB who drops it on the ground.

Despite the lack of success of that play, I think the Speed option is a great weapon that could make Denard & Co. even more devastating than they are currently. You can run it under center, from shotgun, with that unbalanced line we saw a couple days ago.

I really hope we can pull this off!

jtblue

August 24th, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^

I was going to post the same thing...man you're quick

I thought I saw this as well, making it the only thing worthwhile about the BTN preview show.

I have been hoping for the speed option desperately since hearing of the new regime. 

Because of this I wondered if I just imagined it or dreamed it being on the BTN.

I tend to imagine and dream a lot of things about Michigan football this close to the first game

El Jeffe

August 24th, 2011 at 3:27 PM ^

^ this a thousand times. I see it like this:

  1. Three years on staff at EMU
  2. Two years RB coach for a Big XII/Big East contender
  3. Three years RB coach for M, taking over for a retired Fred Jackson, who, after four straight BCS championships, couldn't see the challenge anymore
  4. Five years OC for Brady Hoke, directing the offense of another five BCS championships
  5. 25 years head coach for M, with BCS championships in years 1, 2, 3, ..., 25
  6. ???
  7. Profit? Profit.

Away Goal

August 24th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^

One of my biggest hopes for Hoke, aside from tremendous domination, is that he establishes a coaching tree so that some like Mike Hart (preferably Mike Hart) can take over seamlessly.  This would be ideal rather than having to conduct more "nationwide" searches and trying to determine if someone is or is not a Michigan Man.

JeepinBen

August 24th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^

But we have a problem running the option - we need a legit threat at tailback.

The way MSU beat us last year was on every Zone Read they made Denard hand off. They lived with whatever yards the tailback got, and figured that was better than Denard running. They were right. (ND did this incorrectly, they made Denard keep it figuring they could hit him every time, hurt him, and Win! 502 yards later...)

I like the option concepts, and oftenuse them in NCAA 12, but we're going to need a running back to step up in order for them to be effective

jmblue

August 24th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^

The speed option is a very different play than the zone read option.  In the speed option, the tailback has already gotten to the outside when he receives the pitch.  He's got a full head of steam and the defense generally has to make an open-field tackle to stop him.  You don't have to be a great RB to be an effective pitch guy.  (You do need a very effective QB though, which we have.)  You just need a guy with decent hands and some acceleration. 

The ZRO asks more of a tailback.  He gets the handoff from basically a standing position and has to get to the corner on his own.   You've got to have a back with very quick feet to make it work.

I think the speed option is a great play.  The main potential danger is the possibility of fumbling.  It's a play you have to work on a ton in practice to get the timing down.  And obviously, the QB has to make good judgments. 

 

marco dane

August 24th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^

through my nose after reading how hood,Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald sounds. 

Further proof how hip-hop/the streets has entered *mainstream* amercia...this example was simply def...

UMAmaizinBlue

August 24th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^

When or if it will ever happen, but the day Mike Hart joins the Michigan family once again will be the day I throw a personal parade in his honor. And just because I've been watching this multiple times as of late, I wanted to share some amazing old footage of #20 from the good ol' days:

 

 

<DROOL>

bubblelevel

August 24th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^

Is the beard going to be a permanent fixture?

 

Also, no way Hart is a RB coach at Michigan before sir Wheatley (unless he steps up to a coordinator position).  Wheatley knows Detroit, recruits Detroit, has several years coaching on Hart and he was a better running back. there.

baldurblue

August 24th, 2011 at 5:13 PM ^

I like seeing hoke all grizzled and manly like that. 

Also it's great to hear Hatch is making such progress in his recovery, being in plane crash is pretty intense, two no less.