I'm pretty sure this is the shortest UFR table in a long time. Probably not forever since in the embryonic stages a lot of plays were described as "a big wad of bodies I can't figure out," full stop, but in a long time.

Substitution notes: Secondary was the usual; Countess came in in the second quarter for Woolfolk. He is clearly the #3 CB, with Johnson the #3 S. At LB it was Ryan/Demens/Hawthorne the whole way until garbage time. On the line the usual rotation with a bit less of the backups because there was no opportunity for the starters to get tired. Still no Cam Gordon.

Formation notes: Nothing we haven't seen before, and since Minnesota was so transparently bad I didn't bother to get a bunch of screenshots of certain plays.

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O20	1	10	Pistol 3TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Power off tackle	Hawthorne	1
Heininger(-1) blown off the ball by a double; this should provide a lane but Martin(+1) drove the center back, Roh(+0.5) held up on the outside, and Hawthorne (+1) hit a lead blocker on the LOS, holding up surprisingly well. With nowhere to go we have a wad play that Roh eventually ends by tackling the RB.
O21	2	9	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel even	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Roh	-1
I think, anyway. No doubles from Minnesota as two guys release downfield into Gordon and Demens immediately. This means all of the DL are one on one and all of them end up controlling their guys, able to release on either side of them if the RB tries to hit a hole. RB tries to go outside where Roh(+1) is waiting and Gordon(+1) flows up to help; Demens(+1) had also beaten a block and was there. RVB and Martin pick up half points.
O20	3	10	Shotgun 4-wide	Nickel even	Pass	4	Sack	Van Bergen	-5
Stunt gets RVB(+2) through as the Gopher line busts; RVB tackles the relatively immobile Shortell before the Gophers can even finish their routes. (RPS +1, Pressure +2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 9 min 1st Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O41	1	10	Pistol 2TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Power off tackle	Demens	3
Martin(+0.5) is doubled; while he does give a little ground it's not much and the pulling G doesn't have much room. Hawthorne(+0.5) hits him near the line, causing a cutback into Demens(+0.5), who is unblocked because of the double and scrapes into the backside hole to tackle. Heininger(+0.5) did a good job closing down the intended hole as well; he popped off a defender and had a shot to tackle if the RB didn't cut back.
O44	2	7	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel even	Pass	4	Out	Floyd	5
Delayed blitz does not get through; Minnesota throws a dinky route that Floyd lets happen; he tackles immediately. Fine.
O49	3	2	Ace twin TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Power off tackle	Kovacs	-1
2TE motions into an H-back spot; Kovacs rolls down into the box. H-back flares in an attempt to kick out Roh(+2), the EMLOS. Roh bowls him over backwards. This cannot happen on a power if you're ever going to gain any yards. There is no lane. Pulling G derps his way past everyone without blocking anyone; Kovacs(+1) is blitzing from the outside; untouched, he tackles for loss. Hawthorne(+0.5) had also blitzed right into the play, so three separate M players were in a position to stop this. Minnesota is not good.
Drive Notes: Punt, 14-0, 4 min 1st Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O6	1	10	Pistol twins	4-3 under	Pass	5	Out	Woolfolk	12
Minnesota successfully high-lows Woolfolk in zone. Not his fault as he's got a corner route coming from the inside and has to drop back into that; this naturally opens up an underneath receiver since there's no underneath help. (Cover/RPS -1)
O18	1	10	Shotgun trips bunch	Nickel under	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Ryan	9
Martin(+1) fights a double team and gets enough penetration when the second guy releases into the linebackers to close off the hole himself. RB has to bounce and it looks like Ryan is about to read this and pop out on the edge to finish the play when he's yanked and seemingly ankle tackled by the OT. No call. Refs -1. Floyd(-0.5) did a kind of weak job on the edge, though the Ryan issue allowed a quick bounce so he had a tough job.
O27	2	1	Shotgun 2TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Heininger	0
Nowhere to go as Martin(+1) holds up to a double and Heininger(+1) a single block. Cutback from the RB; an unblocked Roh(+0.5) read the play and shuffled down the LOS before exploding to tackle at the line. Heininger gets his extra half point for getting control of his guy to the point where he can disengage to help tackle.
O27	3	1	Pistol 2TE	4-3 under	Pass	4	Sack	Ryan	-4
I'm not entirely sure but Shortell appears to be looking for his TE on a tiny little hitch first but pulls it down because Black(+1, RPS +1) chucked him before going into his pass rush. This disrupts the timing and causes Shortell to move on. RVB(+1) gets in at this point, flushing the awkward Shortell out of the pocket, where Hawthorne(+0.5) and Ryan(+0.5) roar up to sack. (Pressure +1, cover +1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 21-0, 12 min 2nd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O20	1	10	Pistol 3-wide	Nickel even	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Demens	7
Michigan's line steps to the left on the snap. This doesn't seem like a full on slant, it's just a way to one-gap the D. I'm not sure if Heininger(+0.5) is playing this okay and just gets pushed past the play or if he got out of position. He does slice through two blockers, causing the C to attempt to peel back and forcing a cutback behind him—away from the blocking angles. Demens(-1) has a free run at the gap but reads it late and meets the RB a couple yards downfield when he can make a tackle at the LOS. Then some bad luck as a pursuing Black impacts the tackle from behind, knocking Demens to the ground and giving the RB some YAC.
O27	2	3	Ace twins	4-3 even	Pass	N/A	Sack	Ryan	-9
Ryan is lined up over the slot and blitzes. Minnesota is trying a PA rollout to his side, pulling a backside OL around to give some edge protection. Ryan(+2) explodes upfield, getting into Shortell's feet and cutting off the outside. Shortell does manage to escape upfield, where Martin(+1) is tearing around blockers, coming from the inside. Shortell spins back to avoid that sack, whereupon the Red Sea caves in on him. (Pressure +3, RPS +1)
O18	3	12	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel even	Run	N/A	Inside zone	--	4
Give up and punt.
Drive Notes: Punt, 28-0, 7 min 2nd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O20	1	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	4-3 under	Pass	4	Rollout hitch	Countess	8
Countess in for Woolfolk. You can see Michigan checking when the TE motions across the formation; Gordon comes down into man on the slot receiver, implying that Ryan(-1) should come to the LOS to act as a 4-3 SLB. He doesn't, instead dropping into a redundant zone and opening up the corner (pressure -1). Shortell finds his hitch in front of Countess.
O28	2	2	Shotgun twins twin TE	4-3 under	Pass	5	PA Quick seam	Hawthorne	Inc (Pen +9)
TE motions to Ryan's side and this time he does creep down off the slot. He blitzes off the snap, getting picked off by a pulling pass protector after the PA fake. Michigan is zone blitzing and tips it by leaving Roh in a two point stance; he drops off in coverage over the TE. Hawthorne makes one of those back-to-QB zone drops across the field, and this zone seems perfectly designed to stop this route. Hawthorne(cover +1) gets over to the TE quick seam before the TE can get there; he slows up rather than run over Hawthorne and Shortell's wobbler goes well long. Demens(+1) timed his blitz excellently and got a free run, thumping Shortell as he threw(pressure +2) Hawthorne(-2) then gets an incredibly late, but legit PI call for grabbing the TE as he tried to cut inside.
O37	1	10	Shotgun trips	Nickel even	Pass	N/A	Bubble screen	--	Inc
Dropped. Strong possibility Hawthorne blows this up for little.
O37	2	10	Shotgun twins twin TE	4-3 under	Pass	N/A	Rollout hitch	Countess	11
Replay of the previous hitch except Ryan is on the edge this time, though he gets eliminated easily. (Pressure -1) Again in front of Countess(-1, cover -1) and I will ding him for not being there to challenge on the same route he just saw.
O48	1	10	Ace	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Demens	0
Martin(+1) takes on a double and wins, forcing his way into the gap to his left and preventing anyone from getting out on the LBs. Demens(+2) uses this to his advantage, seeing the gap open up behind Martin as he pushes playside. He shoots it and makes a tackle at the LOS after having removed the cutback lane. RVB(+0.5) held up well on the edge and helps tackle.
O48	2	10	Shotgun twin TE	46 front	Pass	5	Fly	Countess	Inc
Campbell(+2) runs over the center and comes right up the middle of the field (pressure +2), leveling Shortell. Shortell stands in and chucks one to a guy on a fly route. Countess was in press coverage and is step for step(+2, cover +2); he finds the underthrown ball and adjusts to it. He has a shot at an INT but it's a tough catch and he settles for the PBU.
O48	3	10	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel press	Pass	6	Hitch	Countess	7
Michigan sends the house and doesn't quite get there; Roh(+0.5) seems like he's coming around the corner fast enough to cause problems if Shortell has to wait another beat. Instead he throws a hitch route short of the sticks that Countess(+1, cover +1) allows to be completed but tackles immediately on. He pops the ball loose as he does so; Michigan recovers.
Drive Notes: Fumble, 31-0, 3 min 2nd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O34	1	10	Pistol 3-wide	Nickel press	Pass	4	Fade	Floyd	Inc
Testing the press w/ McKnight. Floyd is in good position and has pushed McKnight almost to the sideline but does not time his jump well; he gets his head around and then it seems like he fails to locate the ball. McKnight goes up to grab it but steps OOB on his way down. Given the position of McKnight this was circus all the way, so (+1, cover +1)
O34	2	10	Shotgun trips	Nickel even	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Demens	7
Kovacs blitzes from the backside and gets upfield outside of the TE. That seems okay since he'd have to contain the QB. Roh is shuffling down the line on the inside zone and gets cut behind. This may be possible because instead of a mesh point the QB accidentally bats the snap right to the RB. The cut backside this should expose RB to unblocked Demens; Demens(-1) drops into a short zone and then lets the RB outside of him. Johnson has rolled down over the slot and does keep leverage; Demens tackles from behind. Partially one of those things—an actual mesh point and Demens/Roh probably have time to react better to this—but an unblocked LB should not let an RB outside of him.
O41	3	3	Pistol 2TE	4-3 under	Pass	4	Rollout TE Flat	Roh	1
Roh(+1) drops off into a short zone as Ryan blitzes. He gets cut; Heininger(+1) bumps the TE and then heads upfield between two befuddled Gopher blockers once that guy releases. He pressures(+1) and Shortell has to dump it off; Roh gets outside to tackle(+1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 38-0, 14 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O16	1	10	Ace	4-3 under	Pass	5	TE comeback	Ryan	Inc
Roh again in a two point stance, indicating he will drop; he drops. Ryan(+1) blitzes from the other side, beating the TE and flushing Shortell up into the pocket(pressure +1). Shortell manages to find the second he needs and finds a receiver, who happens to be the TE on a comeback in front of Roh. TE drops it. (Roh -1, cover -1)
O16	2	10	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel press	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Van Bergen	2
Michigan blitzing Ryan and Demens; Demens lines up right over the C and then twists outside. The C is convinced he's supposed to block Demens, which he doesn't; G releases downfield. This allows RVB(+1) a single block that he gets playside of and carries to the hole; Martin(+1) also closed off the frontside, leaving nowhere for the RB to go.
O18	3	8	Shotgun trips	Nickel press	Pass	6	Fly	Johnson	Inc
Johnson backs out in to a deep zone late as Kovacs is sent on a blitz. Roh(+1) beats his blocker and is getting into Shortell's face (pressure +1) as Kovacs comes; Shortell bombs it deep. Gordon(-1) is beaten but Johnson(+2) is quick enough to get over and get a PBU as he arrives at the ball at the same time the WR does (cover +1, better thrown ball does find space).
Drive Notes: Punt, 38-0, 10 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O34	1	10	Pistol 2TE	46 front	Run	N/A	Power off tackle	Heininger	2
Heininger(+1) dives inside the OT trying to block down and comes around. Black(+1) has driven the OT back, giving the RB an awkward cut to make upfield. This allows Heininger to tackle from behind. Demens(-0.5) ended up running past the play as the pulling G got to him.
O36	2	8	Shotgun twins twin TE	4-3 under	Pass	5	Rollout TE Flat	Black	9
Again with the blitz and WDE dropping off into coverage. Minnesota runs a quasi-screen here, pumping to the left, then coming back to the little TE flare as the RB comes out of the backfield intent on blocking. This time Black(-1, cover -1) drops a ways and because the RB gets in his way he's not in position to tackle this on the catch, allowing the TE to turn it up for a first down.
O45	1	10	Ace twin TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Power off tackle	Heininger	1
Similar to the previous power on this drive. Minnesota flips the TEs, which doesn't make M flip the lines, they just move Hawthorne and Kovacs over. Hawthorne lines up right over the tackle. On the snap he takes a block and starts giving ground; Heininger(+2) bowls over this blocker as Black(+1) gets penetration that restricts the hole and prevents a bounce. Those two combine to tackle at the line as the RB just kind of falls over.
O46	2	9	Shotgun 2TE	4-3 even	Pass	5	Hitch	Avery	Inc
RVB(+2, pressure +2) slants inside a blocker and comes right up the center of the field to get a hurry; throw now or get sacked. Hitch is open in front of Avery(-0.5, cover -1) for near first down yardage; throw is upfield and dropped.
O46	3	9	Shotgun 3-wide	Okie	Pass	5	Hitch	Avery	Inc
Good pocket(pressure -1); Shortell wings it well high. Avery(+0.5, cover +1) appears to have reacted quickly enough to make a play on the ball if there was one to be made.
Drive Notes: Punt, 45-0, 6 min 3rd Q
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Form	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yards
O25	1	10	Shotgun 3-wide	Nickel over	Run	N/A	QB power	Campbell	0
Hawthorne(+1) reads the QB's cut upfield and runs away from the blocking angle further outside; he and Campbell(+1), who beat a single block to show up in the hole, combine to tackle.
O25	2	10	Shotgun trips	4-3 under	Pass	5	Fade	Avery	33
Okay, Brink and Avery and Fitzgerald in. This game is not long for the charting. Shortell gets the corner (pressure -1) and has an easy deep throw to Avery's guy(-1, cover -1) as he's beaten so badly he cannot recover.
M42	1	10	Shotgun trips	Nickel press	Run	N/A	Inside zone	Campbell	3
Wad o bodies as Minnesota can't move Campbell(+1) out of the playside hole with a double. He gets support from Heininger and Ryan(+0.5 each) and the RB runs up into the wad for little.
M39	2	7	Pistol 2TE	4-3 under	Run	N/A	Down G	Brink	-4
Instead of blocking Brink(+2) the playside TE watches him run past and make a TFL. Minnesota: not good.
M43	3	11	Shotgun 4-wide	Nickel press	Pass	4	Slant	Countess	Inc
Countess(+2, cover +2) fights the WR for position and makes a play on the ball as it arrives.
Drive Notes: Punt, 48-0, 14 min 4th Q. Charting ceases.

So, about that.

Yeah, not much you can take from that game.

But it's nice to be able to say that about a Big Ten team, right?

Sure. The last team Michigan made look that inept was Baby Seal U, and the last team before that was the 2007 Notre Dame outfit that was the absolute nadir of super-geniusdom. Last year's Purdue team may have been as bad on offense; with the help of a driving rainstorm Michigan held them to 256 yards, giving up a 61-yard field goal drive early. This edition of Michigan's defense was better against the 2011 equivalent.

But… yeah, the Purdue example is instructive. There is a level of offense that can make even last year's Michigan D seem competent. Minnesota is at that level of offense.

There is something we can take from this, though, I mean, right?

A little, sure. A couple years ago Michigan gave up 17 to EMU in the first half, ceding 179 rushing yards to that year's #116 total offense. Last year Michigan gave up 37 to I-AA UMass.

You can never tell anything good from a game like this, but you can receive an ominous message that causes you to stock up on survival gear. The failure to get one of those represents progress.

Also, I only caught one wacky misalignment in the above-charted plays, that a failure of Jake Ryan to come down to LB depth after Minnesota shifted a TE. That's significant improvement from the nonconference portion of the schedule. That first drive against Western where no one knew where to line up has receded almost entirely.

I suppose we should look at the chart.

Man, you are subdued.

I'm locked and loaded. Actin' like I've been there. Emulatin' Brady Hoke's cool sideline demeanor. Somewhat terrified about what happens after game five in Michigan football seasons.

Right. Chart.

Keep in mind that this is only 36 snaps, five of which were contested mostly by backups. If you had to reduce certain games last year to find reasonable numbers, for this game you need to almost double them to find a per-play average approximately in line with historical norms.

Defensive Line
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Van Bergen	7	-	7	Minnesota couldn't move him.
Martin	7	-	7	Or him.
Roh	7.5	1	6.5	Seems to have reclaimed the starting spot.
Brink	2	-	2	Thanks, lack of Minnesota blocking.
Heininger	6.5	1	5.5	Hard to move after first snap, too.
Black	3	1	2	Playing time reduced.
Campbell	4	-	4	"Get off me"
TOTAL	37	3	34	lol. +0.94 per snap
Linebacker
Player	+	-	T	Notes
C. Gordon	-	-	-	DNP
Demens	4.5	2.5	2	Not many plays even got to him.
Herron	-	-	-	DNP
Ryan	4	1	3	Couple of explosive pass rush moves.
Fitzgerald	-	-	-	Nothing of note.
Jones	-	-	-	DNP
Evans	-	-	-	DNP
Beyer	-	-	-	PT in garbage time.
Hawthorne	3.5	2	1.5	Not giving his PT back.
Morgan	-	-	-	PT in garbage time
TOTAL	12	5.5	6.5	Enjoyed some tea as they watched the DL do the tackling for them.
Secondary
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Floyd	1	0.5	0.5	Not tested(!)
Avery	0.5	1.5	-1	Has obviously slid behind Countess.
Woolfolk	-	-	-	Rest this man.
Kovacs	1	-	1	Earl Grey, please
T. Gordon	1	1	0	I'll have chai
Countess	5	1	4	Think we may have something here.
Johnson	2	-	2	Roobios for me
TOTAL	10.5	4	6	Smashing, chaps
Metrics
Pressure	15	4	11	NO BLOCKY FOR YOU
Coverage	10	5	5	Tony Gibson –6.02 x 10^23
Tackling	-	-	-	Nothing even approached an open field tackle.
RPS	3	1	2	Whateva

So… yeah. The defensive line annihilated the opposition to the point where nothing else really mattered. Can we take anything away from that? Eh… probably not. I'd love to live in a world where Will Heininger can flatten an opponent's interior OL, but I don't think that's the case.

We require some sort of crazy extrapolation to justify this piece.

Okay. We did get some depth chart clarity. Roh seems the clear starter at WDE, and Countess is #3 at CB and rising. Also we should now know who is redshirting and who is not. On defense:

• Burned: Countess, Brown, Taylor, Beyer, Clark, Morgan
• Redshirting: Carter, Hollowell, Heitzman, Rock, Poole

A couple of those do strike me as AAARGH burned redshirts: Brown and Clark. Brown is the #5 CB at best and Clark has two guys in front of him at WDE. Maybe the long-term plan is to slide Roh or Black to SDE next year, in which case I retract my argh.

Can we at least get a little Countess eeeeing?

Oh, all right: Countess had a couple of hitches completed on him but also acquired two PBUs, one of them another of the "too bad the QB didn't throw that more accurately" variety, the other a broken-up slant:

That looks like an exceptionally crappy route to me, but every little bit helps as we try to extrapolate young Countess into Charles Woodson. He also forced a fumble thanks to Mattison's new turnover-causing technique: tackling the opposition. That was a completion given up but it was also seven yards on third and ten, ie fine.

Was Minnesota really bad?

Oh, God yes. It was kind of marvelous. The best examples (on defense, anyway) I found were two separate incidents where Michigan defenders destroyed Minnesota OL. The first was Craig Roh taking a kickout block and turning it into total destruction:

That never happens.

And then there was Will Campbell using his sumo belly flop on someone other than Thomas Gordon:

After that it was a surprise Shortell didn't get up two-dimensional.

Minnesota is a bad football team.

Heroes?

Everyone but especially everyone on the defensive line.

Goats?

No one.

What does it mean for Northwestern and beyond?

It means we don't have a terrible, terrible defense but not much more.