BOOOOOOK: The Kickstarter for HTTV 2021 ends this week. This year you can customize which rewards you want. Also I had to write way more of it than usual, which means the Lord of the Rings references start on like Page 6. Consume!

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FORMATION NO—Wait, is this a joke?

No. Let’s get through it.

Why?

I needed the data for HTTV—both the UFR data and snap counts. Also completeness.

So you are going to UFR the defense against Penn State too?

Lol hell no.

FORMATION NOTES: I called this MSU’s 4-2-5 Eagle. They used it almost every 3rd and long. Note the FS is bailing at the snap—that happened a lot.

This was 4-2-5 Wide 9:

Because the DE is in a wide 9.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Line was Hayes-Filiaga-Vastardis-Stueber-Mayfield until they lost Mayfield at the beginning of the last drive and he was replaced by Barnhart. Honigford got 9 snaps as a TE—Eubanks returned and passed All after the latter had another drop. Mason was used as both tight end and fullback. Charbonnet got the most snaps of the RBs with Evans, Corum, and Haskins splitting the backup share, plays with 2 RBs and the Haskinscat they used twice in goal line situations. Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson got more time than Sainristil outside. Bell was in the slot when Jackson was not.

Also I accidentally uploaded a bunch of the clips without sound, sorry.

[After THE JUMP: When you refuse to run with your QB the WILL’s gonna have a good time.]

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M40	1st	10	Pistol Trips FB offset unbalanced	4-3-4	4-3 Even	1-high	Run	8	Lead Zone	Charbonnet	-5
Bell is covered shortside, Milton turns his back so there's no read here. Mason(-3) whiffs on DE that Mayfield passed off. That guy swallows. Everyone else was blocked. Mayfield(+.5) kicked out the S and Vastardis(+.5) picked off the LB.
M35	2nd	15	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	6	Durham	All	Inc
Mayfield(-), Prot-1 misses a stunt, Milton(+1) breaks out of it then throws too low and All can't dig it out. (IN, 1, protection 0/1)
M35	3rd	15	Shotgun 4-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Levels Sack	Milton	0
Mayfield(-1) and Stueber(-1) botch a simple stunt Prot-2, Milton has to try to take off and gets chopped down. M running one route to the sticks, the rest are digs. (RPS-1) (PR, n/a, protection 0/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 0-0, 14 min 1st Q. Jackson return sets up Michigan at midfield.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M40	1st	10	Pistol Trips FB offset	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	6	Counter Backcut	Evans	16
MSU blitzes where the C pulled and Steuber(+1) finds him while Fialiaga(+.5) gets just enough of his for Evans(+2) to dance around and cut back into a gaping hole because other MSU (RPS+) LB chased Mason. Extra room because Sainristil(+2) picked off a safety.
O44	1st	10	Shotgun Trips Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Under	1-high	Pass	8	Quick out	Sainristil	4
Tempo. Milton locked on to out vs Cov3, ball is out a beat too late so CB can close. (CA-, 3, protection 1/1)
O40	2nd	6	Shotgun Twins	4-3-4	4-3 Over	1-high	Run	7	Power	Haskins	-2
Hayes(-2) gets stuck on DE he's supposed to chip, DE got away with a hold. Mason(-1) can save but runs up Hayes butt instead of taking LB inside of him. Stueber(+1) watches this expecting Mason to vamp and when he doesn't takes the OLB, meaning free MLB in the hole. (RPS-1) frippery with fake to Henning orbit motion is why there's an extra LB in the box.
O42	3rd	8	Shotgun Trips 3W	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	7	Levels	Jackson	12
Same plays as last 3rd down. Stueber(-1) has nobody in his gap and doesn't find work, allowing late MLB to shoot into Milton's chest. Delivers the ball as MLB arrives. Charbonnet(+1) picked up blitzer. (DO, 2, protection 1/2)
O30	1st	10	Shotgun Twins Tight	4-3-4	4-3 even	1-high	Pass	7	Sack	Milton	-4
Flood and Milton is staring right at Jackson as he clears the LB level and has the out, doesn't throw it. DB bails into that finally, doesn't check down to flare to Wilson. Sacks himself. (TA, , protection 2/2)
O34	2nd	14	Pistol Twins H offset	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	RPO	6	Arc Keeper toss lead	Henning	15
The Arc but Henning is the lead instead of a TE, and instead of QB keep it's a quick toss to him. Takes the QB out of the arc so there's an extra defender for it, but that defender was playing in the parking long on 2nd and 14. RPS-1 anyway because Eubanks has no shot to seal his safety inside. Henning(+2) slips outside guy Eubanks is bothering and gets to the marker. (CA-Screen, 3, protection n/a)
O19	1st	10	Twins 2TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	2-high	RPO	7	OZ/Snag	Johnson	11
There we go. Read (RPO+) is on MLB who shuffles with RB, decisive pull, ball out while Johnson is still making his move. Can get YAC too. (DO, 3, protection n/a)
O8	1st	Goal	Shotgun Twins 2TE	4-3-4	4-3 Over	1-high	Run	8	Power Lead	Corum	8
Blocking screwed this up, particularly Mason(-1) who popped Mayfield's back and Stueber(-1) who doesn't get to the 2nd level. Filiaga gets bounced off his pull by the Mason/Mayfield mess and there's nowhere to go but the unblocked edge. Corum(+3) goes there, and edges an MSU CB for the TD. Highlight reel RB.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-7, 7 min 1st Q. Maybe we’ll attack their LBs on the edge.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M20	1st	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	6	Stop	Johnson	13
MSU CB is bailing and C.Johnson(+1, +route) stops and has all kinds of room. Rockets it out there so CJ can twist for four extra. Vastardis(-.5) getting pushed back. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
M33	1st	10	Shotgun Twins 2TE Bunch	4-2-5	4-2-5 oVER	1-high	Run	7	Jet Pin & Pull	Jackson	10
Mason at playside TE, T and C pull. Hayes(-1) overruns charging S and turns upfield instead of letting Vastardis get him. Instead it takes out both pullers. Charbonnet(+2) is lead and thunks CB. Jackson(+1) sets this up without letting the MLB arrive first, gets edge and gains.
M43	1st	10	Shotgun Trips Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	8	Counter Trey	Charbonnet	6
Filiaga(-1) slow to take out slanting DT, Charbonnet has to stop and dance around. Vastardis(+.5) is no Bredeson on kickouts but gets just enough on DE for Charbonnet. Mason(+2) takes out LB and flowing DT that Stueber(-.5) couldn't seal, and Sainristil(+1) turns a CB to create the space.
M49	2nd	4	Pistol Twins FB offset	4-3-4	4-3 Even	1-high	Run	7	Counter	Charbonnet	0
New guys not the old guys. Mason(-3) again no idea who to block after Filiaga(+1) turns exchanging DE. Nowhere to burrow because Vastardis(-1) got shoved and discarded. RPS-1 QB turns his back so WLB can step to playside and join in the gang tackle. Stueber(+1) got out on the MLB in a way that would have negated WLB.
M49	3rd	4	Shotgun 5-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	1-high	Pass	5	TE Slant	All	Inc
All wide Evans slot, double slants and ball is out quick and has to be because Filiaga(-1) lost his guy and Hayes has to use an arm on that guy which gets him edged. Milton puts it on outside hip of All because there's an MLB he's got to thread, ball on hip is catchable. All drops it. (CA-, 2, protection 1/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-7, 3 min 1st Q. This was 4th and 4 at midfield fwiw.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M8	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	7	Stop	Wilson	13
Good Protection (Prot+1) throw is on time and maybe a bit outside and maybe Wilson adjusted improperly because it's at the numbers. Wilson now can only catch it from his knees. (CA-, 2, protection 1/1)
M21	1st	10	Shotgun Empty 2TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Play-Action	7	Slants	Bell	6
RPO with an easy read or just PA? Probably PA meant to look like RPO. Neat idea from empty with QB stepping with Pin & Pull action then pulling up and slanting to Bell who can't get around FS who wasn't that high. Would RPS this if the safety wasn't sitting on a slant here. (CA, 3, protection n/a)
M27	2nd	4	Pistol Twins H offset	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	7	OZ Arc give	Evans	-5
Bad blocks as Filiaga(-2) gets driven by DT, Evans has to stop and that means the backside held by the zone read can arrive. Also Stueber(-1) and Hayes targeted same guy so there was a free LB despite flare screen holding backside LB. (ZR+)
M22	3rd	9	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	7	Dig/Scramble	Milton	7
Not minusing him because refs(-2) miss a big hold by LB about to get crossed by Jackson. That's the only option because Filiaga(-1) and Vastardis(-1) can't communicate on a simple twist. Filiaga(-1) shoved over, Vastardis(-1) can’t get to his guy. Milton has to bail. Charbonnet(+1) stopped a late edge dead. Milton(-1) doesn't go all out and comes up a yard short of the sticks when he's met by Panasiuk. Frustrating. (SCR, protection 1/3)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-7, 12 min 2nd Q. This was 4th and 2 at the 28.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M13	1st	10	Pistol Ace	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	7	Arc Keeper	Milton	17
OMIGOD the QB kept it (ZR+). Milton has a long mesh and MSU DE is fooled like it's 2018 then the S follows as well. All(+1) is momentarily stunned but does finally hit the guy Mason(-) lost. Extended Ronnie Bell(+2) block goes in his file. Milton has just the FS to beat now but can't hop over the diving attempt and goes down. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M30	1st	10	Pistol 2TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	7	Counter	Corum	0
MSU prepped this (RPS-2) but Stueber(+1) locked his DT out of the gap he's got to slash to and All(+1) rode LB out of the play, so there's room if Filiaga(-1) comes off the DE, if Hayes drives that guy and Corum(-1) sets him up and runs off Hayes, or if Mason(-1) reroutes into this gap the way teams that run Counter Trey like their bread and butter know how to. Don't like wasting the QB. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M30	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide Unbalanced	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	8	Arc Keeper	Milton	4
They cover a WR on the other side and MSU doesn't take the bait. Stueber(-1) lost slanting DT so give is a loss, Milton(ZR+) has Panasiuk who has extra time (RPS-1) to bend the edge. Milton gets him down but by then the S from the bubble side can arrive. Refs+2 let Eubanks get away with some crazy holding.
M34	3rd	6	Shotgun 5-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	8	Dig	Jackson	4
MSU zero again. All of these routes are at 2 yards so this makes no sense RPS-2 unless you're planning to go for it on 4th and short. They're not. (DO, 3, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-14, 8 min 2nd Q. This was 4th and 2 from the 38.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1st	10	Shotgun Twins Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	6.5	TE Out	All	Inc
Quick out vs Cov 3 and All drops it. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M25	2nd	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Under	1-high	Pass	8	Drag	Jackson	20
Prot+2 Milton can stand there forever and wait for Jackson to clear. Had Eubanks wide open underneath but waited for Jackson to OSU his CB instead. Zinged. (DO, 3, protection 1/1)
M45	1st	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	RPO	7	Flare/Pin & Pull	Haskins	19
Honigford(+2) at TE and they run off it with a flare motion away option to Bell that reads the WLB (RPO+). Honigford takes out and turns SAM, DE runs himself out of play, Mayfield gets away with a grab after DT got upfield. Vastardis(-1) can't catch LB and he and CB converge on Haskins(+3) who runs through one fool, drags a fool, then hurdles a fool.
O36	1st	10	Shotgun FB-TE Empty	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	6.5	TE Sweep Down G	Mason	9
Looks like Counter with the TE getting the ball. RPS+1 gets the MLB to come at the QB, Bell(+.5) locks out a Nk, Hayes(+2) outdances a LB. Impressive agility. Mason gets to the S.
O27	2nd	1	Shotgun 2TE Twins	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Run	7	Power Lead	Haskins	16
Motion Mason across, All(+2) stones S and Steuber(+1) gets around and locks edge inside. RB is free to the CB who's unblocked bc QB isn't part of the run (RPS-1) but Haskins(+2) puts a move on that guy and runs by then stiffarms another.
O11	1st	10	Shotgun 2TE Twins	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	0-high	Run	8.5	Arc Keeper	Milton	5
MSU DE is good at this but Milton (ZR+) has him edged, directs All(+1) to take out SAM. S started low and arrives to hold to an okay gain. RPS(-1) not for the safety but because this was an RPO to the TE and that just kept All looking back instead of lining up a better block.
O6	2nd	5	Haskinscat Pistol Mason RB	4-2-5	Goal	0-high	RPO	n/a	Fade/Iso	Haskins	1
Haskins looks for All, covered. Mason(-2) is lead and dives into the pile when there's one unblocked guy on the edge bc Seltzer(+2) blew out the DE. Haskins can only burrow. Not scoring RPOs from RB.
O5	3rd	4	Haskinscat Single-Wing Mason RB	4-2-5	Goal	0-high	Pass	n/a	TE Pop	Haskins	Inc
Take forever to set up but it works if Haskins puts it higher. Instead LB can drift back and break it up. Not charting that.
Drive Notes: FG, 10-14, 3 min 2nd Q. This was 4th and G from the 4. Unfortunate end to a great drive.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M32	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide tight to TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	7	Mills	Bell	Inc
Is watching All(route+) as he dusts LB but doesn't throw it. Waiting instead for Bell to come across late and drifts outta pocket, has to dump on the field yards away. (TA, 0, protection 1/1)
M32	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide tight to TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	6	Post	Bell	Inc
Bell comes wide open down the middle and Milton overthrows him by 20 yards. JFC. (INx, 0, protection 1/1)
M32	3rd	10	Shotgun 3-wide Flex	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Fly	Wilson	26
Zings it between the Cov 2 zones, can't place it better I guess. Wilson goes up and snags it. (DO, 2, protection 1/1)
O42	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Snag	Sainristil	Inc
On Filiaga(-1) who lets a guy right by him. Milton has Bell on a skinny post but doesn't come off Sainristil. Wings it high but lower could have been a pick bc guy drove hard on this. (BR, 1, protection 0/1)
O42	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Drag	Johnson	-10
DT gets inside Filiaga(-1) then falls down and draws a false flag (refs-1). Milton leaves pocket and dumps it off. (CA, 3, protection 0/1)
M48	2nd	20	Shotgun 5-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Fly	Bell	Inc
Same as the one to Wilson but Bell gets his hands up a tetch too late and ball goes right through them. (CA, 2, protection 1/1)
M48	3rd	20	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Dumpoff	Johnson	7
Steuber(-1) lets a DT cross his face and flushes Milton. Dumpoff time. (PR, 3, protection 0/1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-14, 2 min, 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M29	1st	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	2-high	RPO	6	QB Buck Sweep/Bubble	Milton	1
Cool idea to use Charbonnet(+1) as backside kickout, QB reads WLB. Honigford(+2) in as TE and he turns playside DE inwards. Steuber(+1) gets the kickout and Hayes(+.05) harassed backside LB enough so this could be big. It's not because Mayfield(-2) gets discarded by NQ Jones. Filiaga is taking out the last guy but inside-out and Milton(-1, RPO+) doesn't have the patience to get around that. Great play by MSU's DT but still, maaaaan.
M30	2nd	9	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	6.5	Dig	Sainristil	Inc
LB comes late, picked up by Corum(+1, Prot+1) which opens up the dig. Sainristil(route+) gets open then drops it. Bad. (CA, 3, protection 2/2)
M30	3rd	9	Shotgun 5-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	Levels	Milton	3
Stunt, Vastardis picks it up. Filiaga's guy falls down on his own after he runs by and goes down on the leg of Hayes, which causes him to lose contact with the edge rusher. Hayes looks at the ref because yeah, he's trying to fall on the T's leg there. Edge guy tackles Milton but there were two LBs. All was breaking open on a skinny post inside Cov3 but Milton never looks that way. (TA, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-14, 13 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1st	10	Shotgun 2TE Twins	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	RPO	8	Arc TE Pitch	All	0
The goofy Arc read with a pass to the TE instead of a keeper and MSU is all over it. RPS-2 you're giving up the man advantage!!! All(+1) slips a tackle to save a loss but there are two guys on him. (CA, 3, protection n/a) ZR+ I guess.
M25	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	6	Stop	Wilson	11
Results-based but this is a throw non-Miltons will get picked off. MSU shows blitz right before snap, it's the 2A twist and stoned with max pro, 3-man route. Milton has all day and finds Wilson a little late so a Cov3 nickel gets a finger on it but that doesn't matter because it's got extra mustard. Prot +2 (CA+, 2, protection 2/2)
M36	1st	10	Shotgun Trips Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	8	Flood	Charbonnet	4
Prot+1 and Milton calmly steps around a DT that Filiaga is riding. He's got time now but gets jittery, starts moving, then dumps it to Charbonnet a few feet in front of him for a short gain. This is a flood so Charbonnet(route-) should get depth before turning. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M40	2nd	6	Shotgun trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	RPO	7.5	Flare/Pin & Pull	Haskins	2
Wilson motions and it's the PnP option (RPO+). Hayes(-2) stood up, Filiaga(+1) IDs inside DE and turns him but they're in the backfield and LB can cover cutback lane and inside Stueber's kickout. Good run D by MSU.
M42	3rd	4	Shotgun Trips Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	8	Mesh curls	Wilson	17
MSU stacks box then rushes three. Ref-1 steps into Bell's path and they collide and Wilson is running the stick route too shallow and Sainristil is running a follow behind so there's four Wolverines in the area. Milton rolls and Wilson finds a spot between the safeties. (DO, 2, protection 1/1)
O41	1st	10	Pistol 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	Pass	7	Fade	Sainristil	Inc
Prot+2 pick up a twist blitz and Milton has time to hit Wilson who was opened by the clearout by Bell. Instead he launches it at Sainristil who's got a CB right on him who was in Cov1 so he's supposed to be there. (BR, 0, protection 2/2)
O41	2nd	10	Shotgun 4-wide trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	RPO	6	IZ/Bubble	Jackson	Inc(Pen+15)
All split out at X. Milton reads the OLB (RPO+) then has to start running at him to entice him to leave the bubble. Good football but then he wings it way above Jackson's head, which takes him right into the guy Bell was kicking out. Big yards if accurate, RPS+2. MSU picks up a taunting penalty. (IN-screen, 2, protection n/a)
O26	1st	10	Pistol Heavy offset	4-3-4	4-3 Even	1-high	Run	7	Power	Charbonnet	1
Old fashioned power with Mason(+1) coming from backside and moving out the edge and Filiaga(+1) moving the DT. But Hayes(-1) blocks backside LB leaving one free (RPS-) and Charbonnet(-.5) tries to duck inside that guy instead of exploring Mason's space.
O25	2nd	9	Shotgun 2TE tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Run	7.5	Jet Counter	Henning	9
Another interesting way to use a read without using the QB (RPO+) as a runner. Fake dive holds the WLB while backside G and TE sweep. Filiaga and Eubanks(-2) both kick out the same guy because this team doesn't practice. Henning(+2) fixes it by running by LB and Bell(+1) has an extended lockout.
O16	1st	10	Pistol 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	Play-Action	6	Snag	Bell	15
Eubanks motions in, LBs bite (RPS+) and Milton fits it through a tight window where Bell can make a play at the endzone. Refs(+1) miss Stueber(-1) getting downfield which might have affected the LBs. (DO, 2, protection n/a)
O1	1st	Goal	Shotgun 3-wide tight	4-2-5	Goal	0-high	Run	n/a	Belly	Corum	1
Tempo, Hayes(+1) clears out DT for the inch Corum(+1) needs to leap in. ZR+
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 17-17, 8 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M25	1st	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	7	TE Out	All	Inc
Milton decides he's throwing the TE out before the snap and this time it's not Cov3 so it bounces off two Spartans' hands before All gets a stab at it that he can't bring in either. Had Henning or Evans to dump to. (BRx, 1, protection 1/1)
M25	2nd	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Pass	7	TE Seam	Eubanks	Inc
Prot+1 as they bring 5 and it's picked up. Milton has time vs Cov1. CB has arm around Eubanks (Refs-2) for 2 seconds before he breaks it up. (CA, 1, protection 2/2)
M25	3rd	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	1-high	Pass	6	Flood	Jackson	15
Prot+1, Milton fits this in a window between zones but gets his WR lit up. Jackson hangs on. RPS-1 Ronnie Bell is in the flat and his CB can play this because why guard the guy at the LOS on 3rd and long? Would love to see all-22 here bc I think Sainristil was wide open on the corner route. (CA+, 1, protection 1/1)
M40	1st	10	Pistol TE Twins	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	RPO	8	Flare/Pin & Pull	Corum	6
Well blocked but another example why QB in run game matters. RPO holds SAM but Milton (RPO-) misses he's got numbers in passing game. Filiaga(+1) clears out edge on kickout, Hayes(+.5) held up his DT, Stueber(+.5) connects as well, but unblocked LB keeps the gain down. Corum(+1) churns out 3 more.
M46	2nd	4	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Run	7	Power Lead	Haskins	18
Motion in Mason but it's All(+3) who bails out this play, chucking a safety then kicking a CB after Hayes(-1) mis-ID's the edge when MSU slant away. Haskins(+2) had an unblocked LB in the hole (RPS-1), sets him up then steps outside where Mason(+1) has buried his guy. Nobody till the next level. Compare to Charbonnet on same situation earlier. Replay.
O36	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	1-high	Play-Action	7	TE Slant	All	Inc
PA sucks in the MLB and opens up a slant to All that Milton puts 2 yards behind him. All can only put a hand out behind himself. Perhaps he's expecting All to stop--All seems to be right behind the LB when the ball arrives. (IN, 1, protection 1/1)
O36	2nd	10	Pistol 3-wide tight	4-3-4	4-3 Over	1-high	Run	8	Arc Give	Haskins	0
MSU scraping this but Milton(ZR-) doesn't change his read when he's got numbers outside, probably because it's a TE dumpoff bullshit instead of a real QB keeper? RPS-1 I guess but the way the LB played this...
O36	3rd	10	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	1-high	Penalty	6	False Start	Hayes	(Pen-5)
They set up before this and a hard count got MSU to jump offsides, but they let Tucker call a timeout instead. After the TO, same guy jumps at the hard count, head is clearly in the neutral zone, Hayes(-1) stands up and they flag him. Hard to minus this because they always give it to M opponents.
O41	3rd	15	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	2-high	Pass	6	TE Wheel	All	Inc
LB is covering this wheel, gets some contact while the ball is in the air but pass is so high All had no shot if he wasn't impeded. Announcer "nobody open" canard here as Johnson is breaking in at the sticks on the play's primary read. (INx, 0, protection n/a)
M23	1st	10	Pistol 2TE Twins	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	Run	7	Counter Trey	Corum	0
No read RPS-1 and MSU is now sitting on this. Won it anyway because Slade inside-outs Filiaga(-2) who had the downblock. That eats up Mason(-1). Might be a backside lane where Mayfield(+.5) and All(+.5) but Corum looks to bounce, decides against it, and cuts back into Filiaga. The way out of this is to have Mason read the block and go inside, fyi.
M23	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Under	1-high	Pass	6	Throwback screen	Corum	13
All(+1) doesn't know play at first but locks his guy out. Bell motion and now we get the counter to the Flare/P&P. Mayvield(+1) dives at a CB to kick, and Corum(+1) makes several guys miss to pick up the 1st and extra. (CA-screen, 3, protection n/a)
M36	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Run	8	Jet Counter	Jackson	-3
Vastardis(-2) blown back into his path and Jackson has to stop and work around this. Mayfield(-1) lost his LB and Jackson(-1) gives up ground instead of taking the loss.
M33	2nd	13	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	5	Snag	Johnson	5
Soft coverage so M takes 5 yards to set up 3rd and not as long. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
M38	3rd	8	Shotgun Trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	1-high	Pass	6	Comeback	Bell	12
Prot-1, as M doesn't have a guy for the CB blitzer on a zone protection set the other way. Milton spins out of it then finds Bell(route+1) working back. Perfect throw and Bell can step around S and get YAC. (DO, 2, protection 2/3)
50	1st	10	Shotgun Empty 2TE	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	RPO	7	QB Buck Sweep/Slant	Wilson	Inc
Correct read (RPO+) and is going to draw a PI (or a def hold) since CB was beat and was tackling Wilson the whole way. Beasley worked inside by Hayes and makes a good play to close off passing lane just as Milton throws and it goes into DE's chest first. (BA, 0, protection n/a)
50	2nd	10	Shotgun 2TE Twins	4-3-4	4-3 Under	1-high	Run	7	Power Lead	Charbonnet	1
Slant (RPS-1) and Hayes(-2) panics at LB going outside him. That's not your guy anymore! That guy gets into Charbonnet's legs and he goes down. Haskins would not have.
O49	3rd	9	Shotgun 3-wide TE Flex	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	7	Fade	Sainristil	Inc
Fade to the 5'10" guy all the way and Cass Tech CB grabbing and tugging. No call. Refs-2. (CA, 1, protection 1/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 17-20, 10 min. 4th Q. Apoplectic. M gets ball back on the 7 with 5 minutes down 2 scores. Let’s see if they hurry, shall we?
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	D Pack	Front	Cover look	Type	Box	Play	Player	Yards
M7	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	6	Drag	Bell	13
Ball has to get out because Filiaga(-1) shoved deep into the pocket. Bell(+2) has to dig it out a little then puts on the jets vs a LB for an extra 10 yards. Seems like attacking their LBs on the edge is a good strategy. (CA, 2, protection 0/1)
M20	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	Skinny post	Jackson	Inc
Same Nk who almost got the last one high-points it perfectly to pop it in the air. Nowhere else to put it just a good DB play. (BA, 0, protection 1/1)
M20	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	Pass	7	Flare Screen	Corum	4
Simple RB screen, MSU DE reads it (RPS-2) and Corum(+2) slips that guy. I want to minus Hayes for lollygagging when it's his DE who chases it down, but he's hopping on an ankle. Also Mayfield has to leave after this play. (CA-screen, 3, protection n/a)
M24	3rd	6	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	7	Circle	Bell	Inc
Has a small window to hit Bell and puts it high and behind him. (IN, 1, protection 1/1)
M24	4th	6	Shotgun 5-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Eagle	0-high	Pass	5	Levels	Milton	6
Nobody open until Johnson late, so Milton takes off and meets a mass of humanity at the sticks. Slows to hit a CB for the last yard. (SCR, n/a, protection 1/1)
M30	1st	10	Shotgun trips	4-2-5	4-2-5 Wide 9	1-high	Pass	7	Durham	Milton	-8(Pen+5)
MSU has 12 guys and LB still trying to sprint off when this is snapped. Free play turns into a sack when Stueber(-1) is blown by NJones. Evans was tripped by DE when leaving the backfield so nowhere to dump it. (PR, protection 0/1)
M35	1st	5	Shotgun 3-wide TE Flex	4-2-5	4-2-5 Under	2-high	Pass	6	Scramble	Milton	9
Milton spooked when Barnhart(-1) pushed into pocket, now has to escape that guy and does, jogging to 1st down and gives himself up at a CB. (SCR, protection 0/1)
M44	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	6	Self-sack	Charbonnet	Inc
Milton drifts forward in the pocket until he runs out of room and panics, dropping it behind and at the feet of Charbonnet. (TA, 0, protection 1/1)
M44	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Over	2-high	Pass	6.5	Smash	Eubanks	5
CB is breaking on the TE out with Wilson clearing on the corner but throws to Eubanks anyway. CB there on the catch. (BR, 2, protection 1/1)
M49	3rd	5	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	RB circle	Charbonnet	6
Gus notes MSU has time to keep changing linemen to stay fresh....with clock running. Filiaga(-1) run by, Vastardis(-0.5) can't help and Milton has to throw with a guy wrapped on him. Charbonnet kept fighting after being knocked back,and refs(+1) call forward progress after the 1st down anyway. (CA+, 2, protection 0/1)
O45	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	Mesh	Wilson	4
MSU DT running on the field, M lets him. Ref(-2) lazily steps down right into Wilson's route and he has to slow down and go under. Milton has time and Eubanks opening up on the curl but throws to Wilson anyway. He's brought down for a minimal gain. (BR, 3, protection 1/1)
O41	2nd	6	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	7	Scramble	Milton	11
Milton(+1) sees a gap and stumbles through it, sets up a LB for YAC. (SCR, protection 1/1)
O30	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	TE Curl	All	5
M loses 15 seconds after 1st down as the refs allow MSU to complete a leisurely change. Q: They can't do this outside 2 minutes but I guess if it's 2:01 they can start the clock? Prot-1 as Hayes and Filiaga blow a stunt that gets Milton hit on the throw. (CA, 3, protection 0/1)
O25	2nd	5	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	TE Curl	All	8
Too many men again as MSU is still changing on the snap. Doesn't matter bc same play gets same result. (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O17	1st	10	Shotgun 3-wide Tight	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	1-high	Pass	7	Self-sack	Milton	0
RB stays in, Milton starts dancing for no reason and runs into the CB hanging out on the edge. Milton (TAx, protection 2/2)
O17	2nd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	Fly	Bell	Inc
Bell clears Cov2 but mistimes his jump. (CA, 2, protection 1/1)
O17	3rd	10	Shotgun 3-wide	4-2-5	4-2-5 Even	2-high	Pass	6	Drag	Johnson	16
Johnson(+2) breaks out of a tackle on the dumpoff then outruns a LB and barrels toward the endzone w an assist from Wilson(+1) (CA, 3, protection 1/1)
O1	1st	Goal	Shotgun 3-wide Tight	4-2-5	Goal	0-high	Run	n/a	Belly	Evans	-1
Milton(ZR-1) is reading a safety who's literally in the air and gives. Evans has to go outside the safety into the teeth of the defense. RPS-1 everyone knows they belly here and S was waiting if Milton kept.
O2	2nd	Goal	Haskinscat Shotgun twins	5-3-2	Goal	0-high	Run	n/a	QB Power Lead	Haskins	2
Works as Mason(+2) audibly collides with edge and puts him into S. RPS+1 MSU was selling out inside.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 24-27, 35s 4th Q. Over but for the onsides.

Well, I asked for more front page content so I guess I deserve this.

Do you want to talk about it?

Not really. Get what you came here for and let’s put a book out.

Sounds good to me.

Good. Offensive line chart.

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	Total	Notes
Mayfield	1.5	3	-1.5	Clearly playing hurt. M ran away from him.
Barnhart				DNC
Stueber	3.5	4.5	-1	Tough day against MSU’s great DTs, especially Jones.
Vastardis	0.5	4.5	-4	Strength an issue, protection issues mostly on him and…
Filiaga	4	6	-2	Mashes when he finds his target. Eaten alive in pass pro.
Hayes	4	10	-6	Mis-ID’ed a lot of blocks.
All	10.5	0	+10.5	This is why we’re here.
Eubanks		2	-2	Good pass pro though.
Schoonmaker				DNC
Mason	6	13	-7	Plan was to mash face but he couldn’t find the right face.
Honigford	4		+4	Useful sixth lineman
TOTAL	34	43	44%	Beat up by DTs, had trouble finding their blocks.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Milton	1	2	-1	7/8 on RPOs, 6/8 on zone reads, fwiw
McNamara				DNP
Charbonnet	3	0.5	+2.5	All his +s were for blocking. Should have been a fullback.
Haskins	7	0	+7	Did that on just 16 snaps.
Corum	8	1	+7	Did that on 18 snaps. Hello young man.
Evans	2	0	+2	Will find more snaps on his NFL team.
Turner				DNP
TOTAL	21	3.5	+17.5	Add a five-star to those two and LFG!!!!
Receivers
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Bell	5.5		+5.5	Locks dudes out and master of YAC
Sainristil	+3		+3	Mountain goat blocking
Wilson	1		+1	Not always a tell that they’re passing but sorta
Johnson	3		+3	Lloyd Carr approves
Jackson	1	1	-	Mostly a receiver in this game.
Henning	4		+4	Fast.
McCurry				DNP
TOTAL	17.5	1	+16.5	Speed in spacers blocked, sped in space.
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Protection	17	10	73%	Filiaga–6, Stueber–3, Mayfield–2, Barnhart–1, Vastardis –1
RPS	7	24	-17	MSU watched the Army tape, Gattis more concerned with not exposing Milton.

My podcast hot take is Michigan should have the receivers block instead of the offensive linemen.

Context matters. MSU’s defensive line is really good, especially the DTs, and especially Naquan Jones, who wasn’t drafted but was signed by the Titans. Filiaga in particular was a mess; I was not surprised that Keegan replaced him later in the season. He can move people as a run blocker but his feet are heavy, and he often lost the hand battles. Jones gave everybody headaches though. This clever play was about to go for many yards (because Michigan deigned to use the QB in the run game) until Jones shed a downblock from Mayfield and appeared in the hole.

watch the bottom of the formation after it cuts to sideline view

MSU got away with multiple edge defenders because they could trust the DTs to get there. That was Michigan’s defense in the Glasgow-Hurst period too.

The other problem was Michigan blockers kept blocking the wrong guys. This was partly on MSU—see the RPS metric—varying their responses to Michigan’s Counter/Buck Sweep and Arc Read attacks. Usually they had the first guy dive inside with a defensive back hanging around to deter anything off the edge. They slanted and had their linebackers dodge a releasing tackle (usually Hayes). They made it hard, and Michigan’s blockers kept going after the same dude instead of adjusting on the fly.

Your RPO numbers say Mel Tucker ate Gattis’s lunch.

I got a little mad at some of the things Michigan was doing to try to be too fancy. Adding an RPO to the arc read is a good idea, but it was clear that they practiced this to go to the tight end. Not as a QB keeps and reads a guy caught between the tight end and the QB.

The only reason it worked one time was because they changed it back to the sensible thing on the fly:

MSU’s front looked like a team that had played together a long time and had this day circled all year. They had several plans in store for arc reads, and made life difficult for pullers by having the cornerbacks involved in edge defense so a lineman could waste a kickout on one.

Michigan came prepared with Brady Hoke’s bag of tricks, like unbalanced formations. Michigan does not have any eligible receivers on the bottom of this formation, so there’s one extra defender for the edge:

They also trotted out Joel Honigford in a #84 jersey to play some tight end. Here he pancakes a safety, but that is the same one for one you would get if you just put a receiver out there and had him run a route. Meanwhile there’s an unblocked defender because the quarterback is turning his back and nobody near the point of attack has to worry about him. The puller uses himself up on the cornerback, and the linebacker meets Corum in the gap.

This series was Michigan’s big game-plan. They had a screen that worked off the QB keeping it one time, but for the most part every time they just tried to run Power and Counter and Pin and Pull with it against one more guy that the offense is designed to account for. There were times they had Milton run it, but for the most part I think they went into the room before this one asking if anyone has ideas to use reads without having the quarterback get hit. Here’s what they came up with. Note where MSU’s nickel and cornerback go relative to the two frontside blockers:

Yay Henning, but the design of MSU’s defense—and everyone knows this about them—is to set up outside and force you back in. Michigan only tested the edge of that defense by accident here because Eubanks couldn’t get to his block and Henning had to break a tackle. Another thing that could have happened is Milton could keep rolling out into all of those acres until somebody was put in a run-pass bind between him and Henning. That was one of Harbaugh’s favorite tricks with Luck and Kaepernick. Here you can tell the point is to run the read so the linebackers clear off and then push the ball outside to a designated runner.

The passing game looked disorganized as well. If you know your Mesh, you know the spots he’s supposed to be looking at here. Michigan tried all last year to figure out a way to supercharge Mesh by replacing that fly route that most coaches make a pre-snap read with an extra route underneath somewhere. This time it’s running a curl (#4 in the image below) under the Hook route (#3). Also the ref interfered* on Bell’s crossing route, but even if he doesn’t sit there he’s running right into the extra defender MSU has from rushing just three.

Still, if you’re Milton and you’ve got to get this to the 46 yard line, where do you put it?

* [One of two times this happened The officiating was amateur hour in general—remember MSU got two horseshit blindside calls.]

You made Charbonnet transfer.

One thing about Michigan’s “let’s always have an unblocked linebacker” game plan is we got to see each of the running backs do a live Oklahoma drill. Here’s our control: Zach Charbonnet versus Antjuan Simmons with space to do something goes like so:

Same play, same linebacker, Blake Corum what can you do?

Nice response. Okay, Hasan Haskins, you’re up:

That wasn’t fair it’s a different LB.

This was very subtle but this is basically the same play except instead of the puller going to hunt a cornerback he gets to catch Simmons trying to fly up inside. Why does he do that? Haskins set him up. Hassan has this LB’s eyes when he threatens to cut inside, which convinces Simmons he’s got to shoot this now. Stueber turns this, and Haskins now has easier prey outside.

But also Corum.

This is what it looks like when your running back bails out his blockers:

Both Mason and Stueber botched this. Corum’s speed is something that MSU corner wasn’t prepared for.

I see the program isn’t panicking.

About…?

The whole down by two scores with 5 minutes left thing.

I am willing to UFR the offense vs Michigan State last year but I draw the line at counting how many seconds Michigan wasted on their 20-play 5-minute drill. At this point it’s just a feature of the Harbaugh era.

Wide receivers?

[0 = uncatchable, 1 = circus catch, 2 = moderate difficulty, 3 = routine]

	THIS WEEK					SEASON
Player	0	1	2	3		0	1	2	3
Bell	2	0/1	3/5	1/1		12	0/2	4/7	20/20
Johnson				5/5		6	0/3	2/5	12/12
Sainristil	1	0/2		1/2		4	0/6	2/3	3/5
Jackson	1	1/1	2/2	2/2		5	2/3	4/6	7/7
Wilson	1		4/4	1/1		3	0/1	5/7	3/3
Henning				1/1		1	1/1	1/2	4/4
McCurry
Eubanks		0/1	1/1				0/3	3/3	7/7
All	1	0/3	0/1	3/4		2	1/5	0/2	9/12
Schoonmaker
Charbonnet	1		1/1	1/1		1		1/1	5/5
Haskins						2
Corum				2/2		1			6/6
Evans						1			6/6
Mason						1			2/2

Routes: All+, Bell+, Sainristil+, Jackson+, Charbonnet-

Going to miss Giles Jackson, but hello Mr. Wilson. I am wondering if I’m scoring intermediates too easily but here’s that Mesh play where everybody bunched together. Look where Roman Wilson went:

And Wilson was the smoothest at those passes Milton specialized in zipping between Cover 2 zones:

It was probably his best outing last year. Michigan State’s cornerbacks were clearly afraid of his speed, with good reason.

Erick All?

You mean the sophomore receiver-ish tight end who was supposed to be a walking catch radius? Another killer third down drop, and one in his hip that he should have brought in as well. The rest of his incompletes were a pass into double coverage that ricocheted onto his fingertips for a flash, one thrown well behind him that maybe he was supposed to settle into because there’s an LB underneath, and one 20 feet over his head that would have (probably) been interference if it was 10 feet over his head. I think the easy drops are just head stuff. If we are still not seeing the contested/wall-off stuff in games this season, we will stop believing the practice chatter about them.

Michigan did trust him at the end of the game and he brought those in no sweat. Hopefully the yips are behind him.

No I meant ERICK All. Like the Viking.

Oh THAT guy!

So that’s the guy Ohio State decided not to offer because they weren’t sure he would ever be more than a jumbo receiver. You put him against a safety and that guy is not going anywhere. He makes linebackers go down too. He has the agility in the open field to be a problem once the ball is in his hands. Agent Sap is handling the helmet sticker.

Heroes?

Corum and Haskins, Ronnie Bell, Roman Wilson, and ERICK All the blocker.

Maybe not so heroic?

Chuck Filiaga, Erick All the receiver, the evil brain worm that infects Michigan coaches and makes them try anything to take the quarterback out of the run game.

What does it mean for 2021?

Now I can write the tight end preview (seriously, Hail to the Victors 2021 doesn’t mess around). If All can fix the thing he was supposed to be good at, he’s going to be pretty good. Also if there was any question why Zach Charbonnet transferred, it’s because he was going to end up a fullback on this team (seriously, he should try it sometime).

We might be sleeping on Roman Wilson.