UFR Glossary: Here.

Substitution Notes: Lots of snaps to go around this week. Benny got more run in the DT rotation than normal. No Morris at DE meant a lot more snaps for D.Moore, Okie, and McGregor—Upshaw only got a handful on the edge in addition to his role as Racecar DT. Rolder also got in for about a third, mostly at the expense of Barrett, with Mullings not playing until late. Turner and Johnson got the bulk of CB with Green rotating with WJ and plus a few when Turner cramped. Moten got the start at FS but then got authoritatively benched, with Quinten Johnson seeing the field before Moten did in the 2nd half.

Formation Notes: Nothing that weird. I noticed too late that Purdue lining up the RB behind the tackles was a pass tell so it's not in the formation charting, but here's what that looked like.

Also for the sake of brevity and everyone's screens I shortened "Aidan O'Connell" to "AOC" in the charting. If you can't contextually tell Purdue's quarterback from a U.S. Representative from New York, you are officially too Online and this is your intervention. For the sake of the comments, please keep unclever observations about it to yourself.

[After THE JUMP: So many plays.]

Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O19	1st	10	Ace 2TE Z-Jet	4-2-5	4-3 Split	2 off	Play-Action	4	Flash Screen	Johnson	-6	-0.82
They try to set up a WR screen and Johnson(+2, cov+1, tackling+1) has it read the whole way. RPS+2 nobody bought the PA and nobody to stop WJ.
O13	2nd	16	Offset Wk Flex	4-2-5	404 Tite	2 off	Pass	3	Flare Screen	Colson	3	-0.04
What's with the screens? M is rushing 3 (RPS+2) and Colson(+1, tackling+1, cov+1) flies out there to kill it. Sainristil(+1) also whipped past his TE who reached back and very obviously yanked him back to himself (Refs-2) though M probably would have declined.
O16	3rd	13	Empty Bone	4-2-5	Nk Wide	2 off	Pass	4	Sack	Harrell	-7	-0.10
Three deep routes and two useless TE crosses that M's sitting on (RPS+1, cov+2) means nobody open. Smith(+1, PR+2) beats a block to flush AOC into Harrell(+1) for the sack.
Drive Notes: Punt. 0-0. 13 min 1st Q. Next drive starts at the PU8 on a block in the back.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O8	1st	10	Gun Wk Twins	4-2-5	Nk Under	2 off	RPO		SZ/H Out	Colson	1	-0.27
D-Mo(+1) crashes in the kickout and ducks inside and Smith(+1) puts a G in the backfield. Colson(+0.5) hops outside and catches the RB's foot and Jenkins(+1) worked across the formation to clean up. Barrett(+0.5) whipped his blocker and was also there.
O9	2nd	9	Gun Wk RB	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 off	Pass	4	Snag	Barrett	13	0.85
Entire OL cut blocks. Smith(+1, PR+1) survives his and pressure. Barrett(-2, tackling-2) has leverage for a pick but goes to the WR's backside then whiffs the tackle. Should have been at least a PBU, turns into a 1st down. Rough.
O22	1st	10	Gun Ace	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 press	Pass	4	RB Dumpoff	Paige	5	0.09
More cut blocks. M has all the follow routes covered (cov+1, RPS+1) so AOC has to dump to his RB. D-Mo(+0.5) climbs over cutter and hops up to force a throw high that Paige(-1, tackling-1) should have lined up for no gain. He overruns and it gets 5.
O27	2nd	5	Offset Twins Flex	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 fld	Pass	4	RB Flat	Barrett	9	1.04
Jenkins(+1, PR+1) gets through the RG immediately but Barrett(-1, cov-2) is so obsessed with the TE snag he almost bumps into Colson after the throw. Also Turner(-1) bailed with the WR and had the zone down here. Nobody for the RB means he can rumble for 9 yards. RPS-1 this is a zone beater vs zone.
O36	1st	10	Gun Wk RB	4-2-5	Nk Over	1 off	RPO		F Insert	Moten	-4	-1.49
AOC is reading an RPO and tries to pull too late (Hat-3) which causes a fumble. It bounces right back up to him but now Moten(+2) is on him. Should get credit for a sack.
O33	2nd	13	Gun Wk RB Tight	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 off	Pass	4	Curl	Moten	15	2.63
Tempo(27). Busted coverage. This seems like  Cov2 disguised as Cov3 except Moten(-2, cov-2) is running something else, ends up running into Barrett(-1) so now both are on the TE and nobody has the hole or the flat. Turner has the Z but is also hanging over the RB in the flat since nobody else is. Johnson(-1) also busted his coverage.
O48	1st	10	Offset Twins F-Cross	5-2-4	5-2 Over	1 press	Play-Action	n/a	Flash Screen	Moten	14	0.91
Um…Moten(-2, tackling-2) has this lined up for an easy TFL (RPS+1) and overruns then falls down without even slowing the WR. How!?!? Turner(-0.5) got shoved by the TE on his way in to create some space for the WR to hop into outside but this is still atrocious.
M38	1st	10	Gun Wk RB Z-Jet	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 bdy	Play-Action	4	Deep In	Barrett	17	0.46
M needs a timeout. Barrett(-1) and Turner(-2, cov-3) both take the Jet flare and Colson(-1) is dropping into grass. There's nothing complex here--what is going on?
M21	1st	10	Ace Wk H-In	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 fld	Run		Jet Power	Moten	20	1.69
Fake a pitchout and run power the other way with the slot receiver. Harrell(-0.5) takes a bonk from the LG and Benny(-0.5) gets knocked down pretty good so there's a decent-sized gap. Colson goes under and wipes himself out but is still in his gap there, while Barrett(-2) gets a bit stuck on the TE who blocked down on him. He could initiate a tackle but he's coming from the side and sees Moten(-2, tackling-3) is coming down with a shot to stick, then whiffs. Then Barrett falls off as well. Turner(+1) gets off a block to set Michigan up at the goal line.
M1	1st	Goal	I-form Heavy	6-2-3	Goal	n/a	Run		Lead Down G	Colson	1	0.89
Jenkins(+2) gets off a block, Colson(-0.5) gets thunked back by the FB and the RB is able to just stick the ball out and they get it.
Drive Notes: Touchdown. 7-7. 4 min 1st Q. Don’t think I've ever seen a worse drive from two players.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O38	1st	10	Ace TTB Z-Jet	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 off	Run		Jet Sweep	Paige	1	-0.89
Paige(+2, tackling+2) comes down with the jet motion, lines up the WR and digs his legs out. 7 > 6.
O39	2nd	9	Gun Wk Demi R-Flare	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 off	Pass	4	TE Out	Moore	5	0.07
Barrett(-1) needs to chuck this guy; I usually mark these a push but the cover call had this TE bracketed (RPS+1) and this was a missed PBU/INT opportunity. Moore(+1, tackling+1) upends him immediately.
O44	3rd	4	Offset Wk 4w R-Flare	4-2-5	Nk Split	0 fld	Pass	4	Slant	Turner	Inc	-0.81
Turner(+2) reads this all the way, drives through the WR's hip and PBUs. Ball is juuust outside of Paige's reach for an INT. RPS+2 for having a safety attacking this in addition to lining up Turner inside. Should be the end of the drive but…
O44	4th	4	Shield Punt	n/a	Punt	1 press	Run		Fake Punt	Welschof	4	2.57
Juice(-2) has the edge and Ezehs around at the LOS instead of stepping up to set one. If he does that they've got it. Joe Taylor(+2) flies through traffic and #99 just reaches back for the kind of hold that people learn the Refs-3 name if they don't call it. Q-Jo(+1) almost gets it down but TE manages to sail forward and get it by an inch. Compromise or incompetent this guy has to go.
O48	1st	10	Gun TTE	4-2-5	Nk Splits	2 off	Play-Action	4	Deep Cross	Moore	25	1.27
Paige at Nk for Sainristil. Great (Hat+1) catch by Chuck Sizzle on Moore(+1) who's in trail but gets a hand on the ball. Also terrible coverage by Moten(-2, cov-1) who has Barrett directly under him and doesn't get any depth. Minter is drawing up picks for this guy and he's turning them into big chunks.
M27	1st	10	Pistol Wk	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 off	Run		Down G	Paige	4	-0.04
RG jumps early but they don't call it. Barrett(+1) shoots the gap this is attacking and forces a bounce, but Harrell(-1) got turned inside by the kickout so there's a bounce. Then he gets held (Refs-2). Paige(+1, tackling+1) reroutes and gets the RB down after a short gain.
M23	2nd	6	Gun Wk Tight	4-2-5	4-3 Split	2 off	Pass	4	Deep Curl	Barrett	8	0.22
Ideally you want Barrett(-0.5, cov-1) to chip on his way to getting over the flat. Tight window under 4-high, immediately tackled. McGregor(-1, PR-1) blew a tire so clean pocket. RPS-1 zone beater vs zone.
M15	1st	10	Offset Wk	4-2-5	4-3 Even	1 press	Run		Zone Read	Smith	2	-0.12
Guessing there was an RPO fly to Sizzle attached to this but M is in Cov1. Smith(+2) waits for the double to detach inside of him then chucks the LG and tackles. Good edge(+0.5) by McGregor ensures this is the only place it can go. EO1Q.
M13	2nd	8	Empty Wk R-Jet	4-2-5	Nk Wide	2 press	Run		Power Read	D.Moore	-4	-0.77
This is going nowhere because D-Mo(+1) and Colson(+1) scrape exchanged (RPS+1). AOC drops the exchange again (Hat-3) but quickly recovers.
M17	3rd	12	Empty Quads	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 off	Pass	5	Crosser	Johnson	1	-0.53
Look Will Johnson(+2, tackling+1). He directs Colson to the RB lined up wide on the weak side and directs Sainristil to the slot to take Sizzle himself. WJ works his way across some light OPI from the TE and tackles authoritatively.
Drive Notes: FG(33). 7-10. 14 min 2nd Q. That's not a true freshman play right there.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O25	1st	10	Offset Trips	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 bdy	Pass	4	TE Out	Colson	5	0.09
Typical cov-push throw under zone.
O30	2nd	5	Offset Wk	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 press	RPO		Power/Smash	Barrett	4	-0.12
Jenkins(-1) gets washed out by a double, Barrett(+0.5) takes on the puller and closes it down but pile lurches a few yards.
O34	3rd	1	Offset TTB	4-2-5	5-2 Over	1 press	Run		Duo	Jenkins	2	0.95
They get it.
O36	1st	10	Gun Wk Demi	4-2-5	Nk Under	2 fld	Pass	4	Hitch	Green	8	1.04
Bring WLB drop DE. Green(-1, cov-1) is playing soft over a hitch so free yards.
O44	2nd	2	Pistol Wk	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 fld	Run		Down G	Paige	1	-1.09
Okie(+1) flashes into the backfield and almost gets the back down. Guy has to downshift to get around that, Jenkins(+0.5) flashes upfield to make him bounce further, and Paige, who's been playing it safe, can now come up and tackle short of the sticks.
O45	3rd	1	Offset Str Tight	4-2-5	4-3 Under	1 bdy	Run		Duo	Colson	4	1.28
Tempo(23). Jenkins(-1) stood up by a double that bothers Colson, Barrett(+1) hops back over a gap to prevent it from getting to the safety.
O49	1st	10	Offset Str	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 bdy	Pass	4	Sack	Harrell	-6	-2.35
Tempo(30). Harrell(+2, PR+3) spins off the RT and AOC has to bail after one read that's covered (Cov+1). McGregor(+1) is coming under the LT to anvil: sack.
O43	2nd	16	Offset TTE	4-2-5	404 Tite	2 press	Pass	3	Mesh	Colson	4	-0.11
Colson is a bit tentative in following the crosser, Sainristil(+2, cov+1, tackling+1) is not, flying down hot and thunking for no YAC.
O47	3rd	12	Gun Str	4-2-5	RC Exotic	2 fld	Pass	5	Deep In	Green	20	3.48
M brings Barrett late (RPS-1, PR-1) which adds no pressure but does open up this amazing dagger under decent coverage from Green(push) that Sizzle bodies and brings in (Hat+1).
M33	1st	10	Ace TTB	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 off	Run		End Around	Turner	5	0.08
Looks like Trey but the TE whips just before the handoff and the QB gives to the end. Both LBs look dead (RPS-2) but Rolder(+1) manages to reverse course before the WR charged with cracking him can get an angle. Sainristil(+0.5) sets an edge and Turner(+2, tackling+1) flies down like a safety past the same WR and lights this up at the same time Rolder arrives.
M28	2nd	5	Gun Str Demi	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 fld	Pass	4	Throwaway	Okie	Inc	-0.66
Okie(+1) shoves the RT into AOC's knees and Graham(+1, PR+2) has the RG on skates and hops up to prevent a throw. Somehow O'Connell escapes, runs around in the backfield for minute, but nobody's open (cov+2) so he chucks OOB at a route Sainristil(+1) had blanketed.
M28	3rd	5	Gun Wk Tight	4-2-5	RC Split	1 off	Pass	4	Flag	Turner	Inc	-0.86
We're too good. Barrett(+1, PR+1) comes through the RB to speed AOC up. Turner(+2, cov+3) comes off his guy to almost intercept a terrible idea that Green(+2) was probably about to intercept for free, or not because the WR got his hands in there.
Drive Notes: FG(45). 14-13. 1 min 2nd Q. Offense leaves 50 seconds and 3 TOs. I curse.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O28	1st	10	Offset Wk 4w RB	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 bdy	Pass	4	RB Flare	Moore	4	-0.13
0:51, 3TO. Rolder gets out there but the TE does a good job to block him up. Moore(+1, tackling+1) arrives and holds it in the field for a minimal gain.
O32	2nd	6	Gun Wk	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 fld	Pass	4	Slant	Johnson	20	2.30
0:33. Johnson(-2, cov-2) mistimes a pick attempt, which means he also misses his tackle and the WR is able to pick up a chunk and go OOB.
M48	1st	10	Gun Str	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Pass	4	Sack	Smith	0(-10)	-2.22
0:25. Smith(+1, PR+1) gets through a double and forces AOC to roll out of there, RG then tackles him and picks up a flag. QB rolls but nobody's open (cov+2) so he runs himself OOB a yard short of the sticks.
O42	1st	20	Gun Wk	4-2-5	Nk Wide	2 press	Run		Power	Barrett	3	-0.31
0:16. Okay, I guess you have the timeouts to burn. RB doesn’t wait for his blocker as Barrett(+1) flies in behind a double that's moving out Graham(-0.5) and sticks.
O45	2nd	17	Gun Wk RB	3-2-6	3-2-6 Dime	3 press	Pass	3	RB Dumpoff	Rolder	13	0.54
0:12, 2TO. Nothing available so they dump to the RB in front of Rolder(-1, tackling-1) who can't get the RB down. He gets another 6 yards then starts trying to get OOB when going forward might get in FG range (Hat-1).
O45	3rd	4	Gun Str 4w	3-2-6	3-2-6 Dime	3 press	Pass	5	Hail Mary	Barrett	-13	-1.32
0:04, 1TO. Barrett(+1, PR+3) comes on a late blitz, D-Mo(+1) beats the RT, Colson(+1) beats the LT, and AOC chucks OOB at nobody. Grounding, Barrett gets the sack, loss of down means they don't get to play another.
Drive Notes: End of Half. 14-13. Fox(-4) lets Nick Saban come on and stump for his team.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O25	1st	10	Offset 2TE	4-2-5	4-3 Split	2 fld	Pass	4	Z Out	Turner	4	-0.11
Throw is further upfield than it has to be (Hat-1) under Turner(-1, cov-1) who took two extraneous steps back and wasn't near this when caught.
O29	2nd	6	Offset Wk RB	4-2-5	4-3 Under	1 press	Run		ZR Belly	Barrett	0	-0.65
Most confident linebacker play all year by Barrett(+2) who sees them doubling Jenkins and fires before the LG can fully come off, knocking that guy over and sticking in the backfield. McGregor(+1) shrugged off a kickout attempt and came to help.
O29	3rd	6	Offset 4w RB	4-2-5	RC Exotic	1 press	Pass	5	Mesh	Paige	Inc	-0.31
Lol. Paige is trying to follow the TE and steps up only to get fully blocked by the other crosser. Colson's step and then Upshaw coming across distracts the G and gets Harrell coming in unblocked and Okie(+1, PR+2) is coming through the LT (RPS+1) so AOC has to get rid of at and throws at the guy who just committed OPI. Guy then Sparts for a PI. You ran into him, pal.
Drive Notes: Punt. 21-13. 11 min 3rd Q. Oh right, I forgot you can call funny blitzes on passing downs.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O25	1st	10	Gun Wk Flex RB-Flare	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 press	Pass	4	Tunnel Screen	D.Moore	Inc	-0.70
Back to the screens and D-Mo(+2) isn't having it, flying upfield and knocking down the pass. Smith(+0.5) and Moore(+0.5) were going to close it down anyways.
O25	2nd	10	Gun Str	4-2-5	Nk Under	1 press	Pass	5	Backshoulder Fade	Turner	32	3.43
Barrett(+1, PR+1) gets through the LG and AOC has to put this up. Turner(+1, cov+1) is in good coverage, Jones pushes off with two hands (Refs-1) to create separation. This isn't subtle. Turner goes out with a cramp.
M43	1st	10	Pistol 2TE Tight	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 bdy	Run		Fake Flea Flicker	Barrett	25	0.76
Brilliant play (RPS-3) that gets Colson to run right by. Barrett(-1) and Paige(-1) are still fooled after he's already running. Moore gets hurdled.
M18	1st	10	Offset Strong	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 fld	Pass	6.5	Panic Fly	Johnson	INT	-4.42
House sent (PR+1, RPS+1) so this has to get out. Johnson(+3, cov+3) is in trail, sees the ball, and intercepts at the 2, his momentum taking him to the 1. I think this is supposed to go by forward progress, so Refs-1 are supposed to put Michigan at the 2.
Drive Notes: Interception. 28-13. 9 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O41	1st	10	Pistol FB Str	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Run		Lead Stretch	McGregor	1	-0.92
Smith(+1) gets on his guy's shoulder and is the first to take on the lead blocker. Colson(+1) pops that guy too. McGregor(+1) set a hard edge and comes off it to make the tackle when the RB tries to widen away from Colson. Harbaugh cam.
O42	2nd	9	Gun Wk	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 press	Play-Action	4	Deep Post	Johnson	Inc(+15)	2.23
Johnson(-1, cov-2) looks left when Sizzle does, doesn't find it, and ohshits when Jones turns outside, grabbing his shoulderpad to avoid a TD. Moore(-1) was on 1-high and should have been over this.
M43	1st	10	Ace Str H-Jet	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Run		Jet Sweep	Barrett	5	0.09
M in a CB blitz (RPS-1) but Barrett(+0.5) and Paige(+0.5) get out there quickly to hold it down.
M38	2nd	5	Gun Wk	4-2-5	Nk Under	2 fld	Pass	4	RB Flat	Green	4	-0.10
Catch M in Cov2 (RPS-1, cov-1), Green(+0.5) gets the RB dancing when he had an easy 1st, Paige(+1) and Barrett(+0.5) get him stopped and escorted OOB before the sticks.
M34	3rd	1	I-Offset Heavy	5-2-4	Goal	n/a	Play-Action	n/a	PA TE Corner	Moore	26	1.04
Moore (push) looks beat but recovers and gets his hand in. TE who hasn't made a catch all game somehow brings it in anyways (Hat+2).
M8	1st	Goal	Gun Str Flex Y-In	4-2-5	4-3 Over	2 off	Run		Arc Read Give	Sainristil	-3	-0.54
Johnson's not set up pre-snap even though PU snaps with 1 second on the play clock. M slants and blitzes Sainristil(+2) late, which is Arc death (RPS+2) as Jenkins and Upshaw are both set up on the edge. Mesh is made and Mikey submarines the RB in the backfield.
M11	2nd	Goal	Offset Str	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 press	Pass	4	Whip	Green	3	-0.09
This doesn't work so well as Green(+1, cov+2) redirects as quickly as the WR on the whip route and tackles immediately. RPS+1, PU went max pro and M had everyone covered.
M8	3rd	Goal	Gun Wk RB Demi	4-2-5	RC Split	2 off	Pass	4	Sack	Upshaw	-3(-15)	-1.79
Colson(+1, cov+1) has a crosser in front of him and sets up so the guy can either run into him or the back judge—WR leaps into the ref, lol. Okie(+1, PR+3) is stunting with Upshaw, nails the into the pocket then comes off as the LG is looking to see if he needs to help. Smith(+1) also put the LG in the backfield. AOC steps up to get around that just as Upshaw(+2) flips on the RT and corrals. After the play Okie gets a little shove and embellishes it to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct (refs+2).
Drive Notes: FG(43). 28-16. 3 min 3rd Q. Next drive starts after the McCarthy INT.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O24	1st	10	Gun Wk		Nk Split	2 off	Run		Power	Barrett	4	-0.11
RB is jogging after he flips then takes a counter step like he's going in a pattern, which fools the left side of the DL (RPS-1) into pass rushing. Also may have fooled Harrell(-2), who doesn't get bonked because he sets up and backs away and chucks the puller by him to the inside, which is worse. Huge gap starting to look scary but Benny(+1) fights playside of his downblock and Barrett(+2) flips inside the TE to halt this at 3 yards.
O28	2nd	6	Offset Str Tight R-Flare	4-2-5	404 Tite	1 off	Pass	3	Throwaway	Benny	Inc	-0.62
Just a three-man rush but Benny(+2, PR+2) moves a triple(!)-team so much that AOC decides he has to get rid of it. RPS+1, cov+1 they weren't expecting an 8-man coverage here.
O28	3rd	6	Offset 4w R-Flare	4-2-5	RC Split!	1 off	Pass	4	Z Out	Harrell	7	1.63
Smith(+2, PR+2) beats the C and is coming through clean so this is 1st read or bust. Unfortunately the first read is an out that Harrell has no chance of covering vs Charlie Jones as he drops out. DE vs Chuck Sizzle with no leverage is an RPS-2.
O35	1st	10	Gun Str	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	RPO		Power/Slant	Colson	0	-1.01
RPOs are basically off now since M's in press. DL slants, Colson(+2, tackling+1) blitzes at the POA and makes himself skinny. TE whiffs and it's a free LB in the backfield. RPS+1. EO3Q.
O35	2nd	10	Gun 4w Y-In	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Pass	4	Slip Screen	Smith	6	0.25
Want D-Mo(-1) to get his hands up to give Smith(+1) more time to backtrack. He gets the RB down but it's dangerous because the ball can get to the RB so quickly. Screens 101: gotta make that a lob. RPS-1.
O41	3rd	4	Gun Str Demi	4-2-5	RC Okie	1 press	Pass	3	Front shoulder fade	Sainristil	24	3.03
M drops both DTs into mesh zones and doesn't get mesh (RPS-1) but Harrell(+1, PR+1) beats the RT so this has to be launched immediately. Sainristil(+1, cov+1) is in trail with no safety help and doesn't look back or he'd know he's got an INT but nobody expects the Mitch Leidner™ *front*-shoulder fade. Receiver literally catches it on his shoulder. Silly! Hat+2.
M35	1st	10	Gun Wk Tight	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 off	Pass	4	RB Swing	Moore	Inc	-0.69
Tempo(26). RB set up behind the T is a tell that they're passing. Moore(+1, cov+1) reads it and is coming down to stick at the LOS when the RB drops the pass (Hat-1).
M35	2nd	10	Offset Str	4-2-5	Nk Under	1 press	Pass	4.5	Fly	Green	Inc	-0.91
Jenkins(+1, PR+2) puts the LG on skates and McGregor(+1) is coming through the RT, so ball has to get out at the first read. Resulting throw is like a seam to the outside WR that Green(+2, cov+2) sees and casually bats down.
M35	3rd	10	Gun Str RB	4-2-5	Nk Wide	2 off	Pass	4.5	Deep In	Green	21	2.03
Play I mentioned on the pod where AOC spots Colson showing blitz and absolutely has Michigan's number. After check Green is hollering at Paige(-2, cov-3) to say "I don't have help inside!" and he's right because Paige and Sainristil are both in the hole and there's nobody for the middle 3rd. That help maybe should have been Rolder(-1) not dropping far enough, since Colson's got the only threat, the RB, to their side, but Rolder's starting at the LOS. It could also be Paige who's babysitting a TE dumpoff on the line of scrimmage. Green indeed has no help inside and it's a free 15 yards. Could have been more because Moore had no help inside on an H post either, and that's a TD if AOC reads down to it. Someone shoulda called timeout. RPS-3.
M14	1st	10	Pistol FB Wk	4-2-5	Nk Unset	1 off	Run		Split Zone	Jenkins	2	-0.11
Tempo(31). Jenkins(+2) isn't set before the play and it works for him as he's supposed to get doubled but instead pops the LG and then the LT has no angle on him as the LG releases. He collects at the LOS, RB falls forward for a couple.
M12	2nd	8	Ace Heavy	4-2-5	4-3 Over	2 fld	Run		End Around	Okie	2	-0.23
Okie(+2) spots this and flies up, TE has to grab his arm and yank him back to prevent a major TFL, Refs-3 let it go. That still causes a bend 9 yards into the backfield so the rest of the guys can rally. Colson gets yanked back in pursuit as well. Green runs him OOB after a gain of two.
M10	3rd	6	Gun Trips	4-2-5	Nk Over	2 bdy	Pass	4	Throwaway	Turner	Inc	-0.37
Backside read is open thanks to some extreme cheatin as the TE straight-up blocks Colson, but AOC is stepping up and misses the read. RG gets a great block on McGregor to open an escape hatch but everyone's covered (Cov+2). Turner(+1)'s guy falls down trying to get around him, Okie(+1, PR+1) is about to sack, and AOC throws at the guy on the ground hoping the refs bail him out. They do not.
Drive Notes: FG(27). 28-19. 12 min 4th Q. This drive was all 3rd downs.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O12	1st	10	Ace 2TE	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 press	Play-Action	4	TE Slip Screen	McGregor	Inc	-0.38
M is all over this (RPS+1) as McGregor(+1) spots the TE setting up and gets in front of him. Colson(+1) also may have cut off a blitz to stick to the LT. Play is dead, AOC dirts it.
O12	2nd	10	Gun 4w Demi	4-2-5	Nk Wide	1 fld	Pass	4	Slant	Johnson	INT	-4.32
The Arrival. Johnson(+4) reads the screen, times it up, undercuts, and sets Michigan up at the Purdue 16.
Drive Notes: Interception. 28-19. 9 min 4th Q. Michigan makes it 36-19, backups in, charting continues but RPS is off.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O25	1st	10	Offset Wk	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Run		Counter	Mullings	10	0.84
D-Mo(+0.5) controls the TE and forces the puller to go outside, but Mullings(-2) misses the spill and gets edged. Paige comes down to clean up.
O35	1st	10	Gun Str RB	4-2-5	Nk Under	2 fld	Run		Counter	Mullings	9	1.38
Tempo(24). Same play, same result except this time Upshaw(+1) stands up the TE to put him in the puller's path. Mullings(-2) gets edged again, Colson(+0.5) races over to cover for him so it's 9 yards this time instead of 10. Yeesh.
O44	2nd	1	Gun Wk RB	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 fld	Run		Zone Read	Grant	4	-0.15
Tempo(27). Safety in the box is enough to deter a keep (RPS+1). Grant(+1) holds up a play-long double at the LOS. Benny(-1) over-flows and Upshaw(-2) just...stops...when he's looking right at the RB, who can thus escape the pileup. Q-Jo(+1) was babysitting that gap just in case and prevents what would have been an anger-inducing run.
O48	1st	10	Gun Wk RB	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 fld	RPO		Belly/Fly	Benny	6	0.36
Tempo(24). Benny(-1) gets blown out by the backside double, Upshaw(+1) fills in admirably but gets tackled (Refs-1). Q-Jo(+1, tackling+1) cleans up.
M46	2nd	4	Offset Str	4-2-5	Nk Over	1 press	RPO		Belly/H-Out	Moore	0	-1.18
Tempo(19). Man takes away the RPO, D-Mo(+1) replaces behind Grant to force a bounce that Moore(+2, tackling+1) takes down in the backfield. FWIW even with tempo the 5 runs have used up 2 minutes already.
M46	3rd	4	Gun 4w	4-2-5	Nk Split	1 press	Pass	4	H Out	Moore	6	1.64
Moore(-1, cov-1) plays this too soft for my tastes on 3rd down but 25 seconds off the clock is worth ~0.14 EPA back. Harrell(+1, PR+1) beat the RT if the first read wasn't wide open. RPS is off.
M40	1st	10	Offset 4w	4-2-5	404 Tite	1 off	Run		ZR Belly	Jenkins	2	-0.33
Tempo(22). Michigan stunts the DTs to deliver a free DT to the backside (RPS+1) and allow Jenkins(+2) to ride their blockdown to the ball and strips. Rolder(+0.5) flies up and takes out the RT, D-Mo(+1) had the RT planted in the backfield. Fumble caroms under Mazi's legs, into Rolder's lap, and somehow finds its way to the RT that Rolder took out. Hat-3.
M38	2nd	8	Offset Str	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 press	Pass	4.5	Fly	Green	Inc	-1.09
McGregor(+1, PR+1) beats the LT so time to throw at good coverage. WR initiates contact, Green(+1, cov+1) grabs the WR's wrist, easily could have been flagged (Refs+1), but also he looked back for the ball and WR stopped so it's a fair no-call.
M38	3rd	8	Gun 4w	4-2-5	Exotic	1 press	Pass	5	Fade	Moore	21	2.03
Okie(+2, PR+2) beats the LT who hauls him down (Refs-3 for all of it). Moore(+1, cov+1)'s in good shape but doesn't see it, Sizzle does, pushes off, and makes a great catch while falling (Hat+2).
M17	1st	10	Offset 4w	4-2-5	Nk Over	1 fld	Run		ZR Belly	Benny	2	-0.12
Tempo(26). Benny(+1) takes the double then swims through it. Barrett(+1) fired at the gap and also swims through contact to help bring it down for a minimal gain.
M15	2nd	8	Gun Str	4-2-5	Nk Under	2 off	Pass	4	Post	Johnson	Inc	-0.43
Graham(+1) comes through a double and McGregor(+1, PR+2) bull-rushes the sucky RT so AOC throws it away at a post that Johnson(+1, cov+1) had blanketed.
M15	3rd	8	Gun 4w	4-2-5	RC Wide	1 bdy	Pass	4.5	Corner Fade	Johnson	Inc	-0.52
Fade and pray at Johnson(+2, cov+2) who's enveloping the WR so badly the guy starts holding to prevent him from turning around and maybe draw a flag. Johnson realizes they're running the Jane offense and flying squirrels it to remove any doubt of PI. Ball actually gets to the WR under WJ's arm but the dude can't make the spectacular catch.
Drive Notes: FG(32). 36-22. 5 min 4th Q. David says this one is sad. M scores to make it 43-22 with <2 min but it's the end of the season so what the hell let's chart some backups for next year's preview. No RPS, and these events aren't included in the final scoring.
Ln	Dn	Dst	OForm	DPack	Front	Hi	Type	Rush	Play	Player	Yds	EPA
O25	1st	10	Gun Wk Tight	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 off	Pass	4	Snag	Mi.Pollard	18	1.61
Okie(+2, PR+2) blows up the RT, but Micah(-2) is way over next to the nickel, and Velazquez(-1) doesn't chip so Sizzle gets a free chunk. Then Micah and Perry(-2) overrun and Jones gets to run for another 10 yards.
O43	1st	10	Gun Wk Demi	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 off	Pass	4	Snag	Mullings	11	0.92
Mullings(-2) is in the backups pile too. He doesn't switch off the TE after carrying him out of his zone, leaving this wide open.
M46	1st	10	Gun Wk Flex	4-2-5	Nk Split	2 off	Pass	4	America's Rollout Out	Ger.Green	1(+5)	1.05
Okie(-1) lines up offsides, blows by the LT and pursues to force AOC to get rid of it off-platform to a WR that German(+1) had tagged.
M41	1st	5	Offset Wk	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 press	RPO		Power/H Out	Graham	4	-0.07
Guy(+1) sets a good edge and M has Moten in the box to attack the gap but Grant(-2) goes too far upfield leaving a big cutback. Graham(+1) fights back to close it down with help from D-Mo(+0.5). It's gonna be down for 2 yards but the LT clotheslines Velazquez and the pile lurches forward.
M37	2nd	1	Pistol Wk	4-2-5	4-3 Split	1 off	Run		Down G	Velazquez	1	0.00
Guy(+1) catches the edge then comes inside to slam shut the intended gap. RB pauses but Graham(+1) doesn't give him the cutback lane he's hoping for and Velazquez is now coming down, so RB just sticks his face in and gets near the 1st down marker. Nobody cares to check.
Drive Notes: Game over. 43-22. Michigan are your Big Ten Champions again.

What the hell is wrong with our defense?

What? I thought it was an okay performance. They ate some insane catches but held Purdue to 5.6 yards per play and just one touchdown. They also forced two turnovers, and could have had two or three more if the Boilers hadn't recovered all four of their fumbles, three of those on botched meshes.

Purdue had 456 yards.

On 90 plays!

They were moving the ball.

Only in the first quarter. For the meat of the game Purdue was able to conjure something here or there, but for the most part they were unable to string together more than two or three plays, or run the ball at all. Should we do the drive chart?

Sure.

• One touchdown drive of 92 yards.
• Field goal drives of 66, 47, 46, and 33 yards.
• A 4-play, 57-yard drive intercepted at the 1 (really the 2).
• Two 3-and-outs, and a quick interception.
• A 50-second drill at the end of the 1st half that ended at midfield, and a 60-yard FG drive and 39-yard drive in garbage time against the backups.

Also one of those field goal drives had a fake punt in it that probably should have been ruled short, and definitely should have called been holding. Another field goal drive was Purdue converting 3rd downs with some insane catches. Another was just a short field after Michigan punted from their 3.

The running EPA total graph does a better job of showing what I mean. Purdue's offense added most of its value early, then bounced around for the next three quarters. There are big hops up when someone made a silly catch, big falls when Michigan killed a play with pressure or intercepted, and lots of forgettable runs that got stuffed along the way. There were probably two times Michigan could have gotten burned for more than Purdue got, versus twelve low-likelihood events (tough catches, missed calls, fumbles recovered) that went Purdue's way. If you figure the game was basically over after Will Johnson's second pick, a lot of the "value" they added late burned enough clock to make it a net gain for the defense.

So yeah, the touchdown drive was the only one where it really felt like Michigan didn't have this.

What the hell happened on that drive?

The observations of the general populace were correct: Michigan blew some easy coverages badly, and missed some tackles, badly. Most of it was just two guys, RJ Moten and Michael Barrett. I don't have a lot of explanation for Barrett because in his case it was just bad play. Like here he's in position break on—and probably intercept—a little snag route and thinks the ball is going outside of him. Instead it's thrown right at him, the WR adjusts, and Barrett shows up where the throw should have been.

#23 the LB on the right

After that Barrett got too worried about the snag, carried that guy all the way to Colson, and didn't come off on the RB in the flat.

#23 the LB on the top

That's not such a big deal—it's 2nd & 5, you're in zone, and they run a zone beater. It happens.

Moten's mistakes in this drive were less excusable. Purdue's running the same play as above but Michigan's supposed to be in a coverage to defeat it now. Except two guys end up covering the same spot—in fact they bump into one another.

When you've got a screwup that large it takes me a minute to figure out where everyone was supposed to be. But here's the picture that makes the most sense:

I believe it's some kind of Cover 2 meant to look to O'Connell like Cover 3, except the only person they fooled into thinking it's Cover 3 is Moten.

It's possible they were having Moten and Barrett swap zones, which would explain why Barrett was trying to get outside when Moten blocked him, and the problem was Barrett spent too long on the TE that wasn't his responsibility. I find that unlikely; I think the reason Barrett ran outside after the screwup was the design of the coverage was supposed induce a throw to the flat. Moten was probably supposed to make a show of staying over the TE to sell O'Connell on Cover 3, then break to his hook/curl zone, inducing a throw to the flat that Turner and Barrett were ready to break on.

Also nobody noticed, but Johnson also busted his coverage on the left side after the two WRs crossed, following WR#9 for another good second after WR#4 exited stage left.

The next play was the screen that Moten had lined up and just whiffed on. I've got nothing…he's coming down the hash, the WR is on the hash, and Moten just tackled air.

The end-around that set up their touchdown was another complete whiff. Barrett's right to hold back because he's coming from behind, where a tackle allows the carrier to get extra YAC.

Barrett is #23 the top LB. Moten is #6 the top S

Moten was the guy coming down, and he just whiffed. Then Barrett did try to make the tackle, and fell off. Explanations for this stuff are beyond me—I can't chart mental hangovers from Ohio State and whatnot.

I did have a Barrett complaint on a zone play the next drive. You'll note the coverage here was much tighter—Moore is making a tackle on the catch, and there isn't a big window for O'Connell to make that throw. But once again there was no chip on that receiver as he passed through the linebacker level.

Watch #23, the top LB, as the WR goes by

I still don't know why that's not a part of their zone game, but it's probably one of the reasons their zone coverages tend to get chewed up on intermediate throws.

So how bad did this stuff come out?

Moten didn't get fixed; he got pulled for Paige after that drive, returned for a few plays when they ran out three safeties, promptly blew another coverage, and then Quinten Johnson got some run and Moten did not appear again until garbage time. Whatever's going on there, he's not the player he was last year. Hopefully there's an explanation.

As for the tackling and the coverage, they got so much better that they actually scored positive.

Positive? Let me see this. Chart. CHAAAARRRRT!!!

Chart. Note that the totals only reflect the main rotation, not the deep bench or the one special teams event.

Defensive Line
Player	Snaps	+	-	T	Notes
Mazi Smith	54	11.5	0	+11.5	Just turn off your run game.
Kris Jenkins	44	9.5	2	+7.5	Consistently got through.
Mason Graham	31	4	0.5	+3.5	Motor motor motor.
Rayshaun Benny	19	4	2.5	+1.5	One great play, one Belly lesson.
Kenneth Grant	13	1	2	-1	Okay.
Michael Morris	0	0	0	-	DNP
Jaylen Harrell	40	5	3.5	+1.5	Not an issue, bonked once.
Taylor Upshaw	26	4	2	+2	Upshaw Line is also "got a drive-ending sack in B10CG."
Eyabi Okie	41	11	1	+10	Neither Purdue OT could handle him.
Braiden McGregor	34	7	1	+6	Purdue OTs weren't good but he looked ready to start.
Derrick Moore	41	8.5	1	+7.5	Standout game, bad RT helped.
TJ Guy	5	2	0	+2	Two good edges set late.
TOTAL	343	65.5	15.5	+50	When you add good DE play to the DTs you get this.
Linebacker
Player	Snaps	+	-	T	Notes
Junior Colson	72	9	1.5	+7.5	NOT the usual: made this from mostly +1s and +0.5s!
Michael Barrett	63	13	9.5	+3.5	Very rough start, came back to finish positive.
Jimmy Rolder	28	1.5	2	-0.5	Report to the rotation kid, you made it.
Kalel Mullings	7	0	6	-6	RB performance good reason to hit the portal.
Joey Velazquez	5	0	1	-1	But good for baseball.
Micah Pollard	5	0	2	-2	Freshman isn't answer to snag coverage.
TOTAL	170	23.5	19	+4.5	Even after 2nd drive this is +10.5 without Mullings.
Secondary
Player	Snaps	+	-	T	Notes
DJ Turner	64	9	4.5	+4.5	Strong game as a tackler, soft coverage issues.
Mike Sainristil	72	7.5	0	+7.5	>>>Dax. Shoulda been 1stTm All-B10. Shield time.
Will Johnson	60	10	4	+6	Arrived, but now the fans can see it.
Gemon Green	38	6.5	1	+5.5	Still good. Things he got hit with weren't his fault.
Jalen Perry	5	0	2	-2	Blew a tackle.
German Green	5	1	0	+1	Comfortable in zones.
Rod Moore	77	7.5	2	+5.5	Very very close to the star.
Makari Paige	63	4.5	4	+0.5	Think the big bust was on him, good tackling was too.
RJ Moten	23	2	8	-6	Regression now a fact. He's virtually unplayable now.
Quinten Johnson	16	3	0	+3	Responsibility was appreciated.
TOTAL	413	50	23.5	+26.5	Started ugly, finished really strong.
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Pressure	37	2	66%	Murderated, especially vs that RT.
Coverage	30	20	+10	Fixed their issues by going man.
Tackling	13	9	+4	Another big comeback.
RPS	21	18	+3	Emptied the playbooks, fake flea was cool.
Hat Tip	8	12	-4	Many insane catches, three fumbles.

Tell me how they fixed the coverage.

They went to man-to-man. Pre-snap alignments are not exact representations of coverage because defenses disguise things, but they do generally represent the intent, and this changed dramatically. After the first quarter they went from both cornerbacks playing off to a lot more guys pressing, without changing how the safeties aligned. Here's my charting of the pre-snap coverage looks Michigan showed by quarter (removing the garbage drive):

	1-high press (Cover 1)	2-high press (Press Qtrs)	1-high off (Cover 3)	2-high off (Cover 2)	Zone Looks
1st Q	4	4	4	8	40%
2nd Q	5	10	2	1	6%
3rd Q	6	7	2	3	17%
4th Q	12	6	3	6	22%

They didn't go full Don Brown—the coverages were still quite varied. But it's fair to say that after the first quarter Minter decided the Cover 2 approach wasn't working and decided to let his cornerbacks get in their receivers' faces. This in turn led to a lot more eight-man boxes that delivered safeties to the run more quickly. After we scouted Purdue we thought that should have been the approach from the start—Charlie Jones is a good receiver, but Aidan O'Connell's at his best when picking apart zones, and Purdue wants to run the ball a lot more than Brohm's given credit for.

Purdue's run game mostly came with pass-if-it's-there reads that were taken away with the man coverage. Note how O'Connell's watching the receiver at the bottom before handing off. That guy may be going into a route, but Johnson's now playing up on him, so the read is dead. (Also Monsieur Colson has something to say about your run).

We also noted they like to look to Charlie "Chuck Sizzle" Jones. Here's the 3rd down before the fake punt. Not only has Michigan rolled down Turner into press coverage, but Paige is also set to break on a Sizzle slant. The guess is correct, and Turner breaks up the slant with Paige so nearby he almost intercepts it off the deflection.

But that strategy comes with a risk. Rod Moore was going to be all alone without leverage as soon as this TE cleared Junior Colson:

This would come back to bite them later on. Here's a 3rd and 10 early in the 4th quarter. I clipped the whole sequence so you can see the point that Aidan O'Connell notices Colson walking down to add himself to the pressure.

Watch the secondary communicating after O'Connell switches the play. Paige (safety #7 on the top hash) is directing coverage to the outside. Green (#22 on the top) is trying to get his attention like "Yo, you're leaving me without any help inside." Turner's looking at the sideline like "That doesn't make sense!" The cornerbacks are absolutely correct. Paige stays down, Rolder has no chance to get the kind of depth they would need from him after starting the play at the line of scrimmage, and Green has no help inside on a deep in.

This could have been a lot worse; if Rolder actually did get back far enough to take away a deep in from Charlie Jones the slot receiver was about to be Cornelius Johnson-open on a post.

That was a rare instance of Michigan trying to run an exotic coverage—and they clearly screwed something up in the late audible. Once they went to man coverage the stuff Purdue was getting was mostly on Tip o' the hat catches. Chuck Sizzle got hot against those early zones, but when you're catching this crew tends to let you get away with push-offs, and between that and the way he was plucking them out of the air I couldn't find much fault with Michigan's defensive backs. YMMV. Part of the DJ Turner Experience is he's not big, so if they're not enforcing the rules he's in tough.

Also that's a great catch. Jones did the same thing to Moore, who's also not a large guy:

I mean, whether you think it's enough to be called or not, that's enough OPI that I don't think the DB should get graded negatively for not making the play, which is what this exercise is about. Sometimes Sizzle didn't even have to cheat to add yards without incurring a negative on the defensive back covering him. What can Moore do here?

Moten got dinged for not getting deep enough there, but Rod Moore has one hand on the ball and the other coming down on Jones's arm at the catch. Hat emphatically tipped to that guy.

The Boilermakers also got these plays from guys you've never heard of like Paul Piferi, Andrew Sowinski, and Nefagun Agifewup. The one that takes the cake is Sowinski's, what we call a "Mitch Leidner Special" after the Minnesota quarterback in 2015 who perfected the front-shoulder fade. The concept of a front-shoulder fade is ridiculous because the defender is supposed to be on that shoulder. It works because the defensive back thinks there's no way the quarterback threw that ball inside.

For reference, here's what's *supposed* to happen when you throw at the receiver's front shoulder:

Hello Will Johnson!

So the thing about the second interception is it was set up by a bust earlier in the game:

Johnson tried to break on that but held up a fraction, arriving a beat late and giving up the catch and run. The next time they threw a slant under him in off man coverage he had the timing down.

That pick virtually ended the game, but Johnson had a lot to do with getting it to that point. I especially liked this one where he's adjusting to the weird formation, directing everyone where to go, then following Charlie Jones through the TE's attempted interference, and dragging him down for zero YAC.

Purdue also saw their screen game canceled on the first snap when Johnson read what they were up to and shot into the play faster than the Boilers could get it set up.

His play in the Ohio State game cemented Will Johnson as a starter until the moment he's ready to move on (hopefully not for many years, NIL). His play in this one is the reason Woodson's jersey's now in actual danger of the fate that befell Anthony Carter's and Rick Leach's.

Tell me how they fixed the tackling.

It was kinda just that one drive? Michigan was #1 to PFF in tackling this year, for what it's worth. Barrett came out for Rolder for a spell but Barrett got back in quickly and was back to his pretty good self.

I showed the RB nailing one of his blitzes above, but that was the only time Barrett blitzed that he wasn't causing disruption. He knows how to "get skinny" as the coaches say.

#23 the one blitzing

He's also gotten so much more comfortable at staying off of blocks. Early in the season he was just eating tight ends like this, and in the middle of the season he was hitting the correct shoulder. The last few weeks he's been actually playing linebacker games, setting up outside until the blocking has committed to a lane, then hopping into that lane.

#23 the LB below the hash

That's the difference between this play gaining two yards and four or six. The fact that he used to be a hybrid is now ancient history. The man is here to do some linebacking, and by that I mean See the gap, spring into action, knock over a lineman, and stuff-style linebacking.

#23 the LB just above the top hash

Compared to the up-and-down nature of most of Junior Colson's games this year, if you're going to come in with a Jonas "Janus" Mouton score I'd rather you get all the negatives in a bunch early when it can be explained away as some mental deal, then spend the rest of the day dealing. The switch away from zone coverages might have helped too.

I think they helped Colson as well, because he wasn't up and down this game…just up. You wanna talk about getting skinny…kids, this is how you run blitz:

#25 the top ILB

There was still an instance of dropping into grass but that was his only material ding on the day, versus a lot of solid execution of intermediate difficult concepts like scrape exchanging or filling a gap when the puller arrives. As much as I love a good run blitz, the most encouraging part of Colson's day was how he handled #8's crossing route here.

Watch #25, the LB on the bottom hash, and Purdue #8, the WR under the "10" at the bottom.

Veteran move from a guy who's closing in on the midpoint of his college career. The best is yet to come; I wouldn't expect him to be more than neutral in the Playoff.

I said the tackling, you just went off on linebackers.

Well yeah, that's who does a lot of the tackling. Also once they got Moten off the field everyone else in the secondary got the message. Paige missed one early but came back with mustard.

#7 the bottom safety

Sainristil merely needed to hold serve this game to earn his Shield on the FFFF team sheets, but this helped me make the call.

#0 the nickel

And even DJ Turner II came down for a stick well before my mind was expecting him to arrive.

#5 the CB on the bottom

I thought Brohm was killing us in play-calling. How the hell did we win RPS?

Well to begin with Brohm spotted Michigan a bunch of points with screens. I had Minter up five-nil after the first drive of two screens and a sack. The six screens Purdue ran this game ended up gaining a total of 17 yards, 14 of those from the Moten whiff on Jones. Every screen they tried Michigan had one or more defenders checking a guy trying to slip out, or a guy flying upfield to tackle before it made it out of the backfield, or that and another guy batting it down before it left the pocket.

Minter also corner-blitzed into an Arc Read, stunted his DTs to stop Belly, slanted into their Power run setup, and had myriad other tricks.

He mixed in more three-man rushes, which both messed with O'Connell's desire to make a quick read, and took advantage of Purdue's porous offensive line. In the runup to the Ohio State game defenses got used to Michigan's Amoeba pressures and adjusted by leaving in extra blockers or spreading the Wolverines out. Brohm doesn't believe in max protect, but still got caught with extra blockers and lots of Wolverines in coverage a few times. But Brohm's an excellent coach—a lot better poker player than Ryan Day—and O'Connell's a smart quarterback, and sometimes one or both of them caught Michigan in their games and got a matchup like Charlie Jones in the slot versus Jaylen Harrell trying to back out of a DE spot.

Michigan also had multiple ideas for for Purdue's heretofore favorite play, Mesh. This Amoeba blitz looks like something they prepared for a week earlier and didn't get to use. Colson threatens RG#63, who then sees Upshaw coming across him as Colson goes outside and naturally follows the the DE into the A gap, not noticing the looping Harrell until it's too late.

It's a good thing too since #4 got away with blocking Paige (then tried to blame him for the collision, Spart!). If the pressure didn't get home, and Purdue's illegal pick remained uncalled, Paige's tight end was getting loose.

Michigan's Mesh plans didn't always catch Mesh. Here's a late 3rd & 4, which seems like a good spot for the Air Raid's favorite play. Both tackles drop into the places where you'd expect there to be crossing routes. Fortunately Harrell got around the right tackle and everyone's pretty well covered despite spending three defenders on a play that didn't come. I dinged Minter a –1 because he spent his deep safety and the throw is a slot fade, but it's not like Sainristil's in a bad spot here.

The reason Brohm's return shots stand out is because they were grand set pieces, like an end-around where the tight end reverses course (Michigan covered that one) or, of course, the fake flea flicker.

I capped the RPS at –3 for that one but here's a complete list of guys who got fooled:

1. Colson, who's into the backfield and standing next to the RB as he turns upfield post-fake.
2. Mazi Smith and Derrick Moore, who convert to pass-rushing when they see him flipping it back.
3. Barrett, who's dropping into coverage and doesn't see the RB has it until he's drifted almost to the hash mark.
4. Paige, who's got his back turned and is bailing deep as Barrett realizes what's up.
5. Sainristil, who's directing zone coverage this whole time.
6. Gemon Green, who's looking at Sainristil until the RB's made it 13 yards downfield.
7. Rod Moore, who gets hurdled at the end.

Probably should have been a "RUN! GUYS TURN AROUND IT'S A RUN!" communication somewhere in the first 15 or so yards, but who's ever seen that before?

Also there was that end-around that Turner stopped but only after both linebackers are dead.

Ultimately, Minter had more in the bag than Brohm, in part because he had the clear talent advantage and could spare more guys for gambles like "Send everybody at the quarterback and live with where he chucks it." Like the time he chucked it at Will Johnson:

Is that where all that pressure came from? That 66% looks like it comes from a different part of the season!

No, actually, the pass rush was pretty consistent even when they brought four… or three for that matter.

Hell yeah, #26 Rayshaun Benny, DT below the hash mark

When the other team is mostly moving the ball with excellent catches it's usually a sign that they're throwing it into coverage. It helped that Purdue spent most of the game unable to run, and clawing back one field goal at a time from from multiple-score deficits. I noted that Upshaw played a lot less than usual; Eyabi Okie actually led the position group in pre-garbage time snaps, and Braiden McGregor and Derrick Moore were on the field as often as Harrell.

Part of the grating annoyance of the great catches the Purdue receivers were making was they came while speech bubbles of "Oh GET HIM!!" were still floating in the air. Before the push-off and great catch here Derrick Moore was getting hauled down by the left tackle:

I noted a lot of plays in the 2nd half where O'Connell was able to make one read before launching it. Sometimes there was a receiver in the area, but other times his only option was to burn a down.

Since Okie's pass rush is still the most effective on the team, it's perhaps more encouraging that he had none of the breakdowns that suddenly plagued him against Ohio State. In fact when they tried to get clever on him he smoked it out.

#18 the DE on the top reacting to TE #87 in the backfield

But there's an unfortunate other similarity to the early part of the season when we theorized Okie might give them a shot at something like one of last year's ends. Namely, hypothetical tackles, especially Purdue's right one. That guy had a hand in all three of Michigan's on-field sacks (AOC running himself out one time, and the grounding call at the end of the 1st half were the other two). Jaylen Harrell's spin move hadn't gotten him by anybody since the Indiana game until this dude fell victim. McGregor also got credit on this one for some good anvil'ing.

 

Harrell's sack on the first drive was mostly generated by Smith coming through, but how many times this year did we see Harrell get stuck on a blocker instead of shaking free to be the anvil? Similarly, Upshaw's drive-killing sack got an assist from a collapsing pocket and Upshaw planting the RT eight yards back, then coming free underneath him.

Unless you completely Hutchinson a guy, however, effective pressures usually need more than one player coming through. As usual, Michigan's DTs were able to push the pocket and help turn losses by the tackles into throwaways or worse. Braiden McGregor got the RT's number here, but look one DL spot up from the bottom to see Graham swimming through a double (and picking up another hold that they're never going to call in that situation).

I usually don't capture the Smith and Jenkins +2s anymore because we've got so many banked already. But sometimes Smith doing a typically ridiculous thing like swimming immediately through a guard on a 3rd & 6 makes the clips because there was an interesting RPS check that beat it or something.

#58 the top DT

And sometimes I get to the end of the charting and there's nothing but a rouge +1 on someone else's bad moment that made it into another rote good day.

Sorry, Kris Jenkins. You're too awesome, and too much of a known. This late in the season that's so well established that I ignore you and take clips of the freshmen DL all being in their gaps productively (before getting chucked to the ground) during garbage time instead.

Oooh Rod Moore right there! Is he getting the Smith/Jenkins treatment now too? You said he was closing in on a star then stopped talking about him.

 

If you're a star safety you should be mostly ignored. Moore was the guy with a hand on the ball on two of Purdue's crazy good catches. I can't tell you what more he needs to do to earn the star, and he probably would have gotten it if either of those falls incomplete. That tackle above is par for the course for him. He's just there.

What the hell was up with Purdue running in clock situations?

Ha, I dunno, but it got me to start playing around with a way to count the percent of remaining clock, relative to the score differential, in my expected points calculations. I don't think it's ready to be included in the charting, but the formula minus its tweaks is pretty simple:

Points Differential  ×  Time the Play Used
--------------------------------------------------------    
Minutes Remaining²

The idea is to have this be a tweak to Expected Points Added. If you run for 10 yards on 1st & 10 from your 25, that's usually worth 0.84 in EPA, a fairly good play. But if you do this when down 12 points at 3:00 in the 4th quarter and it uses 30 seconds…is it *reeeeally* a good play? To whit, play success-oriented fancystats are going to like Jeff Brohm's penultimate field goal drive, when they ran five times in a row for 10, 9, 4, 6, and 0 yards, passed for 6 on 3rd & 4, then ran again before sputtering out at Michigan's 15. That's a cool 2.08 EPA drive that gained 3 points. It also used all of four of the nine minutes they had left to turn a 36-19 game into a 36-22 one. My very basic Clock Score metric says that drive didn't really help them, since that's well off the pace of what they needed to score to get back in it.

I was not expecting math there.

Sorry.

What the hell on the fake punt?

Oh that.

So four things I want to say about it, in descending order of gripe:

1. Julius Welschof needs to get up there and set an edge. The way he's playing this makes no sense, especially because he's been converted to an OLB this year, so stepping up and setting an edge should be the #1 thing he's practiced this season.

2. Joe Taylor got robbed of a great play. No, you can't just reach back and grab a guy's shoulder after he's gone by. At least we only got Jerry McGinn'd (remember the personal foul on Harrell for a hand gesture?) out of a possession twice this year. If that guy ever calls a fair game for Michigan it'll be his first.

3. It's Jeff Brohm, on 4th & 4 at midfield. Half the people watching this game are going "This is gonna be a fake." Likelihood of a return is extremely slim. So why not just put your regular defense out there?

4. If you really Zapruder it, it was short, but by so little that it's unlikely a spot review can overturn the call on the field.

draw a line between the markers

Heroes?

Your Big Ten Champions! Will Johnson arrived. Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins owned the line of scrimmage. Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore, and Eyabi Okie got consistent pressure. Junior Colson had his best game as a Wolverine despite just one highlight-worthy play. Gemon Green, Mike Sainristil and Rod Moore were excellent despite getting hit with a couple of Hat moments. Jesse Minter went toe-to-toe with the best in-game coach in the league. 2nd through 4th quarters Michael Barrett.

Maybe not so heroic?

RJ Moten: something's gotta be up. Kalel Mullings. 1st quarter Michael Barrett.

What does it mean for TCU and Beyond?

It's nice to have Don Brown in your back pocket. The early Cov2 stuff wasn't working so they went press, added a guy to the box here and there, and everything Purdue got after was a tough catch or an RPS thing. Of course a big reason they could do that was…

Will Johnson is a star. Gave up nothing(!) to Chuck Sizzle, directed traffic like a vet, had the two biggest plays of the game after balling out versus Ohio State. Been Michigan's best cornerback for weeks. Like the Woodsons, Marlins, Leons, and Ty Laws of yore, this is the moment from his freshman year when you know the rest is gonna be great.

Brohm vs Minter was the poker game of the year. The RPS in this game was *fun*!! Both guys emptied the drawer, tried to guess at each others' responses. After a year of saving it and then the desperation assault of Ohio State it was fun to see Minter slinging with the toughest card player in the conference this season.

Junior Colson had it easy for once. Purdue's offense is the opposite of linebacker hell. Wasn't the problem in zone coverage, is excellent in man, showed again that he's a plus blitzer. Proof of concept for my theory that Michigan's defense means LBs need to be graded on a curve.

Barrett's issues were probably a one-off. Big busts in zone coverage and missed tackles haven't been problems before, and went away after the third drive.

Little DBs need OPI turned on. Another game when Michigan gave up multiple downfield chucks against good coverage because big WRs are allowed to push off. Getting really sick of free chunks on 3rd and long when DJ Turner did everything right.

Seeya next year Big Ten refs. Jerry McGinn is the poster child for all that pleases and annoys about Big Ten officiating: refs the score, takes "let them play" to extremes, makes pedantic calls based on vibes, extremely gullible. I know everyone's refs have their issues but it's gonna be wild on NYE when a bounce isn't a 50-50 proposition that your guy will get yanked back, Okie gets a flop warning instead of drawing a 15-yarder, and Green can't run a guy over just because he stopped.

RJ Moten needs a reset button. He was solid last year but for a few (sometimes major) blips, and started the first half of this one, but has been virtually unplayable since Rutgers. Figure they'll get it sorted out in the offseason.

Kalel Mullings can be an RB next year because Jimmy Rolder is ready. Just one mistake on ~30 snaps. I know this wasn't a tough LB game but the freshman's play is now much closer to the starters than Mullings and the rest.

I enjoyed last week's moment of zen. Can you bring that back please?

Okay well you asked for it. Here it is, your moment of zen: