Why wouldn't a defense put a guy over Moose?
Not that I dislike Moosman, I think he is a great guard that is filling in as well as can be expected in a different role. Having played line in the past, I understand the considerable challenge with having to 1) snap a ball and 2) take your first step after said snap. This is more difficult with someone over you or lined up along side and crashing down hard. I am curious to know why more teams are not lining up over him or running more line twists or blitzes up the middle to confuse him or disrupt the snap.
I assume this is simply due to the fact we are typically stretching the edges. Not sure if Sharik or others have an opinion.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^
they aren't?
October 30th, 2009 at 5:07 PM ^
The twists happened at Iowa for a limited time and he gets most pressure with a line stunt. We have not seen any 5 man fronts with the exception of goal line situations. I mean who knows what an extra 1 or 2 bad snaps a game can mean.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^
both have very good lines, so I'm guessing they didn't feel like they needed to do anything in particular to do well on defense. Creating a new package when you've already got a successful line seems like it would cost reps without the guaranteed upside of what's already working. I'd expect to see it against teams in need of an advantage on the line.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^
Moose have antlers. Case closed.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:34 PM ^
Well, if we managed to get to the Rose Bowl we'd see it quite a lot (against USC), other than that the only other team i've seen combat spread run teams with this is Tennessee. They do it to cover all 5 lineman to free up backers against the runners. Teams are scouting Michigan to be more of a passing team (Look at Iowa running two-deep the whole game), and want to get people into coverage and into the flats. Maybe against Robinson teams would come down into a 50 front. I only mention the 50 front because nobody in the Big Ten runs a 3-4 or anything like it that i've seen. In bullets because I'm a terrible communicator...
- They won't run a 50 front because they want to commit to the pass.
- They don't have a 30 base.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:10 AM ^
They're not putting someone over the center because a) this isn't high school where a ton of teams run a 5-3 or 5-2 and b) most teams don't run a 3-4 defense. Most schools run some variation of a 4-3, which typically doesn't have a tackle directly over the center.
On top of that, putting a guy over the center wouldn't really help a defense's goal. It would actually probably make Molk's block easier, since right now he'd have to snap AND step. If he were facing a nose tackle, he'd simply have to snap the ball and then wall off the defender.
October 31st, 2009 at 8:59 AM ^
that we seldon run center-guard gap and the D would be relying on this forcing bad snaps. I don't think you want to base your D on the other team making bad snaps.