unbalanced line

[Recurring guest author note: Ace is on Hawaii time]

RESISTENCE IS (/checks weather) FUTILE.

Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We are Borg. We have existed for hundreds of years, marching inexorably forward at a rate sufficient for first downs, passing only in conditions of peak efficiency as calculated by a quotient of run-pass-optimization. We have scored 200 touchdowns, accumulated 10,000 yards, won 35 of 41 games started.

Our ultimate goal is achieving perfection; to that end we have by maximum face-saving means finally removed creatively challenged Ed Warinner from our Collective, and assimilated the diabolical and technological distinctiveness of former Indiana  head coach Kevin Wilson to our own. His tempo, motion, and deep passing concepts have been adapted to serve us as we plod forward at optimal zombie efficiency.

I observed this collection of cybernetic organisms versus Iowa and Michigan State, two good defenses that lean on their cornerbacks. They’re a threat.

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Personnel:

You know these guys. QB JT Barrett is trying to become the first quarterback in this rivalry to win four straight since Rick Leach ever. He remains what he is, an excellent runner with total command of an offense designed around his ability to get every inch (and sometimes more) available to him, and a meh passer. RB JK Dobbins is a low bugger who Wally Pipp’d returning starter RB Mike Weber. Dobbins has more speed and moves his feet so quickly he tends to squirt through no holes all the time. Weber is squatter, slower, and the better blocker.

Pay no attention to which receivers are “starting” because they rotate all of them often, though H-receiver (their term for slot) Parris Campbell is usually in. There’s a lot of athleticism, but all the outside guys still run routes like Michigan’s freshmen, i.e. badly. TE Marcus Baugh is rounding into a good blocker; as a receiver he’s more of a catch-and-run dude than a matchup problem.

The genetically perfect offensive line has improved despite losing a decent new starter at one of the guard spots. C Billy Price has been a starter since their national championship season. Now at center, most of the offense goes through him. LT Jamarco Jones didn’t impress me as much as I thought he would—he’s more of a finesse guy than a mauler, but he’s not long enough to translate that to elite pass protection; he’s on the border. RG Michael Jordan took over Price’s old job and is better at being a large object in the way than the more complicated stuff he was doing last year. RT Isaiah Prince had a great Penn State game and has improved as a pass protector, however he’s still quite the sieve. LG Demetrius Knox was the projected starter last offseason so replacing injured Branden Bowen with him hasn’t hurt them. I’m anxious to see what they’re like next year without Price and Jones.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown]

[Guest author: Seth because Ace has bouncy hoopy ball season to preview]

this got charted as “LOLx”

Hi there. How you doing? Have you watched the above yet? Are you done laughing? It’s cool, you can watch it again. Here, have another angle. No, it won’t get old.

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So as you may recall, last year D.J. Durkin and his OC Walt Bell inherited a roster of interception-prone quarterbacks and zero viable receivers tall enough to ride a roller coaster. Their answer was to stack the wee little guys as far away from the play as possible.

just go away

Sure, having all of your receivers bunched together limits the passing game to screens, but given that throwing downfield is more like playing “500” than football, that’s was fine. The payoff for this was fewer defenders in range to stop their two excellent scatbacks. I gave Walt major props for this. This is being the best you.

This year they’re down to their fourth string quarterback, and not even bothering to have one of those receivers eligible. Who needs five potential pass-catchers when the quarterbacks aren’t going to look for more than one or two reads? Every unit placed further from the running game is one less defender who can beat a bad blocker and corral the boys.

I watched the Wisconsin game, which featured an uncharacteristic surfeit of 5-wide sets and deep balls to their various Lilliputian receivers. This is not who you are, Maryland. You know who you are. The most success they had was running the same run play four times in a row from an unbalanced set.

Personnel: My diagram (click to enlarge):

yes their base is unbalanced

(Michigan things: Solomon draws into the starting lineup since he’s been there more or less the last two games. Winovich gets flowing beautiful blonde locks by way of apology for having his number wrong all year.)

So, about the above. In early 2017 the Terps tried having a quarterback do more than hand off to Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison, and throw screens in the direction of D.J. Moore. Like run, maybe. Or pass.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown]

This drove us nuts against UCF:

This drove us nuts against Colorado:

This shouldn’t be happening. To understand why we have to go back to the rules of football.

Ends and Backs

Football evolved from a rugby-like game, with forward passing added almost a generation later. The running sport and the passing sport never perfectly coalesced into one—even today there are offenses that treat their quarterback as a primary rusher or primarily a passer. You can also trace the problem of linemen blocking downfield on passing plays back to this awkward marriage of two games. So they had to make rules: You can block here but not there. The rule that matters to us is this guy is an eligible receiver and that guy isn’t.

[After THE JUMP: What’s a legal formation, why teams do this, and a jazzy snazzy video]