A word of caution concerning TripOp teams...
For those who freak out easily, listen up:
ARMY WILL MOVE THE BALL ON US.
It's the nature of the triple option. No matter how good your defense is, and no matter the final score, the stats against a triple option team always seem to appear as if your defense just didn't show up, and this is a point that needs to be remembered.
Remember 2015, when Air Force (also a TripOp team) played Michigan State (who had what was probably their best team ever under Dantonio)? MSU won that game by two touchdowns. But Air Force had well over 400 yards of offense on that game.
Let's go to 2014, Ohio State vs Navy (yep, TripOp team). OSU won by two touchdowns and a field goal (34-17). Yet, in that game as well, Navy nearly put 400 yards up on them.
The reason why I'm throwing this all out is because the game against Army will probably not be indicative of the yardage that may potentially be put upon us by other teams. TripOp teams can make defenses look like inept fools, even when losing, and it can be easy to freak out on that stat alone.
So, my fellow Wolverine fans: expect Army to move the ball. But yardage or not, I expect two things
1.) Armed Forces teams are not known for being the greatest at defense against conventional teams
2.) We'll get the stops when we need them
That is all for now.
September 1st, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
TripOp < Natty
And I hate Natty.
September 1st, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
Maybe 3Op if he really want's to be efficient with his shortcuts?
And BTW, EVERYONE hates Natty!
September 1st, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
Indeed. The neighbors across the way are having a party, and there is Natty visible on the table on the patio, and I think I hate them and Natty now.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^
but not having to type those extra letters saves so much time
ugh
September 1st, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
u r correct sir
September 1st, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
2013 was Dantonio’s best. 2015 was his luckiest until Alabama. Bama made luck irrelevant.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
That was my qualm with this post too lol. 2015 wasn’t close to Dantonio’s best. The Rose Bowl team was his best outfit.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Since pass rush won't be as big of a concern this week, the interior DL needs to be more focused on sucking up blockers and occupying rushing lanes. Vincent Gray looked like a tackler and we know Metellus and Ross can hit. Those three should be strong help for the edge defenders.
You are right, the service academies will turn any game into a rock fight. Ignore the point spread, ignore that rushing yards against stat. Just clean up the shit from last night's offense execution, get a win and get to the bye week to prepare for Wisconsin.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:10 PM ^
It’s been widely reported that Michigan spent multiple weeks practicing for Army in the summer/fall camps.
Hopefully everyone is healthy and the Army that played against Rice shows up in the Big House.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
Army had 284 yards against rice.
If if they have 400, I will freak the f out
September 1st, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
I think Army was looking past Rice with Michigan looming the following week.
Rice was 2-11 last season. They won their first game and they won their last name. In-between was an 11(!) game losing streak. Yikes.
Wouldn't most 11-2 teams with a monster game second on their schedule overlook a pathetic team from the prior year?
I'm fully expecting Army to have the ball for 35 minutes and amass 300+ yards and multiple 4th down conversions.
Michigan will win but it'll be another annoying game.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:31 PM ^
I didn't even know it was possible to go 2-11.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:25 PM ^
Special NCAA scheduling rule... if you play a game at Hawai'i, you're allowed a 13th regular-season game to compensate for the extra travel costs and time.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:27 PM ^
Underrated comment.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:43 PM ^
I watched almost all of the Army-Rice game. Army's offensive line was being pushed around by Rice's defensive line. Army only managed 2-3 of those long sustained drives they're known for. Army's defense was fast, but little. Rice had literally one of the worst passing games I've ever seen, and would have beat Army if they hadn't biffed 2 field goals. Army just waited until Rice was tired, then mashed their way down the field late in the 4th quarter to take the lead.
If Army is even close next week, that's a problem. They are undersized, and rely on surprise passes and risky 4th down conversions. Rice was able to stuff them most of the game until their defense got tired of carrying a non-existent offfense. I know Army won 10 games last year, but last week's team did not look like that team.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Last years team got their shit stuffed in game 1 against Duke and then gave Oklahoma quite the scare and put up a lot of points on a lot of good teams. Sometimes a triple option attack looks lackadaisical when it's trying to find its rhythm. Last week's game means almost nothing in regards to next week, because they're going to get faster and more decisive with their reads and option rules. What is a fortunate thing for us, is we play them week 2, before they really start to click.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
Army generated 284 yards of total offense against Rice. If we are to assume Army should easily put up 400 against us, that means Rice is going to have one of the best defenses in the nation this year.
edit: beat me to it.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
A Pre-emptive strike I see
September 1st, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
Very Important!
They also look at it and operate most of the time as if they have 4 plays to get 10 yards instead of 3 plays and a punt.
Also, from what I saw their corners are going to have a long day trying to cover our big receivers. Their safeties are going to be pretty nervous watching for the deep ball. Hope to see at least a few somewhat arm punts.
Our offense should be the exciting Speed on Space we've all anticipated to be unleashed.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
Going for it on 4th and 1 on your own 15 is never a good idea, regardless of the data analytics.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
Yeah I don't even know how you can feel good after that even if you convert it.
Especially considering the 14-7 Final score, can't imagine anytime during the game where it wouldn't have been a terrible idea.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:40 PM ^
That's literally what data driven decision making is about.
September 1st, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Yeah, but going for it on 4th down from your own 15? And not in a position of need? Need to see all of the relevant data sets before committing to that.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:18 PM ^
I hope your preemptive strike works, we'll see next Sunday. LOL Good info!
September 1st, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
I expect us to play some version of the 1-9-1 defensive formation for most of the game, as none of their players weigh more than 250 pounds, and all 11 of them will be running in every possible direction simultaneously the entire time they have the ball.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
Their line averages out to be about 285-300. Still undersized, but not as light as most would believe.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
Army had 284 yards against Rice. They will have some success next week at times and get a few frustrating 1st down conversions, but there is no reason to fear anything about this football team.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:09 PM ^
Agree completely. Making teams complete long, extended drives repeatedly against a team with superior talent is not a recipe for success.
I know...I know...new year for us....Oklahoma last year for them...BPONE....I get it.
Just only worried about teams with a great passing attack.
Slow, plodding offenses against a Don Brown defense = not worried.
GO BLUE!!
September 1st, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
Okay.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
Forgot about that one!
I don't know why, but that game felt closer than the stats make it look.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Because our O was really, really bad. They also ran a fake FG and fumbled in our territory. Aside from a late, long Higdon run our offense was non existent. Speight was off all day, and the only other TD was a DPJ punt return
September 1st, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
Speight was awful in this game, and they were like 0 for everything in the red zone. And, iirc, that one fumble was on the first drive of the game and seemed to deflate the entire offense as well as Michigan Stadium.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
Army will put together a few good drives.
They won't score much though.
Nothing to be concerned about.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
You may be biased against the US military.
September 1st, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
Have you ever met anyone who was obnoxiously overconfident before playing a service academy?? Ever???
September 1st, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
Notre Dame before Weiss lost to Navy?
September 1st, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
So don’t TripOut on the TripOp though be careful not to TripUp because it could be a TripOpTrap.
Ok, thx, op.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
I’m not going to worry about next Saturday’s result unless they lose. Triple options are so damn hard to prepare for. OSU barely beat Navy the year they won it all. Alabama gave up 300+ rushing yards to Georgia Southern a few years back. It happens against these guys. I just don’t understand what you possibly have to gain by scheduling a service academy. You literally have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
If you win, no one cares. If you lose, you’re a laughingstock. You spend so much time preparing for an offense that in no way prepares you for anything else you’ll face the rest of the year.
So many other ways to honor the military besides playing Navy, Army or Air Force.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
The service academies need games. The NCAA should require every P5 team to schedule one at some time. Rotate it around so the burden does not fall on just a handful of teams. Everybody steps up at some point.
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:58 PM ^
Agree 100% Mdog
September 1st, 2019 at 5:27 PM ^
Army averaged 392 yards per game last year. We should certainly strive to hold them to less than that given that we are Michigan and most of their opponents last year were G5 teams.
That said, given their propensity for chewing up clock we shouldn't expect to win in a blow-out. If we can beat them by three touchdowns, it will have been a solid day.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:30 PM ^
No blitzing
September 1st, 2019 at 5:44 PM ^
Army played a USA Conference team in their opener just like Michigan and Ohio State. Rice managed 181 yards on the ground and 63 through the air. Army rushed for 231 yards and passed for another 53 in their 14-7 win. Quarterback Kelvin Hopkins was their leading rusher carrying 21 times for 80 yards. He won the game late with a TD pass, only one of three completions in the game on eight pass attempts.
Looking at the highlights, Army seems to be fast to the ball on defense. They use a four man front and vary their backend looks depending on the situation.
They are pretty good at defending the edge and do a good job of penetration using speed and quickness. They like to run blitz in the A-B gaps. It's hard to judge their secondary because Rice only threw the ball 14 times, completing seven. But of those, a few were of the wide receiver screen and bubble pass variety, which got blown up. I am assuming they were just good outside reads.
Army's biggest play of the game, was a double reverse off their triple option action look and fake that sprung a wide receiver, Christian Hayes, for 35 yards. It was the Black Knights biggest play of the game.
They have a very athletic team and while undersized at many spots, make up for it with solid technique and discipline in what they do. They only recorded three TFL's. They allowed 6 yards per rush but only gave up a 3-11 third down efficiency ratio and 10 first downs, forcing Rice to punt 5 times while holding the ball for 25 minutes. On offense, they held the ball 9 minutes longer with 17 first downs.
Army punted just four times and failed to turn the Owls over while giving up one fumble. Because they pass so infrequently, when they do it, it seems like a surprise. And so when Hopkins hit his receiver late in the fourth quarter, he was wide open in a Rice zone coverage.
Michigan has better athletes and size advantage against this team. Whether it uses that advantage to full advantage is the big question. This is a game of reading keys and maintaining discipline.
Army will test Michigan on both sides of the ball. While a different opponent than they normally face in the course of a season, this team will present both a mental and physical challenge that Michigan is rarely forced to confront. And that's what makes the Black Knights a dangerous team.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:00 PM ^
September 1st, 2019 at 5:55 PM ^
As long as we come out with a win, and we dont get anyone's knees blown out with cut blocks, I will be happy.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:06 PM ^
We held Air Force to 232 if I remember correctly (this is so easy to look up but I refuse). We should hold Army under 300. There, I said it. Over 350 and I’ll be a little disappointed.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:09 PM ^
Actually logged in for the first time in a while to post here. You're totally right about flexbone teams - they're going to get their yardage.
I actually coach a pure flexbone/triple option high school team in Chicago. So if anyone has any direct questions about the scheme I'm happy to answer them.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
I also played and coached in a pure flexbone/ triple option high school in Chicago! We're in the NWBurbs, where's your school?
September 4th, 2019 at 1:06 PM ^
Saint Ignatius
September 1st, 2019 at 7:46 PM ^
I also played and coached in a pure flexbone/ triple option high school in Chicago! We're in the NWBurbs, where's your school?