UGASports.com Film Breakdown of M Offense: "They Have Some Dudes"
I don't know about you, Comrades, but I'm starved for MGoBlog-style film breakdowns. I have a good one for you from Dayne Young and Brent Rollins of UGASports.com's Film Don't Lie. Some of their key takeaways:
- They're impressed by the diversity of Michigan's run game (split zone, counter, pin & pull, etc) and by the ability of Haskins to get yards after contact. They're less impressed by the push generated by Michigan's OL. "They're not a bunch of butt-kickers," they say about the OL, and expect Georgia's DTs to get push against them.
- They're curious to see how M's run-first philosophy works against Georgia. "No one has tried that against Georgia this season," they noted multiple times. They think Georgia will line up to stop the run, and invite McNamara to try to beat them deep.
- In the passing game, they see the potential for Georgia's DL to bat down some of McNamara's sidearm passes. They do like Erick All. "Michigan has some dudes," they say.
- They were very interested in Michigan's performance against MSU, because Mel Tucker was Georgia's DC, and Georgia still runs the same 4-2-5 scheme (albeit with far more talent). They were surprised that Andrel Anthony got so many targets in that game but relatively few thereafter.
- They noted the importance of watching out for M's "gadget plays," like the end-arounds to Henning and the flea-flickers. "The scout team is going to have to prepare for those."
- They see a lot of improvement in M's offense from the PSU game to the OSU game.
The UGASports.com guys also do a lot of breakdown of UGA's performance against Alabama at their YouTube page. Well worth your time.
December 27th, 2021 at 9:16 AM ^
I can't watch the film because I'm at work today (booooo!!), but one thing I haven't figured out yet - what is the job of Georgia's DL? Do they just eat blocks in the run game to let the LB'ers fill in and make the stops? Or are they actively setting a wall to stop the runner themselves and allow the LB'ers to be the safety situation while focusing more on pass defense? (Yeah, I get that it's not an 'either/or' situation...)
If the primary responsibility is to eat OL blocking and let the LB'ers make plays, I kinda like M's run game. If there is one thing Jim MF'ing Harbaugh has been able to do throughout his career, reliably, that one thing would be fucking with linbackers. Dude lives to torture them...
December 27th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^
We've got some dudettes, too.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
Would love for this to be there game where we deploy all the receiver talent we have.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
I have fond memories of 2006, where we ran all over CMU and... Vandy (??). We were all concerned about Notre Dame that year, and Carr just UNLEASHED the passing game to end Brady Quinn's Heisman hopes and make him cry on the sidelines. My god that's still a delicious memory...
December 27th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
Georgia's DL is great, and if they beat us, that might be the biggest reason why. But I also know that they're getting a bit ahead of themselves with their analysis of our OL, since Georgia hasn't faced an OL of our caliber this year. Bama is probably the closest, and this year Michigan's is decidedly better than Bama's
December 27th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
I'm kind of mixed on this. Our OL is very good. I don't know that they're otherworldly. Now, granted, they're reviewing film of games against really good defenses, like Wisconsin... but they have a really good defense. And what they appear to be looking at is the matchup with their excellent DL, and they don't think our guys can just pave their DL.
I don't know that they're wrong. One of the reasons that Michigan's offense has been so effective this year is that it has succeeded even when initial work to run the ball hasn't yielded impressive results. As they highlight in the portion of the video I've watched, Michigan throws a lot of different looks at the defense in the run game, and as we've seen, Michigan is willing to use the passing game when progress on the ground is slow.
I mentioned this in a UFR thread: Michigan's OL is very good, but it doesn't grade remarkably better than 2019's line. What has changed is how the rest of the offense is built around them, and the talent that is put in places to succeed.
And the reason that this matters is that I think there's a good chance that Michigan's initial attempt to run against Georgia's defense don't look good. That we have some empty drives. And, after multiple games of having my pessimism proven excessive, I actually think that the staff and the players have both the will and the tools to work around those challenges and get positive production.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:57 PM ^
To be clear, I certainly don't expect us to pave their DL. Michigan might have the best OL in the country this year, but it's something of a down year for OL play, with usual suspects like Bama and Wisconsin not being at their peak. OSU was supposed to have the best OL in the country and maybe they did, but either way our DL embarrassed them. I agree with the comparison to the 2019 line--they may have been even better than this line, but that's a favorable comparison since that line also was one of the best in the country and possibly the best
I agree that Michigan will likely have to adjust to not being able to do what we want in the run game. I also agree that this team seems capable of adjusting. I would expect to see a lot of interesting trickery and gadget plays, since those have been getting installed all year. In the end, unsurprisingly, this might come down to whether Cade can have one of the best games of his career
December 27th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
I've got a feeling they're gonna try to get UGA's d line moving around. They're big dudes but big dudes get tired quick.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
we've also shown an ability to both pave DLs and finesse them where we want them to go. get that 360-pounder leaning the wrong way and corum will be five yards past him before he turns around.
December 28th, 2021 at 3:57 PM ^
Yes. Biggest thing I noticed during the GA vs Bama game was how gassed those DTs got after a couple of plays. Would not be surprised if the team has BLN practicing some tempo w/o substituting in order to trap those guys on the field while sucking air.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Thanks for this post. I learned quite a bit about Michigan's attack from this break-down by the opposition.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:56 AM ^
I would love to see us come out and try some deep play action passing right off the bat. Georgia will sell out to stop the run on that first drive to set the tone, and I think we could get some guys behind their secondary.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
It'll be interesting to see if they add guys to the box right away, or stick with their base defense and see how well that holds up against Michigan's run game first before making adjustments. Given UGA's vast success against the run this season, and their secondary's still fresh wounds from the Bama gashing, I think they'll try to play to the strength of their front 7 and focus on preventing big plays in the back-end until UM shows enough to force them out of that.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:32 PM ^
agreed.
the donovan edwards pass for our second touchdown in the B1G championship game wasn't play action, but it might as well have been...
December 27th, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
Thanks for posting, I've been surfing UGA football blogs since the match up was announced looking for detailed analysis of the game from Georgia's perspective and been left wanting until this breakdown (really makes you appreciate what we have here). I think these guys did a very credible job in reviewing the film and would have happily listened to another 30min, I hope they make a similar post focusing on the defense this week.
I think they sold the right side of our OL short in terms of "butt kickers", but agree whole-heartedly that a big part of UGA's game plan will be trying to stress Hayes in pass pro. One nugget I found interesting was their confidence in safety Latavious Brini against the run. Xavier Henderson was a huge thorn in the side of our running against MSU, and I think how well their safeties read our diverse run game and the effectiveness of their tackling will be a huge deciding factor in how this all plays out.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
They're curious to see how M's run-first philosophy works against Georgia. "No one has tried that against Georgia this season," they noted multiple times.
i'm gonna say nobody has had
- as cohesive an offensive line,
- (including the superb blocking out of the tight ends), AND
- runners that can hurt you in a variety of ways, AND
- the change-of-pace running quarterback that can also really spin it...
that we have.
the closer we get to this game the more confident i am in our offense.
December 27th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
Good stuff CF. Seems a pretty fair analysis.
They correctly highlight how good our RBs are. Can't be overstated how important it has been to the functioning of the offense to have Haskins and Corum make great choices time after time.
December 27th, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
"They're not a bunch of butt-kickers" could be a useful antidote to all the post-season accolades the OL has received, however justifiably. Too much praise for people who are still young can be damaging.
December 27th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
I watched it a couple days ago...they were impressed with how Michigan approaches the run game which is different than anyone they've played by far, but simultaneously pointing out that no one has had success running so they don't think Michigan will be successful either.
The other thing I noticed was that they weren't very familiar with Michigan's players. They mentioned that none of the receivers were that fast while showing a clip of Roman Wilson. I think there's a general(media) idea that Michigan is a team full of scrappy 3 stars akin to a typical Wisconsin team, but there are some legit, highly talented, highly recruited guys on this team.
They were good though, worth the watch.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:10 PM ^
I think there's a general(media) idea that Michigan is a team full of scrappy 3 stars
They must get that from reading this blog.
December 27th, 2021 at 5:01 PM ^
Good shit Jed!
December 28th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
I say this about everything I like. I love that old gif.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:05 PM ^
That was really good.
Contrast it to the "College Football Nerds" superficial analysis of Michigan. They both started out in the same place . . . "Michigan is just a heads down running team".
But these guys didn't just stop on that preconceived notion. They let the film take them to a different place. They saw the diversity of the attack and the various formations and the counters and mis-directions. They kept saying: "This is something Georgia does not see in the SEC."
They did not land on the usual: Michigan wants to run, nobody can run on Georgia, so game over.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:18 PM ^
Great video. Enjoyed it immensely during a time of limited press. Thanks for the post.
December 28th, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
Really stoked for this match up. Probably the first Georgia analysis that has mentioned the diversity of the run game. There aren’t many teams in the power 5 that have anywhere as near a diverse run game as we do sans Wisconsin. We’ve got the ability to throw so many looks and variations of looks at defenses that it’s not easy to play against defensively. We’ve got loads of talent just in a much quieter sense since we haven’t had one guy take over besides the running backs. This is going to be like playing an NFL offense for Georgia no BS.
December 29th, 2021 at 2:21 AM ^
That's a pretty fair breakdown. This one hits home:
- They're impressed by the diversity of Michigan's run game (split zone, counter, pin & pull, etc) and by the ability of Haskins to get yards after contact. They're less impressed by the push generated by Michigan's OL. "They're not a bunch of butt-kickers," they say about the OL, and expect Georgia's DTs to get push against them.
This is not a Wisconsin OL like many in the national media seem to think. They're smart, mobile, and yes big but not to the point of overpowering Jordan Davis.
My hottest take on this team is that in many ways, Erick All and to a lesser extent Luke Schoonmaker are the most important guys on the offense. They unlock the Harbaugh games we can play with LB's. And when you're facing Nakobe Dean and the rare defensive line that can rack up some wins against any OL in college football, you're going to have to squeeze all you can out of that.
On any given play the TE can pull, block straight up, go out to the seam, a wheel, or the crossing route that doomed PSU. Both TE's (especially All) are tough covers one on one. Nakobe Dean is a special player and the rest of Georgia's LB's will be some of the best we've faced all season too. Can they simultaneously account for the TE pass without taking themselves out of the run, taking on blocks, keep Michigan honest on edge stuff with Henning, AND handle the potential receiving threats out of the backfield in the forms of Donovan Edwards and Hassan Haskins (not the same big play potential but definitely not a guy you want to let get in space against your secondary)?
That's the key and it comes down to Gattis. If he can call plays the way he did against Iowa and OSU Michigan will get some opportunities for chunk plays. Either way they are probably going to have to eat some run plays that go nowhere, particularly up the middle. We're not punching these guys in the mouth all game. But where we can get them on counters or getting a mismatch in the passing game we have to turn that into a big gainer. Getting enough of those is the difference between 24-28 points vs 10-14.
December 30th, 2021 at 3:08 AM ^
Good analysis. Pretty fair imo.
I think both fanbases have reasons to be confident in a positive outcome...Ultimately, it will come down to who executes the best and who makes the least mistakes. There will be some homerun shots by both teams...whomever lands more of them will win the game.
All the teams in the final four are excellent teams, so Georgia fans should be confident - they don't have any reason not to be.
The only thing that would surprise me is a blowout (ie 3 scores) by either team. We'll see in a couple of days what happens.
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