[Bryan Fuller]

Upon Further Review 2019: Defense vs Iowa Comment Count

Brian October 10th, 2019 at 3:25 PM

image-6_thumb_thumb5_thumb_thumb_thuSPONSOR NOTE: Upon Further Review is sponsored by HomeSure Lending and Matt Demorest. Rates are the lowest they've been in three years so it can't hurt to check whether you can save money on a refinance. Or you could buy a house in Ann Arbor! Good luck with that!

Matt's relocated the bus to Pioneer this year, BTW, and invites everyone to stop by and say hi. There's beer. I mean, obviously. Matt. Matt and beer: a good pairing.

FORMATION NOTES: Michigan had a ton of two-high, which gets a thorough discussion, and put out their rush packages very, very aggressively. I have 21 plays with no DTs on the field.

A lot of the single high, clear man coverage snaps came late, when Michigan went nuts with the okie packages and whatnot… and then they dropped to zone a lot anyway.

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SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Hutchinson/Kemp/Dwumfour/Paye as your four man line, which wasn't that common. Hutchinson and Paye were close to omnipresent until Paye went out; Danna took over all of his snaps and the DTs started getting some passing downs. Prior to that it was Jetpack on passing downs. Mason got some scattered snaps. Also I thought I saw Hinton out there live but not on review?

Hudson/McGrone/Glasgow omnipresent. Uche got about half the snaps, all of them in 3-3-5 or jetpack packages. Michigan did use him as a standup DE in some 4-man fronts from time to time.

Usual Hill/Gray/Thomas rotation at CB. Metellus and Hawkins omnipresent, with Dax Hill getting another couple dozen snaps as a nickelback.

[After THE JUMP: this went better than the other one]

Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O21 1 10 Ace trips tight bunch 3-3-5 4-3 over Half press one high Run N/A Draw Hudson -2
Hudson(+2) sent on a blitz; he shoots past a TE’s attempt to block down on him and then thwacks the other TE, driving him back into the RB; RB hits his blocker and comes to a near stop. Hutch(+2) is able to read the play and come over to finish; he punches the ball loose. Thomas(+1) falls on it.
Drive Notes: Fumble, 0-0, 13 min 1st Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O25 1 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press two high Pass 5 Rollout comeback L Hill 11
Rollout that M has decently contained; pure man on the outside on which LHill(+0.5, cover +1) has tight coverage and gets a swipe in at the ball. Iowa gets a DO from Stanley to beat it.
O36 1 10 I-Form 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press two high Run N/A Lead zone Dwumfour 5
Dwumfour(-1) has it a little tough here because he gets a single block and then the FB comes barreling into him but he’s already ceded a yard or two before the FB contact. McGrone(-0.5) hesitant and doesn’t attack so he gets caught in the wash. Hudson(+0.5) around the outside fast enough to start a tackle attempt; Glasgow(+1) took on a lead block, shoved the OL back, and disconnected to tackle; Kemp(-0.5) upfield a bit on a play that wants him to go upfield and get sealed but not as bad as previously.
O41 2 5 Offset I 4-2-5 4-3 over Press one high Run N/A Split zone Dwumfour 1
Dwumfour(+1) shoots upfield, getting under a guard quickly and driving the C to the backfield. He cuts off the frontside gaps. Paye(+1) able to discard a FB block and get there first on the cutback; Glasgow also there to finish.
O42 3 4 Shotgun trips Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 5 Drag Hawkins Inc
M gets the drag here with Metellus in outside leverage and vulnerable to a TE rub, which come off. Hawkins (+1, cover +1) converts to a robber zone when the back gets caught up. Stanley hesitates, at which point Glasgow(+1, pressure +1) is able to work around a couple of guys and get a hit in on Stanley; he sails the ball to no one.
Drive Notes: Punt, 3-0, 10 min 1st Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
50 1 10 Shotgun 4-wide 3-3-5 Nickel even Press one high Pass 5 Drag Hutchinson Inc
Hutchinson(+1, pressure +1) gets a hand on it at the LOS. This was a drag route against outside leverage on which Hawkins was a step or two behind; this could be a tackle for five yards or a chunk play.
50 2 10 Shotgun empty tight bunch Jetpack S Nickel over Off three high Pass 4 Sack Paye -6
Paye(+2, pressure +3) able to dart inside the LT as M stunts Hutch around two gaps to cover the edge; Danna(+1) attacked the RG and was able to drive him back to help open up the lane for Paye. Paye makes no mistake. Cover(+1) good for a read.
M44 3 16 Shotgun trips bunch Jetpack S Nickel under Half press three high Run N/A Inside zone Danna 5
Give up and punt. Danna(+1) wins his block and gets to the interior; McGrone(+0.5) came up and took on Hutchinson’s second blocker to prevent a meaningful crease.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-0, 7 min 1st Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O39 1 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Iso Glasgow 4
M inverts Hawkins and Thomas, with Thomas playing a rolled up S at 8 yards. Iso right at Glasgow(+1), who gets rocked by the FB; Thomas(-0.5) rolling down then forces the back into Glasgow, who is able to tackle. Thomas scrabbles at the RB’s feet but isn’t able to get an ankle tackle in and the back scratches out some YAC after a scrum. RPS +1, unblocked S relevant near LOS, but weird that this is Thomas instead of a safety. Kemp(-1) got put away by a play-long double.
O43 2 6 Shotgun twins twin TE 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press one high Pass 6 Slot fade Metellus INT
Ugh, if I was an Iowa fan this would make me curl up and die. This is a max, max pro with eight guys staying in. The two WRs go out, with one guy running a hitch that’s blanketed and the other guy running a fade that’s wrecked, first by Thomas(+2) running this guy’s route for him and then Metellus(+3, cover +4) getting over the top to intercept. What did you expect the S was going to do when you gave him nothing else to think about? RPS +2, but only because Iowa is dumb.
Drive Notes: Interception, 10-0, 5 min 1st Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O35 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide H 4-2-5 4-3 over Press one high Run N/A Lead zone Hudson 5
Iowa takes an inline TE and stacks him just in front of the back. Lead zone behind this. This could be fine as M has a free hitter in the area but Hudson(-1) is pointing and off the LB level on the snap and doesn’t fire very hard. Dwumfour is caught by two guys and can’t get through as he tries to go vertical (obvious plan of attack from Iowa is split the DTs and go iso at M’s light LBs). McGrone(+0.5) takes on the FB about a yard deep and stands him up; Hutchinson is unblocked and tackling from the side; Hudson more or less catches the RB.
O40 2 5 Shotgun twins twin TE 4-2-5 4-3 over Press two high Run N/A Pin and pull Dwumfour -1
Dwumfour(+2) darts inside of the guy trying to block down on him and shoots into the backfield, picking off puller #2 and forcing the back to go inside of him. Hutchinson(+1) and Kemp(+1) have both beaten blocks to meet at the RB.
O39 3 6 Shotgun trips 3-3-5 Okie one Press one high Pass 5 Slant Metellus 7
Hutch(+1) drives a guard and makes it impossible for him to get around on Kemp(+0.5, pressure +2) looping around; Metellus gets man on the slot WR can’t do anything but tackle on the catch. The timing on this makes it impossible IMO.
O46 1 10 Ace twins twin TE 4-2-5 4-3 even SAM Press one high Run N/A Jet sweep Hudson -1
Hudson(+2) takes on a blocker, cuts off the outside, and then gets off that guy so he can tackle at the LOS once Gray(+0.5) comes up from a safety spot he’s rotated back to and forces it to Hudson.
O45 2 11 Offset I 3-wide Jetpack S 4-3 over Press two high Run N/A Split zone Hutchinson 5
This is up the middle at M’s pass rush package. Hutch(-1) gets shoved out by a double; McGrone gets picked off by a second guy, crease is between those two OL. He is able to spin back and help tackle. Hudson got rotated back to ILB and again shows his lack of comfort a the position since he’s given a gap to shoot by the way this block in front of him works and doesn’t take it. Dax Hill(+0.5) comes off a WR and moves up to hit well to help hold down the YAC; RPS push since this is an easy five yards but it’s second and 11. McGrone(+0.5) stood up an OL to help contain.
50 3 6 Shotgun trips TE Jetpack S 5-1 fold Press two high Pass 5 Angle N/A 15
Five man rush gets Glasgow(+1, pressure +1) through on a loop but not in time to stop the little RB angle route that finds a pocket in M’s zone (cover -2) that seems more about the coverage structure than any particular M player.
M35 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide H 4-2-5 4-3 even Press one high Pass 4 PA fade Gray Inc
PA and then a quick fade, weird to spend a good PA on your iso on a fade you can get literally every time M shows one high. Gray(+1, cover +1) gets bailed out a bit here by a short throw as he’s beaten by a step or two. He is able to get his head around at the last second and prevent a catch while not getting flagged; he’s hit one of the WR’s arms and he can’t make the one handed stab.
M35 2 10 Shotgun empty tight bunch 4-2-5 Nickel even SAM Off one high Pass 5 Drag Thomas 11
Mesh featuring their little scatback at WR, he motions in and is the primary mesh target. Glasgow bangs into Metellus, open, first down, think this is mostly on Thomas(-1, cover -1), who has no vertical threats on his half of the field and drops too deep instead of reading mesh and attacking it. RPS –1.
M24 1 10 Shotgun trips TE 3-3-5 3-3 stack Press one high Run N/A Zone stretch Metellus 5
M in a 3-3-5 with Uche shaded to the field over the trips and Metellus as an overhang LB over the TE, very much asking for a run to the boundary, which they get. M has a free hitter in Thomas but Metellus(-0.5) doesn’t hold the edge well and a bounce is there or a few yards. Thomas can’t shut it down but that’s not on him; McGrone helps mitigate the damage. Spot here is at least a yard generous, refs -1.
M19 2 5 Shotgun empty tight bunch 3-3-5 30 nickel slide Press two high Pass 4 Improv Uche 9
Four man rush; gets nowhere near. Uche(-1, pressure -3) falls as he tries to beat Wirfs and Wirfs jumps on him, so Stanley can roll out and find a WR after forever (cover +3) where no one was open.
M10 1 G I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Lead zone Kemp 1
Kemp(+2) fires hard; doesn’t give ground against a double ,and is able to come through into the hole once the second guy leaves. He gets in a tackle at the LOS, by himself, quality. Glasgow(-1) gets paved by the FB; Metellus(+0.5) comes up to help finish since it’s redzone.
M9 2 G I-Form tight Jetpack S Nickel even Off two high Run N/A Lead zone Danna 5
Again a passing down on which M’s D puts the rush package on and Iowa gets a dubiously valuable 5 yards. Danna(-1) sealed out by a single block and driven; Hutch(+0.5) does a good job to hold up against a momentary double and get to the back, getting a tackle attempt in. Dax(+0.5) is first to the ballcarrier, beating a block that was a little confused. Again a push for RPS here since I don’t know if this is actually better for the O.
M4 3 G Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 4-3 even Press zero Pass 5 Fade Thomas Inc
Thomas(-2, cover -2) very very fortunate not to get a PI flag on this, as he clearly yanks Martin and only gets bailed out because Stanley misses so badly that the ref at the back of the endzone signals uncatchable. Honestly, this is in the range where usually they throw this, refs +2.
Drive Notes: FG(21), 10-3, 12 min 2nd Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O20 1 10 Ace trips tight bunch 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Pass 4 Rollout throwaway N/A Inc
Coverage(+3) comprehensive here with Glasgow(+1) getting excellent depth and getting underneath one route and Metellus(+0.5) and McGrone(+0.5) bracketing another; Hill(+0.5) is on the flat route. Dwumfour(+0.5) runs flat across the LOS and is the first M player to get to Stanley, who dumps it OOB.
O20 2 10 Shotgun empty 4-2-5 Dime even Press one high Pass 5 Sack Paye -7
More mesh; M blankets the crossing routes with McGrone(+0.5) and Metellus(+0.5) popping out to cut off short options. Coverage(+2) again very good with much of this looking like man; this is a zero coverage so Gray getting hit deep is the biggest concern. Stanley doesn’t have time to try anyone else after read 1; the rush here is pretty gradual but Kemp(+0.5) pushes the pocket, Paye(+0.5) is able to come through late, and Hutch(+0.5) staples the pocket shut late. Pressure +1.
O13 3 17 Shotgun 3-wide Jetpack S Dime even Press one high Penalty N/A False start N/A -5
oops
O8 3 22 Shotgun 4-wide Jetpack S Dime even Press two high Pass 4 Fly Hill 36
I don’t know what’s going on with the coverage here; Hill is the only guy on a deep out after starting at safety depth so I don’t think he’s missing an assignment. Metellus starts at 7 yards and drops gradually, then stops once the WR breaks out to Hill. Hawkins on the other side would have no shot a this. So: yeah, Hill(-2, cover -1) just got beat off the snap as Smith converts his fade route to a go and gets inside position, then boxes out. Hill can only grab from behind. RPS -2, how you gonna not give safety support to the field on third and 22? Pressure –1.
O42 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Pass 4 PA fade Gray Inc (Pen +15)
Ye olde underthrown fade PI. Gray(+1,cover +1) is actually in terrific position here and even gets his head around to swipe at the ball. He misses, ISM almost pulls a Prothro, and out come the flags. I’m not dinging a CB for having this happen to him, especially when his head’s around. Refs -1. Pressure -2, clean pocket.
M43 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide H 4-2-5 4-3 over Press one high Pass 6 Drag Metellus Inc
M dodges a bullet as WR drops the ball. M sent six, all of which gets picked up(pressure -2) except for Hudson(+0.5), who is picking his way through gaps and gets to Stanley, but too late. Metellus(-1, cover -1) supposed to cover this as Gray(-0.5) gets beat by two steps after lining up with outside leverage; he’s up to tackle on a catch but only after a first down. Dropped.
M43 2 10 Shotgun empty Jetpack S Dime even Half press one high Pass 4 Circle D Hill 4
Pocket again clean(pressure -1) on a quick throw; terrifying Wirfs thing as he gets shocked back by Uche’s initial push and then just hammers Uche back. I believe. Dax(+0.5, cover +1) in man on the WR and able to tackle on the catch despite getting a circle route that can be tough when it’s all mesh all day.
M39 3 6 Shotgun trips Jetpack S Nickel even Press two high Pass 4 Hitch D Hill 6
The reviewed spot; Dax gets in an immediate tackle on a six yard throw and could have put this in fourth down; push. Frustrating thing: this guy leaps back to the ball and then Hill hits him, so he gets forward progress from the hit when he’s already in the air moving backwards; if Dax is a little worse here and tackles after the guy comes down he may get the stop. Push.
M33 1 10 I-Form Big 3-3-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Wide iso Paye 3
Paye(+1) able to stall out and come through a kickout block and get a tackle attempt in. Kemp shoots upfield and eventually gets pancaked way out of the play but he threatened before this happened and absorbed two guys for the play, so push even if it looks ugly. Hudson(+1) able to scrape along the line and climb over a ton of trash to get to the POA after Glasgow(-1) ran up to hammer the fullback but put him on the wrong side, giving him the edge. McGrone(-0.5) also pretty late.
M30 2 7 Shotgun trips bunch TE 4-2-5 4-3 even SAM Press one high Pass 5 Sack Hudson -7
Hudson(+1, pressure +3) off the edge, beating the RB and getting to the QB; QB steps up where Glasgow(+1) has converted his coverage to a blitz when the RB stays in and gets to the spot. Paye(+1) sort of beats Wirfs with a rip move. Those guys converge, Stanley throws to no one, intentional grounding that should be a sack, statistically.
M37 3 14 Shotgun 2-back Jetpack S 5-1 line slide Press two high Pass 4 Throwaway Hutchinson  
Hutch(+1) gets around Jackson and gets held really blatantly, like hand grabbing outside shoulder pad blatant, no call (refs -2). Still flushes Stanley. M blitzed McGrone and dropped Glasgow from the field side so not much in the way of immediate edge pressure, though Paye does get there eventually. Stanley just punts it OOB. (Cover +1, pressure +1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-3, 5 min 2nd Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O48 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide 4-2-5 4-3 even SAM Press one high Pass 5 Fade L Hill Inc
Hutch(+2, pressure +2) beats Wirfs with an inside move and gets quick pressure up the gut. Glasgow(+0.5) driving an RB into Stanley’s lap, too; Stanley punts up the fade. Hill(+2, cover +2) forces the WR into the sideline, hat off for official, and then both guys have the identical shoulder-grab on the other guy as the ball comes in. Hill gets his head around and gets the PBU.
O48 2 10 Ace 3-wide 3-3-5 Nickel over Press two high Run N/A Inside zone McGrone 0
Big bubble that Iowa runs at. Kemp(+1) drives into the C and it looks for a second like he’s going to run himself out of the play but he stops and sheds and gets to the POA. McGrone(+2) is sent on a backside blitz and times it up so well he’s able to come through a guy trying to block him and get in a tackle attempt at the same time Kemp does; RB goes over.
O48 3 10 Shotgun 4-wide Jetpack S Dime even Press two high Pass 4 Drag McGrone 15
McGrone(-2, cover -2) gives it back as he’s in a zone where he just faces up to the left and waits for a drag route to hammer. He waits, and waits, and ISM dodges around him, and it’s an easy catch and run first down. Any delay and this is a stop because Paye(+1) and Danna(+1) combine on a stunt to get both guys through (pressure +2).
O33 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide 4-2-5 4-3 even Press one high Run N/A Iso Kemo 0
Zero gap as Kemp(+1) holds up to a double for a second; Paye(+1) dips inside as M exchanges with Glasgow to the outside. Hudson(+0.5) there for a stick at the LOS. RPS +1.
O33 2 10 Shotgun 3-wide Jetpack S 5-1 fold Press one high Pass 4 Fade L Hill INT
Uche(+1, pressure +1) beats the RG and comes through to force a throw at Hill(+4, cover +3), who wins over the top on a fade(!) and runs the route for the WR, then makes the pick. Yowza.
Drive Notes: Interception, 10-3, 1 min 2nd .
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O25 1 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even SAM Press one high Run N/A Iso McGrone 15
Glasgow rolled up to the LOS and blitzes; Dwumfour(-1) locked out, nice gap. McGrone(-2) rushes up to hit the FB and doesn’t funnel to help, which is Metellus rotating down; chunk off the backside.
O40 1 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Iso Dwumfour 3
This is iso weak and it looks like the FB goes in the wrong gap. Dwumfour(+1) jets past a backside G and is fast enough to make up the distance and start a tackle attempt near the LOS. Kemp(+0.5) takes a double pretty well and shuts off the frontside gap so to ease Dwumfour’s tackle; Glasgow(+0.5) hammers at the FB and gets under him and that’s possibly ok since Thomas is filling as a safety at 10 and charging.
O43 2 7 I-Form 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press one high Pass 5 PA sack N/A -8
Inexplicable dorf sack from Stanley. PA. Plenty of time, forever on a five man rush (pressure -3). Two deep guys are covered; two short guys are covered(+4). Stanley rolls out, holds it until sacked inexplicably.
O35 3 15 Shotgun trips Jetpack S Dime even Press two high Pass 4 Screen McGrone 22
Metellus fires down at the drag route Iowa inevitably runs and this is a nice response from Iowa. Drag takes two, and a screen the other way has two OL leading out and just McGrone(-2) in the picture. McGrone gambles, attacking inside of an OL; he loses. If he can string this out maybe Hill or Hudson can rally and tackle; RPS -2.
M43 1 10 Ace 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Zone stretch Glasgow 5
This looks real bad for a second as Danna(-2) gets his ass handed to him by Jackson; he ends up shoved five yards downfield and picks off McGrone. Mason wins outside and is about to flow and then goes down, could easily call holding but hard to tell with no replay. Thomas holds the edge okay. Cover two means Hawkins(+0.5) is able to come down and help mitigate this but it’s really Glasgow(+1) tracking from the backside LB position and forcing the RB wide at two yards downfield that limits the damage. Mason(+0.5) helped this since he held up two OL in the backfield even though he went down.
M38 2 5 Ace 4-2-5 4-3 over Off two high Run N/A Zone stretch Danna 2
Danna(+1) gets some of it back by firing into Jackson and getting his shoulder outside. Jackson then leaves him to go hit Glasgow(+0.5), who dipped inside a TE and threatened to shoot a gap; he goes over but took two guys with him. McGrone(+1) runs over an OL with an angle on him but Danna already took care of it by the time he gets there.
M36 3 3 Shotgun trips Jetpack S 5-1 under Press one high Pass 5 Flare Hudson Inc
Hudson(+0.5, pressure +3) drops down late and gets a free run, Stanley throws it to Tacopants. Hudson needs to get his hands up here; if this is on point McGrone may or may not be able to get there in time. RPS +2.
M36 4 3 Shotgun 3-wide Jetpack S Nickel even Press one high Pass 5 Drag D Hill INT
Pocket just holds, pressure -1. Thomas(+1, cover +1) all over the hitch on the outside that is read 1. Read two is a drag on which Dax(+2, cover +2) has no help because Hudson is drifting the wrong way on his robber zone. Dax is able to make up an outside leverage spot on the snap and PBU. Ambry gets the detrimental INT on the deflections. I deleted a Hudson minus because he’s at least at the right depth to cause the WR to break stride, which contributes to the PBU.
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 10-3, 11 min 3rd Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O20 1 10 Ace tight 4-2-5 4-3 even Press one high Run N/A Zone stretch McGrone 1
Slant away, LB level goes hard. McGrone(+2) gets a free releaser and fires hard upfield of him then slides to the sideline. Paye(+0.5) gets around Wirfs and is able to bend the back to the sideline a bit; Metellus(+0.5) comes up to contain; Glasgow(-1) tries to go upfield and loses; McGrone is quick enough to get there anyway, RPS +1, Metellus was +1 in box.
O21 2 9 Shotgun 4-wide 3-3-5 30 nickel slide Press two high Pass 5 Drag Hudson 15
Pocket collapsing must throw; Hudson(-2, tackling -2) comes from S depth presnap and is sitting right on this drag, but misses a zero yard tackle. RPS +1.
O36 1 10 Shotgun twins twin TE 4-2-5 4-3 over Press two high Pass 4 Throwaway Dwumfour Inc
Coverage(+2) good for a read or two and then pressure(+1) gets through; Dwumfour(+0.5) oddly careens through the pocket while getting shoved but keeps his feet; Hutch(+0.5) pushed the LT back to the QB, Paye(+0.5) is able to come under Wirfs and nearly sack.
O36 2 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Draw Hawkins 4 (Pen -10)
Paye leaves for the game. Iowa gets hit with a horrible holding call as LG gets feet tangled with QB and Kemp runs him over; Kemp also falls because another OL hit his feet incidentally, refs +3. The play is a draw that easily creases the pass rushing line but gets little as Hawkins(+1, tackling +1), in a CB spot to the boundary, falls off the WR and makes a nice tackle near the LOS.
O26 2 20 Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 5-1 fold Press two high Pass 5 Dumpoff McGrone 0
Drop out blitz with Uche, Glasgow, Hudson dropping and McGrone(+2, pressure +3) jetting from the LB level. Uncontested blitz rushes are usually 1 but when you time it up like this and come from 4 yards deep and are still on the QB in a flash that’s a +2. Stanley bails and fires what looks like a throwaway that gets caught at the LOS. Gray and Hudson clean up. RPS +1.
O26 3 20 Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 5-1 fold Press two high Pass 4 Screen L Hill -1
More drop outs; OL so confused about who is blocking and who is releasing that nobody really gets out. Hill(+1) is coming up unfettered to whack this when it looks like the WR trips him; he ends up tripping himself but takes the RB down. Hudson(+0.5) there to clean up. RPS +2.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-3, 5 min 3rd Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O33 1 10 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 over Press two high Pass 5 PA slant Hudson 27
Quick throw; Dwumfour(+0.5) coming around to threaten(pressure +1); Hudson(+1, cover +1) is able to drop into this slant and get a hand on it, although there’s a window here if Stanley has more touch. Ball goes direct to WR anyway. Bad luck.
M40 1 10 I-Form 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press two high Run N/A Lead zone Kemp 5
Kemp(-2) gets clunked by a double. Gone quickly, one guy can pop off on Glasgow. This is trouble. Dwumfour(+1) again through and around on the backside quick enough to make a difference; here he forces the back close to McGrone(+1) and McGrone comes underneath the FB to tackle. I might cluck about funneling to help but he doesn’t really have any.
M35 2 5 Ace tight 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press one high Pass 5 Sack Danna -4
Team sack here as this pocket is immaculate and crushed. Glasgow(+1) times up a blitz well around at 9, forces Stanley up into the pocket. Kemp(+1) drives the C back, runs him over, Danna(+1) drives his guy back into the C, that guy trips on the C, Danna finishes, Pressure +3.
M39 3 9 Shotgun 2-back tight 3-3-5 Dime even Off two high Pass 4 Flat McGrone Inc
McGrone(+2, pressure +3) gets a free run and again this is just immaculately timed and on Stanley in a flash. Stanley gets it out on a flat that Gray(+1, cover +1) has nailed, PBU as he tries to intercept a high throw. RPS +1.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-3, 14 min 4th Q. Probably should have gone.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O20 1 10 Shotgun empty 4-2-5 Dime even Press one high Pass 5 Tunnel screen Hudson 12
Hudson(-1) doesn’t recognize this as he’s in man on the TE; he never falls off his guy and ends up taking a ride. Metellus caught up on this and can’t do much; Kemp is spying a bit, or just stunting, but misses a tackle(-1); he still sets it up for Hawkins(+0.5) to finish this. RPS -1; the man coverage made this difficult.
O32 1 10 I-Form 4-2-5 4-3 over SAM Press two high Pass 4 PA fly L Hill Inc (Pen +10)
This isn’t even a bad penalty from Hill as both safeties are at eight yards and Hawkins(-1, cover -1) sucks up on PA he really doesn’t need to; believe Metellus is supposed to come down and Hawkins just bites. Hill in outside leverage, does some grabbing, this is much preferable to a potential one shot strike. Honestly this holding isn’t too bad, guys get away with this a lot.
O42 1 10 Shotgun empty 3-3-5 Dime over Press one high Pass 5 Hitch Glasgow 6
Scatback split. Glasgow out on him, hitch, decent coverage, immediate tackle. Hudson(+0.5, pressure +1) got a free run. Doesn’t matter as Stanley has this out before RB is in his break.
O48 2 4 I-Form twins 4-2-5 4-3 even SAM Press two high Pass 4 PA sack Glasgow -9
Hudson(+1, cover +1) jams the TE and then runs with him, no window. Once he isn’t immediately open Stanley gets sacked by Glasgow(+2, pressure +2), who came around on a blitz, checked the PA, and then exploded to Stanley.
O39 3 13 Shotgun trips bunch 3-3-5 ? Press two high Pass 5 Sack McGrone -12
McGrone almost looks too casual before this, the whole wandering around innocent act is going to be a tell soon. Maybe even now, but McGrone(+3, pressure +3) comes from LB depth, gets a RB coming across to block him, dodges that guy, and sacks. Yowza.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-3, 8 min 4th Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O33 1 10 Shotgun empty 4-2-5 Dime over Press one high Pass 5 Slant Metellus 9
Rarity this year. Man shown, outside leverage on slot from S, slant. No buzz, easy. (Cover -1, RPS -1)
O42 2 1 Ace 3-wide 4-2-5 4-3 even Press two high Run N/A Split zone Glasgow 2
Should be a stop as Kemp(+2) runs over the RG, putting him on the ground. Cutback mandatory; Glasgow(-1) shot too hard frontside and never recovers to this. McGrone does but comes too far and can’t quite make the tackle; Danna impacts the guy but from the side so tough to prevent YAC.
O44 1 10 Shotgun empty TE 4-2-5 Nickel even SAM Press one high Pass 5 Fade Metellus 31
Scatback singled up with McGrone over him. This coverage dares fade, fade, complete. McGrone(-1) yields separation; Metellus(-1, cover -1) shades there presnap but can’t get over the top. He knows where he’s going but his angle is too flat. Also this throw is perfect.
M25 1 10 Shotgun 3-wide 4-2-5 4-3 over Press two high Pass 5 Post Hudson Inc (Pen -10)
Hudson(+2, pressure +2) moves down almost literally on the snap, comes off the edge. He gets the TE who motioned to FB, wins and then gets tackled. Flag. Iowa has a TD otherwise, except their dude drops it. Metellus (-2 cover -2) starts at eight and gets up to five yards before dropping and never has a shot at getting depth, so it’s Hawkins(-1, cover -1) picking between two deep routes and picking unwisely.
M35 1 20 Shotgun 3-wide Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 5 Drag Uche 11 (Pen -10)
Uche(+2, pressure +2) wins around the corner against Jackson and also gets tackled; this makes up for Hawkins (-1, cover -1) failing to get out on a drag route he’s in a robber zone to cover. He tries to run over the ump, doesn’t take a good angle, and gets beat laterally. D Hill has to make up the distance as outside leverage guy to tackle.
M45 1 30 Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 Okie one Press two high Pass 4 Hitch Hudson 5
Hudson there to tackle on a quick throw M will give every time. Hudson(+0.5) and Hill(+0.5, cover +1) do tackle immediately)
M40 2 25 Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 Okie two Press two high Pass 4 Hitch Glasgow 6
Another Glasgow/Hudson drop out with McGrone coming. Pocket okay but this is out so quick it doesn't really matter; Glasgow(+1, cover +1) is able to get depth off the LOS so that he can tackle on the catch. TE covered, ineligible downfield but Michigan declines.
M34 3 19 Shotgun empty 3-3-5 Okie two Press two high Penalty N/A False start N/A -5
oops
M39 3 24 Shotgun empty 3-3-5 Okie two Press two high Pass 4 Sack McGrone -12
Hudson and Uche drop just before the snap and Iowa cannot adjust in time; McGrone(+2, pressure +3) again gets a free run and makes no mistake. Danna(+0.5) and Hutchinson(+0.5) are required to finish. RPS +2.
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-3, 3 min 4th Q.
Ln Dn Ds O Form D Pack Front Cover look Type Rush Play Player Yards
O43 1 10 Shotgun 4-wide Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 4 Corner D Hill Inc
Dax(-1, cover -1) misses a jam; corner will be open. Stanley throws it in the sideline. Four man rush didn’t get through, pressure -1.
O43 2 10 Shotgun 4-wide Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 5 Hitch Thomas Inc
Five man rush picked up (pressure -1); Stanley doesn’t have the patience to come off his first read, which is a hitch Thomas(+1, cover +1) has dominated; Stanley again puts it in the sidelines.
O43 3 10 Shotgun trips Jetpack S Okie two Press two high Pass 4 Tunnel screen Hudson 2
Hudson(+1) drops off the LOS into a short zone and then attacks this, getting past the OL. WR is able to dodge him but timing is disrurpted at McGrone(+1) peels back for the tackle.
O45 4 8 Shotgun 3-wide 3-3-5 4-3 over Press two high Pass 4 TE out Thomas 11
M messes up their blitz/drop timing and McGrone gets picked up. Time(pressure -1) for a TE out to find a hole in the zone (cover -1) and convert; immediate tackle.
M44 1 10 Shotgun 4-wide 3-3-5 30 line slide Press two high Pass 4 Improv Danna Inc
Coverage(+2) good; Stanley has his timer go off and breaks the pocket; Danna(+1) tries to go after him and should draw a hold. He does not, refs -2. Stanley has an opportunity to hit a WR at the sticks but turfs it. Pressure push.
M44 2 10 Shotgun trips 3-3-5 30 nickel slide Press one high Pass 4 Slant N/A Inc
Just dropped. Hawkins likely able to tackle before the first down and that’s probably the way to play this given the situation (57 seconds, no Iowa TOs). Push.
M44 3 10 Shotgun 3-wide Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 4 TE out Hawkins Inc
Hutch(+1, pressure +1) swims through a guard and falls but pushes Stanley back in the pocket to the point where OTs no longer have angles on Uche and Hudson, so Stanley has to get the ball out. Hawkins(+1, cover +1) in the pocket of the TE and has a play on any catchable ball. This one goes off the fingertips.
M44 4 10 Shotgun 2-back Jetpack S Okie one Press one high Pass 5 Improv Hudson -1
Uche(+1) and Hudson(+1) don’t quite get around but they both shove guys back to the passer; a jumpy Stanley bails instead of hanging in and throwing to whoever. This is a bad idea as Hudson jumps on Stanley’s back but he’s able to get a left handed throw out to the back Hudson beat and that guy… almost gets back to the LOS. Dax(+1) beats a block and shuts this down. Pressure +2.
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 10-3, EOG.

This one was probably more fun.

Yes.

Iowa does do this from time to time, though.

Yes, Iowa isn't exactly whiz-bang at the offense. After the Wisconsin game, though, it was important for Michigan to take on a bonafide Big Ten offense—put your hand down, Rutgers—and win. Not even like this, just, you know, hold them to 17 points and three yards a carry. Not necessarily a rushing Rutger when you have ten points.

Is it just me or is this defense a lot different all of a sudden? Does that have something to do with it?

Yeah: this is no longer a man-to-man defense. It's a hybrid. Michigan spent a majority of plays with two or even three-high safeties. They ran a ton of zone blitz looks. They've been doing this all season, but because of the nature of the opposition offenses—a triple option, a couple all-perimeter attacks, and the Wisconsin interior debacle—it was tough to tell whether Michigan's zone shift was more about the fact that they were playing teams that did nothing but screen and run flat routes or a bonafide new thing.

I think after Nate Stanley ate a thousand squirrels we can say it's a bonafide new thing.

Isn't zone, like, coverage? What does it have to do with Nate Stanley getting sacked a ton?

One of the side effects of Michigan running a lot more zone is an ability to disguise their blitzes better. It's tough, if not impossible, to have multiple guys drop out on the snap from the same side of the formation in man coverage. One of your guys is going to be way too far away from the guy he has to pick up. When the destination is a zone drop it gets easier to run wacky stuff:

LB #6, LB #29 to right side of LOS

You can see that both Uche and Glasgow get reasonable depth and are in productive places. It's much tougher to pull that off in man to man, especially with a quasi-DE like Uche. There's a reason there's a blitz often called "America's blitz" that everyone runs, and there's a reason that blitz is five guys with a zone behind it.

In this game Michigan was able to get instant pressure over and over by dropping guys into coverage late, after Iowa had made their line call. The primary beneficiary of this was McGrone, as above, and also below.

With McGrone established as that dude, this is a promising way forward for the D. Zone drops mean Uche isn't coming every time, and they allow Michigan to threaten with some suite of Hudson/Glasgow/Uche/McGrone and bring 1-3 of them from anywhere.

Also it's a coverage!

Okay but we still got hit for a zillion drags?

This criticism is turning into the slants criticism from last year. It not quite dated; it's getting there. There were eight passes thrown at drag routes. Four were incomplete. The other ones all picked up chunks, but at least this time they were because Michigan players were making errors, not getting left in the dust because man coverage is bad against mesh. Hudson's major ding was for missing a zero-yard tackle on a drag; Hawkins got a ding when he didn't move out on a drag when in a robber zone; McGrone got a major ding for not jamming Smith-Marsette…

…and Ambry Thomas probably should have come up faster on another one when he had no vertical threats.

CB #1 to bottom

These are the ones that worked, and all of them have a player-related, not scheme-related, reason. (Maybe the last one is scheme since that might be a difficult ask from a CB dropping to safety depth and asked to read it out.)

Various other drags did not work, notably the play that ended Iowa's first drive where Hawkins converted to a robber zone once the running back didn't leak out:

S #20 creeping to LOS near top hash

(Also note on this play that Glasgow comes in kind of low but does not get hit with the below-knee PF, which they are calling more appropriately this year.)

Also this second and ten where Michigan risks zero deep guys to make sure no friggin drags are happening:

#14 S and #44 LB zone dropping

And the fourth and three. That's mostly Dax Hill being able to catch up because he's fast as hell but a little drop out zone forced the WR to break stride in the middle of the field and chips in:

I initially minused Hudson since he was drifting away from where the QB was looking and away from where the drag would naturally be going but then decided his presence causes the little bend in the WR's route.

If Michigan can execute more consistently on their varied responses to drag routes this will be a thing in the past.

Surely this comes with costs, though?

 

There were a couple of unusually open guys on third and fourth down. This has almost never happened under Brown:

When the QB can find a guy the WR is more likely to have a routine opportunity without someone yanking at them and whacking their arms, etc. The throws can be harder to find in zone, but the catches tend to be easier.

So what's the next frontier in stuff we can't defend?

Man that's some BPONE.

We went from slot fades to slants to drag routes, it feels a little like poking your hole in a dike.

If Michigan continues in this vein it's possible the seams behind the LBs are profitable, since Michigan's doing a lot of dropping from the LOS. In football you have to stick and move; hopefully Michigan is anticipating reactions to what they did in this game already. Not by Illinois's third string QB. By, like, MSU.

And the player level?

A straight-up whoopin'.

Defensive Line

Player + - T Notes
Paye 7.5   7.5 Got some work in against Jackson.
Dwumfour 6.5 2 4.5 Penetration on interior runs was productive.
Kemp 9.5 4.5 5 Pretty good game against B10 OL
Hutchinson 11 1 10 Major day, got Wirfs once.
Danna 6.5 3 3.5 Pushing pockets closed.
Uche 4 1 3 Muted day as most of his snaps got Wirfs'd
Jeter       DNP
Mason 0.5   0.5  
Hinton       DNP
Vilain       DNP
TOTAL 45.5 11.5 34 dunno how this is the same line that took on Wisconsin
Linebacker
Player + - T Notes
Hudson 14.5 4 10.5 backstreet's back
Ross       DNP
Glasgow 11.5 4 7.5 no Blackshears on this Iowa team
Gil       DNP
Anthony       DNP
McGrone 18.5 8 10.5 [pounding table] BUSH BUSH BUSH BUSH
Barrett       DNP
TOTAL 44.5 16 28.5 zone blitz beneficiaries right here
Secondary
Player + - T Notes
Metellus 5 4.5 0.5 thought the almost-TD for Iowa was probably him
Hawkins 4 3 1 Pretty boring this year.
Lavert Hill 8.5 2 6.5 INT was magnificent
Thomas 5 3 2 Probably could have intercepted Metellus's INT if he didn't exist
Gray 3.5 0.5 3 Decent against a couple of fades
Dax Hill 4.5 1 3.5 4th down PBU
Woods       DNC
TOTAL 30.5 14 16.5 Oliver Martin should have played more
Metrics
Pressure 43 16 +27 Down goes Stanley
Coverage 41 18 +23 Drags and nothin'
Tackling 1 3 -2 Leaked some yards.
RPS 14 7 +7 Zone blitzing devastating.

Take the coverage number into account and literally every Michigan player had a good day.

Lookit those linebacker numbers.

Seriously. I don't have a bunch of Glasgow clips but he was again very good—not chasing Blackshear types in space is good for him—and the other two guys were outstanding, at least most of the time.

Cam McGrone is particularly exciting because he's new and young. It wasn't all good—McGrone is our Jonas Mouton Memorial Janus Of the Week—but this is the week the Devin Bush comparisons went from hopeful to… well… let's say "developing." Michigan's zone blitzes didn't actually have to send five guys to get there because McGrone was repeatedly able to time up the opposition snaps and get rabid squirrel pressure despite starting from the linebacker level:

He's a step faster than normal human linebackers. He was able to do this on a run away from him where he got under a block, even:

LB #44

 

As a bonus thing he got a free releasing OL on one run and knocked him over:

MLB #44

Fast and mean. The other bit of the Bush package is sideline to sideline ability and he flashed that in this game, too. He's able to zip upfield of a blocker here and then get to the numbers despite Glasgow not funneling to him:

MLB #44

Not quite the sideline but that's a lot of ground when you have to go around a guy.

The Mouton stuff came in parts: the drag issue we mentioned already, the third-and-15 screen where he went for the TFL instead of trying to let the troops rally, and an iso where he didn't funnel to his help:

McGrone exploded in every direction in this game, with most of the explosions to the good. He should be able to work through the youthful exuberance portion of the program as we go along here.

So what happens at linebacker when Ross is back?

Rotation, I'd imagine. Ross has had a poor start to the season but had about 60% of a full year last year in which he graded out well here and at PFF, Michigan should give him another crack. Glasgow meanwhile bounced back from a poor Rutgers game with another good outing. And McGrone can't get benched. So rotate.

And Hudson?

 

Hudson continues his senior renaissance; he was excellent aside from a missed tackle on a drag route. One of the side effects of the zone stuff is that Hudson is once again free to blitz like he did last year, and he did work in this game starting with Iowa snap #1:

LB #7 to bottom blitzing

Hudson's gotten a bit better at playing a read and react linebacker but he is always at his best when given the opportunity to go vertical and hit someone.

Also this ability to first hold the edge and then get down on the jet sweep guy was excellent:

He was comfortable with his drops, covered a couple guys man to man, and is now back to being a backfield terror.

In comparison the DL numbers are almost muted?

Not muted but spread out.

Paye did well, obviously, but what struck me about a lot of Michigan's sacks was how they were team efforts. This is true for a lot of sacks. Most of them aren't +3 solo edge rushes, but rather one guy getting a less dramatic win and another guy benefiting from it when the QB moves around or pulls the ball down.

Here Michigan's pressure was about evenly split between Don Brown blitzes and the DL boa constrictoring the pocket shut. This sack saw no rusher get more than a half point:

This was three different +1s:

Others had elements of this as well. Paye's early sack was a nice move to the interior on a stunt, one aided by Danna doing his forklift thing on the guard who hypothetically could help out. The guard sees it but is helpless because Danna's shoved him too far back:

DE #4, DE #19 to bottom of line

What Michigan didn't get a lot of was pure unadulterated edge rush. Live I watched Uche on many passing downs and was a little disappointed he didn't have more impact. Wirfs—it was usually Wirfs—handled him. The one guy to get Wirfs was actually Hutchinson, who shocked him with an interior move:

DE #97 to bottom

That's a lock to be on Hutchinson's season preview section next year after Wirfs goes in the first round.

Anyway: Michigan is less susceptible to QB scrambles and has a more coherent pocket this year because their DEs are less focused on edge rushes and quicker to cede them and start pushing the pocket closed when they don't get around the corner. Winovich and especially Gary were prone to fly way upfield. Michigan's only true edge guy is Uche and he too is pretty responsible—in part because he gets around the corner at 8-10 most of the time. Just not here.

So Uche got exposed?

I wouldn't say that. He did have two impact rushes. He beat the RG on Hill's interception, forcing a bad idea throw:

LB #6 standing inside Paye

And he beat Jackson for holding #2 on Iowa's penultimate drive:

LB #6 to bottom

I think the problem is that Wirfs is truly elite. I forgot to clip a thing he did where it looked like Uche had beat him to the inside and then he just shoved him back to the LOS. It was a WTF moment. I mean, obviously, how many times have I mentioned an individual opponent pass block in the history of this column? Probably once.

How is project Let's Have Another DT Going?

Well. Dwumfour returned and had a good day. Michigan's early permeability on the ground was in part due to Dwumfour getting moved out…

DT #50 to bottom

…but even that was in the –1, –0.5 category and relatively understandable. He wasn't getting cut off; he wasn't getting pancaked. Iowa came out with a lot of iso stuff on the reasonable assumption that Michigan's DTs weren't great and the LBs were light, but that rarely got them more than five yards so they had to diversify, and when that happened Dwumfour ended up in the backfield productively.

The play after the above was a split zone where Dwumfour's penetration wipes the playside:

DT #50 to bottom

His penetration later crushed a would-be pin-and-pull:

DT #50 to bottom

Note after both of these plays how Dwumfour fist-pumps. That feels like a guy who's had run defense drilled into his head and is happy to see it pay off even though he didn't get a stat for it.

Dwumfour didn't get a lot of pass rush opportunity because Michigan was extremely liberal with their jetpack package, which has no DTs, so his positive day is mostly run defense. Seth was pretty critical of Iowa's interior OL but it's still a Big Ten unit Dwumfour got a W against. That's progress.

And the secondary?

They got to show some more stuff than they have so far this year since Iowa was down the whole game and had to throw a bunch because they couldn't run. They, too, did well.

Stanley's first INT was playcall malpractice: an eight man protection with a hitch and a slot fade from the outside WRs. With nothing else to look at Metellus can just get on his horse:

Note that if Metellus didn't catch that Thomas was over the top of this.

Hill's INT… I mean…

He's good. Probably not the best Michigan CB in recent history but in the ballpark.

Vincent Gray got targeted on a couple of fades, which went okay. Both of them were underthrown. This was beneficial on one, but not the other. On the beneficial one it looks like he's beat by a step or two; the underthrow gives him a chance to recover:

He gets his head around there but ends up missing the ball as he tries to bat it. The second was a near-identical situation except the ball was even more underthrown. Gray again gets his head around—sort of—but gets hit with a flag:

If Gray makes contact with his arm does he get away with this? Kind of feels like yes. The referee closest to this doesn't throw his flag, only the back judge does.

Gray getting put in trail position isn't as good as, you know, running the route for the guy and intercepting. Finding the ball on both is a positive.

But what about that third down? And third downs in general?

The third downs were just one of those things; as discussed in the section on the drag routes a lot of them were just Michigan guys not executing decent coverage ideas. The one event that did stand out was the third and 22 where Hill got hit with a bomb. I expected to see that a safety had busted somewhere but nope, Lavert Hill needs to go with the crossing route and Metellus is in a weird gray area where he can't get over the top:

I dinged Hill since the coverage structure is strong indication he needs to force this to the sideline and he cedes inside leverage, but this is pretty bizarre coverage on third and forever. Michigan did not repeat this; the rest of the third and longs—and there were many—saw two deep safeties.

DID YOU FORGET SOMETHING

uh

A REAL GOOD TIME PERHAPS

Argh, I forgot last week. Catching up again:

RUTGERS

  1. Mike Onwenu. Inexplicably trashed by PFF, so has to live with that hanging over his head, sort of like you would if you were under a highway overpass. Recovered some plays to help make up for bad zone decisions from teammates.
  2. Ronnie Bell. Picked up a circus catch, helped improve some plays with YAC, including one burrow near the goal line that almost got in, inexplicably. ****CAUGHT A SCREEN***
  3. Cam McGrone. Ludicrous statements after game are kind of cool, and it's very much a rap thing to boast endlessly about yourself no matter the circumstances.

IOWA

  1. Mike Dwumfour. Accumulated UFR points by surging into the backfield on run plays and forcing it back to slavering masses. Stood on the sideline on most passing downs as Michigan assassinated Stanley again and again. Has been under a metaphorical highway overpass of injury for much of his career.
  2. Josh Uche. Similarly, Uche ate a lot of crap from Wirfs so that other guys could live. Also dropped out into zones never to be tested while other guys assassinated Stanley. Going up against Wirfs is a lot like going up against a highway overpass, when you think about it.
  3. Mike Danna. Played inside and out, stepped in for his teammate, and created lanes to the QB by picking up OL and relocating them.

Standings:

6: Mike Onwenu

5: Khaleke Hudson

3: Zach Charbonnet, Mike Dwumfour

2: Carlo Kemp, Jordan Glasgow, Ronnie Bell, Josh Uche

1: Ryan Hayes, Josh Metellus, Nico Collins, Mike Danna

Heroes?

Literally everyone?

Maybe not so heroic?

Nobody.

What does it mean for Illinois and beyond?

Illinois gonna die. They're playing their third string QB, a noodle-armed true freshman.

This is a hybrid defense that plays a bit more zone than pure man to man. They're still working through some things—both this week and last featured busts with some frequency. Busts happen a lot less in man to man schemes for obvious reasons; work in progress and Michigan is probably going to have some leaks. But the D is much less predictable both in coverage and as blitzers.

McGrone: coming. Bunch of errors in this but he's a terror that cannot be denied.

Dwumfour: promising. Still has a tendency to over-penetrate and get locked out; clear improvement on the ground against a real team.

Hudson: back. Excellent day. Getting more opportunities to attack and taking advantage of them.

The corners overwhelmed the Iowa WRs. Except for the third and 22 conversion they had nothing on the outside. Maybe a step or two given up by Gray that Stanley didn't pay off; the other big hit was a linebacker against their scatback.

Comments

Reggie Dunlop

October 10th, 2019 at 8:36 PM ^

Agreed that Glasgow mostly looks good and Gil looked rough last season.

I do want to say that Gil has looked really good in 2nd team situations this year. He was a borderline starter and you can tell when he comes in. We're in great shape at LB with Gil on this team.

Sambojangles

October 10th, 2019 at 6:06 PM ^

I think you're underestimating. Brian has shared on the podcast that he works up to 80 hours per week during football season (not sure if actually watching the game is included). The bulk of it has to be the UFR and previews, with podcasts, game columns, and UV filling out the rest. I'd bet each UFR is 15-20 hours depending on how many plays get analyzed and cut up. As always, I have to say that it's amazing that Brian does this much quality content within a couple days, and even more impressive that he's doing it with Denard Robinson Cook running in circles around his house (I assume) and another baby to care for.

crom80

October 11th, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^

OT question. How do you make the time to play football manager with two kids? or do you not sleep?

could you post some of your football manager seasons like a diary during off season? i always found it interesting how other players managed their team. i like to play like belichick and if any player complains about pay i tell them they are fungible and trade them off for profit.

MGoBlue96

October 10th, 2019 at 4:41 PM ^

You know it really is a shame the offense is such a tire fire right now, because it seems to me this defense is showing  some things that would be beneficial in slowing down OSU. Better contain on rushes instead of getting upfield, more speed  at corner with Ambry Thomas and Dax Hill, more varied looks on defense for Fields to try and diagnose, doing things to take away the crossing routes, etc. But as we know slowing down OSU this year just means holding them into the 30's at best and that will still equal an ass kicking if the offense scores 7 or less.

dragonchild

October 11th, 2019 at 6:34 AM ^

A couple idiots, maybe?

The situation on defense was largely circumstantial, needing time to fix, and is mostly fixed.  Our DT situation is bad and there is no scenario where that was going to go well against Wisconsin.  Dwumfour's presence inside on run downs was huge.  IIRC he played but in any case he wasn't all back against Wisconsin, and they have a vastly superior interior line compared to Iowa's.

There are long-term concerns with recruiting on defense -- we need DTs and CBs in bulk and aren't hauling them in -- but this isn't "tire fire" either.

Gattis, meanwhile, was given all the pieces of what should've been an elite offense, hasn't improved the parts that need improving, and managed to regress the parts that didn't need fixing.  It's an unmitigated disaster that's getting worse by the week.

wile_e8

October 10th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^

A REAL GOOD TIME PERHAPS

Speaking of Mr. Worldwide, do you know if there's any truth to the rumor that Pitbull is looking for a partial ownership stake in Everton?

lhglrkwg

October 10th, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^

It's nice to see the D developing. When we consider what weakness is OSU going to mercilessly exploit, I'm afraid it's going to be Glasgow. He's solid in games like this, but I feel he's going to get the Brandon Watson treatment if we let it happen. I don't know what the solution to this is. Do you have a package with McGrone and Bush and no Glasgow? I don't know the answer, but OSU's athleticism is going to exploit any areas of non-athleticism we have

Pelini's Cat

October 10th, 2019 at 5:32 PM ^

There is going to be a third and long against MSU where the zone busts and everyone is going to bitch and moan online and I need you all to remember that this is the downside. There is no magic impenetrable defense and you all begged for this after OSU. Just a preemptive shut up to everyone on this board. 

MGoStrength

October 10th, 2019 at 6:18 PM ^

Why does this feel good for now, but will once again feel terrible come PSU, ND, & OSU?  I know it's coming.  Suddenly we won't be able to defend something.  My BPONE cannot be defeated until a win against OSU is had.

Yessir

October 10th, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^

Great stuff!  So much to consume. 

Not related to this post, but I feel like we are comparing McGrone to Bush's last year.  Bush is one of my fav Wolverines of all time.  He really is a great guy too, helping out Sparty's landscaping crew last year at Lansing field or whatever it's called. He heard they were going to redo the sparty emblem after the game. Lending a helping foot. 

Still lots of work to do with Cam, but we might be saying 'Bush reminds me of Cam'  Blasphemy, I know.  Mean no disrespect, but he really closes.  Doubt anyone will make up a couple of steps like Dax does, but for getting his first real playing time, he seems to be every bit the player Bush was his first year.  I realize Cam is RS.  Can't wait to watch Cam develop.

Our offense is a big blurry, gray area on what to expect, but Dwumfour is game changer on the D.  So glad DB is using more zone. 

Excuse my rambling, bottle of wine, post and Go Blue!

 

ERdocLSA2004

October 10th, 2019 at 7:49 PM ^

Someone made a post earlier this week asking for everyone’s “Pleasant surprise” players this year.  I went with Danna and Hutch but overlooked Hudson.  He has really had the bounce back year we were all hoping for.  He is erasing other guys’ mistakes and playing smart football.
hopefully dwumfour can stay healthy because he is a huge difference maker in the middle.

BLUEinRockford

October 10th, 2019 at 7:53 PM ^

Really liked the effort and various looks the defense used. Keep the other team guessing. Lots of speed and talent on this squad. Really excited to see the young guys develop (Dax, Cam, Hutch).

GO BLUE