Upon Further Review 2014: Defense vs Notre Dame

FORMATION NOTES: Michigan spent the entire night in a nickel package save for some short yardage/goal line snaps. Notre Dame was the same passing-oriented spread they always are. It was in fact eerie how closely the teams mirrored each other in approach. Michigan would frequently press the single X receiver away from NDs twins or trips:

This is the definition of on an island: on the LOS with the safety in the middle of the field. It did not go well.

Michigan also showed a number of two-deep looks, of course.

The Frank Clark MLB thing came up a couple more times, FWIW.

And maybe Brandon should grow a mean professor beard or something, ND dominated this matchup:

I AM THINKING ABOUT HEGEL YOU SIMPLETONS | dorf dorf dorf

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: There was a lot less of it. In Morgan's absence Ryan and Bolden played just about every snap.

Lewis rotated in early and played the rest of the game after Taylor's early ankle issue; Hollowell played just about every snap. Countess was briefly yanked for Stribling after a couple of Will Fuller receptions, but Stribling was little better and Countess came back in.  Clark and Wilson were your safeties almost he whole way; Hill got some playing time after the game was decided.

The line did see rotation, but again less than usual. The Clark/Henry/Glasgow/Beyer starters were in most of the time. Ojemudia got some early PT. Wormley spotted Henry but by the end of the game it was Godin getting snaps as Wormley tended to fall over; Glasgow went far more snaps than NTs usually do and was spotted primarily by Mone, with just a couple Pipkins snaps. IIRC Hurst did not play. Charlton got sparing time spotting Beyer.

[After THE JUMP: Somebody stop Will Fuller. Seriously. Someone put a hand on him.]

FIRE EVERYONE

But the run defense?

ALL MUST BURN IN THE FIRES OF HELLLLLLLL

Even this kitten without front legs?

DEATH TO KITTENS

I could try to tell you what happened.

DEATH TO WHAT HAPPENED

Death to you.

DEATH TO—oh fine.

Explanations for why things went wrong rarely get this simple: Hollowell and Countess, especially Countess, comprehensively lost one-on-one matchups against the Notre Dame receivers. All complaints about everything else should be shelved. Michigan crushed the ND run game and got consistent pressure on Golson, and none of that mattered at all because Michigan's new aggressive man scheme backfired spectacularly.

Countess was exposed a bit against Tyler Lockett in the bowl game and now he may as well upload nudes to Apple. This was stark. The maddening fourth and three conversion was actually one of his better attempts on Fuller, because he got a hand on him:

Other times that was a faint hope indeed.

Even the guy doing the torching was surprised by its completeness. Here Fuller expects Countess to be closer than he is and tries to break back outside when he can just keep running:

A simple five yard hitch that turns into a first down because Michigan can't tackle on the catch:

Even on incompletions they were sometimes just Golson throwing wide of an open Fuller.

Meanwhile, Hollowell was also not so hot. This is a zone on which he chases the slot receiver all the way to the safety and provides nothing underneath on a twelve-yard hitch:

There were a number of out routes he couldn't deal with, including one of the touchdowns. He was just as burned on slants. Peppers was missed. Probably. I mean, I assume so.

I would like to give him a hat tip for a play that he got hilariously destroyed on. This is actually good from him as he rips through his blocker. The problem is what happens immediately after:

THAT'S NO MOON

That's a 2 for 1, +1 for getting painfully buried by a guy literally twice his size. A hard-earned point.

Lewis?

Better, even if he started off with some bad PI calls. To get them you have to be in position to touch the WR. Lewis did, and that made him the best CB by some distance on Saturday. He did forget his SHORYUKEN coverage on the second one, getting into the WR way too early:

You attack when the arms go up. But at least he's in with a chance.

Note that the Lewis PBU was actually zone coverage. Lewis is dropping to a three deep trying to keep his guy inside; Ryan blows his assignment and provides an obvious THROW HERE window.

Lewis still makes a play, and that was the end of targeting Jourdan Lewis. Literally. The only other UFR mention of him comes when he gets too deep on a zone and Golson dumps it off to a running back for profit. Lewis committed two silly pass interference penalties on his first two tests and Notre Dame stopped targeting him three minutes into the second quarter.

So… that happened. For the more holistic look here is a…

…a chart.

?

I don't feel aggressive anymore.

Ah. Well, here it is anyway:

mind that nobody got a ton of plays so even on the DL anything positive is good.

So… yeah. Front seven was pretty much outstanding and the secondary couldn't make it hold up. Possible I should have been even harsher on repeated not-even-close coverages; adjust your personal numbers for your level of bloodthirst. Do note that secondary numbers should be taken in context with the Coverage metric, which was even more atrocious than it looks since M got a half their coverage plusses when it was already 28-0. This was an incredible 2010 PSU level coverage blowout.

What? Our DL sucks and we got no pressure.

The DL, especially Clark, was doing as well as you can expect if they actually try to block you. Go back to that Lewis PBU above and watch Clark to the bottom of the line. If Golson has to come off just one read Clark is going to at least flush him and maybe more.

It's impossible to get to the QB when it's 1-2-3-gone every time, and thanks to Michigan's coverage that was the case the whole night. Even when the play is a 30-yard shot to the endzone it's 1-2-3-gone, with Clark coming around the corner:

Clark was doing this on just about every play. Once when he dropped into coverage it was Beyer doing it (and probably Clark the reason the throw was 1-2-3-gone). On the rare occasions it was 1-2-3-not-gone, Clark was getting there, but Golson's escapability and Michigan breaking down saved ND:

That will happen sometimes, and Golson was terrific on the run. I do wish Michigan got a little bit more rush from non-Clark dudes. But this was all on Golson's first read being open 90% of the time.

You seem to be in the pocket of Glasgow Industries, Inc, buddy.

Guilty as charged. They have long funded me in secret as I conspire to grade them well in this column, and boy do I deliver.

What can I say? Michigan stoned Notre Dame's run game and it could have been significantly worse if a couple of backfield tackles are made. Glasgow was a penetrating, disruptive presence. Here he rips to the hole on a goal line play and just about gets a TFL:

That deserved better than a 1.5 yard gain after he nearly brought the back down in the backfield. Here he slants to the backfield effectively, forcing the back into traffic:

(Bonus: Clark dismissing that guard.)

Here he rides a zone stretch a long way and then feels where the play is going, ripping back to the tailback as he passes.

He can't make the tackle, but he constricts space. Constricted space is tough to do anything in. If Ojemudia doesn't fall over right when the play starts this is probably no gain.

Here he's got a full on double the whole play and puts it in the backfield, forcing a cutback.

If Beyer understands that he's got that corner support and tears down the line that is a crucial third down stop.

The only stuff that's negative for him is getting pushed out of a lane a bit and not having impact as a pass rusher.  Oh, and he got a minus for bad coverage on a zone drop. He's a nose tackle, so pass rush is a bonus. He had a major hand in an anemic Notre Dame rushing game, and the interior of that line is supposed to be excellent.

We'll see if it holds up. I'm getting the Order of St. Kovacs ceremony ready for him. I think he can play.

You just loved the entire line.

Well, 1.7 YPC. Those two guys weren't alone. Henry showed his beastly power on more than one occasion without getting out of his lane even once:

That's a fifth year senior and captain he's treating like a third grader right there.

Mone showed surprising upfield burst on one pop pass to harry Golson into a bad decision and bad throw.

Any RPS considerations you may have missed?

This is more an offense UFR thing but Notre Dame repeatedly used the bubble to open up big holes in Michigan's pass defense.

That should still be held down more than it is but that bubble gets the underneath defender chasing, making that throw easier, building up that 1-2-3-gone rhythm.

More generally I wasn't giving minuses when Golson would find Countess on Fuller and Fuller would destroy him since hypothetically that's something you can deal with as a defense. RPS is more for adding + and – when I can't assign it to a player. Here there was a clear option.

That does not mean it was ultimately foolish to try to go man press-ish against this offense. RPS is a trees metric; discuss the forest using it as a resource, but not the only one.

Any vague hope?

The Big Ten sucks and Golson was dealing. He missed a few outs by throwing them wide, but he looks like the different quarterback ND fans promised. Some guys take a leap. What can you say? You never know when and where it's going to happen.

The rhythm of Golson's throws we've mentioned; he also showed excellent escapability to keep plays alive when things weren't there. This is just…

…okay. Twenty-yard dart on the run to a yard-wide window while preparing to get hit. Good game, mister.

I don't think that's on Mitch Leidner's docket right there. QBs Michigan will face in the Big 10: Leidner, Gary Nova, Christian Hackenberg, Connor Cook, Nate Sudfeld, Trevor Siemian, CJ Brown, JT Barrett. Hackenberg, Cook, and Sudfeld's tempo are the most threatening things there and I think we're all writing off the MSU game already. If the line can continue to do this there are a number of teams on the schedule who won't have other answers.

Sounds like it's time for your weekly illegal man downfield bitchin'.

Correct! The right guard is five yards downfield, blocking a linebacker on this throw.

Pop passes are brutal enough as it is without the offense flagrantly signaling run against the rules of the game. Last week saw Appalachian State actually use downfield blocking of a linebacker as a way to get their flat passes open. Again, how is this not a point of emphasis already?

Heroes?

Everyone who isn't in the secondary. Note that Michigan did all of this in the ground game with very little safety support.

Maybe not so heroic?

Countess, Hollowell.

What does it mean for Miami (Not That Miami)?

The DTs are probably at least good. This was a veteran line they were going up against and they stomped them. They used a lot of slants to do so, so look for that to continue.

Bolden and Ryan recovered to have nice games. Jury is still out on them, and it feels like Ryan is not an impact guy as a middle linebacker, but any thought of moving him around necessarily ended with the Morgan injury.

Q: what are you going to do with Ross and RJS if they have no role against spreads? Do you want to look at them as interior guys even a little here?

Don't worry about Clark. He will get his. He was consistently dangerous in this game in adverse circumstances to make an impact.

The corners were a huge issue. I expect Lewis to start and Taylor to displace Countess if he's healthy; Countess will continue to get at-bats as he tries to right himself. The guy was a good player the last couple years, he didn't just evaporate.

Meanwhile, Hollowell tried but he just wasn't able to make any plays on the ball against ND. Peppers's return is huge. Nickel is a critical spot.