BACKUP QB: CERTIFIED GOPHER TOUGH
We're finally heading into conference play, which means this hopefully will be the last film breakdown of a body-bag game, in this case Minnesota's 24-7 steamrolling of San Jose State. With starting QB Mitch Leidner sidelined due to a sprained knee and turf toe, injuries that could very well hold him out of this weekend's game, the Gophers turned to backup Chris Streveler to run the offense—and simply run, as he toted the rock 18 times to just seven pass attempts, of which he completed... one.
I'm not quite ready to deploy the "I have the sinking feeling this is totally useless" tag, which I waited until last year's Northwestern game to unleash for 2013, but it's getting close. The good news: Minnesota's run-heavy-to-the-point-that-run-heavy-doesn't-capture-it offense should play right into the strength of Michigan's defense, especially if Streveler is called upon once again to start.
Personnel. As you'll see in the formation chart, Minnesota almost exclusively ran their offense out of a one-back shotgun set with two tight ends. They still bring the beef—this is the list of their starters from their first four games, from Minnesota's game notes:
Yes, that features one WR who's started all four games, a FB/WR/TE spot, a TE/WR spot, and a dedicated TE spot. Spectacularly Gopher.
Anyway, here's the diagram from Seth, which now features Frank Clark and Jake Ryan getting their proper due as stars [click to embiggen]:
Minnesota's offense lacks experience, and it's even more glaring if you remove Maxxxxxx Williams (questionable, calf, didn't practice yesterday Tuesday).
[Ed-Ace: I wrote this up yesterday and there's been an update since. Williams practiced yesterday in a limited capacity, while Leidner has taken "about half" of the reps over the last two days, and Jerry Kill is "cautiously optimistic" he'll be able to play. Kill said he feels better about both players' chances to play compared to how he felt earlier in the week, for what it's worth.]
Spread, Pro-Style, or Hybrid? Pro-style. Even with the mostly shotgun look, well... see the section above.
Basketball on Grass or MANBALL? Basketball on grass. The vast majority of Minnesota's plays in this game were either inside zone or zone read. They mixed in some power, usually when running from under center or the pistol, and a couple outside zones, but they really could've won this game while running their two base plays.
Hurry it up or grind it out? This is Minnesota. They're in no hurry here.
The Gophers did go up-tempo to great effect on one first-half drive, covering 59 yards in eight plays while taking just 2:41 off the clock—and increasing the tempo as they went down the field—but the drive ultimately failed when running back David Cobb fumbled a first-and-goal carry into the end zone for a touchback. Other than that lone drive, Minnesota took their sweet time.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown.]
Quarterback Dilithium Level (Scale: 1 [Navarre] to 10 [Denard]): Streveler ran for 161 yards and a score on 18 carries, and he displayed solid speed with the requisite Minnesota QB ability to lower his shoulder and knock a defensive back silly. Those numbers are bit misleading, however, in that San Jose State showed absolutely no ability to defend the QB keeper on a zone read. I mean...
...somebody keep contain or scrape over the top?
No seriously stop bugging out for the running back and at least half-respect the QB.
Or not, I guess.
I was screaming "HOW THE HELL DOES A D-I COORDINATOR NOT KNOW HOW A SCRAPE EXCHANGE WORKS?" for a while, and then the mystery was solved in truly disturbing fashion:
I NEED AN ADULT
This is why you're terrible, San Jose State.
Anyway, Streveler gets a six. It's worth noting he made very good decisions in the read-option game—13 good ones to just three bad, by my count—and also that he fumbled once on a big hit near the sideline, but managed to recover.
Dangerman: The focal point of the offense, especially with top receiving option Maxx Williams, the tight end, out for this game and doubtful for Michigan, is running back David Cobb, who toted the rock 34 times for 207 yards and two TDs in this one—he averaged 6.1 YPC despite not breaking a run longer than 19 yards.
Cobb isn't a flashy runner, as that last stat indicates, but he's patient, powerful, and makes decisive north-south cuts in the zone running attack. He knows when to take it to the backside on inside zones and he can carry a pile upon contact. Essentially, we're hoping Derrick Green becomes a bigger, faster version of this guy.
Zook Factor: The Gophers punted both on a 4th-and-3 from their own 48 and a 4th-and-8 from the SJSU 39, but it's hard to blame Jerry Kill for those calls considering his quarterback did the following...
HenneChart: Yeah, when you go 1-for-7 for seven yards and a pick this isn't going to look pretty:
| Opponent | DO | CA | MA | IN | BR | TA | BA | PR | SCR | DSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose State | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 22% |
Woof. As you can see, there are more "throws" charted here than Streveler had official pass attempts; this is because he had the habit of pulling the ball down and running if his first read wasn't open immediately, and often he did this directly into a pile of humanity, which isn't ideal—that got a BR when he had a man open and a TA when there wasn't an obvious place to go with the ball, since either way he was getting time to throw from his line.
Then there were the actual throws. Streveler got robbed of a long touchdown when KJ Maye dropped a dead-on streak that, in fairness to Maye, was played very well by the recovering defensive back, but still should've been caught. His lone completion came on a short hitch against soft coverage, and the marginal throw was directed at an open Maye but came late and led him into a hit that jarred the ball loose for an incompletion. The other stuff wasn't pretty:
The intended receiver, Donovahn Jones, does a pretty awful job against press coverage, but Streveler is looking right at this—doesn't really look off of it, in fact, save a cursory look towards the right flat, even though he's got time—and just kinda chucks it into no-man's land. Meanwhile, the pick was very much his fault:
#12 is all over this crossing route—out in front of it, in fact—and Streveler puts it right into his arms. If he's the quarterback and Minnesota falls behind in the second half, it'll be serious trouble for the Gophers.
OVERVIEW
So much inside zone, mostly from the gun. Formation chart:
| Formations | Run | Pass | PA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gun | 41 | 7 | 1 |
| I-Form | 2 | -- | -- |
| Ace | 5 | -- | -- |
| Pistol | 2 | 2 | -- |
The Ace and I-form looks mostly came in goal-to-go or short-yardage situations; the pistol was their changeup outside the red zone, with two power runs and a couple downfield shots. The play distribution by down also paints quite the picture:
| Down | Run | Pass | PA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 28 | 1 | -- |
| 2nd | 18 | 1 | 1 |
| 3rd | 5 | 7 | -- |
(1) Establish the run.
(2) Continue to establish the run.
(3) Repeat unless third-and-long, in which case you're screwed.
Because of how Minnesota called this game, there's very little I can tell you about their offense that hasn't already been covered above. The offensive line looked quite good against an overmatched SJSU outfit, especially left guard Zac Epping, who nearly got the "dangerman" section above and is featured in the forthcoming play breakdown—he moved SJSU's defensive tackles pretty much wherever he wanted. In general, the O-line did well blocking for the run and getting those critical second-level blocks on their many inside zone plays.
With the lack of pass attempts—and how surprising they were—it's very hard to say how good this Minnesota team is at pass blocking. They gave Streveler a nice pocket to work with, though as mentioned above, he didn't always use it to good effect:
Streveler looks to his first read, comes off of it immediately, and barrels into the line even though he has a totally clean pocket; as he's pulling the ball down, the slot receiver running the stick route actually manages to complete his route and has nice separation, but it doesn't matter because Streveler went into panic mode for no reason.
There may be a weak spot at right tackle. Ben Lauer and Jonah Pirsig have both reportedly been dinged up at points this season, and Lauer took over the starting job after Pirsig took the first snap in the prior three games; right now they're both rotating into the game, which usually isn't a great sign when not going against the San Jose States of the college football world.
The receivers, in limited opportunities, didn't impress. Jones, the #1 wideout who has all of six catches this year (tied with Maxxxxx for the team lead!), got jammed silly by a SJSU corner in the play GIF'd earlier in the post. Maye, the nominal #2 wideout—he also plays the slot when back receivers Drew Wolitarsky or Isaac Freuchte enter, though Wolitarsky sometimes motions to the H-back spot—dropped two catchable, albeit tough, passes. The tight end totally disappeared from the offense as anything other than a blocker with Williams sidelined.
Michigan should be able to stop this team cold. The run defense has been stellar this year, and the Wolverines can safely put their corners on an island and key heavily on shutting down Cobb and Streveler (or Leidner, if he's healthy—the offense will get more pass-oriented with him in but not by much). Williams will be limited if he plays at all, which takes away Minnesota's only real receiving threat. If the offense comes remotely close to holding up their end of the bargain, the Gophers shouldn't find much success in terms of yardage or score.
PLAY BREAKDOWN
Minnesota did throw in the occasional zone stretch for good measure, and this one shows off Zac Epping's strength at left guard. The Gophers are in their usual shotgun with a less-usual trips look to the field side; as most teams prefer, they'll run to the boundary.
On the snap, the entire line steps in unison to the left, the telltale sign of a zone run:
Often the left guard—Epping—will get help on the defensive tackle via a quick double-team from the center before the center heads to the second level, but on this play the center goes towards the MIKE immediately while Epping is momentarily stood up by his mark. The tight end has already sealed the playside DE successfully, while the left tackle is headed towards the playside OLB; the right side of the line, meanwhile, has already created a crease by walling off the inside:
The left tackle gets his seal on the linebacker, while Epping recovers to start bulling the DT towards the numbers, creating a huge crease just outside the far hash:
Everyone holds their block, Epping ultimately drives his guy all the way to the numbers, and Cobb has a huge lane to waltz through for a first down pickup and more:
Video:
San Jose State or not, that's great blocking. Epping did this repeatedly; he'll be a major test for Michigan's interior D-linemen, who thus far have acquitted themselves very well.