SPONSOR NOTE. This was going to be a three-thousand word sponsor note because there's not much to say about this game, but Matt was like "no, stop that," like most of our advertisers have to say to us on a regular basis. "Please stop doing that," Matt said, "and instead have a brief item noting HomeSure Lending's ability to get you a mortgage from the comfort of your own home rapidly."
Thus this note, which is not an exegesis on various details of mortgage lending, and that's just another reason to get a mortgage from HomeSure.
FORMATION NOTES. Like last week, Michigan spent the vast bulk of this game in a four-man front. Whether that's disrespect to the opposition's passing game or Aubrey Solomon emerging into Michigan's best option as the seventh guy in the front seven is to be determined.
Minnesota was all three-wide gun except when they were in their irritatingly effective jet sweep package.
More on this in a bit.
SUBSTITUTION NOTES. 247 published snap counts earlier in the week so no speculation necessary: the back seven barely changed, with McCray, Bush, Kinnel, and Hill getting all or almost all of the 60 snaps. Long and Watson split the other CB snaps. Metellus would have gone the whole way but for his ejection; Glasgow entered in his place.
There was more rotation up front. Gary, Winovich, and Hurst got about 90% of the snaps before Minnesota's late FG drive; Solomon had 26. Kemp, Paye, Marshall, Mone, and Dwumfour all got 10-20 snaps. Uche got 5, Rueben Jones 2.
[After THE JUMP: another week, another Big Ten quarterback.]
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O17 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press two high | Run | N/A | QB power | Hudson | -1 | ||||||||
| Edge threat one way with the RB and QB power the other with both backside OL pulling. Nobody bothers blocking Hudson(+1), who is blitzing as Metellus replaces him in hypothetical coverage. Gary(+0.5 )and Solomon(+0.5) push the POA back into the backfield and this is a wad play. Bush(-1) misdiagnoses here and starts running after the back after initially going after the QB. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O16 | 2 | 11 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press two high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Long | 4 | ||||||||
| Yo-yo motion from Smith, who gets the ball on the edge to the strong side. Long(+1) strings it out and Metellus(+0.5) is near the LOS to force the bounce. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O20 | 3 | 7 | Shotgun trips | 4-2-5 | Nickel over | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Slant | Metellus | 25 | ||||||||
| Metellus(-2, cover -2) gets torched on a slant; can’t tackle, YAC. Kind of wonder if Bush is supposed to be dropping into this after faking a blitz but doesn’t quite get over in time. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O45 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Counter | Hudson | 0 | ||||||||
| Same double pull on the backside. Hudson(+1) again blitzing off the edge right into this; puller does not recognize this and attempt to block him. Gary(+1) sheds and helps tackle at the LOS. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O45 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even SAM | Press one high | Pass | 5 | Flare screen | McCray | 8 | ||||||||
| RB to flat immediately, with McCray(+1) in man trying to keep up. He takes a blocker and gets around him; he does take a big shove. He gets there, but his blocker follows him and re-engages; WR cuts back and there’s no help. McCray fights back inside; WR back outside. RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M47 | 3 | 2 | Shotgun trips | 4-2-5 | Nickel even | Press one high | Pass | 5 | Slant | Hurst | Inc | ||||||||
| Hurst(+1, pressure +1) gets his hands up and bats it. Metellus in much better position to contest if this does not happen. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 0-0, 11 min 1st Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O25 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press two high | Pass | 5 | PA slant | Bush | 16 | ||||||||
| Winovich(+1, pressure +1) dives inside his guy and surges up the middle, forcing a back foot throw. Both Bush(-1) and Furbush(-1) get little depth on their drops and are hanging out at about five yards (cover -2) when the ball is thrown; relatively large window for a chunk play. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O41 | 1 | 10 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Inverted veer keep | McCray | 2 | ||||||||
| Edge fake on this doesn’t hold anyone, really. McCray and Winovich are the guys to the playside. Winovich(+0.5) shuffles down and absorbs the pulling G. McCray(+1) sits in the hole and tackles. Solomon(-1) took a play long double and got blown out, but hey no blocker. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O43 | 2 | 8 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | Nickel even | Press one high | Run | N/A | Split zone | Solomon | 2 | ||||||||
| Minnesota checks. As they do so Hudson walks up to the LOS. Then he walks back. Wildcat, fake nobody pays attention to, split zone. Hurst(-1) overpenetrates and is kicked out way upfield so there’s some room in the middle. Solomon(+1) wins a one on one block and sheds to tackle at the LOS; Gary(+0.5) and Bush(+0.5) execute similarly, if less emphatically. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O45 | 3 | 6 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 line split | Press two high | Pass | 3 | Scramble | Winovich | 8 | ||||||||
| M sends just the DL, with McCray spying. Gary(+1) gets pressure up the middle that would normally be good; QB repositions and comes off a throw he thinks is covered(+1). He’s between Gary and hurst and there are three blockers with nothing to do except harass McCray. McCray(-1) starts running to cover the sideline when QB isn’t moving to it and can’t cut back when QB takes off the other way. Winovich(-2) is doubled and doesn’t get to the QB and that’s fine but by the end of this play he’s 13 yards upfield; should have quit and focused on containing long before this. Pressure -3. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M47 | 1 | 10 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | Nickel under | Press zero | Run | N/A | Inverted veer keep | McCray | 0 (Pen +5) | ||||||||
| M does have a zero check here with Kinnel coming down into the box. He has edge responsibility. McCray(-1) jumps offsides before the snap; he then shuffles on the QB exchange instead of firing at it despite the outside help he has. He’s then able to crash down and tackle for nothing because he has no blocker and isn’t afraid of the outside threat. RPS +2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M42 | 1 | 5 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press zero | Run | N/A | Split zone | Solomon | 0 | ||||||||
| Hurst(+1) and Solomon(+1) drive their guys back a couple yards each and provide RB a bunch of bad choices. McCray(+0.5) helps clean up as Solomon tackles. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M42 | 2 | 5 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Hill | 12 | ||||||||
| Yo-yo action again. Hudson and Metellus are to the field and have to contain. They do. Hudson gets moved by a TE but guy is still cutting upfield just outside the hash. Hill(-2) is in man coverage on this guy and ends up 3-4 yards behind him as he reverses field; if he’s able to catch up or even just delay a bit Gary likely makes this tackle. RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M30 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 2TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | Solomon | 1 | ||||||||
| Solomon(+1) stalemates and then powers through a G after taking a momentary double; Bush flowing up forced C to leave it. Marshall(+1) takes a play long double and holds up pretty well to it. Solomon closes it down from the front and Hudson from the back for a stuff. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M29 | 2 | 9 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | Nickel even | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Scramble | Winovich | 12 | ||||||||
| Hudson(+1, cover +1) walks down and comes off the edge but aborts when he sees the RB leave the backfield. He jams the RB, and QB read man with a blitz from Hudson and is trying to go there immediately as McCray runs out there, presumably in man coverage? This could be an adjustment M made in case of this eventuality as they ran a play with a severe weakness. QB comes off it; four man rush can’t get there and again the pocket cracks, with Winovich(-1) falling over after getting pushed past the QB at 9 yards; Solomon(-1) unable to push the pocket at all so there’s a big gap QB hits. Pressure -3. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M17 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press one high | Run | N/A | Counter edge pitch | Metellus | 7 | ||||||||
| Solid RPS move here from Minnesota as they fake IZ and pitch it out; Michigan’s relying on Metellus(-1) crack replacing on a guy who looks like he’s running a slant; Metellus has already gotten burned on one. Metellus falls off but not in time to prevent a solid gain. RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M10 | 2 | 3 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Counter edge pitch | Watson | 10 | ||||||||
| Very similar concept from their jet formation; fake jet edge the other way. Watson(-1) doesn’t read this fast enough to get up on it and string it out, and then he gets run over on the tackle(-1). Winovich(-1) also beat to the edge. RPS -1, though. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-7, 1 min 1st Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O25 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Scramble | N/A | 6 | ||||||||
| Either Gary gives up his responsibility to maintain the edge or someone fails to blitz or stunt, because there is nobody to the right side of the line. If I had to guess I’d say Mone was supposed to loop here since both Gary and Hurst move right, but guess. Coverage(+2) good; Pressure(-3) doesn’t get through and leaves that big cavern to run in. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O31 | 2 | 4 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-4 under | Press zero | Penalty | N/A | False start | N/A | -5 | ||||||||
| oops | |||||||||||||||||||
| O26 | 2 | 9 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Run | N/A | Split zone | Hudson | 0 | ||||||||
| Corner blitz so Hudson(+1) doesn’t even have to think about the QB and runs directly at Smith, nailing in the backfield. RPS +3. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O26 | 3 | 9 | Shotgun 4-wide | 3-3-5 | Dime line split | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Scramble | Gary | 2 | ||||||||
| Gary(+2, pressure +2) around at seven yards and threatens to sack; Winovich(+1) also drives the pocket. QB escapes by going around Gary well upfield and this gives McCray time to rally and hold this down.. Coverage(+1) good on the scramble action. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 13-7, 14 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O9 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Hudson | 8 | ||||||||
| Another yo-yo jet sweep. Hudson(-2) is drawn in by that motion and ends up a yard from Bush, probably too close. On the jet he’s seemingly checking inside in the same gap Gary is in, and that’s a gap and a solid gain. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O17 | 2 | 2 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Counter off tackle | Gary | 13 | ||||||||
| No pull here, just counter action from the RB and a jet sweep that pulls guys out. Gary(-2) is used to not getting a block here so when a TE blocks down on him he gets blown out. McCray(-1) doesn’t scrape over; failing to read what’s going on for a while and getting cut off by a back. Bush has a lot of space to shut down and does force it back upfield but there’s no one there and a ton of room. Bush(-0.5) gets definitively sealed out as he reacts to the jet fake and could get back to this better. RPS -1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O30 | 1 | 10 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press one high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Kinnel | -2 | ||||||||
| M reacting to this hard now and gets a TFL. Hudson flares out and fires upfield; not sure how I feel about this because he does get blocked by a TE and removed but the WR bends to get around him. +0.5? Okay. Kinnel(+2, tackling +2) fires on this action and runs up in a ton of space, first cutting the RB off and then tackling for loss. RPS +1; still a tough ask in space for Kinnel. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O28 | 2 | 12 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press one high | Pass | N/A | Wheel | Metellus | Inc | ||||||||
| Pocket just comfortable enough for a throw but collapsing so a push; Metellus(+1, cover +1) jams his guy and then releases downfield, seems in very good position; his dude falls. Mostly of his own volition, but Metellus had something to do with it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O28 | 3 | 12 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press one high | Run | N/A | Split zone | Bush | 2 | ||||||||
| Give up and punt. McCray(+1) fires into an OL and forces him back; Winovich(+0.5) also drives to cut off backside lanes. Bush(+1) is free because this bounces to the front and his guy suddenly has no angle but he makes the read an authoritative tackle. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 13-7, 9 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O18 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack SAM | Press two high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | Hudson | -2 | ||||||||
| M brings Hudson down late and flares McCray into the gray area as they show zone; run. CB blitz means Hudson(+2, tackling +1) can run directly at the back; he does so for an impressive TFL. RPS +2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O16 | 2 | 12 | Shotgun empty TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Pass | 4 | Sack | Hurst | -6 | ||||||||
| Hurst(+3, pressure +3) runs over the RG and hurls him into the QB. Hurst follows for a NFL draft reel sack. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O10 | 3 | 18 | Ace | 3-3-5 | Base 3-4 | Press one high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Watson | 2 | ||||||||
| Watson(+1) runs to this action and is there to fill, with Hill(+0.5) and Bush(+0.5) chipping in, Hill with a force and Bush by flowing fast from the interior. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 20-7, 4 min 2nd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O36 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press one high | Pass | N/A | Improv | Hurst | Inc (Pen +15) | ||||||||
| Hurst(+2, pressure +2) rips through a guard and gets quick pressure up the middle; QB rolls out and fires low on a comeback route that Metellus can’t quite get to as the rollout has shortened the throw; dropped. Gary(-2) gets an illegal hands to the face call. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M49 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Run | N/A | Counter edge pitch | McCray | -2 | ||||||||
| Counter edge pitch again; M backs McCray(+2, tackling +1) into a short zone and when he reads the ball coming to him he jets right by a WR trying to crack and initiates a TFL. RB spinning out of it when Winovich(+0.5) and Hudson(+0.5) finish the job. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O49 | 2 | 12 | Shotgun 2TE | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press two high | Pass | 5 | Sack | Hudson | -17 | ||||||||
| Hudson(+2, pressure +3) simply not picked up on the edge. Hudson does a good job to mirror an outside move from the QB and then close as the guy breaks the other way; QB throws it for an intentional grounding call. RPS +2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O32 | 3 | 29 | Shotgun trips | 3-3-5 | 3-3 line split | Press two high | Pass | 3 | Sack | Hurst | -6 | ||||||||
| Furbush(+0.5) feints and then backs out; Hurst(+3, pressure +3) then rips two gaps over to jet between the distracted G and the C. QB steps up into Hurst and is lost. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 20-7, 11 min 3rd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O45 | 1 | 10 | Ace twins twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over SAM | Press one high | Run | N/A | Jet sweep | Bush | 9 | ||||||||
| Big gap between the two guys on the outside trying to be force and the rest of the defense as Gary shoots after the running back. This is probably as designed since the whole line slants left. LBs don’t react like this is the call though, with Bush(-1) waiting and waiting and getting blocked and McCray(-1) checking frontside gaps that don’t exist and won’t with Hurst blowing it up. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M46 | 2 | 1 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press one high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | Gary | 4 | ||||||||
| Hurst(+2) surges into the backfield and forces an awkward backfield cut from the back; he does so and then there’s not much pressure from the D. Gary(-1) got doubled the whole play and got off the ball late and gets sealed inside; Metellus prevents the bounce as he’s overhanging in prep for a jet sweep, but back can get the first down. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M42 | 1 | 10 | Ace twins twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press two high | Pass | 4 | Waggle throwaway | Metellus | Inc | ||||||||
| Inevitable waggle comes and M defends it, with Hill taking the deep route and Metellus(+0.5) and Bush(+0.5) doing a fairly good job to bracket the intermediate WR. Flat TE also covered(+3), thrown away. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| M42 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over SAM | Press two high | Pass | 5 | Sack | Hudson | -5 | ||||||||
| Hudson(+3, pressure +1) off the corner. He does get a blocker this time; blocker just gets to him and knocks him upfield as he threatens to sack. QB is spooked and rolls out; he does not know that Hudson is still on his feet and chasing him down from behind. He tries to throw; Hudson tomahawks the ball out. Winovich(+1) recovers. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Fumble, 20-7, 7 min 3rd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O14 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack SAM | Press two high | Run | N/A | Counter edge pitch | Furbush | -4 | ||||||||
| IZ fake to the edge pitch and even though supposed edge guy Hudson backs out it’s dead. Furbush(+1) sheds a semi-WR-block to contain and that’s the end of that. RPS +2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O10 | 2 | 14 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Throwaway | N/A | Inc | ||||||||
| Pocket is mostly okay(pressure -1) but no throw through two reads(cover +2) and Croft has to run around. Furbush(+1) does a good job of reading the QB’s movement and shoots up to contain and force an OOB chuck. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O10 | 3 | 14 | Wildcat 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press one high | Run | N/A | Inverted veer keep | Hudson | -2 | ||||||||
| White flag is waved as Minnesota returns to wildcat stuff. Hudson(+2, tackling +1) rips off the edge and ignores the QB, without a CB blitz. This is either a read because the fake is nothing, and the QB hasn’t kept, or just a Don Brown FU. RPS +2. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 27-7, 1 min 3rd Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O23 | 1 | 10 | Wildcat 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press two high | Run | N/A | Inverted veer keep | McCray | 0 | ||||||||
| Zero respect for fake so McCray(+1) is unblocked in the face of the back; Winovich(+0.5) and Bush(+0.5) also in the area. RB bounces to the edge for nothing. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O23 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | 4-3 even | Press two high | Pass | 5 | Sack | Hudson | -5 | ||||||||
| Pocket okay for a read or two (cover +2); QB sees nothing. Hudson(+2) blitzes and is around the corner relatively quickly; he again closes so fast from behind that Croft is taken by surprise and sacked. Pressure push; coverage sack. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O18 | 3 | 15 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 line split | Press two high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | Dwumfour | 3 | ||||||||
| Dwumfour(+1) slants inside through an OL into the path of the back; rest of defense rallies once the slip through the line is no longer a possibility. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 33-7, EO3Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Pack | Front | Cover look | Type | Rush | Play | Player | Yards | ||||||||
| O16 | 1 | 10 | Ace twin TE | 4-2-5 | 4-3 over | Press two high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | McCray | 0 | ||||||||
| M slants and both LBs head to the backside gap that nominally gets cleared by the jet fake. Bush(+1) and McCray(+1) combine for a stuff. RPS +1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O16 | 2 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 4-2-5 | Nickel even | Press one high | Pass | 4 | Corner | Kinnel | Inc (Pen +15) | ||||||||
| Comfortable pocket(pressure -2); Kinnel corner route time again. Kinnel(-1, cover -1) beat by a step or two but is able to recover on a pass that’s a little short and get what looks like a good PBU, but on replay he's clearly in the WR a bit early. This is still a softish PI call. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O31 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 4-3 even | Press one high | Pass | 5 | Scramble | Hudson | 4 | ||||||||
| Hudson(+1, pressure +1) off the corner; RB tries to cut him and fails, mostly. QB can still break upfield and must because Hudson is chasing him. Furbush(-1) is driving left the whole time and gets too close to Hurst; there’s a gap that QB can hit. M playing zone behind it so rally is quick and yards minimal. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O35 | 2 | 6 | Shotgun 3-wide | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press one high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | Furbush | 4 | ||||||||
| Paye(+0.5) fires inside and drive a TE back; cutback to the outside. Furbush(-1, tackling -1) is coming over as the force guy and has an opportunity to get this down at the LOS. He reads the bounce too late and gets beat but does manage to pull the guy down, barely, from behind. Refs(+1) short Minnesota a yard. | |||||||||||||||||||
| O40 | 3 | 1 | Ace | 3-3-5 | 3-3 stack | Press one high | Run | N/A | Inside zone | McCray | -1 | ||||||||
| McCray(+2) blitzes through the backside tackle and gets to the back in the backfield; he’s able to bounce off. Hudson(+1) popped around a TE trying to block him and uses the delay; TFL. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Drive Notes: Punt, 33-7, 10 min 4th Q. Last drive is a lot of backups and not charted. | |||||||||||||||||||
This again.
Yep. Michigan faces inept offense and dominates it except for a single touchdown drive.
I feel like I've seen this movie before.
We have, repeatedly. Defensive UFRs are turning into Mo Hurst writ large where I don't have much to say that I haven't said before. This one is especially low-information because PJ Fleck decided to set a bunch of downs on fire with that wildcat stuff, which is a major reason Khaleke Hudson just had a record-setting day.
Khaleke Hudson though! Woo!
Yes, woo, but any time someone gets that many TFLs without even having to beat a block there's something deeply wrong with the opposition. Eight wildcat snaps gained a total of –3 yards, in large part because Michigan would send a corner off the edge and let Hudson run right at the ballcarrier:
By the end, when Hudson had discovered that Minnesota had no intention of handing off to the QB, Hudson just blew up Smith in the backfield.
There's not even a mesh point there, not really.
Earlier in the game the Gophers simply failed to block him, repeatedly. He blitzes here; two Minnesota OL run by him, TFL.
#7 OLB to bottom
Hudson's outrageous day was largely because Minnesota neither blocked him nor optioned him. It was one of the most boggling things I've seen in years of charting this stuff.
Disclaimer out of the way, Hudson did take advantage of every one of the many opportunities Minnesota provided him. The intentional grounding sack is an excellent example. So many guys come in so hot here that they run by the quarterback when he makes a move and the guy can make a throw. Hudson comes in under control and then tracks the QB down once his first move doesn't work:
Rodney Smith is a tough customer at running back, a tackle-breaker, and Hudson did not get hit by him once. The one time it looked like Smith was about to escape he went down; Hudson was latched onto him like a rabid squirrel.
Hudson's other two sacks saw him get a block and get around it to chase down Croft; both were coverage sacks and QB-without-operational-timer sacks, but Hudson's ability to keep his feet and close in a flash were also major factors. Hudson's sack-strip was excellent awareness of what Croft was likely to do, and excellent timing:
The third again displayed Hudson's impressive closing speed.
Finally, this doesn't show in the box score but it might have been my favorite play of his in the game other than the tomahawk:
Hudson can and has beat blocks this year. It's just that he didn't have to. Because reasons.
His 14 TFLs now lead the team and he's just one behind last year's Peppers total; while some of those were gifts from PJ Fleck and company he certainly earned his share. Michigan likes his blitzing so much that they would fling linebackers out to cover folks in empty package. While that can't continue for obvious reasons, it does indicate that M thinks he's as much of an impact player as Bush.
Bush has gone silent of late, though?
Yeah, but you have to figure that a portion of Hudson's explosion was Minnesota being concerned with Bush and not so much Hudson. He's going to go through a transition period here where he's been scouted and is a priority target for the opposition. He's been quiet, but is still performing. Here's a dang chart, which has a lot of low numbers for the team because I dumped an unprecedented amount of stuff in RPS.
ONCE AGAIN RICK, THE CHART
Defensive Line | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Gary | 5 | 5 | 0 | Blown out once and illegal hands to face call. |
| Hurst | 12 | 1 | 11 | Two impressive sacks. |
| Mone | DNC | |||
| Winovich | 5 | 4 | 1 | Partially responsible for scrambles. |
| Kemp | DNC | |||
| Solomon | 3.5 | 2 | 1.5 | Solid in 26 snaps. |
| Dwumfour | 1 | 1 | ||
| Paye | 0.5 | 0.5 | ||
| Marshall | 1 | 1 | ||
| TOTAL | 28 | 12 | 16 | DEs didn't have a great outing. |
| Linebacker | ||||
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Furbush | 2.5 | 3 | -0.5 | |
| Bush | 4.5 | 3 | 1.5 | Quiet since Hudson took up all the O2 |
| McCray | 8 | 4 | 4 | IV contain. |
| Uche | DNC | |||
| TOTAL | 15 | 10 | 5 | Few plays left over. |
| Secondary | ||||
| Player | + | - | T | Notes |
| Hudson | 18 | 2 | 16 | Huh, I thought this would be lower. |
| Metellus | 2 | 3 | -1 | One bad slant. |
| Kinnel | 2 | 1 | 1 | Impressive TFL, PI |
| Hill | 0.5 | 2 | -1.5 | Screwed up a jet I think. |
| Long | 1 | 1 | ||
| Watson | 1 | 1 | 0 | Beat in uncharted time once FWIW. |
| Thomas | DNP | |||
| TOTAL | 24.5 | 9 | 15.5 | Hudsonnnnn. |
| Metrics | ||||
| Pressure | 17 | 12 | +5 | Lower than usual because a lot of broken pockets. |
| Coverage | 13 | 5 | +8 | Incredibly low totals. |
| Tackling | 5 | 2 | +3 | More open field tackles than not. |
| RPS | 22 | 4 | +18 | Most of Minnesota's offense was f-ing stupid. |
Hudson, Hurst, and that RPS number sucked up almost all of the available positives. I would like to further emphasize that Minnesota's approach in this game was dumb as dirt.
Seriously, though, what was with that Wildcat thing?
I have no idea. Minnesota ran an inverted veer with no handoff threat and one other play. None of it worked. Wildcat stuff hit Michigan for big plays against Penn State and Rutgers but both of those instances were correctable mistakes that got corrected. Michigan seemed to be checking into plays designed to defend the inevitable veer action. Here McCray heads right for Smith because Kinnel sees the shift and appears to be jetting for the QB as a result of it:
#23 S to top of screen, also #9 LB to top
He'd do the same thing on another wildcat snap on the very next play. That was an inside zone and did not feature an unblocked guy, but then you're just running IZ without optioning off a front seven player, and that went like it usually does against the Michigan defense.
Time for the weekly How Did They Get The Touchdown section.
Minnesota's TD drive was a play action slant, two scrambles, a jet sweep, and two edge pitches. IE, a bunch of gimmicks and a slant. Most of those gimmicks ceased working the instant Minnesota scored. Michigan tightened up their rush lanes and gave up three scrambles for 12 yards the rest of the game. The edge pitches died spectacularly:
The one thing that kept working for a while was the jet sweep package.
Yeah, man. That was annoying. What was the deal there?
I don't really know. Minnesota used a lot of back-and-fourth yo-yo action early, and that was effective. Hill's in man coverage on the ball carrier here and ends up nowhere near the dude:
That's frustrating since literally every Minnesota snap from under center over the past month has featured jet action. Hill should be expecting the WR to return from whence he came.
A second jet was Hudson checking inside gaps that were covered.
Later he'd get TFL #8 by reading and firing outside in the gap that the WR hits between Gary and the corner. Michigan also got hit on a nice RPS play on which Gary got blasted from the side when he expected to be unblocked; mostly these were just a few individual errors against one sort of play.
The corners were virtually untested; the safeties a bit dodgy, etc.
Er. Yes. Michigan did get hit a couple times on the drive I didn't chart; on one Long was beat by a step and Croft laid in a perfect throw that the WR dropped. The other was Watson getting beat clean down the sideline. Other than that the only positive pass events on the day were in the general direction of the safeties. Metellus gets beat badly here and cannot even get a tackle attempt in:
And Kinnel was hit with a pass interference penalty on Yet Another Corner Route; it wasn't the clearest PI in the world but the second camera angle here does make it seem like a correct call:
This is the same thing. It has been and will continue being the same thing.
Anything new? This is just the same thing.
Solomon got another start and on the rare instances where Minnesota tested the interior of the Michigan OL he did well. Here he fires back a guard and helps create a zero yard play:
#5 DT to bottom
He hasn't added anything in pass rush yet, which is a mite disappointing since he's supposed to be a guy with some upside there. Still, true freshman.
Anything so old but still impressive?
Maurice Hurst: in ur base.
Always in ur base.
Gonna miss laughing uproariously at the husk of an offensive lineman who no longer has a soul.
Uh... isn't there supposed to be a lot more of this?
Usually, yes, but this was a short game that saw unblocked guys kill about a third of Minnesota's plays, and most of the rest of them were Michigan thumping guys. There's really not much to say except "Hudson is really good when not blocked and Minnesota needs a new OC."
Heroes?
Surprise: Hudson. Also Hurst.
Maybe not so heroic?
Nobody really but the DEs had very minimal impact.
What does it mean for Maryland and the future?
You should probably have a plan to block Hudson. Just sayin'. Maybe this performance will help Devin Bush get back on the rampage horse.
Solomon might be making Michigan into a 4-2-5 team again. He's solid. He's not great yet.
...nothing else? Uh? I mean... yeah.