The Rest of College Football

[froot loops]

The I formation was not the default or common formation with Montana and the Niners, you might see it in short yardage situations, but they preferred to operate out of the split back formation as any Tecmo Bowl aficionado knows. They pretty much always used a fullback and a Tight End. The run and shoot was the first offense to truly utilize 3 and 4 receiver sets as their default.

You have to improve the offense, but the defense is far more pressing for you guys. Your defense has been the equivalent of empty basketball points in the Harbaugh era.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think Brown deployed a flawed scheme. His scheme was rendered beatable by OC's that advantaged themselves recognizing two weaknesses within M's D: (1) day got match-ups in space against guys like Brandon Watson and Josh Matellus. I don't think that was really exploited until osu's passapalozza offense QB'ed by Dwayne Haskins was implemented by day and ufm stepped aside to let him do that. (2) 63 points probably doesn't happen if M's DL, especially at the interior positions, was as good at getting pressure on the QB as it was mid-season. Mullen pretty much used day's blueprint to score 41 on Brown's D in the Peach.

Sure, Brown may not have recognized the circumstances he was dealing with v. osu and UF and do something else but conceptually his scheme was sound and worked for 10 games. I think M's defensive collapse against osu and UF demonstrates, as the author of the linked article suggests, offenses optimizing spread concepts, getting 4 skill players in space and ditching TEs and FBs in the process that then by doing so put DCs in a "pick your poison" situation on a play-by-play basis better be able to keep up - M's impose your will, ball control, snails pace offense can't do that.

The article also makes the point that today's CFB defenses have yet to come up with a way to slow down the spread concept, pick your poison offenses like Alabama, Clemson and osu have implemented. So, suggesting that M's defense "is far more pressing for you guys," doesn't work for me. Fix the fucking offense, score a bozzilion points and play slightly above average defense (unlike OU) and you'll win a lot more games than you'll lose.

[iam416]

I'm not sure he's going to abandon the emphasis on the TE and FB in his offense that, according to this author compromises the spread passing attack teams need to beat the elites of CFB.

I'm fine with the TE *if* that player is has to be accounted for by the defense in both the run and pass game. My problem with the FB is that as an extra blocker the position is likely inferior to a 2nd TE, as an extra skill player, the position is absolutely inferior to an extra WR and probably inferior to an extra TE AND the FB signals the play too easily. So, in terms of replacement value, I think the FB is generally a net negative position.

I can see the value of a TE especially as compared to a 4th WR. Depends on your roster.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Agree ..... and the article makes your point crystal clear.

[hack]

Froot's building a nice body of work on Don Brown's defense. I wonder if I should connect the inability of a supposedly brilliant football mind like Rashan Gary to stop running himself out of plays his entire career to that notion of non-fundamental football/gimmicky approach.

[iam416]

I don't think Brown deployed a flawed scheme.

The scheme itself, in theory, isn't flawed. But in that particular game it was. He gave up 48 points (take away 7 for the punt return, and I'll take away 7 for the short field TD off the Milton INT). I can't imagine that 48 points was the BEST defensive outcome M could hope for. I think they could have pretty easily done something else that forced OSU into more patient drives and gave themselves a chance to get OSU behind the sticks and get a stop. As it was, they pretty much only got stops when OSU committed bad penalties (the infernal 1st quarter, e.g.).

Ohio State has the same issues, btw, with Schiano/UFM's defense this year. They were hellbent on running the hyper-aggressive defense favored by both, and it got smoked. They eventually changed it up a little bit to account for talent (more press and bail) after the Purdue debacle, and they were generally better (the Maryland game was so weird -- it was either big play or 3 and out).

But, still, it would have been nice to see that recognition earlier and it would have been nicer to see way more variance.

Anyway, at least Don Brown shutdown inferior offenses.

[iam416]

I don't think the Florida game is of real value. Bush was the best defensive player M had, IMO. Taking him off the field is a pretty big deal. The one thing I'd say is that M had Florida under wraps in the first half. Yeah, they gave up a shitty 3rd down and long conversion on a QB lead draw, but that's one play. They got their asses wailed in the 2nd half. Whatever happened at halftime was extremely negative for M.

[Jeff Buchanan]

talent

Agree with your points in both posts.

Re M's defense. I don't know who is going to emerge on the DL in 2019. Without the kind of pressure Brown was able to get out of past players, his D is risky, especially as it is employed in the context of JH's offense as it is right now.There's some talent there now and upcoming but who is going to coach the interior and the DE's seems to be in flux right now. Mattison may be retiring at the end of his contract and I think there's a good chance Don Brown will be gone.

Therefore, given the uncertainty and that M's D may drop off a bit just from the potential for coaching changes alone, if I were Harbaugh, I'd be putting all my energy into figuring out how to make M's offense MUCH more productive within the context of what we know he seems to like to do. I don't care if he wants to run 2X personnel formations with a FB as his base as long as he can, at moments that are required in a game, flex to 1X and 0X concepts and keep up. I think that author of the linked article pretty much said that is exactly what Clemson under Dabo and Alabama under The Nick can do - they both like to run out of 2X formations but if that's not working, there's no delay in running RPOs out of 11 personnel formations or going spread and throwing out of 0X formations to 4 and 5 wides.

[iam416]

Alabama under The Nick can do - they both like to run out of 2X formations but if that's not working, there's no delay in running RPOs out of 11 personnel formations or going spread and throwing out of 0X formations to 4 and 5 wides.

The Nick used to be all about that defense and "win with cruelty" offense or whatever. And it worked. Until it didn't. He got got by UFM. He got got by DeShaun Watson (almost twice). And it was clear to him, IMO, that he couldn't win as much as he wanted to without a superior offense. And a superior offense these days is what we've been talking about. I give him a lot of credit in that regard. The guy isn't afraid to move on from what isn't working as well as the alternative.

Now, there are some schools where you sort of play to your talent minimize both your floor and your ceiling and get you 8-9 wins per year. But M isn't that type of program. They aren't Wisconsin or Iowa or Sparty, nor do they aspire to be. Their aspirations are much higher and there's no way they get their without re-thinking their offense. None.

[froot loops]

Blitzing defenses are at their core fundamentally flawed. I don't like them, I think Michigan gets exposed in big matchups all the time because they are not fundamentally sound schematically defensively. If you are telling me the defense doesn't play zone well because they aren't used to playing it, to me that is a giant red flag. It certainly doesn't make sense if you are talking up running quarterbacks and the latest in college spread offenses. I don't care for blitz heavy defenses.

This is not a criticism of Jeff because this is prevalent, but in analyzing how to catch the the Clemsons and Alabamas is seemingly always focused on offense when the key to both is the punishing defense. Alabama has a better offense now but they have been dominant because of their defense.

[froot loops]

If you are going to use a fullback you need to have some good athletic guards because you should be able to run effective iso runs to the 6 and 7 hole. That's your base play you are running everything off of normally.

[hack]

Brown inherited a defense that could get pressure with the front four alone, and now has a defense that can't get pressure at all. I think the results suggest the DL position coaching was better under Hoke. The DL has become worse every year since. I would welcome back Hoke as DL coach in a heartbeat. That's what he knows.

(and, no, I don't think it is reasonable to expect Harbaugh to hire Hoke. Just a way to point out that the scheme is entirely dependent on an elite DL, and the position coaching isn't producing them.)

[WingsFan]

Pick 6 Clemson!

[Hannibal]

Nothing says "big game" like the fake enthusiasm guttural yell that Chris Fowler emits whenever there is a big play.

[WingsFan]

That was quick 7-7