One of the many great moments from Saturday’s 63-3 pounding of Hawaii was the 43-yard touchdown run by Chris Evans. It came on a staple Jim Harbaugh play, but rarely has it worked so effectively as it did against the Rainbow Warriors with Evans running the ball. You asked in the off-season for more analysis of plays or schemes, so I’ll try to indulgeHere’s a frame-by-frame breakdown:
Above: Here’s how the play would be drawn up in the playbook.
Above: Michigan is in a pretty standard I-pro formation look with 21 personnel (2 RBs, 1 TE), though FB Henry Poggi is in motion to the weak side. Hawaii is in an Over front with two inside linebackers, an overhang defender to the top of the screen, and a Cover 2 shell. This picture is from the side because the BTN replay started a little late, but several of the rest of the shots will be from the endzone.
Above: Normally it would be the FB’s job to kick out the overhang defender on Power, but since the formation has him lined up on the weak side, that’s no longer his job. (We’ll get back to Poggi in a moment.) Left tackle Grant Newsome’s (#77) job is to seal the B-gap from penetration, at least until center Mason Cole (#52) can help block backside. Left guard Pat Kugler (#57) is now a kickout guy and will blast the strongside end toward the sideline. Meanwhile, right guard Kyle Kalis (#67) and right tackle Erik Magnuson (#78) should double-team any player lined up on Kalis, in this case the 3-tech DT in the Over front; they’re looking for the backside inside linebacker (Hawaii’s #2), and whether that LB tries to fight underneath or scrape over the top determines whether it will be Kalis or Magnuson who peels off to pick him up. Tight end Devin Asiasi (#2) releases to the outside linebacker to seal him to the outside. Hawaii’s weak safety and linebackers are held by Poggi on the weak side, as well as Evans’s position step to the left. That delay will help Michigan’s linemen get a half-step more leverage on their defenders.
Above: What is happening after the snap is fortuitous for Michigan. From a base Over front, Hawaii has a stunt going with the defensive line and linebackers. The weakside end (bottom of the screen) has pinched into the B-gap and the weakside linebacker has outside contain, meaning the WILL is effectively removed from the play and the WDE has to beat Newsome to the B-gap if they have any chance of stopping this from the weakside. Meanwhile, the nose tackle is looping around the crashing 3-technique and could potentially find himself filling the playside B-gap where Evans is aiming.
Above: As Evans takes the handoff, you can see where this play has gone wrong for Hawaii. Asiasi has locked out the SAM linebacker, and Kugler is kicking out the SDE. The nose tackle who was looping around in the previous snapshot? He overshot the B-gap and has run himself out of the play, essentially getting picked off by Kugler’s kickout block. Meanwhile, the other linemen have picked up their blocks, and Magnuson is helping out with the MIKE linebacker since the WILL linebacker he was supposed to block has blitzed the backside C-gap and is currently being locked out by Newsome. You can see Poggi leading up through the hole, but I bet you can’t see anyone for him to block. He’s actually responsible for the MIKE linebacker, but as mentioned above, Magnuson is picking him up because the WILL disappeared.
Above: Here you can see that Poggi discovered a defender-less front side, so now he’s peeling back to pick off the looping DT, which is a superfluous block at this point. Kalis seals the stunting 3-tech (Hawaii’s #99) to the inside, and Magnuson just gets a hat on a hat with the MIKE linebacker. The result is a hole that even Mike Onwenu could run through. The only guy who might make the tackle is a backpedaling umpire. Touchdown, Michigan!
Watch the video below:
If you have questions about the play design, defense, blocking scheme, etc., ask away in the comments!
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Thanks, very informative post. Should Poggi have kept running ahead looking for someone to block instead of turning around? Should he have helped seal off the Mike (?) Magnuson is on or gone for a safety? Seems wrong to turn around and block in that direction, what if the RB was right behind him?
And is there any other RB on the roster who has the speed to split those two defenders? Feel like Smith or Isaac would have only gotten a 10-15 yard gain on that play. Maybe Higdon? I thought it looked solid on his carries.
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Poggi probably should have kept going, yeah. I just think he was so surprised that there was no one for him to hit that he got momentarily confused. Technically, that MIKE linebacker should have been his, but since he was already taken, I would probably want him to get up to the next level and try to get a block on the SS.
That was such a big hole that I think most of our backs could have turned that into a touchdown, even De’Veon Smith. I’m not sure about Kingston Davis yet, but yeah, I think Isaac, Higdon, Johnson, etc. have the speed to score a TD there. Whether they have the patience, vision, etc. to let it set up might be a different story.
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Not a tremendous amount of setup to do here.
To change the subject some, I think the home uniforms look awesome on TV.
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Magnus love the analysis. I remember during game they broke this play down too. Please keep this up, love your analysis, like mst people really enjoyed having football back. Howe er hawaii was so overmatched it hard to really tell how talented this team is. But i remember the days when uconn was a slugfest and miami was a nail biter so i wil take it,
Also loved uniforms. The black visor with the helmets and home jersey were awesome. Having jordan,jeter and woodson there with the jumpman logo had to help with any recruits on campus hopefully the bball and football recruits soaked it all in
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Great work Thunder!
Thanks for doing this, as I’m certain you have other priorities. I really mean it too. A while back there was a site called Buergeoning Wolverine that did this quite well, so I’m glad to have it back for Michigan games — GO BLUE!
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I remember the site, though I rarely/never read it. I’m glad it’s appreciated.
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Question—if Hawaii hadn’t stunted, who would have blocked the nose tackle/which direction was he supposed to be blocked in?
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If Hawaii had played it straight up, Mason Cole would have blocked the NT to the left.
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This is awesome! Please keep on doing these. Defensive snapshots are cool too…
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Good stuff here! Agree that the OL/D set up Evans here, but it’s nice to have a guy who can make it to the end zone. I do think that’s a play where a slower back can get tripped up around the first down line.
This goes back to my theory that if the OL is blocking well for you there is a premium on speed and big play making, but If the OL is inconsistent – there is more value in a pounding tackle-breaker who can consistently grind forward.
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