Film Study

Thanks to kind Internet souls like mgodisney I was able to efficiently watch five Michigan games yesterday (Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State and Notre Dame). The Wolverines improved each week during the season. That's coach speak, but it's true. In their final two games against Nebraska and Ohio State, Michigan was a complete team with a lot of confidence capable of moving the ball and playing good enough defense.

I know we're playing Michigan, but let's talk about Iowa real quick, more specifically Iowa-Michigan. Watch this, or as much as you can tolerate, or for as long as it takes you to realize there's a high probability '08 Stinepring is calling the plays for the Hawkeyes.

After the Clemson loss, French wrote that we didn't have an identity on offense. At the time it was hard to disagree. And to keep things is perspective Miami was just one, albeit beautifully called and executed, game. However, going into the season that's how I expected the offense to look each week. Our talented receivers spread out Miami's defense. Logan found the open guys on high percentage throws. We ran a heavy dose of zone read to take advantage of Logan's size and Wilson's which loosened up the box. At that point it's pick your poison. The offensive line won't dominate the line of scrimmage every time, or even every other time, like we'd like them to in more pro-style / "I-formation" attack, but in a spread scheme they don't have to. They're quite good at blocking in space, occupying a man long enough for David Wilson to find the crease and spring a play, and they're damn good at pass blocking.

The final four play calls were pretty brilliant, although during the game I went ballistic after the three consecutive runs starting from 1st and 10 at the Miami 28. Let's take a closer look.

Before today the only Miami game I had watched was their Labor Day opener against Maryland. Although it was a 24-32 loss I was impressed with how competitive they were considering they had 9 players, most of which were either starters or on the two-deep, suspended (8 by the NCAA and wide receiver Aldarius Johnson was suspended indefinitely by Al Golden). The 'Canes that played on Labor Day are not the team that will travel to Blacksburg on Saturday, on paper they are much, much better. Aside from defensive end Olivier Vernon, all of their suspended players are eligible; 5 have been playing since the Maryland game.

I wanted to get a better idea of how the Hurricanes looked with a more complete roster so I watched the first half of Miami–Bethune-Cookman and the second half of Miami–Kansas State.

Miami was sloppy in the first half against I-AA Bethune-Cookman. They gave up a lot of big plays, and committed 6 penalties for 41 yards, their only penalties of the game. If the Wildcats don't fumble on the two-yard-line and miss a field goal, they take a 17-14 lead into the half, instead of being down 7-14. Miami would eventually blowout the Wildcats, 45-14.

After re-watching the ECU game, I feel a lot better now about the team going forward than I did Saturday afternoon. Watching the game live wasn't easy on my eyes. The penalties, turnovers, special teams gaffs and little mistakes added up and overshadowed what was otherwise a clinic in power football supported by a tremendous defensive performance. We controlled the clock for 37:22, rushed for 241 yards, held ECU to 112 total yards and only won by seven points. We spotted ECU 92 yards on penalties, turned the ball over twice, only threw for 91 yards, got lucky ECU dropped some balls, missed a gimme field goal, shanked some punts and won by seven points. There's a very thin line separating wins and losses, and I'm happy as hell we're on the right side of it.

This week's film study won't have a theme, but will be a hodgepodge of things that caught my attention.

I promised more detailed analysis after I watched the tape of the Maroon-White Game. I deliver thoughts in varying lengths and in no particular order.

Mike O'Cain's passing game showed its teeth. There were a lot of three-step drops paired with aggressive routes that pushed the field vertically. If LT3 can make the reads quick enough, which he did against a base defense, we can really start using our off-the-blocks speed at receiver to our advantagee. On the 55-yard Maroon scoring drive set up by Jayron Hosley's return, Maroon called 4 straight passes (Logan took off and ran up a soft middle for 6-ish yards on one) until Logan pumped and threw to Marcus Davis for six.

Four Verts: Randall Dunn makes the reception and Boykin is not pictured, but was indeed running down the field.

There were screens too. Screens, those plays we used to run a ton of, then stopped calling altogether. Hopefully we'll use them with moderation, when appropriate.

Arguably Stanford's most impressive win of the 2010 season was against #15 Arizona, a 42-17 pummeling of the Wildcats. The Cardinal never looked backed after jumping out to a 21-3 first half lead as Stanford maintained a comfortable 18-25 point separation throughout the second half. In 2010 Arizona held teams to an average of 343.25 yards (37th) and 21.58 points (33rd), Stanford gained 510 yards and held the ball for 37:03. Their defense surrendered yards (428), but made plays when they had to in order to keep points off the board.

Below is a breakdown of some game changing/interesting plays that caught my eye.

Stanford set the tone for the entire game with a well executed, forceful touchdown blow to Arizona's neck on their first possession by way of a play action touchdown pass to Chris Owusu.

After motioning, Stanford lines up in an offset I look. Arizona loads the box and defends with 8 men leaving their corners in one-on-one coverage with safety support over the top.

Oregon is responsible for the only blemish on an otherwise pristine Stanford record (11-1). The Cardinal took an early, and what looked like, commanding 21-3 lead over the Ducks, but could not hold on as day turned to night in a raucous Autzen Stadium. I wouldn't say Stanford lost the game as much as Oregon won it. Sure, Stanford turned the ball over four times in the second half, including once on downs starting from 3rd and goal at the 1 (finally stopped on 4th and 1 from the 6). Additionally, Luck's two interceptions were desperate attempts to get back into a game that was slipping away. Therefore, I believe it was more a case of Oregon executing flawlessly on offense and pressuring Luck in the pocket–something that was severely missing from the first half.

After watching the replay last night, I know more than ever that this is an excellent, tough as nails, and well coached football team.

Stanford on Offense

Their physicality, tempo, varied formations and precise execution reminds me of a NFL team.

The "Diamond" formation is all the rage these days.

My initial thought after Thursday night's game was that we severely regressed. After re-watching the game I've come to the conclusion that my seat high up in the south end zone and a morning, afternoon and evening of tailgating clouded my judgement.

Let me be cliché for a moment–that game was a heavyweight grudge match and Georgia Tech took the opening rounds. On their first two drives the 'Reck took the ball and bullied us down the field for 138 yards and two touchdowns. I knew Georgia Tech would get their yards, but we had to make them earn them. Their first drive was methodical, but we gave up the big play, again, the second time around.

A few guys were responsible for that gaping hole, but Kyle Fuller (who played most of the day at whip) got his jock turned around by Joshua Nesbitt mashing down on the L2 button.

Down 14-0 I thought our prospects for winning were bleak. The defense was struggling, the offensive line was playing mediocre, and Al Groh was proving that he was indeed a Bill Parcells' disciple. But then we began battling back.