I've previously spent time here discussing the gamesmanship of Rich Rodriguez in play calling, specifically against Notre Dame on
Roy Roundtree's wide open touchdown pass. Remarkably enough, with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter of a tied game, 73 yards to go to the end zone, and an awful kicking game, Rodriguez was able to do the same magic against Indiana to set up the Junior Hemingway reception at the four yard line. Let's take a look at how it was set up:
This is the first play of Michigan's final drive. Indiana is in man coverage against the receivers with cover-2 help over the top. Indiana shows this defensive front on every play on this drive. Michigan runs three straight QB runs, off tackle to the left and is able to pick up 27 yards on the three plays. With 29 seconds left, the clock stopped, and two Michigan timeouts remaining, Indiana realizes that they need to change something to stop a potential Michigan field goal try (which they should've been content giving up given Michigan's kicking woes). When Indiana lines up to defend the eventual Hemingway pass, they come out in the same defensive front they just showed:
Look familiar?
There's only one difference: The nickel back that was covering Roy Roundtree in the slot shows blitz before the snap. Then this happens:
Michigan looks back to the sideline because Rodriguez has seen the blitz coming from the nickel back (you can see the nickel back--#10--on the line of scrimmage). This leaves straight man coverage for Hemingway and Roundtree with no safety help over the top. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan had called another QB run off tackle as they were gashing the Indiana defense and still had two timeouts remaining. But when Indiana showed their hand and Michigan got man coverage against one of their deep threats who is reported to have the best hands on the team, well...
There are a couple of things happening here. First, this was probably a terrible play call from Indiana. Regardless of what Michigan was doing on the ground, to give a man coverage look like this with no safety help, when Denard has proven throughout the year that he can make deep throws, is willfully stupid. Granted, it was good coverage and a great catch, but this is the sort of thing that happens in one-on-one coverage on an island. It was even dumber given that, even with the nickel back blitz, Indiana still only brought five players against Michigan's six blockers--which is why it's a little disappointing that Denard got hit as hard as he did on the throw.
Next, as I said in my
game column, this play doesn't happen with anyone else under center. Specifically,
| It's a tie game with less than a minute left and Michigan is able to get man coverage down the field in an obvious passing situation because Indiana is terrified of Denard's running ability. Either that's the worst play call of the year or Denard really is able to take it to the house on any play. Given what we know, it's the latter. |
So maybe it's not even close to the worst play call of the year. But the fact remains: How in the world do you put corners on an island and blitz less players than a team has blockers in a situation like that, especially given that Michigan's kickers are a combined 1/5 on the year? In that situation, you allow the running game to pick up nine yards at a time and take your chances with Michigan's kicking game.
Finally, Rodriguez needs to come in for a lot of praise here. On the previous three plays, Michigan got up to the line of scrimmage, surveyed the field, and ran the play they had originally called. When Indiana finally showed a change, one that was favorable to Michigan, Rodriguez checked to the passing play that effectively won them the game. Lloyd Carr rarely if ever showed this kind of cat-and-mouse play calling. More importantly, this is twice in close games that Rodriguez has out maneuvered his counterpart to resounding effect. This is not a fluke occurrence.
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