mgoblog</h1> <article> <h1>Punt-Counterpunt: Penn State 2026</h1> <p>Seth — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:00:04 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Punt-Counterpunt: Penn State 2026</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/seth" class="username">Seth</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-17T09:00:04-04:00" title="Saturday, October 17, 2026 - 9:00am" class="datetime">October 17th, 2026 at 9:00 AM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Penn State Links:</strong> <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/preview-penn-state-2026" target="_blank">Preview</a>, <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/mgoradio-126" target="_blank">The Podcast</a>, FFFF <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/fee-fi-foe-film-penn-state-offense-2026" target="_blank">Offense</a> (<a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-offense.png" target="_blank">chart</a>), <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/fee-fi-foe-film-penn-state-defense-2026" target="_blank">Defense</a> (<a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-defense.png?s406580d1792147415" target="_blank">chart</a>)</p><p><em>It’s a chilly morning. Here's a thing to warm up the tenors.</em></p><h3>PUNT</h3><p><strong>By National Championships Serena</strong><br><a href="https://x.com/sgeorgetter" target="_blank">@sgeorgetter</a></p><p>In roughly 2016, I had a brief period in which I was fixated on the content of an Instagram account called “Renoir Sucks At Painting.” The account’s thesis statement is exactly what it sounds like. It is run by art docents who are committed to getting their message to the masses: that famous French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir simply put, sucks at painting.</p><p>The account features dozens of photographs of Renoir’s work (which, mind you, were taken at some of the world’s most prestigious art museums), and argues that they just aren’t any good.</p><p>Of particular offense to the account’s stewards is the way that Renoir’s paintings depict the subjects’ eyes. It calls them “sharpie eyes” or “lobster eyes.” I suppose you can take a look for yourself.</p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/clip_image002.jpg"></a></p></td><td valign="top"><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/clip_image004.jpg"></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>[After THE JUMP: When you coordinate anything worth $78 million you can talk.]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div><p>When I looked at this work, I must say that I was not particularly impressed. Often, the faces I saw in these paintings didn’t look anything like a real human face to me. And the eyes were admittedly, very dark. Not just in their color, but in that they didn’t appear to reflect any light. Lifeless. Soulless. I spent hours googling various Renoir works only to find myself totally convinced: They’re right. Renoir sucks at painting.</p><p>But then I thought to myself, “Serena, you don’t know anything about art.” And that’s decidedly true. I can’t reliably draw a circle. Any game of Pictionary or Telestrations where someone has to guess what I drew is going to be an unmitigated disaster. I don’t understand anything about color theory, or brush stroke technique, or lighting, or anything that a person would use to objectively assess the quality of an artist’s work. What hubris to look at that which had been given the seal of approval by the likes of the Musee d’Orsay, the National Gallery, and the Met, and decide that I, a nobody with no training, am better suited to determine its relative quality.</p><p>While I doubted my ability to assess the art, Renoir’s great-great-granddaughter has made a slightly different argument. When protestors outside of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts demanded that Renoir’s paintings be removed and replaced with higher quality works, she retorted “when your great-great-grandfather paints anything worth $78-million then you can talk.” (Basically natty go brrrrrrrrrr, art edition)</p><p>But does it matter what it sold for? Does it matter what I know (or don’t know) about art? I don’t have to know why it’s bad. Or if something is wrong with the technique, or the colors, or the size of the brush strokes. Isn’t the point of all art how it makes the beholder feel? And the way I feel is “bleh, that lady looks like a melting corpse and I wouldn’t buy that for $20 to hang over my credenza.”</p><p>Michigan fans and Penn State both know their teams suck right now. They may not have the technical expertise to know why. Was it James Franklin? Is it Bryce Underwood? Is Matt Campbell not it? Is Jason Beck not it? Is it talent? Is it structural? All that matters is both fan bases know exactly how they feel, which is “bleh, this offense makes me want to drink bleach.” But someone has to suck less.</p><p><strong>Michigan 13, Penn State 6</strong></p><p class="text-align-center">----------------------------</p><h6><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/image_154.png"><strong></strong></a></h6><h3>COUNTERPUNT</h3><p><strong>By Internet Raj</strong><br><a href="https://twitter.com/internetraj">@internetraj</a></p><ddddddd><p>I live in Singapore, which if you haven’t been following the news, has been engulfed in rolling clouds of toxic smog from fires in neighboring Indonesia. Singapore’s iconic skyline, including the three-towered Marina Bay Sands hotel, has been shrouded in a cloak of lung-clamping “haze.”</p><p align="center"><br></p><p align="center"><i>POV: Bryce working through a progression</i></p><p>For almost two consecutive weeks, the level of PM2.5 (dangerous microscopic particles that bypass the body’s natural respiratory filters) have been in the “very unhealthy range.” During this time, my family has been mostly seeking refuge in our apartment, which currently boasts six strategically placed air purifiers blasting at maximum capacity (and likely incurring an electricity bill rivaling a Ross Bjork-negotiated buyout clause). When we do venture out, we dust off the box of 2020-era N95 masks we had hoped to never use again. Life has been equal measures dreary, dystopian, scary, and suffocating (both in the literal sense of pollutants burrowing their way in the deepest recesses of our lungs but also in the sense of being largely homebound with three kids under seven).</p><p>Suffice to say, it hasn’t been the greatest month.</p><p>It’s during challenging times like these that make you want to seek refuge under the warm, comfortable blanket of sports. To forget the external worries and anxieties and surrender to your most primitive instincts of cheering, booing, and yelling at a random assortment of humans with whom you share the most tenuous of connections and that are playing an inconsequential game many, many miles away (or in my case, thousands).</p><p>Sports. The ultimate distraction.</p><p>But here’s my problem. As my eyes slowly drift from my apartment window to my television featuring my very own Michigan Wolverines, the views are… exactly the same. Roiling clouds of ominous, noxious fog, slowly inching its way towards you on an inexorable death march. Either way, your fate is etched in stone. The smoke will envelope you, its tendrils of doom snaking their way into your deepest recesses. The clamp of its vice grip slowly ratcheting up until the final drops of your hope and optimism are wrung out and you are reduced to a whimpering surrender. You will be left on your knees, choking harder than a matchup of James Franklin against Lincoln Riley deep in the fourth quarter.</p><p>An inevitable depressing cloud of doom. That is the air I’m breathing here in Singapore and that is also what I’m watching on Saturdays. Subjugated by the sight of Kyle Whittingham stumbling around the sidelines with the vacant look of a man who has run out of Werthers Originals and is up three hours past his bedtime; of Jason Beck calling an incomprehensible offensive plan; of Bryce Underwood throwing interceptions so backbreaking you could call him an unlicensed Caribbean chiropractor. It is less so that this team stirs rage or hate in me. No, it’s a despondent resignation of my fate as the poisonous plumes roll towards me. I am resigned to my fate. Another three hours of hacking and coughing through this maize and blue fog. And there’s no 3M particulate respirator in the world strong enough for it.</p><p><b>Michigan 2, Penn State 5.<br></b></p></ddddddd></div> </article> <article> <h1>Michigan Hockey Game #5: Michigan 4, Denver 1</h1> <p>David — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 05:03:40 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Michigan Hockey Game #5: Michigan 4, Denver 1</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/david" class="username">David</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-17T01:03:40-04:00" title="Saturday, October 17, 2026 - 1:03am" class="datetime">October 17th, 2026 at 1:03 AM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://mgoblue.com/sports/mens-ice-hockey">CLICK HERE</a> for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information.</p><p><strong>What just happened (TL;DR):</strong> Michigan went to Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado on Banner Night and stole the show. Malcolm Spence added two goals (one empty-netter). Jayden Perron scored (again!). Now-second-line center Cole McKinney went to the net and banged in a rebound. Jack Ivankovic stopped 27/28 shots. Curses aren’t broken on an early regular season win (especially when Tyler Krivtsov started for the injured Johnny Hicks)…but it’s a start.</p><p><strong><u>FINAL CORSI NUMBERS</u> (</strong><a href="http://www.collegehockeynews.com/">www.collegehockeynews.com</a>)</p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Total Attempts</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Even Strength</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Power Play</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Close (within 1)</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Even Strength %</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Denver</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">72</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">55</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">17</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">22</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">59%</p></td></tr><tr><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Michigan</strong></p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">45</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">39</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">6</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">22</p></td><td width="120" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">41%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Forward Notes.</strong></p><p>-This was a classic Score Effects Game. Michigan pretty much owned the first half of the game. By that time, they were up 2-0, and kept Ivankovic reasonably clean. DU made a push at the end of the second. After it was 3-0 midway through the third, the Pioneers pushed all of their wagons forward and Michigan mostly absorbed pressure.</p><p>-Jayden Perron opened the scoring on a rebound goal in front. He collected a juicy rebound left by Krivtsov, and easily finished into the open net. Perron leads the nation with eight goals in five games. He has potted one in every game this season. I would say that is pretty good. He had his top line humming for most of the evening. Despite not gaining a point, Michael Hage was also very dangerous and had an impactful game.</p><p>-Malcolm Spence was the only skater to have multiple points. Spence set up his first goal with a deft pass to Henry Mews. Malcolm then went to the net and took a return feed from Mews, easily sliding the puck behind Krivtsov to double Michigan’s lead. Spence also out-waited a couple of Pioneer defenders for his second goal into the empty net to ice the game. Spence is up to four goals in five games, adding to Michigan’s depth scoring.</p><p>-Cole McKinney has been a point of debate on the HockeyCast regarding his goal-scoring. McKinney added another one on Friday night. He got to the low slot and found another juicy rebound from Krivtsov to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead and all but put the game away. Cole had been moved up to 2C and continues to produce. Keep going to the net, Cole!</p><p><strong>Defense Notes.</strong></p><p>-Michigan wasn’t perfect defensively, but they were pretty good for most of the night. They gave up a couple of rush chances early and then another breakaway in the second period. As the game progressed, DU turned up the pressure trying to get back in the game, but Michigan mostly absorbed it, blocked shots, and funneled chances to their locked-in goalie.</p><p>-After a few good games, Drew Schock had a few bobbles on Friday night. He fumbled the puck at the blue line, and gave up a breakaway (for the 2nd time in three games). Schock also took a couple of minor penalties. Drew did get a good shot on net that forced a rebound leading to Cole McKinney’s goal in the third period.</p><p>-Henry Mews collected his third assist of the season playing the return feed on the give-and-go with Malcolm Spence. Mews also also continued with his QB spot on the first power play unit. Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen also got an assist by getting a puck on net leading to Jayden Perron’s opening goal.</p><p>-Landon Dupont didn’t play in this game. In his place, Brandt Harper made his debut. He had a couple of rough sequences in the first period, and I didn’t notice him on the ice after that.</p><div id="read-more"></div><div id="read-more"></div><p><strong><u>SPECIAL TEAMS CHART</u></strong></p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td width="180" valign="top"><p> </p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>PP Opportunities</strong></p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>PP Corsi For</strong></p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>PP Shots/Minute</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Denver</strong></p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1/6</p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">17</p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">8/9</p></td></tr><tr><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Michigan</strong></p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">0/2</p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">6</p></td><td width="180" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">0/4</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Power Play.</strong> Michigan got two power plays on Friday night against DU. That’s a lot (against a team that doesn’t take penalties) . I think in the last three games against the Pioneers, the power plays have been 14-5? But who’s counting. Regardless, Michigan did almost nothing on their man advantages, tonight. Will Horcoff missed an open net from a sharp angle. Maybe it hit the post or just the net altogether. That was the only real dangerous chance for the Wolverines.</p><p><strong>Penalty Kill.</strong> Overall, I thought Michigan’s PK was pretty solid. They killed off over a minute of 5x3. They gave up less than a shot per minute. Ivankovic was very good. Denver did have some extended zone time on a couple of the advantages, but Michigan kept them to the edges and didn’t hang Jack out to dry. Ben Robertson finally got beat coming off the wall by Kyle Chyzowski who walked right into the top of the crease and flipped the puck over Ivankovic and under the bar. Not good, but at some point a play like that will happen when you’re in the box six times.</p><p></p><p> </p><p><em>Jack Ivankovic in Lockdown Mode (Bill Rapai)</em></p><p align="left"><strong><u>GOALTENDING CHART</u></strong></p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Michigan Shots Faced (House)</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Denver Shots Faced (House)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>First Period</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">3</p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">11</p></td></tr><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Second Period</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">11</p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1</p></td></tr><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Third Period</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">14</p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">8</p></td></tr><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Overtime</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>TOTAL</strong></p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">28</p></td><td width="240" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">20</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Notes.</strong> Jack Ivankovic started in net and played as well –if not better- than he did in Bowling Green a couple of weeks ago. After only needing to make a couple of rush saves in the opening period, Jack was lights-out in the final 40 minutes, playing in complete control of his crease. Ivankovic had a triple save sequence where he stopped shots from three different angles in the second period. He also caught a puck in the eye hole of his mask! He was also brilliant on the penalty kill. While many of the Wolverines turned in positive performances, Jack Ivankovic was the best play for Michigan on Friday night. That was an A+ performance.<br> </p><p><strong><u>ODD MAN RUSH CHART</u></strong></p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Defense</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Rushes</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Advs</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Escape%</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Offense</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Rushes</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Advs</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Scoring%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>1<sup>st</sup> Period</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1v0</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">100%</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">4v3</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">0%</p></td></tr><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>2<sup>nd</sup> Period</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1v0</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">100%</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>3<sup>rd</sup> Period</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">2v1</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">0%</p></td></tr><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>OT</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">2</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">1v0 x2</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">100%</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center"> </p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">2</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">2v1, 4v3</p></td><td width="90" valign="top"><p class="text-align-center">0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p align="left"><strong>Notes.</strong> Michigan gave up a couple of breakaways in the first 25 minutes of the game. Jack Ivankovic shut down each of them with aplomb, de-railing the Pioneer transition chances.</p><p align="left">The Wolverines had a benign 4v3 early in the game that resulted in nothing memorable. They also created a 2v1 when Denver was pushing on the power play, later in the third. Tyler Krivtsov made a positional chest save to end that rush.</p><p><strong><u>FINAL THOUGHTS</u></strong></p><p>Michigan showed up ready to play. It was apparent they were not over last April’s frustration. Good. This game was an early measuring stick, and tonight’s win earns them at least a split in the series. While they struggled with chance generation after the opening period, their fundamental plays and finishing ability allowed them to capitalize on their chances. That’s what it takes against elite teams. If Jack continues to play like this…look out. Saturday is now house money. The Intern texted me and said “there’s your split.” Splits are for gymnasts and bananas! Go get the sweep! Saturday night at 8pm EST on NHCH.TV.</p><p>On a night where Michigan finally beats Denver, TJ Hughes scores his first NHL goal for the Colorado Avalanche!</p></div> </article> <article> <h1>Preview: Penn State 2026</h1> <p>Brian — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:57:54 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Preview: Penn State 2026</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/brian" class="username">Brian</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-16T14:57:54-04:00" title="Friday, October 16, 2026 - 2:57pm" class="datetime">October 16th, 2026 at 2:57 PM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Essentials</strong> </p><table width="100%"><tbody><tr><th><p> WHAT </p></th><td><p>Transitive #1 Michigan (3-2) vs Penn State (3-3) </p></td><td rowspan="7"><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/518819751_10171715346510057_2670142623837114062_n.jpg"></a></p></td></tr><tr><th><p> WHERE </p></th><td><p>Michigan Stadium<br>Ann Arbor, MI</p></td></tr><tr><th><p> WHEN </p></th><td>3:30 Saturday </td></tr><tr><th><p> THE LINE </p></th><td><p> M –6.5 (Vegas)<br>M –6 (<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vwoVl-Dxy0es87Z9I1RTvFzr72Lb1fAkREfbLxbK-eg/edit?gid=0#gid=0">SP</a>+) </p></td></tr><tr><th><p> TELEVISION </p></th><td><p>CBS<br>PBP: Brad Nessler<br>Color: Charles Davis</p></td></tr><tr><th><p> TICKETS </p></th><td><p><a href="https://www.ticketiq.com/buy-michigan-wolverines-vs-penn-state-nittany-lions-tickets-michigan-stadium-10-17-26-3pm/7707336/">From $36</a> </p></td></tr><tr><th><p> WEATHER </p></th><td><p>Sunny, around 50 </p></td></tr></tbody></table><h3> Overview </h3><p>It's Spiderman pointing time. Michigan faces off against a disappointing blue blood in its first year under a new head coach. Both teams enter week seven with no conference wins and a bafflingly awful ground game. Both quarterbacks are under siege for various reasons. Two main differences: Penn State last won a national title in 1986 and the Penn State rush defense gave up 413 yards to Northwestern.</p><p>That latter is undoubtedly why Michigan was installed as a touchdown favorite at a moment where I'm not sure I would make Michigan a touchdown favorite over a preschool, because to cover a touchdown spread you have to score a touchdown. </p><p><strong>[AFTER THE JUMP: pizza party! I am lying there is no pizza party.]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div> <h3>[Run Offense vs Penn State</h3><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/55229913035_f1a30d29b2_c.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"><em>[Barron]</em></p><p>Normally this section is mostly about the opposition, this post being a preview of the next opponent. That feels thematically inappropriate at the moment, what with Michigan coming off a humiliating loss to Minnesota. In that game Michigan rushed for 79 yards at 2.8 yards a carry. That's bad enough. After Purdue—Purdue!—ran for 305 yards a 6.5 a pop against that Minnesota defense, I'm not sure it matters who Michigan faces. The Purdue Boilermakers more than quadrupled your rushing yardage and more than doubled your YPC. </p><p>There is no personnel explanation for that. It goes back to a completely failed install by Jason Beck in the offseason. I have watched opponents tee off on Michigan's ground game like the forward pass has not been invented. </p><p>Now Michigan had a bye week to do some self-examination. Do I think this is going to help? No. Beck's most recent press conference featured an extensive defense of rhino deployment based on the fact that rhino snaps, while also awful, are marginally less awful than Michigan's other snaps. That does not sound like a guy ready to eat humble pie and run a basic bitch NCAA offense, which would be a stupendous improvement over what Michigan currently has going on. </p><p>But maybe someone throttled Beck in practice and told him to run some stretch. I have done this enough to know that when I completely write something off, 30-40% of the time it bounces back. Do I think this is happening Saturday? Well, no. But there's a chance.</p><p>Penn State also exists. They have a run defense that seems pretty bad even if you discount a humiliating performance of their own, that being those 413 rush yards ceded to Northwestern and their quasi-wing-T. The only teams they've held under four yards a carry are Buffalo and Marshall; they are currently 78th in EPA/rush allowed. Now, you may be wondering where Minnesota lands in that metric. They're 73rd. Woof. </p><p>Michigan's offensive line has consistently gotten their blocks this year. It hasn't mattered because the opposition knows what's coming and when it's coming. I could name various Penn State players in this section, but it's not about that. It's about doing something that makes sense. </p><p><strong>KEY MATCHUP: JASON BECK vs JASON BECK. </strong>Only Beck can fix what Beck has wrought. </p><h3>Pass Offense vs Penn State</h3><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/55566069862_ecf9ace217_c.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"><em>[Barron]</em></p><p>We have very little data here. Penn State throttled their cupcakes; Aidan Chiles only attempted 14 passes as Northwestern paved PSU. The other two games were an 18/38, 6.2 YPA, 2 TD, 3 INT performance by Wisconsin's Colton Joseph and Jayden Maiava going off for 301 yards at 9.1 YPC with 3 TDs and no INTs. </p><p>Michigan is between these two teams statistically but closer to Wisconsin than USC. In a hypothetical world where they could run the ball at all I'm willing to bet that Michigan would be closer to USC; this is not that world.</p><p>One thing that will hopefully be a positive for a fragile Bryce Underwood: Penn State's pass rush is not intimidating. PFF has them 111th in their grading, a number that looks worse when you consider the PSU schedule. Still, Michigan would be advised to stay out of obvious passing downs. PSU's only plus rushers are starting edges Yvan Kemajou and Ikenna Ezeogu. Both guys sport win rates that are solid but not exceptional (11 and 13%, respectively); both of those win rates shoot up to 23-24% when PSU is faced with a True Pass Set. </p><p>PSU's problem is they get nothing from anyone else save for the occasional linebacker blitz. This one is almost a free pass for the Michigan interior line. This will be something of a test for Link and Frazier, but one you'd hope they'd be able to clear without more than a couple pass pro minuses. </p><p>Unfortunately, the Nittany Lion secondary looks like it matches up well against Michigan. Alex: </p><blockquote><p>The starting tandem of <strong>Audavion Collins </strong>and <strong>Daryus Dixson </strong>is a nice duo and I'm interested to watch them go up against Marsh and Buchanan tomorrow. … I put a star on Collins, the only other player on this defense to earn one besides Rojas. Even some of the passing success that USC had came from excellent, hat-tip plays by the Jayden Maiava and his wideouts:</p><p><a title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovO1SXnUEI&t=233s" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovO1SXnUEI&t=233s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovO1SXnUEI&t=233s</a></p></blockquote><p>Alex notes that the nickel and safeties have been comparatively weak, with one starting safety getting the hook after a couple games for reasons that don't seem particularly good. PFF agrees, with a lot of Meh Yellow populating the coverage grades of not only the safeties but the linebackers. </p><p>This looks ominous for a team that's terrified to throw between the hashes and more or less never challenges safeties. Penn State is vulnerable to seams and crossers and whatnot and Michigan just doesn't do that. They most they've ventured is a slant, and while Michigan was able to turn a couple of those into semi-explosive touchdowns against UTEP these corners are likely to tackle on the catch—at worst. </p><p><strong>KEY MATCHUP: MICHIGAN vs ONE GODDAMNED POST ROUTE. </strong>Middle of the field is open! It is always open! </p><h3>Run Defense vs Penn State</h3><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/55567563530_e097dfe957_c.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"><em>[Barron]</em></p><p>Two weeks ago I said that this section could be "nope" given Minnesota's results to date. That was not quite true. Minnesota got an explosive off an end around after the defense had been on the field for an unfathomable length of time; let's set that aside. The Gopher running backs combined for 96 yards on 31 carries, which is 3.1 a pop. This is not good, but it was good enough to keep Minnesota within striking distance on third down and contributed to the glacial drives Minnesota sucked away half the game on—despite not scoring on basically any of them. When the Gophers went out the next week they got Rushing Rutgered against Purdue, gaining 27 yards to the 41 points they gave up. Woof.</p><p>Michigan has a small problem holding up against meaty vertical ground games. That problem is largely "now it is third and four"; it could be worse. But they gave up 2.0 line yards to the Gophers, a number that looks a little sad after Saturday. The killer DL of yesteryear isn't showing up. </p><p>What also isn't showing up is anything other than the light pinpricks above. Despite not having a ton of havoc plays against the rush Michigan is 8th in EPA/rush allowed. You will get some yards here and there against Michigan; your long rush is probably going to be under 15 yards. They fit runs. In college that's 80% of the game. </p><p>If Penn State is going to have any success on the ground it will probably look like Minnesota's. The Nittany Lions currently sit 103rd in EPA/rush and are coming off consecutive games in which they did not crack 70 yards and had identical 2.2 YPC marks. Those were against USC and Northwestern, not teams notorious for brutal run D. In fact, USC is worse at rush D than Penn State is at rush O even after USC held PSU to 2.2 YPC. Northwestern is decent (66th) but not good. It is worth noting that Minnesota is… jeez… 133rd in EPA/rush. (They are one spot behind Oklahoma.) </p><p>If Penn State takes a page from Minnesota's playbook they might grind out a fair few three and even four yard gains, giving them an opportunity to launch their own annoyingly glacial drives if they can convert on third and reasonable. A potential issue: they do not have is a Greg Johnson at center; their starter is Texas State transfer <strong>Brock Riker</strong>, who is both light (290) and limping through an injury. </p><p>They may not have anyone at all. We take issue with PFF run block grades but this Penn State team has not cracked 60 in their Big Ten games, checking in with a 50 against the Wildcats. PFF's grading system is pretty hard to get away from 60 in individual game performances, particularly in run blocking; that looks like a warning sign. </p><p>FWIW, PSU's main backs are ISU transfer <strong>Carsen Hansen</strong> and OSU transfer <strong>James Peoples</strong>. If PSU is looking to get a thunderbolt from nowhere to make up for the poor run blocking, neither guy looks likely to deliver it. Their missed tackle forced rate is about one every five carries; collectively they have a long of 16 yards. The third and fourth string guys both ripped off long ones against Buffalo; aside from that PSU does not have a carry longer than 20 yards this year. </p><p>Never say never but this looks like it should be more or less like the rest of Michigan's games: they leak a little yardage here and there and are a far cry from dominant but at the same time they do not allow chunks and force teams to drive the field repeatedly. </p><p><strong>KEY MATCHUP</strong>: <strong>MICHIGAN</strong> vs <strong>FIRST DOWN STUFFS</strong>. It would be helpful if Michigan could get the opposition in second and nine occasionally to prevent the We're Playing Army vibe of the Minnesota game.</p><h3> Pass Defense vs Penn State</h3><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/55553563185_d04c3c8672_c.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"><em>[Fuller]</em></p><p>This has been the considerably more productive phase of the Penn State offense, but it's still middling at best. PSU is 43rd in EPA/dropback, right next to Your Michigan Wolverines at 42. Iowa State transfer <strong>Rocco Becht</strong> followed Campbell to Happy Valley and has found the sledding to be tough, with 3.9 YPA against Wisconsin and 5.9 against Northwestern. He did have a good game against USC (287 yards, 9 YPA), and Penn State was in that the whole way; those yards were not empty calories except insofar as they came against a Lincoln Riley D. </p><p>Even with the USC performance, Alex was <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/fee-fi-foe-film-penn-state-offense-2026">not enamored</a> of Big Ten Becht: </p><blockquote><p>Becht is the most experienced QB in the conference this season as a fourth-year starter. He's as season as they come and he's played in a lot of big games, winning a fair number of them. </p><p>But the Big XII is not the B1G and the quality of competition is higher in this conference. In particular, the level of defense played in the B1G laps that of the Big XII, better coached and coordinated and with far more future NFL players. That may be a reason why Becht's game is coming in a bit below what I anticipated to this point. After ripping through the meatball non-conference like a chainsaw through a twig (9 TD, 0 INT, 70% completion, 11.7 Y/A), Becht's production has slammed into a wall in conference play. Over the past three games the signal caller is sitting at 57.8% completion on 6.3 Y/ with 2 TD and 3 INT. And one of those three games is against USC, where the defense is definitely Big XII caliber. </p></blockquote><p>PSU has a couple of ISU transfer receivers who Alex compared to Minnesota and Iowa's crew: not alarmingly bad but not particularly notable. <strong>Chase Sowell</strong> is the Tony Diaz of the group: somewhat spicy but likely to be contained by Michigan's secondary. Tight ends <strong>Andrew Rappleyea</strong> and<strong> Ben Brahmer</strong> are potentially more of a threat since Michigan linebackers have occasionally ventured out of their assigned zones.</p><p>One thing to expect: contested opportunities. 34 of Becht's throws have been filed as contested, which is a high clip when three of your games were against meatballs. The receivers are substandard in this department; the tight ends are better, especially since Brahmer is 6'7", but they're both 3/6. If Michigan runs a bunch of man coverage it looks like separation is unlikely to happen on the regular; Penn State's best bet would be to run play action at the linebackers on first down. To do so they'd have to establish a run threat on first down, though, and see above: not likely. </p><p>Pass protection has not been been a particular strength. Becht has been pressured on about 30% of his dropbacks in all three Big Ten games, and PFF had grim results against Wisconsin (42) and Northwestern (54) before a solid outing against USC. If that seems odd, it seems like Northwestern and Wisconsin got more guys through on their pressures than USC. PFF thinks the linemen are all approximately the same; left tackle<strong> Anthony Donkoh</strong> is a slight exception. They're Just Guys. </p><p>This does not seem like a passing offense to particularly threaten a good Michigan defense (also 8th in EPA/dropback allowed); Becht is good enough to move the chains but without a big play threat Penn State has to drive the field with a rickety OL and not a lot of hope to turn a short gain into an explosive. It can be done, but a couple times per game. </p><p><strong>KEY MATCHUP: CONTESTED OPPORTUNTIES vs INTERCEPTIONS. </strong>Becht looks likely to put the ball in some danger; he may not have better options. Flipping one up into the air and grabbing it would go a long way towards a win. </p><h3> SPECIAL TEAMS </h3><p>Aussie <strong>Nathan Tiyce</strong> transferred in from Mississippi State; he has been middling with a 42 yard average but has only given up one return on 26 punts. (Unfortunately for PSU, that went 26 yards.) Kicker <strong>Ryan Barker</strong> returns after an 18/19 season in 2025 that saw him rank 10th in FG efficiency. He's missed a couple in the early going this year and dropped to 74th, but he'd have to miss a couple more to invoke #collegekickers. Here's hoping. </p><p>PSU return units have not a ton of note, but <strong>Zay Thomas</strong> has 16 opportunities on just 32 punts because PSU opponents are blasting the ball. He's done well with those; not likely to be a huge factor since Michigan has barely given up a return this year. </p><p><strong>KEY MATCHUP:</strong> AHHH YOU PUT THE BALL THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS </p><h3> INTANGIBLES </h3><p>"Cat with JoePa glasses" didn't end up with a strike. Here's the best I got:</p><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/olw/2026-10/b7663496tn1f1.jpg"></a></p><p>More <em>NewsRadio</em> Phil Hartman. Alas. </p><h2>CHEAP THRILLS </h2><p><strong>Worry if…</strong> </p><ul><li data-list-item-id="e215b81f95391f6698e45ce69037de334">Penn State safeties line up at negative three yards. First: that's illegal. If they're doing that they should be fined. Second: what was I talking about? </li><li data-list-item-id="e215b81f95391f6698e45ce69037de334">The students continue to insist upon "Fuck You Penn State" during Zombie Nation instead of the much funnier "We Own Penn State," which has the benefits of 1) being true and 2) playing off "We Are Penn State." I don't care about the vulgarity. I care about the quality of the burn. </li><li data-list-item-id="e215b81f95391f6698e45ce69037de334">I don't know, football happens.<br></li></ul><p><strong>Cackle with glee if...</strong> </p><ul><li data-list-item-id="e2be393a4ae8578ca514e97e923d093ab">Jason Beck has seen the light over the bye week. </li><li data-list-item-id="e2be393a4ae8578ca514e97e923d093ab">They show highlight of the 2023 game, which is one of the funniest football games to ever football. </li><li data-list-item-id="e2be393a4ae8578ca514e97e923d093ab">Michigan sweeps Denver. </li></ul><p><strong>Fear/Paranoia Level: 5 </strong>(Baseline 5; +1 Minnesota Game, +1 for Subsequent Minnesota Game, +1 for Ye Gods Let Us Emphasize Subsequent Minnesota Game, –1 for Penn State Is Also Terrible, –1 for Somehow Michigan Is A Touchdown Favorite?, –1 for Handwaving Bye Week Get Right Vibes) </p><p><strong>Desperate Need To Win Level:</strong> 6 (Baseline 5; –1 for Season's Over, –1 for Subsequent Debacles Have A Built In Emotional Hedge Because They Make It Less Likely Certain Coaches Return, +1 for Without Something Resembling Progress The Portal Will Eat Everyone, +1 for I Just Want To See Vaguely Competent Offense Again, +1 for I Mean I Am Going To Be There) </p><p><strong>Loss will cause me to</strong>... shrug. </p><p><strong>Win will cause me to</strong>... also shrug. </p><p><strong>The strictures and conventions of sportswriting compel me to predict:</strong> </p><p>Remember that Michigan-Penn State game with Norfleet dancing, hideous football, even more hideous strategic decisions, and one large receiver man who caught a couple deep balls to decide the game? Exactly that. </p><p><strong>Finally, three opportunities for me to look stupid tomorrow:</strong></p><ul><li>We get a brief reprieve as Beck is on his best behavior after the previous debacle; a post route is thrown and caught by Marsh or Buchanan. Jeepers!</li><li>Michigan does not spend half a football game collecting ~6 plays. </li><li><strong>Michigan, 18-16.</strong> </li></ul></div> </article> <article> <h1>MGoRadio 12.6: The New Rocket Dogs</h1> <p>Seth — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:40:05 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">MGoRadio 12.6: The New Rocket Dogs</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/seth" class="username">Seth</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-16T11:40:05-04:00" title="Friday, October 16, 2026 - 11:40am" class="datetime">October 16th, 2026 at 11:40 AM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>WSGs the Sklar Brothers. Reminder: <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/penn-state-tailgate-sponsored-afs" target="_blank">MGoTailgate tomorrow</a>, noon at Venue, sponsored by AFS. </p><h3> The Sponsors </h3> <p> We want to thank <a href="http://shop.undergroundshirts.com/collections/michigan"><strong>Underground Printing</strong></a> for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at <a href="http://ugpmichiganapparel.com/">ugpmichiganapparel.com</a>, or check out our selection of shirts on the <a href="https://mgoblogstore.com/collections/mgoblog">MGoBlogStore.com</a>. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: <a href="http://peakwm.com/mgoblog">Peak Wealth Management</a>, <a href="http://www.realtorandlender.com/">Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender</a>, <a href="http://www.annarborelderlaw.com/">Ann Arbor Elder Law</a>,<a href="http://www.michiganlawgrad.com/"> Michigan Law Grad</a>, <a href="https://www.human-element.com/">Human Element</a>, <a href="http://sharonsheating.com/">Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning</a>, <a href="http://winewoodorganics.com/">Winewood Organics</a>, <a href="http://www.pestfreemi.com/">Community Pest Solutions</a>, <a href="https://www.drradecki.com/">Radecki Oral Surgery</a>, <a href="http://www.longroaddistillers.com/">Long Road Distillers</a>, <a href="https://4afsfit.com/mgoblog" target="_blank">Applied Fitness Solutions</a>, and <a href="https://marsalonline.catalog.instructure.com/courses/the-history-of-michigan-football-vol-1-education-and-athletics" target="_blank">The History of Michigan Football</a>, an online course by Greg Dooley, and <a href="http://signalwire.com/">SignalWire</a>, where we are recording this.</p> <p> <strong>Featured Musician: </strong>Canada </p> <p> <strong>THE VIDEO:</strong> </p> <p> </p> <p> <strong>[After THE JUMP: The show notes.]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div> <p class="text-align-center"> --------------------- </p> <h4 align="left"> 1. Penn State Preview </h4> <p> <em>starts at the top.</em></p> <p><strong> OFFENSE: </strong>Meh. Becht has been starting for Matt Campbell for four years, is decent at reading out a defense but his level of play has dipped as the competition surpassed his ability. He's not a Brock Purdy sleeper NFL QB. Both RBs are just guys. WR Chase Sowell is on his 4th school but has been ranked higher in the portal every time, is now their most important offensive player because downfield threat Koby Howard is injured. OL doesn't scare us; Malachi Goodman is not ready for Big Ten pass pro and the other guys don't move people. Their TE room is pretty okay—they did work by playing a bunch of them together.</p><p><strong>DEFENSE:</strong> D'Anton Lynn is one of the Ravens guys, the safeties coach Baltimore hired when Minter left for Vanderbilt. After the system didn't take in SoCal he's brought it to Happy Valley, and brought along players from UCLA and Iowa State to run it. One difference: the HEAVY OLB becomes the END in their 5-2 sets, which effectively means they're adding a DE not a DT when they go out of nickel. For Michigan it might mean they can try to plow against a defense that is built to not allow that first and foremost. For PSU it means they've been a little sus against quick-hitting offenses. The Wing-T blew them apart. Experienced LBs make it work most downs however. Hope Beck's finally got his head out of his ass. All-Big XII safety Marcus Neal got benched, and might be moving to LB.</p> <h4 align="left"> 2. Hockeytalk, and a little Hoops</h4> <p> <em>starts at 26:52</em></p> <p> A 4-0 start for the icers goes on the road to the defending champions with the #1 ranking on the line; does their weird juju apply to the regular season as well? Most impressive performance so far might be that return game at Bowling Green, where they were outplayed for a period then roared back. Ivankovic has been better than anyone realizes. Jayden Perron has been outstanding. Landon Dupont everything advertised.</p> <p align="left"></p><h4>3. After Further Review: Minnesota</h4><p><em>starts at 41:49</em></p><p align="left">Unnnnghhhh. Jason Beck's offense is all counters, no meat, and does nonsensical things like pull a guard on a passing down. Avery Gach had a rough outing IDing his blocks, which is understandable since he was a guard until thrust into duty, and those blocks are unique to TEs. But everyone wants to know about the defense, right? Tackling was an issue because they got tired. Tariq Boney met his match in lengthy OTs who can grab at will and don't have to dropback pass pro.</p><h4>4. Sklars!</h4> <p> <em>starts at 1:04:41</em></p> <p align="left"> The brothers are <a href="https://www.supersklars.com/" target="_blank">in town all weekend</a>, with shows last night, tonight, and two on Saturday (they'll hold the start of Show 1 for people coming from the PSU game).</p> <h4> Featured Musician: Canada</h4><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/image_6980.png"></a></p><p>They call themselves a "seven-piece chamber folk-pop band." I call them a perfect distillation of the kind of music coming out of Ann Arbor in the mid-2000s, when they put out the <em>How Dare You EP</em>, which I had in the band box. I think I actually bought this one when they opened for Saturday Looks Good to Me. Unfortunately it's scratched to shit, so I went on Spotify, found their 2021 album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6dCO3csPUMFktSaDuvXjJP" target="_blank">Put Singing Birds Into Your Messy Hair</a>," super dug it, and used songs from that. If you do want to check out their early stuff, start with <em>This Cursed House, </em>which includes some of the songs from the EP but better recordings<em>. </em>Fun story I found googling: They produced that album in a barn, using a soundboard that they presumably got from ILM, since it was used to mix the original Star Wars trilogy.</p><p>Canada got together with some other bands to create Quite Scientific (Qui-Sci) Records, so I still think of that whole group "Qui-Sci" (rhymes with Phi-Psi). They also have weird names. One of them is Aaron Saul, another is Aaron Shaul, and another is Ryan Howard (no not THAT power hitter for the Phillies). This isn't the first or last time I feature Qui-Sci bands—the label was pretty important in local music in my era—but I think Canada is their definitive act.</p> <p> <strong>Songs:</strong> </p> <ul> <li data-list-item-id="e1594699bac6ea080b26f61f3f36cc628"> <div data-list-item-id="ed02ca1d6a3d0725c669081c83b8121c1"> "The Farthest Shore"</div> </li> <li data-list-item-id="eb5d57130a9051925ae9f0c474b87842c"> <div data-list-item-id="ed02ca1d6a3d0725c669081c83b8121c1"> "Homes and Jewells"</div> </li> <li data-list-item-id="e0bebf1486a585361971715c580746bbc"> <div data-list-item-id="ee0ec03494f3c14e623c6b4daad937f22"> "Half-Hearted Laughter"</div> </li> </ul> <p data-list-item-id="ee0ec03494f3c14e623c6b4daad937f22"> Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro: </p> <ul> <li data-list-item-id="ea0c3422a4340a19891bc117287e33776"> “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark </li> <li data-list-item-id="e3116df5984631e147b86d88f61aaee5e"> “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat </li> </ul> <h4> THE USUAL LINKS: </h4> <ul> <li data-list-item-id="eed9988aa08784ae15157dfaedfa57836"> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=331191165&subMediaType=Audio">Helpful iTunes subscribe link</a> </li> <li data-list-item-id="ed7efdd8c8a61f963fa030f3d8ff70543"> <a href="https://mgoblog.podbean.com/feed.xml">General podcast feed link</a> </li> <li data-list-item-id="e8f8d95ef6f7433c419f07b0a34526f1c"> <a href="https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/784s2f4rhufen6mu/MGoRadio_12_06.mp3">Direct download link</a> </li> <li data-list-item-id="e03f33ab2ba369b36aad13b07ee8b46df"> <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/michigan-replay-funky">What's with the theme music</a>? </li> </ul> <p></p> <p><em> I'm sorry man, if you have any self respect as a football program you have to win this game.</em></p></div> </article> <article> <h1>Fee Fi Foe Film: Penn State Defense 2026</h1> <p>Alex.Drain — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:00:05 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Fee Fi Foe Film: Penn State Defense 2026</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/alexdrain" class="username">Alex.Drain</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-16T09:00:05-04:00" title="Friday, October 16, 2026 - 9:00am" class="datetime">October 16th, 2026 at 9:00 AM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Previously: </strong><a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/fee-fi-foe-film-penn-state-offense-2026">Penn State Offense</a> </p><p>While the PSU offense has been the source of much consternation in State College, the defense shouldn't go unnoticed. It's certainly a better unit than the offense but it has been far from perfect this season, giving up substantial yardage to USC and Northwestern and folding late against Wisconsin. Can Michigan's scuffling offense find traction against the Nittany Lion defense? Or are there matchups to be worried about? Let's take a look.</p><p><strong>The Film: </strong>Still rolling with the Wisconsin game. USC is an offense that is not similarly schematically and also much better than Michigan's offense. Northwestern's offense, while rush heavy, is also quite a bit better than Michigan's, to the amazement of many. While Michigan's offense ranks 68th in SP+, Northwestern's offense is 19th. Not a great comparison. But Wisconsin, ranked down at 76th, is a better comparison. And we still have the perk of scouting the PSU defense in a competitive game. </p><p><strong>Personnel: </strong><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-defense.png?s406580d1792147415">Click</a> for big or <a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-defense.pdf">HERE</a> for PDF. </p><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-defense.png?s406580d1792147415"> </picture></a></p><p>Matt Campbell's longtime DC was Jon Heacock, who was a GA at Michigan in the late 1980s and later succeeded Jim Tressel at Youngstown State, leading the Penguins through the 2000s. Heacock became Campbell's DC first at Toledo and then followed him to Iowa State, where he served for the entirety of Campbell's tenure. As you can guess by the "worked at Michigan in the 1980s" line, Heacock was on the older side (now 66) and opted to retire rather than follow Campbell to a third gig. That left Campbell in search of a DC for State College and he looked in conference, poaching D'Anton Lynn from USC. </p><p>The defense that Lynn and Campbell put together is a mix of Iowa State guys, returning PSU players, and miscellaneous transfers, with a strange number coming by way of UCLA. The defensive line has a healthy mix of players. They were mostly a 4-2-5 against Wisconsin but Seth has lined them up in 5-2 for the diagram because we assume Michigan has not ripped the Rhino plays out of the playbook yet. </p><p>The defensive ends start with 252 lb. <strong>Yvan Kemajou</strong>, a second-year player who got on a bit during James Franklin's final season in State College, and has been middling so far. The heavy EDGE is <strong>Ikenna Ezeogu</strong>, a 273 lb. ISU transfer who is very experienced and has been respectable to date. The 254 lb. <strong>Alex McPherson </strong>is a Colorado transfer and sees the field almost as much as 242 lb. <strong>Caleb Bacon</strong>, also originally an Iowa State guy. Those four play a lot, sometimes three of them seeing the field in a 5-2 front but at least two of them being out there all the time, while no one beyond those four gets much work at the position at all. The big takeaway is I don't see a difference maker in this group in terms of pass-rushing, though. </p><p>At tackle, Penn State is leaning mightily on 317 lb. <strong>Keanu Williams</strong>, who began at Oregon and then moved to UCLA. He's held up the best among these DTs in B1G play, which isn't a high bar to clear. Also from UCLA is the 326 lb. <strong>Siale Taupaki</strong>, a huge nose tackle that is more movable than you'd like a NT to be. Keeping in the theme of big DTs, <strong>Dallas Vakalahi </strong>is also weighing in at 326 lbs. and transfers in from Utah. The 310 lb. <strong>Armstrong Nnodim </strong>missed the first two games of the season but has been a solid part of the rotation at this position since then. This group has left a lot to be desired thus far IMO. </p><p><strong>[AFTER THE JUMP: the piece]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div><p>The linebacker position is more settled, with two consistent starters. <strong>Tony Rojas </strong>is the star of the defense at WILL and the Dangerman for our piece. He was a starter in 2024 and 2025 but missed most of last year with injury. Back healthy, the Nittany Lions are happy to have him in the lineup. Rojas pairs with new guy <strong>Kooper Ebel</strong>, an ISU transfer who was a two-year starter for the Cyclones. With such experience at the starting spots, there aren't many snaps for backups but Alex Tatsch<strong> </strong>played a bit against Wisconsin. However, he has since suffered a season-ending injury, so <strong>Cael Brezina </strong>is the only name to know here, a former rotational piece in Ames. </p><p>PSU also sports a starting corner tandem that I think has been pretty good. <strong>Audavion Collins </strong>and <strong>Daryus Dixson </strong>are close to every-down players after playing a fair bit on last year's Penn State team. Dixson is only in his second year of college football, whereas Collins is a 5th year but their level of play is similar. I like this duo, with <strong>Jahmir Joseph </strong>rotating in as outside corner #3 from time to time. Against Wisconsin, Penn State was using <strong>Joseph Zayas </strong>and <strong>Zion Tracy </strong>as nickel-ish players, the former being the more beefy one of the two at 6'2/205. The freshman Zayas would usually be lined up down on the line of scrimmage, while the senior Tracy was more of a true nickel. </p><p>Perceived poor performances from <strong>Marcus Neal Jr. </strong>(I did not see him as any worse than anyone else and PFF saw Neal as a positive for PSU), an All-Big XII safety last season, led to his benching and Tracy moving to safety. <a href="https://victorybellrings.com/penn-state-s-defensive-tinkering-could-lead-to-a-marcus-neal-jr-reemergence-at-linebacker">PSU bloggers are now talking about Neal moving to linebacker</a>. Tracy joins <strong>Jamison Patton </strong>as free safety options, while <strong>Jonathan Cooper </strong>(also an Iowa State guy) remains the strong safety. Both of these players are Iowa State transfers. FWIW, PFF thinks Cooper is the problem, not Neal, while I don't make distinctions. The whole unit could have been better in run defense against Northwestern. </p><p><strong>Base set: </strong>As noted, it was mostly 4-2-5 against Wisconsin. </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>And here's the 5-2 look: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>On clear passing downs they bring out a NASCAR package, with all four of the defensive ends playing along the line: </p><p> </picture></p><p>That was about it in the way of personnel packages. Formations varied a bit when PSU lines up a nickel or a LB down along the line of scrimmage, but those mostly happened from within a 4-2-5 personnel grouping. </p><p><strong>Man or zone coverage: </strong>Lynn hails from the Ravens tree that we know so well. When I charted his defenses with USC in 2024 and 2025, Lynn was running mostly zone coverages but man coverage appeared when he blitzed. This year the blitz rate isn't super high (see: below) and so it falls back into zone more clearly. Also, I didn't chart this specifically but it felt like an almost even split between 2-High and 1-High looks on defense for Penn State. Just something to file away. </p><p><strong>Pressure: </strong>In 2025, Lynn's blitz rate was elevated because he was playing out of the Ravens' 5-2 front a lot, which usually entailed rushing the five defensive linemen. When he wasn't in 5-2, the blitz rate wasn't high and this year, playing mostly out of 4-2-5, the blitz rate was low. I charted PSU rushing more than four defenders on 21% of snaps and a healthy chunk of those were the rare 5-2 appearances. True blitzes were quite rare, though Lynn loves sim pressures (dropping an EDGE and rushing a LB is frequent). On the flip side, rushing only three was pretty minuscule, clocking in at only 4.5%. It was a lot of 4 man rush. </p><p><strong>Dangerman: </strong>For many years, Penn State was Linebacker U and it would feel wrong to go with a player at a different position for this designation. Thankfully we have a fitting candidate for the Dangerman in WILL <strong>Tony Rojas</strong>, who was projected to be one of the better players on this defense coming into the year and he has followed up on that this season. Rojas is one of the elder statesmen holdovers on this Penn State defense, a guy old enough to have played over 100 snaps on the 2023 PSU defense, though he didn't appear in the most recent meeting between these two teams. </p><p>After his first season in 2023, Rojas was elevated to a starter in 2024 and performed alright, though it was later he revealed that he played a lot of the year with a banged up shoulder. In 2025 Rojas came into the year as a starter and played in the first four games, establishing himself as an impact defender <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46454444/penn-state-linebacker-tony-rojas-long-term-injury">before suffering a season-ending injury in practice after the Oregon game</a>. To keep Rojas in the program was a coup for Campbell and Rojas has emerged as the heartbeat of the defense halfway through the 2026 season. </p><p>His best moments so far this season have come in run defense or as a pass rusher, where he is activated by Lynn and told to fire downhill and make an impact play. Rojas is rolled down to the line of scrimmage on this play and he swims through the line to make a combo TFL with Ikenna Ezeogu: </p><p class="text-align-center"><em>LB #13 lined up over the DT </em></p><p class="text-align-center"> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>On this one Rojas comes downhill and provides the necessary force at the point of attack to help stop the RB dead in his tracks, stoning a 3rd & 1: </p><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"><em>LB #13 lined up on the 30</em></p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>Rojas looks good in space, as he tracks down an attempted scramble by Wisconsin QB Colton Joseph on this play: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>I have less of handle on Rojas in coverage, but there was one highlight reel moment for him against Wisconsin: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>The tackling can be spotty from time to time, but Rojas makes <em>PLAYS</em>. He's a guy that pops up repeatedly when you watch Penn State's defense and is the best defender on this unit in my estimation. Like the offense, this unit is lacking in impact players but Rojas is one who does stand out. </p><p> </p><h3>Overview</h3><p>Through three games, Penn State's defense was looking solid. They pitched a shutout in Week 1 against Marshall, held Temple to 9, and only surrender 13 to Buffalo, the lone touchdown coming in garbage time of a blowout. The Nittanys hadn't played anybody but they cleared their first three hurdles without any trouble. Next up was a Wisconsin team without a particularly good offense and things were going well again. Through 28 minutes PSU was throwing another shutout and had secured a defensive touchdown + another turnover that led to a short field touchdown. </p><p>All good, right? Not so fast, my friend. Beginning late in the first half, Wisconsin would score 24 points over the final 32 minutes of the game, including two touchdowns in the last four minutes, to stun the Nittany Lions. After scuffling early on, Wisconsin began to drive up and down the field against PSU, with little resistance. The Badgers emerged victorious thanks to PSU's defensive blunders and the Nittany Lion fanbase was presumably shocked. </p><p>Then the team traveled to the shore of Lake Michigan to open the new Ryan Field against Northwestern and were humiliated on national television. Penn State allowed 506 yards on 69 plays (7.3 YPP!!!), including 413 rushing yards (7.5 YPC!!!) and were obliterated in a three score defeat. Licking their wounds, PSU returned home and faced a fearsome offense in USC. The performance against Lincoln Riley's Air Raid was better than against Chip Kelly's Wing-T, but it still wasn't pretty. The Trojans scored 31 points, put up 430 yards, and gained 6.8 YPP. Not good enough. </p><p>So given that resume, what is ailing the PSU defense? Much like the offense, I think the main issue is the players aren't very good #analysis. They don't have those impact pieces that make Seth and I put a star on the diagram, outside of Rojas and maybe the corners. The lack of oomph is most apparent in the pass rush to me, where I saw very little from that front against Wisconsin. PFF has Penn State 111th in the FBS in team pass rush grade and that jibes with what I have seen from the different clips. As you saw in the Rojas INT, there was zero pressure against Colton Joseph. Here's another one: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p><strong>Ikenna Ezeogu </strong>is probably the best pass rusher along the defensive front, but I still wouldn't call him a terror. The best weapon they have is rushing Rojas as part of the sim pressure, as he leads the team with five sacks on the season. There were some corner blitzes that got into the backfield against Wisconsin, like this one from <strong>Audavion Collins</strong>: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>But when Penn State was rushing four, it didn't have much success and that has been the case too often. There are a lot of names on that defensive front, but Abdul Carter and Micah Parsons aren't walking through that door, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf6W-D0fZXo">quoth Rick Pitino</a>. The only real challenge I think Michigan needs to be prepared for is picking up those rushers coming from unconventional places, be it a nickel, corner, safety, or linebacker. If the assignments are correctly identified by Jake Guarnera/Bryce Underwood, then I am not worried about Michigan's ability to pick them up and keep Bryce clean. </p><p>The more pressing question for the PSU defense is whether they can defend the run at all. Early on in the Wisconsin game, Penn State was doing reasonably well at keeping the Badger rushing game in check. The defensive tackles weren't doing anything incredible but the linebacker and safety involvement was stout: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>That's Rojas and SS <strong>Jeremiah Cooper </strong>teaming up to make a stop there, which was pretty emblematic of what I saw in the early going. The issue became when there was less of that LB/S help around and it was just the Badger OL against the PSU DL. On the very next play, Wisconsin surprised Penn State by running on a passing down and got a chunk vs. a light box: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>Score effects meant that Wisconsin wasn't able to run it much but when they did, it gained increasing effectiveness as the game went along. Their second-to-last drive of the game began with a chunk that sees <strong>Keanu Williams </strong>and <strong>Armstrong Nnodim </strong>cleared out at DT as the OL climb to block the LBs, creating a juicy gain: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>By the end of the Wisconsin game, I was able to see glimmers of what Northwestern would do to PSU's defense a week later. And boy is that tape something: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>The defensive tackles kept shooting upfield in the Northwestern game and the Wildcats had no issue running by them, before making the linebackers and safeties look silly: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Tackling has been a bit of an issue for this defense, exemplified in the Northwestern game. I mean.....: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Some of the clips were just downright embarrassing: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>That was a dismantling by the Northwestern rush attack. The tackles couldn't hold up and vacated their rush lane integrity often. The linebackers were blocked too easily. The safeties were awful trying to help out. And nobody could tackle. It was a steamrolling. We didn't gain much more data from the USC game because Lincoln Riley is always looking to throw the ball first and foremost, though you still saw concerning tackling moments in the run game: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Coming into the Michigan game, the PSU run defense against Michigan is the matchup of the game for me. If Michigan couldn't find something during the bye week to use successfully against the run D, something to reach the safeties and actually generate explosives for once, I'm not sure what to say. It's not that the defensive tackles are awful but their run defense in conference play has been underwhelming and there hasn't been much help from other positional groups in run defense since the second half of that Wisconsin game. Maybe Penn State gets it together, but Michigan needs to find a way for their run game to have a pulse again. If you can't run it against these guys, I'm not sure how you hope to run it against Tyrique Tucker and Indiana next week. </p><p>In the passing game, I think it has looked better for Penn State. The starting tandem of <strong>Audavion Collins </strong>and <strong>Daryus Dixson </strong>is a nice duo and I'm interested to watch them go up against Marsh and Buchanan tomorrow. Here's good coverage by Collins and a PBU: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>I put a star on Collins, the only other player on this defense to earn one besides Rojas. Even some of the passing success that USC had came from excellent, hat-tip plays by the Jayden Maiava and his wideouts: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>And another: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Rather than throwing a ton to the outside receivers down the sideline, I'd look to hit the seam. There were coverage busts in that part of the field in the USC game, like this one: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>It was a TE wheel (with possible uncalled OPI) that was the game-deciding play against Wisconsin: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>We've been wanting to see more throws down the seam and to the middle of the field. I think this would be a good week for it. The safety and nickel positions are in a bit of chaos for Penn State, so look for that matchup far more than the outside corners. If you can get a couple of successful plays to that part of the field and then a rebounding showing from the run game, that ought to provide enough points to win this game. </p><p> </p><h3>What does this mean for Michigan? </h3><p>As you read in the prior section, I don't think this defense is all that great. I definitely don't think the PSU offense is all that great. Add it up and Penn State is not any good. They beat three cream puffs in the non-conference (taking inspiration from PSU Hockey) and then are 0-3 in B1G play, with two of the losses at home. They were blown out by Northwestern, melted down against Wisconsin, and lost the White Out game to USC. Now they go on the road to Michigan Stadium and the meaning of the contest could not be any clearer: Michigan cannot lose this game. </p><p>That's not me saying they <em>won't</em>. Who knows how good Michigan actually is. Nor is it me saying they physically <em>can't</em>. What I am saying is that to have any self-respect as a football team, Michigan cannot lose at home, coming off a bye, to this Penn State team. The Nittany Lion offense should have very limited success against Michigan's defense, as the Wolverines should be able to control the line of scrimmage and shut down the running game. At that point, it's up to Rocco Becht and those receivers to put together an offense, which I don't feel they have great odds of doing. </p><p>If Michigan can keep the PSU offense to a low point total, you're not asking for much from the offense of the Maize & Blue. Can Michigan's rush offense generate a decent clip against a run defense that USC and Wisconsin had some down-to-down success against and Northwestern embarrassed? Can Bryce Underwood have a pulse and Michigan learn how to work the middle of the field/the seams? Those are the keys to scoring enough to win this game and it will be a test of what answers Jason Beck has come up with. It shouldn't be a difficult test to ace but after Minnesota, there's reason to be uncertain. But the stakes couldn't be higher, because a loss means Michigan is 3-3 and would need a win over one of #5 Indiana, #12 UCLA, #4 Ohio State, or @ Oregon even to finish with a winning record. Play like your season is on the line. </p></div> </article> <article> <h1>Upon Further Review 2026: Offense vs Minnesota</h1> <p>Brian — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 19:35:40 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Upon Further Review 2026: Offense vs Minnesota</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/brian" class="username">Brian</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-15T15:35:40-04:00" title="Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 3:35pm" class="datetime">October 15th, 2026 at 3:35 PM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>FORMATION NOTES</strong>: Well, I hope you like safeties at the line of scrimmage.</p><p class="text-align-center"><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/image_6982.png"></a> </p><p>At least you've got one guy at ten yards here.</p><p><strong>SUBSTITUTION NOTES</strong>: OL was the usual; Buchanan and Marsh barely came off the field as well. RB breakdown was 29 Marshall, 18 Hiter, 2 Kuzdzal. Others:</p><ul><li data-list-item-id="e24b1da003aba009144c151b0cc753e78">Gach: 28</li><li data-list-item-id="ec04d5516f6b3ff66d7a31001d57e373f">Hansen: 23</li><li data-list-item-id="ecc5d5239ed7edadbd255bfa85b24e056">Moa: 14</li><li data-list-item-id="e758c1bb79dee083f8e9365afc24711e6">Goodwin: 9</li><li data-list-item-id="ef048928af6510383b202c7db48b6930b">Marshall: 9</li><li data-list-item-id="e2ec88f54f33282b899008f74f9be11be">French: 8</li><li data-list-item-id="ed426094c730809cdddac622c1deeb468">Owens: 6</li><li data-list-item-id="ec3d398691ca616d35b56e8a5a26d1446">Hoffman: 5</li></ul><p>I cannot disagree with Zack Marshall's tirade here.</p><p><strong>[After THE JUMP: oh man I deleted a lot of swears]</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M25</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Light box but S inserts when JJB goes in motion. He runs up and it doesn’t matter as GWAR(+1) and Norton(+1) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DTfBxcEf3c">blow out a DT</a>. He goes to a knee but GWAR gets to the second level. Efobi(+0.5) and Link(+0.5) pancake other DT but no climb; Marshall straight upfield. DE that BU read crashes down on him but can only manage an ankle tackle a few yards downfield; Marshall(+0.5 )runs through this and gets some YAC. BU had a potential keep, DE is very gray area but I’d actually lean keep here; still this is a punt for ZR.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M33</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4-3 over</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Power TH</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>End stops, handoff, ZR+. I thought this was a windback that’s supposed to hit outside at first but IMO it’s just power that MN doesn’t fit. Playside end dives inside and is logged by Frazier(+0.5); JJB(+0.5) finds overhang LB and cuts him off; Marshall(+0.5) finds the edge and then ends up in a lot of space; safety hacks him down with no real YAC. A bit disappointing.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M40</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 4-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4-3 over</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Flash screen</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p align="left">Marshall motions out to the boundary so M has numbers with no follow. BU’s throw is high and delays Marsh but a bigger problem is Marshall and Hansen(-2) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7fTbdxo54">going to the same defender</a>. Marshall moves on to the S once he sees that Hansen is blocking the CB but that leaves the playside LB unmolested so Marsh(+0.5) has to juke in and then out to get as much as he can outside a set edge. Should have been more. (MA, 3, screen, BU -0.5, RPS +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M45</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Same as first play; edge stays out so give, ZR+. Efobi(+2) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iSJ2bSHh2U">singlehandedly buries a DT</a>; Link sort of in the way of read DE as a result. GWAR(push) ineffectual chip but gets to a LB and wipes him away. Norton(+0.5) gets a yard of depth on the DT, two when he tries to shed, and while DT can tackle it’s from the side and Hiter is an inch or two from converting.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M49</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>In</p></td><td><p>Cat 3TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 under</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Power</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>-1</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MN triggers a blitz on BU’s motion that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwL6JZNtG4">gets a safety through untouched</a> with no one assigned to block him. Marshall goes down on a play that is easily blocked for the first down otherwise. Also this is fourth and an inch against DTs who just got obliterated, just run a sneak. RPS -3.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Punt, 0-0, 12 min 1st Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M17</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips bunch</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>5.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>QB draw</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Again we have a downfield block where a relevant linebacker is run past. Here M wants to run away from him but a DT reads it and is able to fight back a bit. Efobi puts him on the ground but BU has to vertically behind this. By the time he clears the LOS he cannot run away from the LB. Efobi can’t do much about this, DT just reads it well enough. RPS push.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M22</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Gun 3TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 even</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>QB power</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Well, again this is not tactical. MN flings a ton of guys at the jet action , DE way upfield, BU pull, ZR+. Efobi(+0.5) good kick. Frazier(+0.5) lateral movement on relevant DE by himself. Gach(-2) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aebCiU6XIGs">literally looks at the overhang LB</a> and decides to go block Frazier’s guy. FFS! Otherwise this is an easy first down and BU is running vertically at the S.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M24</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Hitch</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Max pro against a double A twist blitz that M picks up. BU looks right at first before popping his head over to Marsh and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtr9UjPjf6U">this brief lookaway</a> freezes the LB who is probably supposed to be undercutting Marsh’s route long enough. BU fires a strike to convert. (CA, 3, protection 3/3, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M36</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>PA waggle dump</p></td><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MN all over this, with a LB flinging himself at BU so that he has to get rid of the ball immediately. Hansen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=719hySljNCU">releases and BU finds him</a> but LB tackles immediately. Solid outcome in adverse circumstance. (CA+, 3, protection N/A, BU +0.5, RPS -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M40</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Gun twins</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 even</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Speed option</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>LB level is shaded to the boundary on the snap and everyone hauls ass at the lateral action so none of the three perimeter blocks gets to seal a guy inside. I do not see a realistic way for anyone to play this better; Efobi(-1) probably does come out too vertical; if he’s able to make even a little contact BU has a shot at faking and keeping; here he actually pitches and gets hit so probably not realistic without Efobi getting a push. The rest of it is just too many guys who know the play. RPS -2. Excellent reach blocks by Link(+1) and GWAR(+1).</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M42</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>Gun TTE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Penalty</p></td><td><p>False start</p></td><td><p>Guarnera</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Guarnera doesn’t snap the ball, -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M37</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>Gun empty TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Dime even</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>QB power</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Hiter motions out, taking a LB with him and leaving a five man box with safeties at 14. BU checks to a run. Efobi(+0.5) kicks a guy rushing the passer; Norton(+0.5) and Frazier(+0.5) get to double a DT off the ball; Gach(+1) engages a LB and pancakes when he tries to disengage. BU(+1) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uME7A3NJfP4">rips it up and easily converts</a>. RPS +2.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun TTE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Rollout hitch</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Welp; here we go. Frazier(-2) gets shed inside and his guy lights up BU. BU gets the throw out, which is on Marsh’s facemask for an easy first down. Dropped. (CA+, 3, protection 0/2, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 2TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 even SAM</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Jet</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Hiter(-3) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MtEwGrMrOk">clamps on a clear keep read</a> and gets wrecked. BU wroth. Results of keep murky.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M45</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-3 stack</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Penalty</p></td><td><p>Delay</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Timeout maybe.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M40</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-2 dime</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>TE delay</p></td><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MN playing in the parking lot; checkdown option is give up and punt but I seriously doubt there’s another option here. (CA, 3, protection 1/1, BU push)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Punt, 0-7, 2 min 1st Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>O34</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4-3 over</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>QB arc keeper</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>DE slides down, keep on, ZR+. Minnesota safety to the field has no vertical threat and fills the interior. Hoffman(+1) is able to get most of the way around the overhang LB and BU(+0.5) is fast enough to evade the S to the sideline. Gain is good enough as a result. RPS -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O30</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>PA out and up</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Marshall motions out and in for a jet fake; this triggers the MN blitz from the MLB and S. Efobi gets the LB and GWAR is going to get the S but S goes with the jet fake as M pulls Norton to pass pro. LB with eyes on the run fake is static; BU <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNZDXIRaO5c">floats out a nice ball to JJB</a> as he breaks up the sideline. (CA, 3, protection 3/3, BU +1, RPS +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O14</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Base 3-4</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Inside zone</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Marsh motion triggers a zero blitz from MN. GWAR(+0.5) finds a blitzing S; Norton(+1) clear W against the nose, who ends up three yards downfield. Frazier(+1) controls and turns out the end; Gach(+0.5) finds a LB and turns him out after initially going to double Frazier’s guy. Still two unblocked Gophers near the LOS and gain held down. I think this is a no read play, FWIW. RPS -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O10</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Gun twins</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 under weak</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>ARO</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>America’s Rollout Out. Motion from Marsh indicates man; no one has leverage on JJB; wide open. (CA, 3, protection N/A, BU +0.5). Spot is a full yard short when it should be inches, refs -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O5</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>Gun 3TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 even</p></td><td><p>8.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MN slants right; Efobi(+1) gets a guy across his face and is able to put him a yard upfield and seal him out; he gets a shove or two in that gives M a little more room. GWAR(+1) shocks back a DL on initial contact; Norton(+0.5) helps there and maintains. GWAR gets off on a charging LB and stones him. Frazier(-0.5) doesn’t get enough of a chip on backside DL and Gach(-0.5) doesn’t step around this guy so he can flow. Gach is shoving the dude from behind and when dude attempts to tackle he is off balance and goes over. Marshall(+1) squeezes through a small gap and grinds into the endzone.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Touchdown, 7-7, 13 min 2nd Q. Minnesota takes 12 minutes off the clock and scores -7 points doing it; M gets the ball back with 2 TOs and 1:35.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>O48</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4-3 over</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>QB arc keeper</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>This looks like the handoff is an enormous gain; BU keeps. It looks like he’s reading the end, who does collapse down… but also Efobi blocks him? MN has a LB sitting on the pull and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkXI0rEblW4">also blitzes the CB</a>. This occupies Marsh and Hansen, and then Marsh tries to leave for another player but the timing’s all messed up. DE chases inside out and BU eats a loss. RPS -2; looks like BU appropriately reads a end and Michigan gets a two yard loss. YMMV?</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>Gun TTE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Rollout snag</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Roll the pocket to the field, JJB sits down for a ten yard hitch that’s open. BU wings it wide. (IN, 0, protection 2/2, BU -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-3 stack</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>TE angle</p></td><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Batted down at the line; Hansen very covered. (BA, 0, protection 1/1, BU push, RPS -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Punt, 7-7, 10 min 2nd Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M30</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Sack</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>-12</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Brutal from BU as he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpRIlkPx5KQ">has a TE delay underneath deep coverage</a> that will be near first down yardage; he never comes off apparently covered deeper routes, drifts left, and then eats a sack after holding the ball for four full seconds. (BRX, N/A, protection 2/2, BU -2)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M18</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>TGCDC</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>The teams now mutually agree on halftime.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M22</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Split zone</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Goodnight, half.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> EOH, 14-7. Minnesota takes another 10 minutes off the clock thanks to Marsh muff.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M23</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 over SAM</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Split belly</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Gach(+0.5) fires a DE down the LOS; back’s path indicates this is intended to hit behind him. Owens split flow blocker goes for a CB who is just kind of hanging out; no contact made but none necessary. Frazier(-1) releases free and reads it slow; he comes off MLB as MLB sucks up into bow in line and does not get to WLB; his presence does force WLB to go around a bit and prevents a -2 since he did do something. Hiter(+1) cuts inside of this guy and has a productive gain.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M28</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Out and up</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>INT</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>PA with Efobi pulling; DE blasts upfield and Efobi(-1) stumbles out of his pull and can’t get there. Hiter(-1) picks the guy up briefly but gets run through, mostly. BU quick pressure; he throws the same lofted up and out route that JJB caught earlier. This one is bracketed and vastly overthrown; Minnesota player makes a clutch double catch INT on the ball. I have some sympathy about the pressure but Marsh is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa2MShKmjDU">wide, wide open downfield</a>. (BRX, 0, protection 0/2, BU -3)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Interception, 14-10, 3 min 3rd Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M25</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>RPO slant</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>INT</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Well we have an RPO on here where Michigan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFOuNxoUer4">doesn’t block a defensive end</a>, who blows up BU on the throw for an INT. (PR, 0, protection N/A, RPS -3)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Interception, 14-13, 14 min 4th Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M25</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Motion from Goodwin across the formation; he runs outside and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDG-rQhfUmg">draws no attention at all</a>; the slot LB adds himself to the box, as does a safety. M -2 in box since QB contain is coming from depth, ZR+ on the handoff. Gach(+0.5) and Frazier(+0.5) duly blow out a DE but Hiter can’t use it because M didn’t successfully option anyone. DTs twist and really root in there against the other double; given the quick relocation of the DT I don’t see away from the 3 M OL to successfully get three guys. I guess GWAR(-0.5) got shot back on initial contact. Efobi tries to stick with the looper but has to come off on a LB and DT is free to stick Hiter in the hole. RPS -2.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M27</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Slant</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>No motion, BU gets MN to tip blitz with a couple claps. Five man rush picked up with a spy adding himself; MN runs cover one behind this and tries to buzz the Buchanan slant, but DB rips up too far and BU puts it on JJB. Not a ton of separation here; tight window that’s hit. (CA, 2, protection 3/3, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M39</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Power T</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>I mean… FFS. Gach(-1) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n6UWfqkPNo">doubles a DT with Frazier</a>; he tries to climb to the MLB instead of the WLB. He has an angle on one of these guys. It’s not the one he tries to block. Guy runs by him, Gach Turns Upfield. Link(-1) has a pull of comical depth that is nowhere near the LOS and then that LB dives inside of him. Hiter(-1) runs directly into this. RPO here is a bubble to Marsh that LB covers, RPO+.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M40</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Penalty</p></td><td><p>False start</p></td><td><p>Guarnera</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>BU is trying to change the play; Guarnera doesn’t quite snap it as he approaches the LOS. GWAR -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M35</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>5.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Scramble</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Marshall motions out presnap; BU looks at a couple options as MN drops seven into a zone. When he comes to the right side of the field he sees a big gap in the line and hits it, evading a couple tackles to convert. (SCR, N/A, protection 2/2, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M49</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Motion again from Goodwin; CB blitz that he picks up. Gach lets an end go, way upfield, give, ZR+. Gach(-2) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMO5gcfZENQ">then goes after the MLB</a> that duo wants to put under threat, leaving the overhang LB Goodwin just left completely alone. LB runs up on the outside. On the other side MN flings a LB down just inside the CB block; M does not have a blocker for him either. Marshall goes straight upfield; the Frazier(+0.5) and Norton(+0.5) double does blow a guy out to provide a bit of space. RPS -1.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O48</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1*</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel under</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Scramble</p></td><td><p>Underwood</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>PA, pull Norton. MN sends WLB and a safety. M picks it up, more or less; BU gets slight pressure around the edges. He climbs the pocket and takes off as he sees another opening. This one is dodgier; he gets grabbed on the shoulder. He’s able to power through it. (SCR, N/A, protection 3/3, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O39</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun TTE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Jet</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>-1</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Midline read; DT stays inside, give, ZR+. Gach(+0.5) seals end inside; had big lateral advantage. MLB rips at this as soon as he sees the motion. None of the three pullers is ready for this; LB <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAq-3c6C5ZI">in the backfield about three yards</a>. Link takes him on and JJB picks him up; Hiter is late recognizing the blocking and doesn’t cut upfield behind the MLB… which isn’t going to do much snice the WLB is also unblocked. He manages to get back to the LOS, more or less. RPS -2.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O40</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>Gun TTE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 under</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Duo</p></td><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MLB blitz prevents backside double. Norton has to pop off on the MLB and does; Frazier stalemates DT. Hiter funneled directly into unblocked LB as Owens runs for a DB uselessly. Owens running for DB uselessly implies that Gach(-2) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAbVpnu4Zj8">needed to let the end go and block the LB</a>, so that there was a read to make.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O39</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Sack</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Well <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3huhhWoH88">we run the fake screen play</a>, MN does not bite because is is third and nine. Looks like Marsh is bracketed and JJB is running a very covered route right on the sideline. BU climbs as Gach(-1) lets his guy around at six-to-seven yards; he does stay attached. BU tries to leave the pocket; Frazier gets in the way; at this point Link’s guy retraces to sack. (PR, N/A, protection ½, BU push, RPS -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Punt, 14-20, 8 min 4th Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M25</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4-3 even SAM</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>PA hitch</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Well, PA <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjmrm0F96ek">sucks in nine MN defenders</a>; CBs in the parking lot against the WRs so this is an easy pitch and catch. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, BU +0.5, RPS +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M37</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun twins</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>TE hitch</p></td><td><p>ZMarsh</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Quick game sees ZMarsh hitch up between a couple zone defenders and BU puts it on him. (CA, 3, protection 1/1, BU +0.5). ZMarsh should catch this clean but bobbles it and lets a defender rake it out.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M37</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun trips TE</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2*</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Sack</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>-10</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>I mean. Second and ten with 4 minutes left and you need a TD and you’re <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmfoMpptHoU">running this pull-a-G PA pass pro scheme</a>. Marshall aborts to pick up the end and Norton gets to him as well but the guy is so close to BU he tries to bug out as DE is able to drive the block a bit. IMO BU should stand pat and rifle it to Marsh coming open on a curl route; starts running around and gets engulfed. (TA, N/A, protection ½, TEAM -1, BU -1, RPS -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M27</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>Gun 4-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-2 dime</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Dig</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>BU has forever as it’s a three man rush; he tries a dig to Marsh that a DT is able to bat down. (BA, 0, protection 1/1, BU push). This route is blanketed and I think this could be an INT if not batted down but I can’t chart that.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> Punt, 14-20,m 3 min 4th Q.</p></td></tr><tr><th><p>Ln</p></th><th><p>Dn</p></th><th><p>Ds</p></th><th><p>O Form</p></th><th><p>RB</p></th><th><p>TE</p></th><th><p>WR</p></th><th><p>D Form</p></th><th><p>Box</p></th><th><p>Type</p></th><th><p>Play</p></th><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Yards</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>M13</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel over</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Glance</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Man coverage here and JJB can’t get any separation. M leaves in the back and has Marshall chip so there’s only three guys in the route really; BU should come off this to find an open Marsh on the backside, or he should throw it further in front. This is behind and an easy PBU, but coverage was excellent so this would have taken a DO. (BR, 0, protection 1/1, BU -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M13</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Slot fade</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Excellent back shoulder ball here gives Buchanan a chance that he takes. Buchanan hurt on this play. (CA, 2, protection 1/1, BU +1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M30</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-3 stack</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Split zone</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>MN playing in the parking lot so this is a free nine yards, which is a big difference from a free ten with the clock ticking. No RPS here as MN willing to trade nine yards for a running clock.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M39</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-3 stack</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Run</p></td><td><p>Split zone</p></td><td><p>Marshall</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>More or less the same thing except the end that got upfield on the last play squeezes down and forces Marshall to hop around the tackle. These blocks aren’t worth grading given the situation and MN’s defense.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M45</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 4-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Dime even</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Slot fade</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Man two from MN and M has slot fades on both sides. I don’t get why BU is looking at the boundary instead of the field; Marsh gets run right to the sideline and this is impossible to fit in. A ton more space to play with to Buchanan’s side. (BR, 0, protection 2/2, BU -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>M45</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3-3 stack</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>TE delay</p></td><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>I will RPS this as the delay is hit immediately and the clock runs a ton before the next snap. (CA, 3, protection 1/1, BU +0.5, RPS -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Out</p></td><td><p>Marsh</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>Kind of interceptable ball as Marsh gets undercut; ball is just high enough that it’s only a PBU. (BR, 0, protection 1/1, BU -1)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>Gun 3-wide</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Nickel even</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>Pass</p></td><td><p>Fade</p></td><td><p>Buchanan</p></td><td><p>Inc</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p>JFC: Buchanan is covered; Hansen is wide open to convert; ball is way OOB. Take your pick. (BRX, 0, protection 1/1, BU -3)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="20"><p><strong>Drive Notes:</strong> EOG, 14-20.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Timely.</strong></p><p>Look…</p><p><strong>No, I get it. As soon as it hit Saturday and Purdue ran for 300 yards against this defense it was 50/50 whether this would get published or you would flee to Croatia.</strong></p><p>I did not flee to Croatia. I merely thought about it.</p><p><strong>So…</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>You have sort of a high level summary sort of thing?</strong></p><p>Well, here's a twelve yard completion. You may think that a twelve yard completion is a good thing and therefore not representative of this game, but hear me out. First, twelve yards:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>This was on first down in the fourth quarter—obviously it had to be first or fourth quarter because those were the quarters in which Michigan's offense was on the field for longer than a play—and to me this says everything about what's going wrong. Minnesota at the mesh point:</p><p><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/image_thumb3_0.png"></a></p><p>The safeties are flat-footed at eight yards. That is nine Gopher players going off on a potential run and two terrified corners playing in the next county against Michigan's real good receivers. This is an easy twelve yard completion. Minnesota does not care. They will give up a first down in exchange for getting to shove nine guys at the run game.</p><p>There is one main thing that is not happening here. Michigan is not threatening the middle of the field. It's a two man route, which Beck has done more in his first five games than all offensive coordinators charted in this space combined (probably). Both of those routes are on the outside. It does not matter that neither safety is anywhere near covering a post route, because there isn't a post route.</p><p>Michigan has not managed to pop a guy open on the easiest deep pass in football despite safeties playing like that the whole year. They have not run someone down the seam. They have sat and gotten punched in the face because they are afraid of throwing anything over the middle.</p><p><strong>What if Underwood throws an interception?</strong></p><p>Who cares? Underwood threw interceptions in this game and Michigan would have won it if the offense could manage a single touchdown not set up by a Minnesota interception.</p><p>Here is my prescription: run a dig. Run a post behind it. Have Underwood throw to the open guy. </p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>Mills, dagger, whatever. If Underwood throws a pick that's on him. Whatever <em>this</em> is? That's on Jason Beck. It is <em>absurd<strong> </strong></em>that Minnesota can align like that and play like that and not eat a post route one time.</p><p><strong>But the players are bad and playing bad?</strong></p><p>Well… this is also true, to some extent. But if we're pointing the finger here, it's solidly at Beck. There's enough talent on this offense to at least match last year's mediocre outfit, and so many of my frustrations come on plays where the blocking is more or less fine and it doesn't matter because the defense has a call on that destroys the call. Beck is confusing his own players more than the defense.</p><p>Do we have a German word for the opposite of a miracle? Because if so that's what Michigan got on the play that ended their first drive. This is 100% on the offensive coordinator:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>You have run the same wildcat play for five consecutive weeks. It has the same motion from Underwood. You are telling them exactly when you are going to snap the ball.</p><p>Even if we're looking at a lot of missed assignments, at some point this flips over from a player issue to a coaching issue because if you can't get your players to execute that's on you. It's the Wink Inversion. Beck is now at this point.</p><p><strong>But Beck was good previously?</strong></p><p>After week two I thought he got scouted into the ground and needed a counter-argument. So far he's had none. Instead we get plays like this, a split flow duo RPO with no abort button if an unblocked end tears right at Underwood:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>I swear I looked at this over and over trying to find the MA; if this is really a duo RPO there isn't one. It is just a death sentence for Underwood as soon as he makes the (correct) read.</p><p>This goes to my fundamental problem with Beck: there are way too many plays that are cute and nice… if the defense reacts in a particular way. We call these <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/2012/7/23/3176741/the-essential-smart-football-review-constraint-plays-and-mobile">constraint plays</a>; they punish the defense for cheating. Cheating to what? Your base plays. Base plays are plays that more or less everyone runs: power, duo, inside zone, outside zone. Beck has not bothered to establish a base play, or a set of them. He instead runs a lot of plays that have half a base play attached to a constraint, and once the defense figures out the constraint half Michigan runs a base play with too few blockers against too many defenders. The fundamental difference between a base play and a constraint play is that you expect to gain three yards if your base play gets defended. There's no bottom on a constraint play.</p><p>Last week I embedded a couple of plays that were emblematic of this difference. Let's fire up the Remember Some Plays machine:</p><blockquote><p>A: Hiter gets buried on this duo run. Watch Owens and Zack Marshall flare out to lead out a potential Underwood keeper:</p><p><em>TEs 44 and 83 to top</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>That leaves two unblocked guys on the backside, so Hiter can't threaten that gap. He runs directly into a linebacker in the hole.</p><p>B: Fast forward a drive; now it's Marshall in the backfield. Michigan doesn't read a dang thing here. They don't option anyone. The backside guys get blocked as no one flares out to threaten a keeper, so Marshall has time to press the frontside gap, get the linebacker to commit, and then use the duo blowout. LB has to make his decision first, and he is wrong:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>In a game without many individual yowza blocks, this is collectively your <strong>Block(s) of the Week</strong>.</p></blockquote><p>The duo that worked was a base play. The one that didn't was a constraint play.</p><p>Beck ran the above RPO without bothering to establish split duo. If Michigan had run split duo a couple times and gotten good gains because that DE got upfield, they could then come back to this RPO because the DE would likely be focused on taking on the Hansen block instead of taking off Underwood's head.</p><p>Big chunks of the offensive ineptitude this year have resulted from an overreliance on plays that need the defense to play in a certain way to work. This is a new one for me; most prior OC critiques have been about the opposite—running base plays over and over without sufficient governors on responses to them.</p><p>This often results in playcalls that are nonsense in the context of the game. Michigan has four minutes to drive the field here; they are still running a play action pass protection scheme that asks a pulling guard to get a defensive end. When that defensive end unsurprisingly hauls ass for the quarterback, Michigan is physically—like literal physics—unable to get to him until he's almost in Underwood's lap:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>I think Underwood can hang in there and find Marsh on a curl; I put some of that on him. But Beck does him no favors by running a protection scheme that needs the defense to respect the run… on second and ten with four minutes left while Michigan is down six. Worse: the pressure Underwood ate on his first interception was a direct consequence of the same protection scheme.</p><p>That is "there is a crayon lodged in my brain" stuff. Here's the chart with the RPS in it. Spoiler: –17.</p><table><tbody><tr><th colspan="5"><p class="text-align-center">Offensive Line</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>+</p></th><th><p>-</p></th><th><p>T</p></th><th><p>Notes</p></th></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Link</strong></p></td><td><p>1.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+1.5</p></td><td><p>Numbers are going to be weird.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Efobi</strong></p></td><td><p>4.5</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>+3.5</p></td><td><p>Instant pancake.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Guarnera</strong></p></td><td><p>3.5</p></td><td><p>2.5</p></td><td><p>+1</p></td><td><p>Two procedure penalties is disappointing. </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Norton</strong></p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+4</p></td><td><p>Well, it's something.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Frazier</strong></p></td><td><p>3.5</p></td><td><p>1.5 </p></td><td><p>+2 </p></td><td><p>Eh? </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sprague</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Babalola</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>DNP</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Beigel</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Gach</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>-4.5</p></td><td><p>Brutal outing.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Hoffman</strong></p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+1</p></td><td><p>Eh.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Owens</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ZMarshall</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td><td><p>Messed up a screen block.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tonielli</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>DNP</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bonner</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>DNP </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>TOTAL</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>14.5</p></td><td><p>59%</p></td><td><p>OL did the job. Rhino not so much.</p></td></tr><tr><th colspan="5"><p>Backs</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>+</p></th><th><p>-</p></th><th><p>T</p></th><th><p>Notes</p></th></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Underwood</strong></p></td><td><p>3.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+3.5 </p></td><td><p>Scrambles kept M afloat for a bit. </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Carr</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>JMarshall</strong></p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+2</p></td><td><p>No opportunities.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>-3 </p></td><td><p>Clamps.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kuzdzal</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Brown</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>O'Meara</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>TOTAL</p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>+2.5</p></td><td><p>Not important except for clamp.</p></td></tr><tr><th colspan="5"><p>Receivers</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>+</p></th><th><p>-</p></th><th><p>T</p></th><th><p>Notes</p></th></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Buchanan</strong></p></td><td><p>0.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+0.5 </p></td><td><p>Eh</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Marsh</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Goodwin</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Moa</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>DNC</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Johnson</p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNC </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ffrench</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>DNP </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>TOTAL</p></td><td><p>0.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>+0.5 </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><th colspan="5"><p>Metrics</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>+</p></th><th><p>-</p></th><th><p>T</p></th><th><p>Notes</p></th></tr><tr><td><p>Protection</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>79%</p></td><td><p>Frazier –2, Efobi –1, Hiter –1, Gach –1, TEAM -3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>RPS</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>-17 </p></td><td><p>Too many safeties at the LOS.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The OL was fine, insofar as it mattered.</p><p><strong>I hate it!</strong></p><p>Yep. The thing that really gets me is that there's never a counter punch. I mean, they get a first down here and there because of it. They do not hit deep thunderbolts. They barely even try, and even their feeble attempts are frequently sniffed out. Michigan did the go-behind thing on a couple screens earlier this year but third and nine with nine minutes left is an inane time to attempt to replicate it:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>I really enjoyed Chip Lindsey's play sequencing a year ago. I do not enjoy Beck failing to get much more than ten yards while opponent safeties breathe down Guarnera's neck.</p><p>Even the little bits that do work for a while get nerfed with no response. Remember how Michigan came out of halftime against UTEP and suddenly had some traction on the ground? They ran this combo QB power/crack sweep thing a few times:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>When they brought this out against Minnesota the Gophers gave it a Stone Cold Stunner. DT stays responsible with the QB, forcing a give, and then watch this linebacker just obliterate the blocking:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>MN MLB charging at LOS</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>There is not a damn thing any of those blockers can do when Minnesota is initiating contact three yards in the backfield.</p><p>This happens. You have a fancy play, it gains some nice yardage, and then when you come back to it later it doesn't work because it's on tape. I guess it's a base play, sort of. Has Michigan taken advantage of that linebacker ripping downhill? No. The main thing linebackers get to do against this offense is run headlong at everything without worrying if they're wrong. Linebacker is supposed to be hard.</p><p><strong>Sooooo… fire this guy?</strong></p><p>I mean, if you want. It's not going to matter. The cake is already baked. Michigan could yeet Beck today and promote… someone else, who would have no coordinator experience at all. Perhaps you would take personal satisfaction in Beck getting his walking papers. The best case scenario the rest of the year is that Michigan runs the most basic offense of all time and improves because missed assignments aren't prevalent and the basic offense includes a post route.</p><p>Actually, shit, fire this guy and hire Spurrier for funsies. He can call plays from his boat.</p><p><strong>That last part…</strong></p><p>Was in jest, that's not how Whittingham rolls—and generally not how any successful anyone anywhere operates. This is it for the rest of the season.</p><p><strong>Hockey?</strong></p><p>Yes, hockey.</p><p><strong>But Underwood was bad and should be benched. We have not yelled about him at all yet.</strong></p><p>Again, whatever floats your boat in this department. Chart:</p><p><strong>BRYCE UNDERWOOD</strong></p><table><thead><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th align="center" colspan="3"><p>Good</p></th><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th align="center" colspan="2"><p>Neutral</p></th><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th align="center" colspan="4"><p>Bad</p></th><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th align="center" colspan="2"><p>Ovr</p></th><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th colspan="2"><p>Reads</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Game</p></th><th><p><abbr title="Dead on: tough, NFL level throw">DO</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Catchable: run of the mill accurate throw.">CA</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Scramble: decision to take off that ends with solid gain or first down.">SCR</abbr></p></th><th> </th><th><p><abbr title="Pressure: bad or no throw on which QB has no realistic chance to complete a pass because of men trying to kill him.">PR</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Marginal: iffy throw that makes catch tougher than it has to be or robs WR of YAC.">MA</abbr></p></th><th> </th><th><p><abbr title="Batted: ball knocked down by pass rusher.">BA</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Throwaway: ball not intended to be complete, or an unproductive attempt to run, or an avoidable sack">TA</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Inaccurate: pass thrown too poorly to be caught.">IN</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="Bad read: thrown into coverage or a very bad sack or just missing the wide open dude for more yards.">BR</abbr></p></th><th> </th><th><p><abbr title="Downfield success rate: good things divided by good things plus bad things.">DSR</abbr></p></th><th><p><abbr title="PFF's passing grade for the game.">GRADE!</abbr></p></th><th> </th><th><p>RPOs</p></th><th><p>ZRs</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>Western Michigan</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>5(2)++</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><th> </th><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>5***</p></td><th> </th><td><p>44%</p></td><td><p>-9.5</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1/1</p></td><td><p>2/4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oklahoma</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8++(4)</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><th> </th><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><th> </th><td><p>(1)</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><th> </th><td><p>92%</p></td><td><p>+8</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1/1</p></td><td><p>10/11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>UTEP</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>14++++(3)</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><th> </th><td><p> </p></td><td><p>3(1)</p></td><th> </th><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><th> </th><td><p>89%</p></td><td><p>+8.5</p></td><th> </th><td><p>5/5</p></td><td><p>5/6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Iowa</p></td><td><p>2+</p></td><td><p>16(1)</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1 </p></td><td><p>3</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1(1)</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1 </p></td><th> </th><td><p>83%</p></td><td><p>+14.5</p></td><th> </th><td><p>0/0</p></td><td><p>11/11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Minnesota</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>11++</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><th> </th><td><p>2 </p></td><td><p>(1)</p></td><th> </th><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>6*** </p></td><th> </th><td><p>56%</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td><th> </th><td><p>1/1</p></td><td><p>6/6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Underwood didn't drop off a cliff until about halftime. I had him at +5-0.5 = +4.5 after Michigan scored to make it 7-7. His early returns were encouraging. We got an early third down conversion on which Underwood looked up Marsh late, holding an underneath defender long enough to open up a window. Watch Underwood's helmet:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>Next play wasn't much, yardage wise, but with Minnesota's playside LB sitting on an Underwood rollout he gets quick pressure and has to find a hot route. He does:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>A bit later I enjoyed the trajectory on this ball on the sideline:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>This is just fine, and then a little adversity hit. Marsh dropped a probable first down; Hiter clamped for a five yard loss; Guarnera didn't snap the ball; Michigan picked up 13 on third and 20 and punted. After this series, Underwood went into a funk he never recovered from. On the next drive he winged a ball wide of Buchanan on what would have been another probable first down. Minnesota then ate almost the rest of the quarter on back to back drives that ended in a pick six and a punt. Michigan's two minute drill never got off the ground because Underwood took a horrific sack when he had an easy, wide open TE delay:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>Underwood's next pass attempt was an equally horrific interception:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>And his next was also an interception, though that one wasn't his fault. It is discussed above. Things were sort of okay for a bit after, and then the attempted two minute drills were Very Bad.</p><p><strong>I heard Underwood is just guessing on his reads?</strong></p><p>This was one of Devin Gardner's takes last week; it is ridiculous. With all due respect to a former D-1 QB, you either chart or you don't. Underwood has been very good at making zone reads. To believe that it's all random and he can't do it you'd have to believe the following things:</p><ul><li data-list-item-id="edc1dc3fecb718807ced50307066000de">I'm wrong when I chart his zone read decisions. (This is the easiest to believe.)</li><li data-list-item-id="eec9550e9687af09cc857775c44ab9217">Whittingham made up Hiter clamping down on the ball during a halftime interview.</li><li data-list-item-id="e47f1ce2a75e4769aee7cb848ebadb0de">Underwood only screws up the most blindingly obvious keep reads, the ones that lead to a five yard loss in the backfield.</li><li data-list-item-id="e6ce6838a3c55e882945acf69846968f9">He only does this when Savion Hiter is in the game.</li><li data-list-item-id="ea58fafbca4b1be8da4e7a16ce5bdde5e">His initial reaction to these five yard losses is an elaborate con in which he attempts to deflect blame from himself onto Hiter.</li></ul><p>The more likely explanation is that Devin Gardner has a personal issue with Underwood for some reason or another. Like, there is just no planet where this series of events is anything other than Hiter going rogue:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>That's a blindingly obvious keep read followed by clear frustration at Hiter.</p><p>There was only one event other than that in this game—really in the past five games—where it looked like Underwood might have messed it up, and that was this play on which he ate a two yard loss when the handoff looked open:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>IMO that is probably correct since that end squeezes down and it's RPS since Michigan eats a corner blitz that cuts off the outside.</p><p><strong>Uhhhhh can we go back to that Gach grade?</strong></p><p>Beck defended the deployment of the rhino in his press conference this week, citing stats that Michigan was doing better with the rhino out there than with him on the bench. This is unpersuasive since the non-rhinos are more or less rhinos, having been targeted for nothing more than quick game stuff. You cannot control the safeties with five yard routes.</p><p>I am not opposed to having a skill position player whose value proposition is entirely blocking, but they'd better be Max Fucking Bredeson if you're going to do that. Michigan's options at rhino are not that. Beigel is a first-year OL. Gach is a second-year player. Neither should be on the field, because they are not good enough at run blocking to justify the expense of having a sixth OL out there. Too many times this year the rhino has not done his job, irrespective of the fact that you're turning a safety into a linebacker. Here Gach stares directly at an unblocked overhang player and then… blocks a guy who's already being blocked:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>TE #89 to bottom</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>On this one man power—a phrase I sincerely hope I never have to type again after this season—Gach doubles through a DE but then tries to block the MLB, who he has no shot at, instead of the WLB, who is traditionally the aiming point on this play:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>TE #89 to top</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>This duo sees Gach ignore the overhang LB and go after the MLB; this is not his job. The MLB needs to check interior gaps on duo and the DE double is supposed to either catch him in the wash or force him to make a decision about which gap to go in before the running back does. The overhang LB has Goodwin leaving his area and Michigan must account for him. They do not; minimal gain:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>TE #89 to top</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>Aaaand this one is speculative but after staring at this a bunch the only thing that makes sense to me is a Gach missed assignment. He blocks the end; Owens goes outside to threaten an arc keeper. Those two things cannot happen on the same play because if you fling one guy out of the box and do not give the QB a read this happens:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>TE #89 to top</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>It's one thing to stick to your philosophy when you have a trash offense, it's entirely another to stick to it when the rhino is actively obliterating a half-dozen plays a game without even considering the fact that you're running into effectively nine man boxes.</p><p>I assume that some of these errors are because Gach came to Michigan as an IOL and has had limited practice time in which he has to deal with tight end block identification, which is different. Ignoring overhang guys is exactly the kind of error I would expect a guard moonlighting at TE to make. So this is on Beck, too. If you wish to move half of his minuses to Beck, I ain't arguing.</p><p><strong>Klatt said that Michigan's ground game was too perimeter?</strong></p><h1> </h1><p>The narratives surrounding the Michigan offense after this game are partially right and partially wrong. Michigan did abandon an approach that worked really well for them last year. It was not "downhill running." Michigan was a stretch team a year ago. From <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2025-offense-vs-washington">the midseason Washington UFR</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Welcome to the new era of stretch at Michigan. It is now a base play, which means opponents prep for it and your efficiency running it goes down. Washington was able to flow hard down the line and largely prevent their DTs from being reached, leading to a number of iffy gains like this:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>None of those blocks are wrong or bad, per se, but neither is the playside DT getting reached and whoops now it's 15 yards. The sledding is tougher on the base play.</p></blockquote><p>Stretch is an expensive install and Michigan spent a few years spinning their wheels trying to run it, then giving up a few games into the season. Last year they finally had enough reps under their belt and the right combination of personnel to run it; virtually all of that experienced personnel is back and Beck just chucked stretch in the trash.</p><p>The problem with Michigan's ground game is not that they're running to the perimeter too much. It's that Beck's approach is putting Michigan behind the eight ball on almost all run plays. Michigan does not need that much relief from its OC to run successfully. If the opposition merely inserts one safety into the box, Michigan can grind it:</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>That was the first play; Michigan got enough movement to run away from a safety blitz triggered by Michigan's motion. A couple plays later Michigan set up third and an inch after Efobi buried a DT:</p><p class="text-align-center"><em>LG #55</em></p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>This is more or less the same blitz from Minnesota and more or less the same result. This pancake from Efobi is our <strong>Block Of The Week</strong>.</p><p>Things got bad later because Minnesota just stopped playing things honestly and Michigan didn't punish it. I present to you the loneliest football player in the world:</p><p class="text-align-center">WR #9 motioning</p><div class="embed-container"></div><p>Just look at the Minnesota defense: not one guy even <em>looks</em> at Goodwin. They know he's not getting a target. They do not have to care about him at all, so there's an unblocked guy in the frontside hole and the overhang LB over Goodwin just gets to rip up into the backside.</p><p>So while also think Beck has crushed Michigan's offense, I wish to state that is for a different reason.</p><p><strong>Receivers?</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th colspan="4"><p>THIS WEEK</p></th><td bgcolor="#ffffff"> </td><th colspan="4"><p>THIS YEAR</p></th></tr><tr><th><p>Player</p></th><th><p>Uncb</p></th><th><p>Circus</p></th><th><p>Tough</p></th><th><p>Routine</p></th><th rowspan="18"> </th><th><p>Uncb</p></th><th><p>Circus</p></th><th><p>Tough</p></th><th><p>Routine</p></th></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Buchanan</strong></p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2/2</p></td><td><p>2/2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>2/3</p></td><td><p>4/5</p></td><td><p>19/19 </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Marsh</strong></p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>3/4 </p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4/6</p></td><td><p>1/2</p></td><td><p>21/22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Goodwin</strong></p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Moa</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1/1</p></td><td> </td><td><p>1/2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Johnson</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>2 </p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>1/1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ffrench</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bell</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Hoffman</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0/1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>3/3 </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ZMarshall</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>0/1</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>0/1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Owens</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>1/1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hansen</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>3/3</p></td><td><p>1 </p></td><td> </td><td><p> 0/1</p></td><td><p>5/5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tonielli</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bonner</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>JMarshall</strong></p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p>3/3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hiter</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1/1</p></td><td><p>4/4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kuzdzal</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Brown</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><p><em><strong>Routes</strong>: No.</em></p><p>You will note that there is a "starting" receiver on the team who does not have a target. An absurd number of targets go to the top two receivers. Fully 71% of Underwood targets have gone to Buchanan and Marsh, who have 39 and 38 targets, respectively. Your co-leaders behind them are Jalen Hoffman and Hogan Hansen with six each.</p><p>This is not a sustainable way to run an offense, and that's on Beck too.</p><p><strong>Heroes?</strong></p><p>The offensive line, I guess? They were generally not responsible for the disaster.</p><p><strong>Maybe not so heroic?</strong></p><p>Jason Beck, full stop.</p><h2>What does it mean for Penn State and beyond?</h2><p><strong>If Jason Beck wants to be a coordinator anywhere other than Snow College in the future, now's the time.</strong> I have complained about OCs before but this sabotage is total.</p><p><strong>Underwood is me doing standup comedy</strong>. Pretty good until something adverse happens and then it's the struggle bus.</p><p><strong>Michigan does not have an OL who should be playing rhino</strong>. It would be one thing if Gach knew what he's doing. He does not.</p><p><strong>Uhhhhh…</strong> I don't have much else.</p></div> </article> <article> <h1>Fee Fi Foe Film: Penn State Offense 2026</h1> <p>Alex.Drain — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:16:24 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Fee Fi Foe Film: Penn State Offense 2026</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/alexdrain" class="username">Alex.Drain</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-15T14:16:24-04:00" title="Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 2:16pm" class="datetime">October 15th, 2026 at 2:16 PM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em><strong>NOTE: this story was published prematurely a few hours ago and then was taken down. It is now complete.</strong></em></p><p>Fresh off a bye week where the directive needed to be getting things right, the Michigan Wolverines return to action on Saturday against an old B1G East rival in the Penn State Nittany Lions. The two teams haven't met since the famous 2023 meeting, which is quite a while ago. In the mean time, Drew Allar's entire career passed by and James Franklin's tenure collapsed like a Jenga tower. On the flip side, the entire Sherrone Moore era came and went in Ann Arbor, meaning that this matchup pits two first year coaches in Matt Campbell and Kyle Whittingham. At 3-2 and 3-3, neither coach is off to a hot start and both are sorely in need of a win on Saturday: </p><p> </p><p><strong>The Film: </strong>PSU has played three power conference opponents and they have lost all three games. Those losses are Wisconsin, Northwestern, and USC, giving us some options to pick from. The USC defense is not good enough to be used as a comparison for a team like Michigan, while the Northwestern and Wisconsin defenses are both pretty good. Of those two, I liked the Wisconsin game more because it was a competitive affair, so we get to see how PSU's offense behaves in important game settings. So, we'll go with that one, PSU's surprising 24-20 collapse at the hands of the Badgers. </p><p><strong>Personnel: </strong><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-offense.png">Click</a> for big or <a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-offense.pdf">HERE</a> for PDF. </p><p class="text-align-center"><a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2026-10/2026%2006%20PSU-offense.png"> </picture></a></p><p>New offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser was first hired by Matt Campbell at Toledo and then came with him to Iowa State, where Mouser served in six different roles on the offensive staff, including offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in 2024-25. Mouser came with Campbell to State College, alongside a host of players headlined by the QB, <strong>Roccho Becht</strong>. A Florida native, Becht sat as a freshman but then became the starter in year #2, when his RS Fr status allowed Becht to be named Big XII Offensive Freshman of the Year. </p><p>Fast forward to 2026 and Becht is in his fourth year of starting for Campbell. On the season, he has 11 TD to 3 INT and a 62.7% completion percentage. His level of play has dipped in B1G play as Becht is finally forced to play difficult defenses on a regular basis, but he's a perfectly fine starting college QB. I don't think Becht is a sleeper NFL starter like former Campbell QB Brock Purdy, however. </p><p>The job of RB has been a near-even split between ISU transfer <strong>Carson Hansen </strong>and OSU transfer <strong>James Peoples </strong>(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Peoples">separate from an economics professor at University of Wisconsin who Wikipedia apparently thinks is the more important James Peoples</a>). Hansen is in his third season of starting under Campbell, coming up just short of a 1,000 yard rushing season last year after 13 TDs in 2024. Hansen is currently sitting at 4.0 YPC this season, having seen little running room in the three B1G contests that the Nittanys have played this year. Peoples was a high 4* who was never able to see the field consistently in Columbus and came to PSU for playing time. He's gotten that thus far and was the bellcow in the game I charted. </p><p>I don't think Hansen or Peoples qualify as stars at this point in time. They're not bad but they are probably Just Guys and their success in conference play has been limited by the OL in front of them. That also applies to the reserve RBs, <strong>Quinton Martin Jr. </strong>and <strong>Cam Wallace</strong>, who each have 20+ carries and were on the team last year under Franklin. Martin has appeared in meaningful games but didn't play against USC, while Wallace's workload is largely in garbage time. I'm not sure if they'll play much of a role on Saturday. </p><p>For their receiving targets, the Nittany Lions are using a lot of tight ends this season, but there are a couple of wide receivers to know. That would be a pair of ISU transfers who Becht is familiar with, the 6'3 <strong>Chase Sowell</strong>, who is now on his fourth(!) school, and the 6'1 <strong>Brett Eskildsen</strong>. Together they have 42 catches thus far and are clearly the top receivers for Penn State this season. Koby Howard was the third receiver and was off to a rip-roaring start during PSU's buttery soft non-conference season, catching 12 passes for 344 yards(!!!!) but Howard is injured and will miss the Michigan game. In which case <strong>Zay Robinson </strong>or freshman <strong>Amarion Jackson </strong>are WR3, but in most cases PSU will just play with two TEs instead. </p><p>Which leads us to those tight ends. The most used are flex TE <strong>Benjamin Brahmer </strong>(ISU transfer), who measures a towering 6'7, and <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/hello-future-andrew-rappleyea">one-time Michigan commit</a> <strong>Andrew Rappleyea</strong>, who is 6'4/242. Rappleyea is used a little bit more as an in-line TE, but both have roles in the pass game, with 17 catches apiece. ISU transfer <strong>Gabe Burkle </strong>is a blocking TE who doesn't do much as a receiver and <strong>Finn Furmanek </strong>is even more of a blocker, with only a single catch on the season. PSU will use as many as 3 or 4 TEs on a given play, but it doesn't feel like any of them are dangerous, or developed enough to justify that usage. </p><p>The offensive line has been stable and healthy so far this season. RT <strong>Anthony Donkoh </strong>was a starting guard here last season but now has been moved out to tackle, while LT <strong>Malachi Goodman </strong>is a sophomore 5* who is in his first year of starting. Goodman is still wobbly, while Donkoh wasn't a ton better against Wisconsin (but has graded out better in other games). LG <strong>Trevor Buhr </strong>started part of last season for ISU and then followed his head coach here, where he pairs with RG <strong>Cooper Cousins</strong>, a third-year player who was a top 100 recruit in Franklin's 2024 class and is a first-year starter. Cousins was better than Buhr, IMO. </p><p>The C is <strong>Brock Riker</strong>, a Texas State transfer who has struggled in B1G play, while being banged up. I don't have anything to say abou the second-string OL because other than Riker (who still hasn't missed much time), this group has been healthy and so no backups have played enough to have a take. As a whole, the OL is middling, struggling to get the running game going against better opponents and pass protection had its issues in the Wisconsin game. </p><p><strong>[AFTER THE JUMP: meh]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div><p><strong>Pro-style, spread or hybrid: </strong>Mostly a shotgun offense from PSU but they went under center occasionally: </p><table style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0px;border:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);display:block;font-family:Roboto, sans-serif;font-size:0.857em;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:10px 0px;max-width:100%;orphans:2;overflow-x:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><thead style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-bottom:0px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Formation</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Run</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">PA</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Pass</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Total</strong></p></th></tr></thead><tbody style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(239, 238, 236);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Shotgun</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">31</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">1</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">27</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">89%</p></td></tr><tr style="background:rgb(225, 223, 255);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Under Center</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">6</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">1</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">--</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">11%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The most striking part of that table is how little play-action there was. I have to think that is the least that I've ever charted for any team. As for the play type by down, pretty balanced overall: </p><table style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0px;border:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);display:block;font-family:Roboto, sans-serif;font-size:0.857em;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:10px 0px;max-width:100%;orphans:2;overflow-x:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><thead style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-bottom:0px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Down</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Run</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" scope="col"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Pass</strong></p></th></tr></thead><tbody style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(239, 238, 236);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">1st</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">14</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">11</p></td></tr><tr style="background:rgb(225, 223, 255);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">2nd</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">10</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">11</p></td></tr><tr style="background:rgb(239, 238, 236);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">3rd</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">8</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">11</p></td></tr><tr style="background:rgb(225, 223, 255);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;" scope="row"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">4th</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">--</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Base set:</strong> Buckle up because we have a lot of formations to get to. The standard personnel package is 12, most often with one of the TEs in the slot like this: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>And they play out of 11 some amount of the time too, swapping their flex TE for a WR: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>And then they keep adding TEs, all the way up to four: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>They also do 6OL: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>And this weird beef package: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>That's one WR, one in-line TE, a TE and a RB as the twin backs and then another RB as the deep back. Speaking of weird formations, here PSU is in 12 personnel but there's a diamond formation of skill guys to the bottom: </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p>Lastly, we have two RBs in the backfield next to the QB: </p><p> </picture></p><p><strong>Hurry it up or grind it out: </strong>There were a couple of tempo snaps for Penn State against Wisconsin before score effects demanded it. Which isn't to say that I'd classify the Nittanys as a particularly fast-paced team but compared to Iowa and Minnesota as the last two teams that I've charted, this is going to feel like playing Chip Kelly Oregon in terms of pace. On the season, PSU sits near the middle in plays per game, while Campbell/Mouser's 2025 offense at ISU was just inside the top 50 of the FBS in that metric. So not glacially slow like our last two opponents, but also not really a hurry it up team. </p><p><strong>Gap or zone blocking: </strong>Penn State was running more zone than gap plays against Wisconsin. Split zone and outside zone are what I spotted the most and it wasn't uncommon to pair some pre-snap movement with it, activating a tight end into the play with momentum. When they did run gap plays, it was typically on toss/pitch plays, where a frontside guard and a tight end are pulling out into space ahead of the back. </p><p><strong>Quarterback Dilithium Rating (Scale: 1 [Navarre] to 10 [Denard]): </strong>Rocco Becht came to State College with some rushing ability in his past. PFF has him down for 253 yards last season (excluding sacks) and 388 back in 2024, rushing for 4.4 YPC on his non-sack carries that season. This year hasn't been as fruitful, with only 89 yards through six games, a 3.0 YPC clip with two fumbles vs. one touchdown. Becht's most prolific game on the ground happens to be the one I charted, where he rushed eight times for 31 yards excluding sacks. </p><p>The PSU offense wasn't leaning on Becht's legs much, but they went to it when inside the 10. They ran this play on consecutive snaps, the second of which seeing Becht find the end zone for his lone rushing TD of the year: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Becht isn't massive at 6'1/208 but he seemed comfortable absorbing contact. I also wouldn't say that Becht is particularly fast or slippery but there's some elusiveness allowing him to scramble on a few occasions, and extend plays as his pass protection deteriorated late in the Wisconsin game. Here was his long scramble from that game: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>I'm not going into this game worried about Becht but he's more mobile than the stiff statue we saw in Drake Lindsey last time I wrote one of these. Let's mark Becht down as a 4 on our scale, the mark of a college QB who is decently capable as a runner, albeit one who doesn't do it that much and isn't physically gifted. </p><p><strong>Dangerman: </strong>This was rather difficult, because no one stood out to me in the Wisconsin game. The longest play for PSU was 22 yards and no skill position guys POPPED. With no strong feeling, I went with the most productive player from the game and the team's leader in scrimmage yards on the season in WR <strong>Chase Sowell</strong>. Sowell hails from the Houston area and was a member of Colorado's 2022 recruiting class (that's pre-Deion Sanders). He played one year at Colorado, appearing in only three games, and then hit the portal with his redshirt intact. </p><p>From there, Sowell down-transferred to East Carolina, where he put together a pair of productive seasons, with over 600 yards receiving in both campaigns. Now looking to jump back into the P4, Sowell transferred to Matt Campbell and Iowa State. There wasn't much adjustment needed, as Sowell hit the ground running and caught 32 passes for 500 yards. That was good for 2nd on the team in receiving and Campbell wanted to bring Sowell with him to his new gig. So, Sowell is now on his fourth team in five seasons and through six games is leading Penn State with 359 yards on 23 catches, with two touchdowns. </p><p>In the Wisconsin game, Sowell caught six passes for 70 yards. Some of it was unsexy like this, where we also see some of Sowell's YAC ability: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>But he's also a target that Becht looks for in big situations. Two of Becht's best throws of the game were to Sowell and he targeted him often during the final drive. Here's one of those throws, a laser from the QB: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>Sowell's production has been fairly consistent, only getting a catch or two against pushovers Buffalo and Marshall but in the games that were at least somewhat competitive (B1G play + Temple, who hung around for a bit) he's registered at least four catches each time. No 100 games yet, though he came up just short against USC. Here was his 47 yarder from that game: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>This will be the third consecutive game of B1G play in which I highlight a receiver who I don't rate as superstar tier but is a good, reliable target for his QB. Michigan blanketed Tony Vargas in the Iowa game but had some trouble with Noah Jennings of Minnesota. Sowell is in a similar tier to me, solid player, but probably not on the level of a Parker Washington (who's a hell of an NFLer nowadays) or KeAndre Lambert-Smith in terms of PSU receivers that I charted past (Sowell's definitely closer to KLS than Washington). But on a team that doesn't scare you with its skill position talent, Sowell is the closest thing to a Dangerman for me. </p><p><strong>HenneChart: </strong>If we went down the list of "reasons for optimism" for the first year of the Matt Campbell era in State College, right after the comically easy schedule (*narrator*: not so easy anymore, eh?) was the ability of Campbell to bring much of his Iowa State program on wheels and no player was a bigger part of that than QB <strong>Rocco Becht</strong>. As I wrote in my preseason look at the QBs on the schedule, Becht is the most experienced QB in the conference this season as a fourth-year starter. He's as season as they come and he's played in a lot of big games, winning a fair number of them. </p><p>But the Big XII is not the B1G and the quality of competition is higher in this conference. In particular, the level of defense played in the B1G laps that of the Big XII, better coached and coordinated and with far more future NFL players. That may be a reason why Becht's game is coming in a bit below what I anticipated to this point. After ripping through the meatball non-conference like a chainsaw through a twig (9 TD, 0 INT, 70% completion, 11.7 Y/A), Becht's production has slammed into a wall in conference play. Over the past three games the signal caller is sitting at 57.8% completion on 6.3 Y/ with 2 TD and 3 INT. And one of those three games is against USC, where the defense is definitely Big XII caliber. </p><p>Wisconsin and Northwestern have real defensive outfits and Becht's outing against the Badgers was the low point of his season to date. My charting is lukewarm on Becht's performance: </p><table style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0px;border:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);display:block;font-family:Roboto, sans-serif;font-size:0.857em;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:10px 0px;max-width:100%;orphans:2;overflow-x:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><thead style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-bottom:0px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">PSU vs. Wisco</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" align="center" colspan="3"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Good</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" align="center" colspan="2"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Neutral</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" align="center" colspan="4"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Bad</strong></p></th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;" align="center" colspan="2"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Ovr</strong></p></th></tr><tr style="background:rgb(225, 223, 255);border-bottom:0px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Quarterback</strong></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Dead on: tough, NFL level throw"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">DO</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Catchable: run of the mill accurate throw."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">CA</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Scramble: decision to take off that ends with solid gain or first down."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">SCR</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Pressure: bad or no throw on which QB has no realistic chance to complete a pass because of men trying to kill him."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">PR</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Marginal: iffy throw that makes catch tougher than it has to be or robs WR of YAC."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">MA</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Batted: ball knocked down by pass rusher."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">BA</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Throwaway: ball not intended to be complete, or an unproductive attempt to run, or an avoidable sack"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">TA</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Inaccurate: pass thrown too poorly to be caught."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">IN</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Bad read: thrown into coverage or a very bad sack or just missing the wide open dude for more yards."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">BR</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><abbr style="border-bottom:1px dotted;box-sizing:border-box;" title="Downfield success rate: good things divided by good things plus bad things."><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">DSR</strong></abbr></p></th><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;">Screens</strong></p></th></tr></thead><tbody style="box-sizing:border-box;"><tr style="background:rgb(239, 238, 236);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);box-sizing:border-box;padding:0.1em 0.6em;"><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">Rocco Becht</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">11</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;"> </th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;"> </th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"> </td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">6</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">2</p></td><th style="background:rgb(0, 22, 42);border-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-image:initial;border-style:solid solid none;border-width:1px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 203, 5);font-family:"Roboto Slab", "sans-serif";font-weight:700;padding:4px;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle;"> </th><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">60%</p></td><td style="border:1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;padding:4px;text-align:left;"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;">3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There were some good events for Becht, a number of routine throws he was able to make without too much trouble. He's never been the most accurate QB (career 60.9% completion) but he hit some solid throws, especially early on: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>The throw to Sowell I showed you in the prior section was probably Becht's best of the game. This next one is a dicey decision but he fits it in to a tiny window, also to Sowell: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>On that one you see some of the protection woes that PSU experienced, which is also a part of the story. It forced Becht to move around and throw on the run, which led to some good events but also some iffier throws. Accuracy was definitely Becht's biggest problem. His arm isn't a cannon and he underthrew open receivers deep on multiple occasions, allowing the corner (toast in trail coverage) to catch up and PBU the ball once it arrived. Becht also humorously overshot the end zone entirely on the final Hail Mary attempt, throwing the ball out the back of the end zone: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>And even beyond that, there were balls that needed to be thrown on the outside of the receiver that were thrown to the inside, and things of that nature. Becht also should've thrown a pick-six right here: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>He did throw one actual INT in this game, a pass that was batted at the line and snared by a defensive lineman. I don't think that's a super interesting clip to show other than to say Becht did have a couple balls batted down at the line, as he lacks ideal QB size. More instructive were a pair of INTs in the Northwestern game, including one of them here: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>All of this isn't to trash Rocco Becht, but I don't think he's a particularly good starting QB as things stand. He isn't bad either, but he isn't standing out for me either. Becht can make a lot of routine throws but he's not accurate or physically gifted enough to be an NFL guy and the adjustment to B1G defenses has been more difficult than anticipated. I think Michigan will have their opportunities to snare a turnover or two through the air and if you can get pressure on Becht, I would expect him to miss some makeable throws as well. Just A Guy. </p><p> </p><h3>Overview </h3><p>The primary takeaway that I had after watching PSU's performance on offense against Wisconsin was "for as many different personnel packages and formations as they use, their offense isn't remotely interesting". The game against the Badgers was extremely underwhelming. Yes, Wisconsin has a good defense, but PSU gained just 3.6 YPP and their longest drive was 56 yards. The Nittany Lions punted on seven drives, were intercepted on another, and turned it over on downs as time expired on their final drive. Just three drives crested 30 yards in total. </p><p>The Northwestern game wasn't much better, seven punts, two interceptions, and a missed FG. That added up to 13 points in total. I examined the tape to try and get a feel for how things unfolded and there wasn't much more there to be encouraged by from a process standpoint. They didn't run the ball any better against the Wildcats and Becht was inefficient in the passing game. The team failed to top 300 yards on over 60 plays and had as many turnovers and touchdowns. The Nittany Lions had two drives that reached 45 yards in length. </p><p>If I had to pinpoint one reason for Penn State's offensive troubles, I would highlight the offensive line. It is far from the only issue on offense for Penn State, but it's the one that links together their anemic rushing attack and some of the problems they've had in the pass game. In short, the offensive line isn't any good. Back in the summer when I was looking at PSU I felt that they had the framework for a solid offense because they were importing a QB and so many skill position guys from Iowa State, but it was the offensive line that gave me some pause about what the finished product would be. </p><p>That hesitation seems to be justified, as this hodgepodge line is performing at ~maybe~ replacement level so far. It's a mix of two transfers and then a bunch of holdovers from the Franklin era, which isn't a mix I was too excited about. You've got the old Franklin classic in LT <strong>Malachi Goodman</strong>, a highly touted prospect who doesn't really know what to do yet. You've also got a returning starter at guard kicking out to tackle in RT <strong>Anthony Donkoh</strong>. There's also RG <strong>Cooper Cousins</strong>, another pretty high recruit with only limited experience. Those three then pair with ISU transfer <strong>Trevor Buhr </strong>at LG<strong> </strong>and and 291 lb. Texas State transfer <strong>Brock Riker </strong>at C. </p><p>What this comes out to is a line that's either A) talented but not experienced enough or B) experienced but not talented. The result is a line that can't get a rushing game moving against serious defenses. The Nittany Lions rushed for 3.6 YPC (sack-adjusted) against Wisconsin, then 2.6 YPC against Northwestern, and, perhaps most damningly, only 2.6 against USC (there was a wildcat "sack" that I am including in the rushing stats). Thus, the game I charted was PSU's best as a rushing attack on the season against P4 competition and I didn't come away from that one at all impressed with their run game. </p><p>PSU's only run that gained 10+ yards was the 19 yard Becht scramble. When the RBs were given the ball, they usually had some room to run up front but couldn't do anything beyond that because the OL was incapable of climbing to the second level. Wisconsin's LBs were seldom blocked and they would quickly come shooting down for a tackle after 2-4 yards, like this: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>The best runs that Penn State was able to get with its backs were on passing downs, when Wisconsin showed them a light box and the work the OL did up front was enough to produce a solid gain: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>The OL was fine enough at the first level in the run game IMO, but the tight ends weren't adding much for as many snaps as they got. Here you have good blocks on the left side of the line from Goodman/Buhr but the TEs are bad and it gains very little: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>The RBs themselves are unremarkable. <strong>James Peoples </strong>and <strong>Carson Hansen </strong>don't seem terrible but they also don't look like difference makers. As Jamie pointed out on the podcast on Tuesday, generating explosives in the run game has been a big issue and these two haven't shown the breakaway ability that Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton flashed when given an opportunity. Peoples was far more used in the Wisconsin game and he had a couple tough runs but nothing that was really worth clipping. Here are Hansen's highlights from his Iowa State days: </p><p class="text-align-center"></p><p>So far in B1G play these two backs have not been good enough to salvage a run game that the offensive line is not able to create. </p><p>Furthering the point about the offensive line, their pass protection had warts in the Wisconsin game, especially later on. The tackles Goodman and Donkoh were struggling and Goodman's play has been a weak spot on offense all season for PSU. When Becht was forced to scramble, it was often because of pass protection breaking down at the tackle spot: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>Interior stunts also gave some trouble to the guards and Riker: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>Speeding Becht up can trigger some of the mistakes that I have talked about in this piece. The receiving talent at his disposal is okay, with Sowell obviously being the standout. But it doesn't blow me away. PSU partisans are ruing the loss of WR Koby Howard to injury, though I'm not sure how much of a difference he'd be making. At the very least, he'd provide another weapon, which is something. Right now it looks like Sowell and <strong>Brett Eskildsen</strong>, who came with Becht from ISU. Eskildsen's best moments against Wisconsin were getting open deep down the field and then not catching the ball because Becht would underthrow it: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>I don't fear the matchup of Michigan's corners against Eskildsen/Sowell. I think the Maize & Blue have the talent at corner to compensate. The TEs also play a role in the pass game, running quite a few routes but the lower production indicates their caliber of play overall. There isn't a Friermuth or Gesicki here. The most dangerous receiver is the 6'7 Flex TE <strong>Brandon Brahmer</strong>, who you saw hauling in a 3rd down pass from the slot earlier back in the HenneChart section. One-tim Michigan commit <strong>Andrew Rappleyea </strong>is more in-line and I have seen nothing from him as a receiver that scares me either. His blocking is supposed to be better than Brahmer's but you had plays like this where Rappleyea blocks no one, on one of the many toss/pitch plays PSU runs: </p><p> </p><div style="height:0px;padding-bottom:56.250%;position:relative;width:100%;"></div><p> </p><p>It just doesn't feel like Penn State has the horses on offense this year. </p><p> </p><h3>What does this mean for Michigan? </h3><p>No one is going into this meeting with Penn State particularly worried about Michigan's defense. It hasn't been the issue in losses this season and I don't think anything I've shown you in this piece should make you worried about Michigan's defense against PSU's offense. The Nittany Lions put up 20 points against Wisconsin thanks to a pick six and a short field TD, mustering only 3.6 YPP against a high-end Badger defense. Then they mustered only 13 against a good Northwestern defense on 4.6 YPP. And then at home against <em>USC</em> the output was 5.7 YPP and 23 points. </p><p>And those results line up with the talent. Where in Ann Arbor we're bemoaning an offense that's far beneath the sum of the parts, I don't think that's the case with Penn State. I just don't think the parts are that good. I don't see an Andrew Marsh or JJ Buchanan among their receivers. PSU has two solid but not exceptional wide receivers and a bunch of middling TEs they keep wanting to put on the field but aren't getting results out of. The RBs lack the raw abilities of a Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter and like Michigan, PSU is struggling to get any running game out of them. And the OL is in line with the rather low expectations I had pre-season. </p><p>When you add in Becht, a classic veteran college QB who is "fine", it's an offense that's mediocre. I assume they'll have better games in the future against such opponents as Maryland and Rutgers but when matched up with teams who actually play defense, it's been tough sledding for this group. They lack game-changers and NFL talent and it resembles an old-style year #1 offense of a new coach than anything that the portal can give you these days. Michigan's defense should be able to get the better of this side of the matchup. </p></div> </article> <article> <h1>WTKA Roundtable 10/15/2026: The Monkey's Paw Curled</h1> <p>Seth — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:14:53 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">WTKA Roundtable 10/15/2026: The Monkey's Paw Curled</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/seth" class="username">Seth</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-15T10:14:53-04:00" title="Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 10:14am" class="datetime">October 15th, 2026 at 10:14 AM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Things Discussed:</strong></p><ul><li data-list-item-id="e65b271f72736e3bdf5453c8ae0e45baf"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Tactical issues: They run constraint plays without establishing the base, so they overreactions to what they're doing.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="ee1dea1566b6c66ba95dc07c152996135"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">They don't punish the safeties being at 8 and 6 yards.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e3591ac8e19fe8655bff60e9dab813dad"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Two different OC types: Lindsay type attaches his stuff to what you're doing; RR/Beck types want to install their offense.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="ed709e28c4979a147ce815e046ada2394"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Watch Utah last year: Beck last year would not like what Beck does this year.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e7db0bc1f2e7b4e422b91216abe9e3e24"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Feels like Jason Beck is on tilt; he's trying to win the game with every playcall, and he's not getting the homers.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e81bb3058c76837e8f55d3b845d5902ff"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">You can put Max Bredeson on the field but he's got to be at least a little bit of a threat.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="efbda6a1c1c18b88c1464c5695beb1711"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Alex Bauman? He's a blocking TE who makes good reads so he might be an answer. But Zack Marshall was that guy.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="ece277b1db4a506fb643ec1b09e19066e"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">How many seams have we thrown this year? None. How did Purdue get a big run vs Minnesota at the start of the game, threatened the seam, safety steps back, blockers win.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e403c61692d3160ec1e12f1fa30b6777e"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">They don't run Dagger. They don't throw to anyone but their first two receivers.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e4a75537c130df55d2777a9be08f2265e"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Brian got a QB running game and the monkey's paw curled.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="e152b47846eb6a500e8385a0162960974"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">This is probably the biggest disconnect between expectations and reality we've ever faced.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="ecffda20a35c656aeb38cb4e19759a96e"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Hockeytalk: Michigan has an incredible concentration of talent, they're not the only ones. Heady time to be a college hockey fan because there are some great teams out there because CHL players are now in the Big Ten. Think the season will be less frustrating but the Tournament will be brutal because several schools (MSU, Denver) have their best team ever.</div></li><li data-list-item-id="eceaf13ceabf404c1e73a9294553b8828"><div data-list-item-id="effef9129426795047c1573a9b2df9989">Hoopstalk: Not last year's team but pretty good. Trey is the star but he's a shooter; his offense should be shoot or go downhill. Expect them to do some shooting, work in Quinn Costello as a movement shooter, and OREB. Thiam has to learn better shot selection, develop a two-man game with Cadeau. He can't be taking the bad shots because the other guys should be taking those so Thiam and Estrella can put them back.</div></li></ul><p><strong>[Hit the JUMP for the player, and video and stuff]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div><p>You can catch the entire episode on <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/michigan-insider">Michigan Insider's podcast stream</a>.</p><p></p><p>Part 2 is <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/michigan-insider/010-mgoblog-roundtable-seg2-101526" target="_blank">here</a>. Watch the video here:</p><p></p><p><strong>The Usual Links:</strong></p><ul><li data-list-item-id="ed5ec82d6f14d2ff73d0723f78854d7ca"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=331191165&subMediaType=Audio">Helpful iTunes subscribe link</a></li><li data-list-item-id="e1469bef92609533c7ea88e78e53c3885"><a href="https://mgoblog.podbean.com/feed.xml">General podcast feed link</a></li><li data-list-item-id="e55016afb7526c099550c7bc6fee13378"><div><a href="https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/v86m83zh2fk7h7p8/wtka_2026_10_15.mp3">Direct download link</a> (right-click/save as)</div></li><li data-list-item-id="ece086f17e600226f9ad0bdf3f554e851"><a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/michigan-replay-funky">What's with the theme music</a>?</li></ul><p></p><p><em>If Iowa safeties are at six yards, maybe just walk into the sea.</em></p></div> </article> <article> <h1>The Penn State Tailgate, Sponsored by AFS</h1> <p>Seth — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 18:56:14 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The Penn State Tailgate, Sponsored by AFS</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/seth" class="username">Seth</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-14T14:56:14-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - 2:56pm" class="datetime">October 14th, 2026 at 2:56 PM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>You all have been after us to have a tailgate, and I've been responding "I've enough on my plate." Fortunately some of you all are also our sponsors, and two of them have offered to step in and host one for us. Venue to host, AFS to sponsor.</p><p><strong>DETAILS</strong></p><p><strong>WHAT:</strong> MGoTailgate<br><strong>WHERE:</strong> Outdoor Patio of Venue by 4M, 1919 S Industrial Hwy, Ann Arbor (across the bridge from the stadium, used to be Lucky's).<br><strong>WHENCE:</strong> Noon to 2:30PM on Saturday<br><strong>FOOD: </strong>Order what you will from Venue, and AFS will have some healthy snacks available.</p><p><strong>Who's Applied Fitness Solutions?</strong></p><p>Those of you who've run into me recently may have remarked, pleasantly, that there's noticeably less Seth. Since February I've been working with MGoSponsor <strong>Applied Fitness Solutions</strong>. I have <a href="https://4afsfit.com/get-to-know-chris-early/">a physiologist</a> designing my exercises. I have a <a href="https://4afsfit.com/about-us/our-team/">registered dietitian</a> who conspires weekly with my wife to plan my meals. I have an army of exercise physiologists who come by when I'm in the gym to make sure I'm using the right muscle group and Jason Beck is using the right personnel group.</p><p>My philosophy with our sponsors is I want to work with companies and products I'd want to recommend regardless, and with people I'd be friends with if we weren't doing business. AFS is One of Those. Like, when I brought home a bag of confetti from the basketball championship I took it with me to the gym, grabbed a few conspirators, and showered Max Bayram with the stuff in celebration.</p><p>I wanted to do this when you could meet the dietician (who was cooking up some tailgate recipes) but life intervened. The Sklars will be there. Other MGoBloggers will be there.</p><p><strong>COMING?</strong></p><p>If you think you are, <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4dWUCb703RaxZnuJRUuNctesr-UFReIJqoH0oZ7xR_Y6O8A/viewform" target="_blank">add yourself to the interest list</a> so I can get a rough idea of how much space we need.</p><div id="read-more"></div></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bye Week Mailbag Part 2 Talks Northwestern, Tommy Carr, and More Coaching Candidates</h1> <p>Alex.Drain — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:00:05 +0000</p> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bye Week Mailbag Part 2 Talks Northwestern, Tommy Carr, and More Coaching Candidates</span> <div class="field field--name-field-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> </picture> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://mgoblog.com/users/alexdrain" class="username">Alex.Drain</a></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-10-14T12:00:05-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - 12:00pm" class="datetime">October 14th, 2026 at 12:00 PM</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>We tackled the first part of the mailbag on Monday. Now it's time for Part 2. In this installment we will be taking questions similar to those from the other day, with more conversation about coaching candidates because that seems to be on everyone's mind...</p><p> </p><p><strong>Would you take Aidan Chiles over BU? And does Chiles get us to the Playoff? (-MgoWood)</strong></p><p>Hahahahaha this is why I love mailbags. What a great question. Chiles has played great football so far this season, with 71.4% completion on 10.5 Y/A, 9 TD vs. 0 INT, ranking as one of the best QBs in EPA/pass in the FBS this season. I don't think you can argue that Underwood has been better than Chiles this year. He hasn't. From that standpoint, the choice should be pretty straightforward about who the better QB for 2026 is. </p><p>But there's a notable caveat, which is context: Chiles is thriving in Chip Kelly's new offense, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB7n1TQA6Ek">which included the Wing-T against Penn State</a>. If we assume that all other variables are equal, that Chiles would have to play for the current Jason Beck/Michigan offense and Underwood would get to play in the Chip Kelly offense, then I feel like the choice matters less. Chiles is not a scheme-independent QB, considering he looked completely lost under a different OC/on a different team less than a season ago. I don't feel optimistic about his odds of succeeding in the current state of Michigan's offense. And likewise, I think Underwood would benefit from being inserted into Kelly's offense. </p><p>So yeah, Chiles > Underwood right now, but QBs don't exist in a vacuum. One is being put in a situation to succeed. The other one, while not remotely blameless, is not being put in a similar situation. If Chiles was on this Michigan offense, I don't think that gets the Wolverines into the CFP unless broader schematic problems with the offense are solved. It's a fun hypothetical to ponder but there's more to offensive success than just a simple QB change. </p><p><strong>[AFTER THE JUMP: more questions]</strong></p><div id="read-more"></div><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p class="text-align-center"><em>[Marc-Grégor Campredon]</em></p><p><strong>Since I prefer hearing about things that make me happy... hockey question. It seems like everyone agrees that Dupont is the best Dman at M since Q Hughes (Power was #1 pick but helped a lot by measurables), what current player would his game be most comparable to? I've heard Cale Makar and yes please. (-91 Sideliner)</strong></p><p>Makar is the most common projection I've seen. The similarities are most immediately physical and biographical: both are listed at 6', both are right shots, and both are from Alberta. I also think the comparison makes some sense because while they are talented scorers, they are more advanced defensively than your average puck rusher (Makar has played PK in Colorado for years). In terms of current players, Makar makes the most sense to me, even if it is obviously lofty. </p><p>A player from hockey history that I think could be a comparison is Scott Niedermayer. He wasn't a right shot but like DuPont, Niedermayer was not a super big guy that was a gorgeous skater. Niedermayer had the skillset to be a high scorer, as he was in Anaheim, but he was also sound enough defensively to play the ultra-defensive trapping hockey of the Devils for a lot of his career. That's the ballpark we're thinking because while DuPont is a skilled offensive defenseman, it's his ability to play a 200 foot game that sets him apart from similar players at this age, including those we've seen at Michigan. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Setting aside the ineptitude of Beck, do you start Carr against Indiana if Bryce has another horrible performance against Penn State? (-EikMelynai)</strong></p><p>I still don't think we're one bad game against PSU away from Carr supplanting Underwood (<a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/week-state-street-group-rhinoceroses-called-stubbornness">despite the talk about 50/50 reps this week</a>) because the issue with benching Bryce is it's really hard to go back once you make that move. You need to be completely sure that you're ready to give up on him, as high priced QBs are typically more likely to go elsewhere once they lose a job or are perceived to have lost a job. I don't think one more bad game is enough to cut bait entirely. It'll probably require a series of bad performances that last several weeks to trigger a change I think. </p><p>In part because I don't know if being inserted into this situation is going to be advantageous for Carr. He's still only a true freshman and while Michigan's pass pro isn't bad, you always worry about the one big hit that could completely change a player's career trajectory (see: Brandon Peters). The offensive issues run deeper than just QB, since Underwood is making a lot of good reads in the run game, yet the run game is amounting to nothing. That needs to be fixed before I feel like it will be a safe situation to toss Carr into because I think Carr has a future at Michigan and I don't want to damage that future in a season that is not going to lead to a CFP berth. </p><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p class="text-align-center"><em>[Fox]</em></p><p><strong>What's your take on Northwestern's David Braun as a name to circle for future coach openings? 41 years old, defensive focused, and his teams are extremely physical. (-MGoRedemption)</strong></p><p>This has to be the record for the most Northwestern-focused comments in a mailbag that I've done. For the record, I am a fan of David Braun! The Wildcats were in a tough place when he was promoted, having gone 4-20 in the preceding two seasons and then the head coach who had led the program for over 15 years was removed suddenly, only a couple months before the season. Braun was unfazed by the situation and stepped in to steer things back on course. He's 23-20 thus far in his tenure and yeah, he has built decent defenses with the limited talent that they have, while also improving the offense from the disaster it was in the late Fitzgerald years. </p><p>All of this is my votes of confidence in favor of Braun as a coach. I am less sure about his ability to step in and lead a program like Michigan. Northwestern is not a program with a big NIL fund and they don't take a ton of transfers either. Braun has also only coached at one program and if Kyle Whittingham is not the guy, there's a part of me that wants someone with experience in coaching transitions, because that's something we may have underestimated. Braun is doing an admirable job at a bottom tier program in a power conference, but I think I prefer either a really good G6 coach or a coordinator of a big time program who has experience with NIL recruiting at a blue blood. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Are you interested and going to follow the PWHL Detroit? If so, will the ladies host a playoff game inside LCA before the Red Wings? (-GoBlueGoWings)</strong></p><p>Yeah, I'm excited! My knowledge of women's hockey is admittedly not as robust because Michigan doesn't have a women's team (grrrrrr) and international women's hockey isn't as widely broadcast in the US as it is in Canada. But I've casually followed the PWHL since its inception and actually attended a Toronto-Minnesota game back in 2024 when the league was just starting and it was a fun experience. I think the Detroit team should be well supported, as there are a ton of women's/girl's hockey players in the state without a major D1 program providing games to attend. Moreover, it'll be the only major women's professional sport in the Detroit market for a couple seasons until the Shock return, which is a plus. </p><p>As for the team's outlook, I plan to do a season preview <a href="https://ajdmeltingpot.substack.com/">on my Substack</a> sometime in early December but in short, I think there's a good chance they host a playoff game at LCA before the Wings. In large part because I don't think the Wings are making the playoffs this year and I think the PWHL team very well might. They've built a win now roster, acquiring players like Darryl Watts, Hannah Bilka, Britta Curl-Salemme, and the legendary Hilary Knight. The defense isn't as strong but I think they should be able to score and if Swiss goalie Andrea Brändli (their first selection in the 2026 Draft) looks as good as she did at the Olympics, I think a playoff appearance is very possible. Eight of the twelve teams will make the playoffs in 2026-27, so the odds are pretty favorable. </p><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p class="text-align-center"><em>[Frank Bowen IV/Imagn Images]</em></p><p><strong>Basketball question: Last year's team was so insanely fantastic, I think it's going to be especially challenging to not compare this season's squad to it. In your mind then, what's the most important thing to watch for this season that will tell us whether Michigan is a legit national title contender again, rather than just a very good team benefiting from the glow of last year's championship? (-GeraldFord48)</strong></p><p>As I wrote in Part 1 of the mailbag, this team is going to require a couple of players to level up to true star status. If we look back at recent national champions, they had star power. 25-26 Michigan obviously had the three lottery pick bigs. 24-25 Florida had Walter Clayton, who was a consensus All-American. 23-24 UConn had two lottery picks in Steph Castle and Donovan Clingan, plus a couple more star starters in Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer. 21-22 Kansas had first rounders in Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun + a future pick in Jalen Wilson and an All-Big XII starter in David McCormack. </p><p>You need star power to win and so I'm watching to see players on Michigan's team emerge as true stars. The obvious candidate is Trey McKenney, but a senior glow up for Elliot Cadeau is within the range of possibilities. Likewise there are intriguing candidates in JP Estrella and Moustapha Thiam. But for Michigan to get to national title contention, they need a couple of Dudes to emerge to give them frontline talent. The fit and the bench and all that stuff matters too, but you have to have a couple of alpha dogs and in the early part of the season I'll be following whether we see those sorts of players start to emerge. </p><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p class="text-align-center"><em>[AP Photo]</em></p><p><strong>How much of Kenny Dillingham’s underperformance at ASU is on him vs ASU being kind of a mid major resulting in top players getting raided? Wondering if hindsight is telling us he was never viable or if we blew our coaching choice. (-Stuck in Lansing)</strong></p><p>I guess this starts with how you define "underperformance". As of right now, ASU is 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. They have a narrow win over Kansas in London and losses to Texas A&M and Baylor. Last season the team was 8-5 and both that season and the track this one seem to be on are very much within the norm for ASU historically. If we look at the 21st century there are a few 10+ win seasons (2007, 2013, 2014, 2024) and a few losing seasons (2003, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2022, 2023). Everything else is between 6 and 9 wins. So 8-5 last year and something in the 7 or 8-win range this year (just eyeballing a guess) are fine for an ASU head coach. </p><p>Now if the "underperformance" is about why the team is back in its historical range rather than building on its 2024 CFP performance (which I'm guessing the question meant), that's worth investigating a little deeper. I remember digging into Dillingham during the coaching search and I came away interested in seeing how his career was set to go but not sold on him as a great football coach yet. He's a passionate and energetic guy, but we shouldn't get carried away on the results yet. Much of the case for Dillingham rests on 2024 and that CFP season was a little flukey. The team was 11-3 and won the Big XII (cool!) but they were also 35th in SP+. </p><p>It was built in large part on having three very good players on offense in Sam Leavitt at QB, Cam Skattebo at RB, and Jordyn Tyson at WR. Leavitt has enough talent that the $EC dropped the bags to poach him (even after he majorly regressed in 2025), Skattebo is a legit NFL RB, and Tyson was the 8th overall pick in the 2026 Draft. Those aren't easy pieces to replace at a program like ASU and as the question noted, they aren't rolling in NIL and have been raided some. Dillingham is definitely hurt by the lack of resources but overall, I think he's still more of a good coach than a great coach. </p><p>Maybe with more resources he could be achieving great results but on the whole, he looks like a successful coach for a middle-tier P4 program, one who is able to get his team to bowls consistently and maybe when he has the right mix of talent, he erupts for a big season. I don't, however, think that Michigan botched their coaching search by not hiring Dillingham (there are other candidates I like a lot more). </p><p> </p><p class="text-align-center"> </picture></p><p class="text-align-center"><em>Count me as all in on the New Mexico Lobos this year [Rick Osentoski/Imagn Images]</em></p><p><strong>If you had to put together a Football Head Coach big board, for... reasons, who would be on it and why? For Me: 1A. Bryant Haines, 1B. Bob Chesney, 2. Jason Eck (-FauldsSzn)</strong></p><p>I like all three of those names. I was more skeptical on Eck back in December 2025 than I am now because A) we're seeing evidence that Eck is winning again in year #2 and he wasn't a one-hit wonder (<a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49868647/2026-college-football-sp+-rankings-all-138-fbs-teams">New Mexico is up to 29th in SP+</a>!!) and B) going with a coach who has undergone successful coaching transitions before is looking more appealing to me based on what we're seeing with Kyle Whittingham. If the Lobos get the G6 CFP spot (right now they have the best efficiency of any G6 team), it would be hard not to put Eck near the top, especially since he's a Midwesterner. </p><p>Chesney is the obvious "back the brinks truck up" name, though I'll include Will Stein of Kentucky on that list. Two recent hires but Michigan is Michigan and has more football pedigree than UCLA/Kentucky. I also still like Bryant Haines a lot, who is in that Stein/Kirby Smart/Dan Lanning mold of "successful coordinator of nationally contending team", which is an increasingly tantalizing profile. So is Georgia's Glenn Schumann, who I wrote about during the search, though he still lacks any ties to the Midwest. Those would probably be the top five after the guys who will say no (DeBoer/Minter/Macdonald). Putting them in order I'd probably go Chesney, Stein, Eck, Haines, Schumann. </p><p>I'm less sure beyond those five. Jake Dickert is someone I'm watching but am not sold on yet. He had success at Wazzu and seems to be off to a good start at Wake Forest. Willie Fritz would be on the list if he weren't 66. Jedd Fisch's appeal has faded and I was never a Jeff Brohm guy. I'm sure a few more names will emerge as the season goes along but if Michigan were to have a coaching vacancy and were to make it this far down the list, some things must have gone wrong. </p></div> </article> </main></body></html>