Bootlegs... sue me...

September 5, 2015

Trends, Schemes & Analysis: 'We're good (at RB)"

Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher

Talk about it in The Underground Bunker
KALAMAZOO - The Spartans have some areas of clean-up following a scattered performance in a 37-24 victory at Western Michigan on Friday night at Waldo Stadium.

But the running game - specifically the play of Michigan State's new stable of running backs - gained a measure of trust and respect in the season opener.

The Spartans notched 196 yards rushing, averaging 4.9 per carry. That output in itself wasn't outstanding, as Michigan State wasn't able to put the game away on the ground in the fourth quarter - due largely to Western Michigan packing the box with an extra player, and at times cramming the interior with a run-stuffing Bear front.


Holmes rushed for 54 yards on nine carries.
Western Michigan forced MSU to go to the air, and the Spartans did enough damage to win, but not enough on a consistent basis to register a style-points blowout.

Michigan State's offensive front wasn't able to consistently carve out space on inside runs against a defensive front that usually came to the line with a numbers advantage. But Spartan backs tasked with carrying the ball put forth a good performance for Michigan State.

True freshman L.J. Scott churned out a game-high 77 yards on 13 carries. Redshirt freshman Madre London, who started for Michigan State at tailback, had 59 yards on 13 carries.

Sophomore Gerald Holmes chipped in 54 yards on nine carries.

No one emerged as a go-to, 20-carry, 100-yard, feature-back guy. Yet.

"(Jeremy) Langford) leaves, so we wanted to see growth in our running backs," said head coach Mark Dantonio. "We wanted to get LJ Scott up and running, it's his first game. And it was Madre London's first game as well.

"LJ ran the ball very effectively, with some good hard runs. That was good to see. I think that was a question mark coming in and I think we're good. We're good at that position."

Going With Scott

Interestingly, Dantonio went with Scott for six carries on an eight-play drive drive midway through the fourth quarter after the Broncos had cut the lead to 34-24.

Scott carried for gains of 17, 8, 4, 10, 4 and 0 on that drive. But the 0-yarder came on second-and-goal at the Western Michigan 4-yard line. Then on third down, Connor Cook led Aaron Burbridge too much in the back of the end zone. Burbridge made a difficult catch, but didn't get his foot down in the back of the end zone.

The Spartans settled for a field goal and a 37-24 lead when a touchdown from the ground game would have been a TKO blow.

Short-Side Counter Sweep

The Spartans had success much of the night pulling center Jack Allen and outflanking the Broncos' defense to the short side of the field on counter sweeps - including the aforementioned 17-yarder by Scott. Touchdown runs by London (24 and 7 yards) and Holmes (8 yards, behind pulling second-string center Benny McGowan) came on variations of the same exact play and concept.


Jack Allen and Brian Allen helped pave the way as pulling linemen on short-side counters.
London had an apparent 56-yard TD run on the same short side counter sweep on the second snap of the game, but it was called back due to illegal procedure. MSU had only six men on the line of scrimmage because Macgarrett Kings failed to get on the line of scrimmage as a split end. (Seven are required to be on the line of scrimmage, per Teddy Roosevelt's call for the end of the flying wedge and a safer game back in 1906).

But that penalty had nothing to do with the success of the 56-yard run. If that play stands, London would've had 115 yards on 14 carries. That would have been very Langford-like, and given Spartan fans a lot more to applaud this morning.

The good news for MSU on that 56-yarder was that it established the short-side sweep as a go-to play for the rest of the evening. MSU felt it could go back to it whenever the Spartans had the ball on a hash mark in a down-and-distance situation favorable for a running play.

"They (Western) do a lot of stuff different than other teams," said MSU left guard Brian Allen. "They load sides up and play man-to-man, and when they have everyone out to one side, it makes it easier to get guys to the outside (the other way) and getting on guys. It worked out good. Numbers were in our favor."

Run Game Failures

Three times the Spartans had the ball in the fourth quarter, needing the ground game to secure a blowout. But three times, MSU didn't get what it needed.

The first time, on a first-and-10 near midfield on the last play of the third quarter after WMU had cut the lead to 34-17, MSU began on schedule with a 4-yard gain by Holmes on a short side counter.

Then MSU went to the air for a pair of incompletions. So it's hard to blame the run game on that series, although you can't criticize the decision to go to the air considering that WMU loaded the box with an extra man all night. And sometimes WMU super-loaded it with the Bear front (with three defensive lineman covering the center and both guards, leaving no interior "bubble" for a double-team).

That's why MSU went to the air. MSU stayed aggressive. That's noble. But MSU should be able to go to the air more efficiently and consistently in the face of Bear fronts and loaded boxes (and the extra room it creates in the secondary). But on this night, MSU was merely average through the air - with Cook going 15-of-31 for 256 yards.

He missed open receivers on a handful of occasions. But there were other times when Western Michigan's man-to-man coverage was just plain good.

"I'm impressed with their corners," Dantonio said. "Both those guys can play."

The second ground game "failure" came on the drive during which Scott carried the ball six times, ending with that 0-yarder at the 4-yard line. MSU went with the short-side counter on that play, but it got bottled up as the safeties were compressed closer to the box in the red zone.

But Dantonio liked what he saw from Scott, especially on that drive.

"I thought he did a great job," Dantonio said. "I thought he ran with authority."

The third run-game "failure" came on the next drive. It began with London gaining 6 on the short side counter.

But then WMU went with the Bear look on the next play. MSU tried to run an inside zone from a shot gun formation. The slow-developing play was not a good match for a Bear front. WMU penetrated and stopped London for a loss of 5. In retrospect, Cook needs to be able to get out of that play and audible to a pass. But, after a positive run on first down, and the need to run clock, the idea of staying on the ground was too alluring.

After the loss on second down, Cook pinpointed a pass to A.J. Troup on a crossing route against a pressing cover-two zone. Troup had a chance to hang onto the well-thrown pass, but a hit from freshman Justin Tranquill - a former MSU recruiting interest - dislodged the ball.

That helped keep WMU in the game.

The Final Decision

After Vayante Copeland's game-cinching interception in the end zone with 1:36 left, Dantonio had a decision to make on which running back to use, to close the game.

He looked around the huddle on the sideline, and he saw Scott. He didn't see Holmes or London.

"Quite frankly, the other two weren't up there," Dantonio said. "They (the offensive coaches) tried to put 'em in, and I said, 'No, put No. 3 (Scott) in. Go play instead.'

"That's how we do it. Just cause he was there. The other two weren't there. They weren't in the huddle. Get in the huddle."

It's a competition. The old ball coach in Dantonio comes out when he's overseeing a competition such as this.

"It's not always going to be split up evenly," he said. "We're gong to ride the hot back. Whoever the hot back is, that's who we'll ride. It's up to them."



LJ Scott on getting the call late in the game:





The Passing Game Component

With the way WMU ran the Bear front and played press man-to-man on the corners, it was a near-replica of the 1985 Bears' 46 defense, from which the term "Bear front" originated.

WMU showed the Bear front maybe a dozen times in this game, but mixed it in enough to throw some knuckle balls into the Spartans' ground attack.

It's difficult to run the ball against a Bear front. It almost forces an offense to mix in a lot of throws. An offense can also beat the Bear with a triple-option to the outside, but MSU is not an option team.

The Bear front was the root of Virginia Tech's upset of Ohio State last year, a wrinkle which led Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer to admit he had been out-coached.


Aaron Burbridge had four catches for 117 yards.
The West Coast offense was the answer to the 46 defense in the 1980s and early '90s, leading to its extinction as a base defense. But teams such as WMU on this night, and Va Tech last September in Columbus, can find effectiveness with a Bear front when springing it on unsuspecting opponents. MSU prepared for a loaded box from the Broncos, but might not have anticipated the Bear front with its guards and center covered.

Pulling the center to the perimeter was one way to literally get around the loaded box and WMU's single-safety-deep defense, with or without a Bear front. But, for the most part, an offense needs to go to the air with timing routes to beat the 46. MSU didn't release receivers inside on slants, like the Joe Montana 49ers. But they had measures of success with other tactics.

MSU attempted to answer the Bear and press coverage with corner routes which feigned a heavy lean to the inside, followed by a cut to the corner - witness the 56-yard pass to Burbridge on third-and-seven, which keyed the drive that put MSU up 20-7.

MSU almost scored on the same corner route to Macgarrett Kings in the second half, but Cook led him too far in the back of the end zone. [Cook came back on the next play with a deep dig to Troup on third-and-seven against an off cover-three zone. Good decision by Cook on that one, to go to the zone-beating side of his read progression. On the next play, Holmes scored on a 7-yard TD run behind McGowan on the short-side counter, making it 27-7.]

Cook had success on the rare occasion when he spotted WMU in zone - such as the two passes to DeAnthony Arnett. Arnett hauled in a 15-yarder on a smash concept along the sideline, similar to the pass Cook threw to Jamal Lyles on a key pass late in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1.

Later, Cook found Arnett for a 21-yard TD to give MSU a 34-10 lead when Western Michigan surprisingly showed a cover-two zone. Playing cover-two, the cornerback passed Arnett off to the safety down the sideline. But the safety was late in getting to the "cover-two window" along the sideline, and Cook was on time with a well-thrown ball for a touchdown to Arnett.



Arnett on the first TD of his college career:





Trend Spotting

The Broncos often used the Bear front on the first play of an MSU drive. WMU stopped London for a loss of 1 on the first play of an MSU drive early in the second quarter, with the Bear front. Four plays later, WMU forced a fumble with a hit on MSU's RJ Shelton on a fly sweep.

MSU's defense then forced a three-and-out.

Anticipating a Bear front on the first play of the ensuing drive, MSU sent tight end Josiah Price sprinting into open green space for a 25-yard strike on a deep corner route.

The play didn't go 80 yards for a TD, but it backed WMU out of the Bear look, which helped Holmes gain 9 and 7 yards on MSU's next two ground attempts, setting the foundation for a drive that led to Holmes' aforementioned TD run and the 27-7 lead.

MSU also tried to beat press coverage with deep fade routes. MSU had some success with it, but not enough. Those proved to be low-percentage throws. MSU needs to be able to connect with those without Tony Lippett, MSU's designated press coverage beater of a year ago.

With the fades having only sporadic success, MSU adapted with a couple of comeback routes to Burbridge and Troup versus tight press coverage. However, both players pushed the limits of the rule book with push-offs as they came out of their breaks.


"Offensively, I thought we ran the ball effectively and protected the quarterback well," Dantonio said. "We had some big gains in the passing game. Burbridge, I thought he played really well. I thought he was clean."

Burbridge finished with a team-high four catches for 117 yards.

We should hire Comp.

Comp must have written a separate treatise on the defense, or he's avoiding it.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Comp must have written a separate treatise on the defense, or he's avoiding it.

He said he is too tired and he got a blister on his foot walking back to his car. I told him to rub some dirt on it and reach higher. No response. Comp is soft.