Michigan State - Charting the Defense

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Curious how much we were mixing up our coverages

First Possession:

1-10 MSU 25 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Quarters Coverage - Play action draws the LBs and Gerry - Cook misses a wide open slot on the out
2-10 MSU 25 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 43 yards to the NEB32, 1ST DOWN MSU (Cockrell, B.). We walked Gerry up on the outside and two LBs overran the play - no one left because of our alignment
1-10 NEB 32 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 6 yards to the NEB26 (Kalu, Joshua). Cover 2 - Kalu able to make the tackle immediately because of the coverage; in Quarters, he would have run off and the WR would have more yards.
2-4 NEB 26 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB24 (Young, Dedrick;Banderas, Josh). Not sure how Gerry didn't get credit here - he filled hard and got the first hit on Holmes.
3-2 NEB 24 Cook, Connor pass complete to Holmes, Gerald for 1 yard to the NEB23 (Rose,Jonathan;Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 look - Back out of the backfield - Young whiffs, they should have gotten a first down.
4-1 NEB 23 Scott, LJ rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the NEB25 (McMullen, Greg;Newby, Marcus). Line shifts and VV blows it up
 
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Second Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 11:34. First Quarter
1-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Madaris, Monty. Quarters - Play-action draws the safety up - Cook misses a wide open receiver over the top
2-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Scott, LJ. Cook misses a wide open RB on the swing pass
3-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Burbridge, A. (Rose, Jonathan). JRose with great coverage down the field
4-10 MSU 28 Hartbarger, J. punt 37 yards to the NEB35, fair catch by Westerkamp, J..

On three out of the four incompletions, Cook missed a wide open receiver. We were fortunate he was off early.
 
Third Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 07:05. First Quarter
1-10 MSU 33 Scott, LJ rush up middle for 5 yards to the MSU38 (Kalu, Joshua;Banderas, Josh). McMullen plays the counter well but they get 5
2-5 MSU 38 Cook, Connor pass complete to Shelton, R.J. for 2 yards to the MSU40 (Cockrell, B.). Had a zone blitz on here
3-3 MSU 40 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Burbridge, A.. Quarters coverage - Cook throws high.
4-3 MSU 40 Hartbarger, J. punt 60 yards to the NEB0, touchback.
 
Fourth Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 02:03. First Quarter
1-10 MSU 30 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 25 yards to the NEB45, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Counter look and our LBs get caught up in traffic
1-10 NEB 45 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J., PENALTY NEB pass interference (Cockrell, B.) 15 yards to the NEB30, 1ST DOWN MSU, NO PLAY. Quarters coverage Cockrell was beat
1-10 NEB 30 Cook, Connor rush over right end for 4 yards to the NEB26 (Akinmoladun, F.). Zone read look. More curious play-calling from MSU
2-6 NEB 26 Shelton, R.J. rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the NEB28, out-of-bounds (Jones,Chris). End around that we had completely covered. Another odd call
3-8 NEB 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Quarters coverage - late safety blitz. Cook again badly overthrows an open receiver.
4-8 NEB 28 Geiger, Michael field goal attempt from 46 GOOD, clock 00:30.

Now five out of six incompletions were Cook missing an open receiver.
 
Fifth Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 14:19. Second Quarter
1-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Open but dropped
2-10 MSU 43 Scott, LJ rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU45 (Gerry, Nate). No room to run - Gerry closes fast
3-8 MSU 45 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 15 yards to the NEB40, 1ST DOWN MSU (Rose, Jonathan). Cover 2 look - this should have been a stop but the deflected pass works perfectly for MSU
1-10 NEB 40 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 4 yards to the NEB36 (Gerry, Nate;Kalu, Joshua). Quick curl
2-6 NEB 36 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the NEB34 (Rose-Ivey, M.). Big blitz
3-4 NEB 34 Cook, Connor pass complete to Kings, M. for 34 yards to the NEB0, 1ST DOWN MSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:35. Big blitz bites us as we bring 6 but don't get there. Blatent OPI isn't called.
1-G NEB 03 Geiger, Michael kick attempt good, PENALTY NEB offside defense declined.

MSU got a couple nice breaks on this drive
 
Sixth Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 09:22. Second Quarter
1-10 MSU 29 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU35 (Banderas, Josh;Newby, Marcus). Tough run by Holmes
2-4 MSU 35 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for no gain to the MSU35 (Maurice, Kevin;Newby, Marcus), PENALTY NEB face mask (Maurice, Kevin) 15 yards to the 50 yardline, 1ST DOWN MSU. Tough run D
1-10 MSU 50 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the MSU48 (Maurice, Kevin;Young, Dedrick). Slow developing and doesn't have a chance.
2-12 MSU 48 Cook, Connor pass intercepted by Rose, Jonathan at the NEB27, Rose, Jonathan return 12 yards to the NEB39 (Kings, M.). Nice play by Rose - terrible throw by Cook
 
Seventh Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 04:21. Second Quarter
1-10 MSU 25 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the MSU27 (Newby, Marcus). Slow-developing counter - nowhere to go
2-8 MSU 27 Terry, Damion pass incomplete to Lyles, Jamal (Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 type look - Cook throws behind the open receiver giving Gerry time to close and knock him out.
3-8 MSU 27 Cook, Connor pass complete to Price, Josiah for 16 yards to the MSU43, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 - Cook has a lot of time to finally find an open guy
1-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Madaris, Monty. Pass rush very tired. Quarters coverage. Cook badly underthrows a wide open receiver
2-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor sacked for loss of 3 yards to the MSU40 (Maurice, Kevin), PENALTY NEB holding (Gerry, Nate) 10 yards to the NEB47, 1ST DOWN MSU, NO PLAY. Gerry on the blitz and realizes the screen is coming so he grabs the TE.
1-10 NEB 47 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 13 yards to the NEB34, 1ST DOWN MSU (Jones, Chris). Great coverage by Jones but a great throw beats him.
1-10 NEB 34 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB33 (Young, Dedrick;Newby, Marcus). Slow-developing counter goes nowhere
2-9 NEB 33 Cook, Connor pass complete to Price, Josiah for 20 yards to the NEB13, out-of-bounds (Gerry, Nate), PENALTY MSU pass interference (Price, Josiah) 15 yards to the NEB48, NO PLAY. Still no pass rush - penalty bails us out
2-24 NEB 48 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 29 yards to the NEB19, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Quarters coverage - Cook has time to wait for the double-move route to develop
1-10 NEB 19 Holmes, Gerald rush over right end for 1 yard to the NEB18 (Gerry, Nate;Banderas, Josh). Slow counter goes nowhere
2-9 NEB 18 Holmes, Gerald rush over right end for no gain to the NEB18 (Collins, Maliek). Another slow counter. Odd playcalling with the half running out but it works out for them
3-9 NEB 18 Cook, Connor pass complete to Kings, M. for 18 yards to the NEB0, 1ST DOWN MSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:17. Motion created confusion - Cockrell gave up way too much ground
1-G NEB 03 Geiger, Michael kick attempt good
 
Mavric said:
Now five out of six incompletions were Cook missing an open receiver.
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That's the story of this game. Connor Cook couldn't put the ball where it needed to be. That, and the Sparty WRs dropped several good throws.

Props to our DBs. Not a perfect effort. But certainly better that we've been seeing these past couple of months.

 
Mavric said:
Fifth Possession:

MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 14:19. Second Quarter
1-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Open but dropped
2-10 MSU 43 Scott, LJ rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU45 (Gerry, Nate). No room to run - Gerry closes fast
3-8 MSU 45 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 15 yards to the NEB40, 1ST DOWN MSU (Rose, Jonathan). Cover 2 look - this should have been a stop but the deflected pass works perfectly for MSU
1-10 NEB 40 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 4 yards to the NEB36 (Gerry, Nate;Kalu, Joshua). Quick curl
2-6 NEB 36 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the NEB34 (Rose-Ivey, M.). Big blitz
3-4 NEB 34 Cook, Connor pass complete to Kings, M. for 34 yards to the NEB0, 1ST DOWN MSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:35. Big blitz bites us as we bring 6 but don't get there. Blatent OPI isn't called.
1-G NEB 03 Geiger, Michael kick attempt good, PENALTY NEB offside defense declined.

MSU got a couple nice breaks on this drive
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That 3rd and 8 play with the deflected pass was a turning point for their offense. If that didn't happen, this game I don't think is nearly as close, and Nebraska doesn't have to have the heroics at the end of the game to win.

 
My takes on the first half:

We did mix in more Cover 2 than we have all year and it paid off on a couple plays.

A lot of the credit for our good defense goes to Cook throwing terrible. We'll see that change in the second half.

Run defense was pretty schizophrenic. Most of the time they got nothing but when we busted it went big.

MSU was doing some really odd things on offense - changing QBs, several slow-developing running plays. Another thing that will change in the second half.

Cook was 10/19 for 138 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; He's 13/18 for 197 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs in the second half

 
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