Michigan State - Charting the Offense

[Mavric]

Curious to see when we ran it, where we ran it an how effective it was. My contention is not only did we run it more, but we ran a much wider variety of plays than we have in a lot of games and that led to much better success from the running game.

First Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 12:31 First Quarter

1-10 NEB 25 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Westerkamp, J.. Play-action rollout left - Westy was wide open but TA underthrew him

2-10 NEB 25 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB30 (Bullough, Riley;Heath, Joel). Straight ahead run but MSU only had six in the box so we could get some push

3-5 NEB 30 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Carter, Cethan. Straight drop, Carter gets jammed and the throw is low and away.

4-5 NEB 30 Foltz, Sam punt 51 yards to the MSU19, Kings, M. return 9 yards to the MSU28 (Janovich, Andy;Weber, Chris).

One run for five yards between two incompletions. Running game good. Passing game ... not so much.

 

[Mavric]

Second Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 11:11. First Quarter

1-10 NEB 35 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB41 (Cox, Demetrious;Harris, Darien). Jet Sweep fake, nice hole over left guard

2-4 NEB 41 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB43. Draw - Cross trips over Sterup who got pushed back

3-2 NEB 43 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Moore, Alonzo for 13 yards to the MSU44, 1ST DOWN NEB P1 (Harris, Darien). Moore is wide open, TA throws low but complete

1-10 MSU 44 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 7 yards to the MSU37 (Harris, Darien). Play-action quick screen

2-3 MSU 37 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 8 yards to the MSU29, 1ST DOWN NEB (Cox, R2 Demetrious;Bullough, Riley). Nice hole off left tackle

1-10 MSU 29 Janovich, Andy rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU23 (Cox, Demetrious). Jet sweep fake - Jano on the trap has nowhere to go up the middle but bounces it outside

2-4 MSU 23 Armstrong Jr. rush up middle for loss of 4 yards to the MSU27 (Evans, Craig). QB Draw - There looked to be room straight ahead but TA goes outside

3-8 MSU 27 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Westerkamp, J.. Westy was open but TA misses outside

4-8 MSU 27 Brown, Drew field goal attempt from 44 GOOD, clock 07:10.

Three runs for 13 yards to start the game but Langs throws on 3rd & 2. But we converted so it's good. Passed on all three third downs so far.

I don't remember running this many draw plays previously and they aren't clicking.

 

[Mavric]

Third Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 05:35. First Quarter
1-10 NEB 20 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Moore, Alonzo for 9 yards to the NEB29 (Smith,Tyson;Miller, Grayson). Called run but TA throws to an uncovered Moore with a blocker in front.
2-1 NEB 29 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Reilly, Brandon for 22 yards to the MSU49, 1ST DOWN NEB (Cox, Demetrious). Great play by Reilly - tough catch, broke several tackles
1-10 MSU 49 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU43 (Bullough, Riley;Harris, Darien). Nifty move by Cross to find a hole
2-4 MSU 43 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for no gain to the MSU43 (Harris, Darien). Terrible throw by TA almost gets Westy killed. No idea how he hung on to this
3-4 MSU 43 Armstrong Jr. rush over left tackle for 3 yards to the MSU40 (Frey, Chris). Play action, TA has lots of time but has to scramble
4-1 MSU 40 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU38, 1ST DOWN NEB (McDowell, M.;Harris, Darien). Imani Smash
1-10 MSU 38 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 38 yards to the MSU0, 1ST DOWN NEB, TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:07, PENALTY MSU holding declined. Nice play action rollout - Westy backs into the end zone.
1-G MSU 03 Brown, Drew kick attempt good.

 

[Mavric]

Fourth Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 00:21. First Quarter
1-10 NEB 36 PENALTY NEB false start (Lewis, Alex) 5 yards to the NEB31. Was going to be a quick screen to Westy and it was there.
1-15 NEB 31 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB33 (Colquhoun, A.). Another draw that doesn't work
2-13 NEB 33 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo, PENALTY NEB pass interference off-setting, PENALTY MSU pass interference off-setting, NO PLAY. Really not sure I've ever seen offsetting PIs like this.
2-13 NEB 33 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 5 yards to the NEB38 (Harris, Darien). Straight drop. Really high throw that Westy somehow comes down with but gets hurt.
3-8 NEB 38 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Morgan Jr., S. (Colquhoun, A.). Lucky this wasn't picked - CB was sitting on that route.
4-8 NEB 38 Foltz, Sam punt 19 yards to the MSU43, out-of-bounds.

 

[Mavric]

Fifth Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 11:27. Second Quarter
1-10 NEB 48 Janovich, Andy rush up middle for 12 yards to the MSU40, 1ST DOWN NEB (Nicholson, M.;Bullough, Riley). Outside trap look catches MSU off guard
1-10 MSU 40 Moore, Alonzo rush over left end for 13 yards to the MSU27, 1ST DOWN NEB (Colquhoun, A.). Interesting that the Jet Sweep to Moore and Reilly works well but not DPE
1-10 MSU 27 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo, PENALTY NEB holding (Utter, Dylan) 10 yards to the MSU37, NO PLAY.
1-20 MSU 37 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU35 (Knox, Damon;Reschke, J.). Draw play still not working
2-18 MSU 35 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Allen, Taariq. TA does a nice job to avoid two sacks then basically throws it away.
3-18 MSU 35 Armstrong Jr. pass intercepted by Cox, Demetrious at the MSU15, Cox, Demetrious return 14 yards to the MSU29 (Nicholson, M.). Horrible - back foot, fading away into double coverage.

Two 10+ yard runs to start the drive then a holding call on a pass play kills the drive.

 

[Mavric]

Sixth Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 07:25. Second Quarter
1-10 NEB 39 Cross, Imani rush over right tackle for 5 yards to the NEB44 (Heath, Joel). Jet sweep fake - tough run by Imani
2-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo. Moore open on the quick screen but TA misses him
3-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU39, 1ST DOWN NEB (Miller, Grayson). Zone read - great run by TA
1-10 MSU 39 Reilly, Brandon rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU22, 1ST DOWN NEB, out-of-bounds (Miller, Grayson). Jet sweep - nice run by Reilly
1-10 MSU 22 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Allen, Taariq for loss of 2 yards to the MSU24 (Harris, Darien). Should have been there but took awhile to get Allen the ball
2-12 MSU 24 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for loss of 2 yards to the MSU26 (Reschke, J.). Option not executed well - if TA pitches we probably have something
3-14 MSU 26 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Allen, Taariq. TA has to get rid of it quickly and throws high
4-14 MSU 26 Brown, Drew field goal attempt from 43 GOOD, clock 04:21.

We again follow two straight 10+ yard runs with a pass that derails the drive.

 

[NUance]

Seems like everyone is raving over Imani Cross this week. Not to take anything away from Imani, but I think our O-line deserves the props for our success on the ground this week. Just sayin..

 

[Hunter94]

Seems like everyone is raving over Imani Cross this week. Not to take anything away from Imani, but I think our O-line deserves the props for our success on the ground this week. Just sayin..

moving Sterup over helped. but Cross ran hard too.

 

[brophog]

Sixth Possession:

NEBRASKA drive start at 07:25. Second Quarter

1-10 NEB 39 Cross, Imani rush over right tackle for 5 yards to the NEB44 (Heath, Joel). Jet sweep fake - tough run by Imani

2-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo. Moore open on the quick screen but TA misses him

3-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU39, 1ST DOWN NEB (Miller, Grayson). Zone read - great run by TA

1-10 MSU 39 Reilly, Brandon rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU22, 1ST DOWN NEB, out-of-bounds (Miller, Grayson). Jet sweep - nice run by Reilly

1-10 MSU 22 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Allen, Taariq for loss of 2 yards to the MSU24 (Harris, Darien). Should have been there but took awhile to get Allen the ball

2-12 MSU 24 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for loss of 2 yards to the MSU26 (Reschke, J.). Option not executed well - if TA pitches we probably have something

3-14 MSU 26 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Allen, Taariq. TA has to get rid of it quickly and throws high

4-14 MSU 26 Brown, Drew field goal attempt from 43 GOOD, clock 04:21.

We again follow two straight 10+ yard runs with a pass that derails the drive.

This sequence is what I was referring to in a throwaway comment the other day. Some of the best sequencing we've seen this year, imo. If this is the sequence I'm thinking of at least, the short loss there is from a 3 receiver set to the left and we throw an obvious screen. To me, the call there is play action off the same phantom motion. We'd already trained them, just had to pull their chain!

Also, thanks to Mavric for both of these threads. It may just be some copy and paste with short commentary, but it is time consuming work to go back and watch tape and do something like this.

 

[Mavric]

My takes from the first half:

We did run "inside" more than I remembered. But there was more misdirection on those runs - fake sweeps, traps, etc. - than usual and they were at least toward the B gap most of the time instead of right over the center.

I think we ran more draw looks than we have all year. It's good to have a wrinkle but the timing was really bad.

Even consecutive 10+ yard runs - on two occasions - isn't enough for Langs to call three straight runs.

TA was 8/16 passing but he's lucky it was that good. Receivers bailed him out several times as they were getting hammered.

We probably left at least 11 points out there.

 

[Undone]

Seems like everyone is raving over Imani Cross this week. Not to take anything away from Imani, but I think our O-line deserves the props for our success on the ground this week. Just sayin..

Agreed about our line.

I think it was more of a 'raving over Imani' thing because of how much better he was reading his lanes and staying on his feet relative to numerous other personal performances.

 

[cg_8]

Seems like everyone is raving over Imani Cross this week. Not to take anything away from Imani, but I think our O-line deserves the props for our success on the ground this week. Just sayin..

Agreed about our line.

I think it was more of a 'raving over Imani' thing because of how much better he was reading his lanes and staying on his feet relative to numerous other personal performances.

While I think Cross had a great game and fought for his yards. The same time, he has had an issue with following his blockers. There were a couple times that I saw him just go wide of his blockers and run into 4 defenders. He still gained 3 yards or so, but could've easily gotten another 5 if he followed his blockers. Could've broken a big play if he followed and found a hole.