We all know how the Michigan Wolverines fared this past Saturday against Penn State. It wasn’t great. While the offense had a TON of issues to delve into, I was more interested how the Penn State offense found success on the ground with their 4th and 5th string running backs, who also happened to be true freshmen.
The Nittany Lions picked up over 250 yards on the ground, at 5.1 yards per carry. That number is actually 5.9 yards per carry if you remove sacks and the kneels at the end of the game. That’s over 1.0 yards per carry better than any other game this season for Penn State. So, what was the issue? The short answer is “assignments”. Michigan was not disciplined at setting the edge on a couple of key plays on the ground that bounced big. Otherwise, I thought the linebackers especially had rough games.
Through the air, while only picking up slightly over 150 yards, I thought there were key completions that were key in this one as well. It’s clear based on alignments that Michigan was prioritizing safety help over the top on any outside fades. However, that opened up a lot of slants. And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT. Penn State feasted with slants and picked up a good number of conversions using them.
So, 20 plays to be frustrated with the defense await you! Two things about the video:
- This was my first time livestreaming on YouTube, so please excuse the large head on the screen for play one, it was corrected after that one!
- If you enjoy the livestream format, let me know and I can work to incorporate more livestreams in the future!
Don’t forget to subscribe to the MaizenBrew YouTube channel, if you haven’t already!