Breakdown Sports

While the B1G as a whole continues to have a bit of a down perception, there is no denying that there is still a good deal of individual talent scattered throughout the league. As finalists lists for a variety of awards continue to trickle out, below, I post the B1G players up for the award, and some brief thoughts on the player. Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

If you've been reading me for a while, you've noted that I'm a big fan of switch concepts. I like them for quite a few reasons: They force the defense to define their coverage They force the defense to define their leverage They help attack defenses from a variety of positions/places They can naturally alter the timing of pass plays (thus effecting the coverage defenders reactions to routes)  They can naturally alter the depth of route concepts (this maintains the route timing but moves it shorter) They can change the coverage's technique by altering the reception area and providing a moving target laterally and vertically to hinder the defender's "position maintenance" They naturally "rub" defenders in man coverage They tend to force pre- and post-snap communication and consistent eye discipline They force defenders to move within their zones to effectively play coverage in a zone scheme They can make it more difficult to jam rece

Iowa

Throughout the first quarter, the primary coverage for Wisconsin was a Cover 4. This, in theory, is a very good run defense, as it puts quasi-9 in the box. However, it also forces safeties to be aggressive downhill players and tackle while firing down. Against a RB like Abdullah, and the way Nebraska was running the ball, this isn’t necessarily an easy proposition for a DB. In this article, we’re going to look at how Nebraska started off attacking with read option with an arch block and attacking with the zone stretch scheme. Then, we’ll look at how Wisconsin adjusted, both their coverage and how they played their front, and eventually stopped the Cornhuskers potent run offense. Zone Stretch vs Cover 4 This may be Cover 3 or even Cover 1 (seeing the CB leverage makes me not believe it’s Cover 1) that Wisconsin is inverting late, but I believe this is a Cover 4 with the front side safety crashing down. Here we are immediately after the snap, where it is immediately clear

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Wisconsin O: 12 and 11 personnel; a little bit more 21 personnel in this game than usual Nebraska D: 4-3 Under mostly Wisconsin D: One-Gap 3-4, mostly Cover 1 with Cover 4 mixed in Nebraska O: 11 and 12 personnel

Nebraska Douglas Jones - USA Today Sports Offense Schemed to defeat Cover 4 Inverted Veer and the FB Adjustment Inside Vertical Switch Concept Power Football Links Veer and Belly Plays Defense Nebraska Cover 1 Adjustment to Heavy Offenses Cover 1 Cover 1 Adjustments Nebraska's Base Cover 4 Defense Cover 4 Safety Play Coaching Points Nebraska vs Northwestern Nebraska vs MSU Illinois vs Nebraska Miami vs Nebraska Wisconsin Offense Base Run Offense Two RB Offense (Jet Sweep) Power O Football Links Play Action from Heavy Personnel Adjusting Routes to Coverage Utilization of an H-back Utilizing H-back to pass Defense Wisconsin's One-Gap 3-4 Defense Wisconsin's 3-4 D vs 12 Personnel Wisconsin Blitz Package Wisconsin's Base Cover 1 Defense Cover 1 Adjustments Cover 4 Defense Coaching Points Wisconsin vs Rutgers Wisconsin D vs Northwestern and Illinois

In this post I just want to diagram every sack up to the Illinois game (post-Illinois will be covered in Part II). Unfortunately, I don't have Western Illinois film, so two sacks will be missing, so you'll have to live with 11 diagrams. I'm going to keep the descriptions of how these work mostly non-existent for the sake of brevity, outside of a brief primer. I embed video where I can and link to a clip where I can't.

I went on Unsportsmanlike Conduct over at 1620 The Zone to discuss Nebraska vs Wisconsin. Also, they gave me a cool new "Interstellar" inspired opening, so I'll take it. PODCAST Perma-link

Even with an offense that has sputtered lately in Northwestern, there are still some really cool intricacies and chess matches that can be found from game-to-game. In my opinion, most casual fans get caught up with “is it working or not?” Obviously, in the end, that’s ultimately what’s important. But the issue that I believe catches fans is when they try to figure out “Why?” Often, they converge to mostly meaningless catch-phrases such as “predictable”, “not innovative”, “stupid” and the like. The idea being that they see, they actually see with their own two eyes, a team execute a certain thing with ease and they assume “it must be the play design.” That’s because you can see the play design, you can see it develop in front of you and you can kind of understand it and when it works, obviously it works. Compounding matters may be video games, where many casual fans can call their own plays and feel some sort of ability to do what this guy getting paid a bunch of money can do. But

In this post, I will go through the various position units and place the teams I believe are the top 5 in the conference. This will be based on the actual players that have played, so sorry Indiana, the QB position won't just be Sudfeld. I went back-and-forth on how I wanted to do this. For some position groups (RB/DL) there are more than five groups that deserve recognition. At other position units, there kind of seems to be less than five. Nevertheless, I plan on doing another one of these post-season, as well as look specific players as I break down All-B1G teams after the season. Note that this is purely an eye test and not based on stats, but instead on games that I've watched these guys play. Offense version here . Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America

In this post, I will go through the various position units and place the teams I believe are the top 5 in the conference. This will be based on the actual players that have played, so sorry Indiana, the QB position won't just be Sudfeld. I went back-and-forth on how I wanted to do this. For some position groups (RB/DL) there are more than five groups that deserve recognition. At other position units, there kind of seems to be less than five. Nevertheless, I plan on doing another one of these post-season, as well as look specific players as I break down All-B1G teams after the season. Note that this is purely an eye test and not based on stats, but instead on games that I've watched these guys play. Michael Hickey/Getty Images North Americ

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images OSU O: Mostly 11 personnel; zone and man run schemes MSU D: 4-3 Over Cover 4 OSU D: 4-3 Over Cover 4 on normal downs and distance MSU O: Mostly 11 personnel; about 50-50 split of gun and under center

History has a tendency to repeat itself. In football, that means something gets invented, iterations are formed, it gets tucked away for a while, and then it reemerges in a new form but with the same constructs. In this way, we can also predict how defenses will attempt to adjust, and how offenses will likely adjust to their adjustment. And this piece we are going to look at the history and evolution of the veer and belly run plays.

The winter movie season is heating up, so I thought I'd discuss briefly another one of my hobbies and discuss some movies I'm looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, it's a lot of movies, so I probably won't get to see them all. Some of them have also been in theaters for a brief bit, but if you want to catch the tail end of their run, I suggest doing so based on things I've heard.

Normal day for PSU defense. Maryland had 17 real drives, 12 went four plays or fewer, three went more than 5 plays. Only three drives longer than 17 yards. 11 Punts, three fumbles A normal day for the PSU Offense. 16 real drives (really 17, because they tried to gain yards before getting sacked before halftime). 11 drives went five plays or fewer, six went more than five plays. Went longer than 50 yards once. 8 punts, three turnovers. Moderate success early, leading to consistent lack of success late. After first six drives, 7/8 went three plays or less, 9/11 went four plays or less. Maryland O: Mostly 11 personnel from Gun PSU D: 4-3 Over or Nickel Over; mix of coverage, lots of Cover 6 PSU O: Mostly gun, 12 personnel. Lots of man blocking schemes in 1st half, zone in 2nd Maryland D: 3-4 Under

Two different B1G teams ran the exact same zone blitz scheme on Saturday, and both teams successfully got to the QB. The scheme: Over Gut 6. This is a scheme that Monte Kiffin loved to run dating back to his time with the Bucs, and more than a decade and a half later, it’s still working in major college football (it’s probably more accurate to say Tony Dungy loved to run it with the Vikings, but I don’t have proof of that). Let’s first go over how it is run and then show examples of both PSU and Michigan running it successfully.

Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images Wisconsin O: 11, 12, 21 personnel. IZ base run, heavy sell PA for most pass yards. Rutgers D: One Gap 3-4 (mostly Under) Rutgers O: 11 personnel Wisconsin D: One Gap 3-4 (mostly Under), lots of Cover 1 Robber

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images Indiana O: Shotgun, 11 and 10 personnel. Michigan D: Stayed almost always in 4-3 Over Base, Check Eagle vs Wildcat Michigan O: Mostly 11 or 12 personnel, mostly shotgun until later Indiana D: I think mostly 2-high zone schemes, not quite sure.