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Neck Sharpies: The Soup Defense

[This article was originally published on December 15, 2020. Two years and two weeks ago Michigan was in search of a new defensive coordinator, and possibly about to be in search of a head coach. The hottest new defense for stopping the hot new spread offenses proliferating through the Big XII was that pioneered by Iowa State's Matt Campbell and his DC Jon Heacock, who were the hottest names at the time for Michigan's opening/hypothetical opening. That was enough, at the time, for your hot new football strategies-obsessed author to write a primer on the defense, what personnel it uses, and how it works. This 3-3-5 Flyover defense has since been adopted, more or less intact, by TCU coordinator Joe Gillespie. TCU runs it with "more interchangeable" linebackers, which is to say they couldn't find a faster WLB to fulfill that role. This relative lack of athleticism in the ILBs in a system that demands it from at least one of them is the reason why, as Alex Drain identified in FFFF, TCU has struggled with receiving RBs, passes up the seam, and edge attacks when their LBs are whipped in different directions. I am republishing this article as a companion piece to Alex's film analysis so you can understand better what they're trying to do, and how that's led to many of the things Alex observed. Plus, only 5,160 of you read that piece, which is about how many read my CMU preview yesterday, if you're wondering how the football of the last two years has affected MGoBlog traffic. ICYMI the first time, here's the Soup Defense.] ------------------------------ Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and his defensive coordinator Jon Heacock were hot names in coaching circles long before Michigan fans began to consider bringing both or one them to Ann Arbor. I don't know if that's happening—honestly I'd place the odds under 10 percent. But it's a good excuse to talk about their three-high "Cyclone" or "Flyover" defense, why it's been successful against the high-flying spreads of the Big XII, and what offenses are doing to adapt to it. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FOOTBALL DEFENSE When football was young, you could barely tell which side was on offense. But the advent of the single-wing caused spacing problems, solved when Michigan center Germany Schulz moved himself off the line of scrimmage. The 6-2 defense was originally just an anti-spread weapon but gradually became the base of most teams. Virtually every defensive evolution since has followed this same pattern of converting thicker players up front into leaner and faster players further from the line of scrimmage. The 5-3 came about when they had to move a guard back to create a third linebacker to stop the Wing-T and early passing offenses. When pocket passing became possible due to rule changes, defenses answered by using hybrid linebackers as second safeties, then bowed to inevitable and called them safeties; the 5-2 was born. When that wasn't enough speed they converted the 5-2 variants into the 3-4 (replace both DEs with LBs) or 4-3 (replace the NG with a 3rd LB). Spread football in the early 21st century replaced fullbacks and 2nd tight ends with slot receivers, forcing defenses to become every-down 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 nickels. That's where we've been. THE PROBLEM The reason ISU went to this defense was the Big XII is home to the spreadiest of the spreadiest. Tom Herman at Texas, Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma, Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State, Chris Klieman of Kansas State, Matt Wells of Texas Tech, and the offense WVU's Neal Brown inherited are all state-of-the-art spreads based on 4-wide sets, and stretching you vertically and horizontally. Baylor's Dave Aranda and TCU's Gary Patterson are defensive guys at heart but their OCs run similar spreads. Only Les Miles of Kansas—figures, right?—runs an offense more predicated on Bo's principles of moving people where you want them. [After THE JUMP: The next evolution?]

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Fee Fi Foe Film: Illinois Defense 2022

Previously: Illinois Offense 2022 For much of this year the Illinois defense has reigned supreme in the conference and nation as one of the NCAA's top defenses. Through eight weeks, they'd allowed 6, 23, 3, 0, 10, 6, 14, and 9 points and national outlets began to focus in on the Fighting Illini's defensive prowess, a season after having lost a number of last year's defensive stars to graduation. It was an impressive story, but the last couple weeks have put a bit of a dent in the narrative. Though they held MSU under 300 yards, 23 points against in a loss was not quite as smothering and then last weekend's clash against Purdue was a rough performance comparatively: 379 yards and 31 points allowed, not to mention that several key defensive players sustained injuries in a penalty-filled loss. Now the shorthanded Illinois defense will be playing with a hand (or perhaps a few fingers) tied behind their back as they play the best offense they've seen this season in Michigan. The Film: This one was pretty obvious. Illinois has faced exactly one offense I would classify as "good" and that came last weekend in the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue is not a perfect outfit, pass-reliant and somewhat limited in the rushing game, but they are statistically a good offense and the best that the Illini have seen. It also happens to be the most recent game, so it was an easy choice. Personnel: Click for big or here for PDF. The most difficult part of analyzing this defense is classifying it, because the personnel shifts around pretty often. What stays constant (for the most part) is three down linemen, Keith Randolph Jr., Calvin Avery, and Jer'Zhan Newton. They have not budged much this season and are a big part of why Illinois has allowed the 7th-fewest rushing yards per game in the NCAA this season. Newton adds the most pass rush of the three, but all of them are stout in run defense. If Michigan is able to shove these guys around, it will be a very good sign going into The Game. Jamal Woods and TeRah Edwards rotate in as the reserves but the main three are solid starters and not rotational ones. After that, things get a bit sketchy in terms of personnel. They have the ability to do an old school Wisconsin 3-4 with EDGE/OLB pass rusher type guys, Seth Coleman and Gabe Jacas being the "starters". I didn't get to see Coleman against Purdue as he missed that one with injury, but has a shot to be back against Michigan. Jacas was fine but didn't stand out to my eye. Alec Bryant played in Coleman's place against the Boilermakers and was also unremarkable as a passrusher but did get victimized in the QB run game a couple times. The ILBs see significant rotation, sometimes with those OLBs and sometimes with themselves. Tarique Barnes and Calvin Hart Jr. are the nominal starters, but Isaac Darkangelo has played essentially the same amount as those two, mixing and matching the personnel based on the play and situation. Darkangelo is the one I had the most notes on, doing alright against Purdue, and he's actually the highest graded of the three via PFF, while Hart's grades straddle cyan range. When the Illini are fully healthy, the LB level is the relative weak spot of the defense. The secondary is led by Devon Witherspoon, the Dangerman for this week's piece and a stud who has excelled in Illinois' man coverage scheme. Jartavius "Quan" Martin is the starting nickel and was alright against Purdue, while the other outside corner position has been thrown into disarray due to a litany of injuries. Tyler Strain entered concussion protocol against the Boilermakers and his status is up in the air for Michigan. Terrell Jennings has been ruled out for the season with a different recent injury, leaving Xavier Scott as the tenuous starter if Strain cannot go. I have no notes on Scott because the Strain injury occurred rather late in the Purdue game and in total, Scott has played 23 snaps in his NCAA career. The little he got to play against Purdue suggested that that might be a weak spot but I need to see more of him to really know. The safety position includes Sydney Brown, a multi-year star who plays a number of his snaps in the box, and Kendall Smith, the deep safety who often plays in the parking lot. Tahveon "Taz" Nicholson plays some corner and safety, but he also has suffered a significant injury that will put him out for the remainder of the season, so Matthew Bailey is probably next up at this spot. I would not expect Brown or Smith to come off much, though. [AFTER THE JUMP: rest of the breakdown]

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Neck Sharpies: The Soup Defense

Seth
December 15th, 2020 at 12:23 PM
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and his defensive coordinator Jon Heacock were hot names in coaching circles long before Michigan fans began to consider bringing them to Ann Arbor. I don't know if that's happening—honestly I'd place the odds under 50 percent. But it's a good excuse to talk about their three-high "Cyclone" or "Flyover" defense, why it's been successful against the high-flying spreads of the Big XII, and what offenses are doing to adapt to it.
THE STORY
When football was young, you could barely tell which side was on offense. But the advent of the single-wing caused spacing problems, solved when Michigan center Germany Schulz moved himself off the line of scrimmage. The 6-2 defense was originally just an anti-spread weapon but gradually became the base of most teams. The 5-3 came about when they had to move a guard back to create a third linebacker to stop the Wing-T and early passing offenses. When pocket passing became possible due to rule changes, defenses answered by using hybrid linebackers as second safeties, then bowed to inevitable and called them safeties; the 5-2 was born. When that wasn't enough speed they converted the 5-2 variants into the 3-4 (replace both DEs with LBs) or 4-3 (replace the NG with a 3rd LB). Spread football in the early 21st century replaced fullbacks and 2nd tight ends with slot receivers, forcing defenses to become every-down 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 nickels.

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