HAIL to the Champions! Hail to Michigan - the Wolverines win the national title.

Don’t tell anyone, but this is Outside Zone.

Those kids aren’t hopping up and down. There’s a bunch of friends under the stadium shaking it.

I sat down with Warde Manuel for an hour to talk about his career, Dusty May, Impermissible Advanced Scouting, the TRO that never was, the AD investigation, and more. youtu.be/HD6YvND9RCU?is=xLpY…

The defense kept them in the game again, but there’s concerns there, too. The defensive holding against Sowell was a giant red flag. There was also some LB play that stood out in a bad way. BUT, a win is a win. Sealing a game by recovering an onside kick and picking up a first down is a step in the right direction. Have a great Sunday. Go Blue!

I’ll be watching to see if the offense (Beck, Carr, and the OL) can have enough success early to keep Indiana from overplaying the run. OR, how they counter an overaggressive defense. There’s still a lot to clean up. We still had an illegal formation penalty.

But next week is a whole new story. IU is a really good team, well coached, and a tough defense. They’ll have a week to prepare for Carr. (Remember how Raiola played in relief vs USC but the following week was a disaster?) It’ll be a very physical game, and they’re gonna throw a lot at the offense.

It was the tale of two halves, and Carr performed admirably coming off the bench. To Bryce’s credit, he showed leadership by supporting his team. Carr did some good things and showed the poise we saw in the spring game. His play also opened up the running game.

2nd & 6. PSU has 1 timeout left. A first down ices it. Efobi, Guarnera, and Gach get the key blocks and Marshall picks up 3 yards after contact to pick up the first. Ball game.

3rd & 9 up by 3. When defending the option, someone has the pitch man, and someone has the QB. Carr runs at the Option Man (the Edge) who has the pitch. The LB (13) probably has QB but he’s disadvantaged by lining up on the line. Carr keeps, cuts, scores.

This is the stuff Michigan hasn’t figure out yet: Aggressive run blitzes that seem to catch them a lot. Gotta work on how to get a lineman to pick those up quicker. You’re gonna get got in occasion, but this has happened way too often.

This very well could’ve preserved the win. Bracy comes flying off the backside on a blitz and sacks the Becht who fumbles. Enow Etta scoops it up and Michigan has the ball on the 13.

3rd & 8. Not sure everyone was on the same page. I think it’s QB power, but Carr sorta pulls up like he’s gonna pass, but there are no receivers on the right to throw to. Marshall is lead blocking all the way. There was a cutback lane, but it’s too late.

There is, however, still a lot of work to be done on the line when the defense gets aggressive.

Penn State scored so it 14-11 midway through the 3rd quarter. Hiter rips off a big chunk from split zone blocking. He does a good job getting 17 to guess the wrong hole then breaks out.

There it is. You see it. Say it with me now: The Wall of Friendly Butts

Really good cut by Carr. He presses the right side which gets the linebackers and boundary safety to commit. Carr cuts back and uses his speed to take almost to the house.

It’s 4th & 1. Look at the defensive alignment! In every game prior to this, there’d be 9 guys in the box, selling out on the dive run.

I also think Carr benefits from carrying out the mesh longer than Bryce does which forces the defenders to stick to their option assignments longer. Watch the safety 17 fly up, thinking it’s a give. Making defenders pay for guessing wrong is how you get them on their heels.

And when your QB shows that he isn’t easily rattled, the defense has to play honest (can’t abandon pass responsibilities to sell out on the run). That’s how things open up. Case in point.

I don’t want to blow things out of proportion, but this is the look of total confidence in yourself.