10/23/03 Play Spotlight- Iowa

In this week's play spotlight I'm going to break down the much maligned Wolverine 'Rolling Thunder' punt formation.

The Wolverine Formation- Rolling 'Blunder'

The Wolverines came out in the following punt formation.

The Iowa Defense

Iowa initially was surprised by this odd formation and they countered with their standard punt defense.

The Play

Note: I don't care for this play but I'm going to try and explain what I think Michigan was trying to do.

The first thing that you notice about this play is how wide the splits are between lineman up front.  It's also unusual to have three players in the second row.  At the snap of the ball the front 'wall' seals to the left side of the field.  I think that each player is responsible for his left side gap meaning that each guy ignores anything on his right.  The second wave of blockers rolls to the right along with punter who depending on how play develops has the option to kick or follow the his blockers and run the ball.  The second wave of blockers are responsible to seal their right gap.

At first pass this looks like a really questionable formation but after diagramming the play you can see that Michigan does have every man covered IF Iowa runs a standard punt defense and IF every man blocks his zone of responsibility.

The Iowa Reaction

Iowa initially was surprised by the odd formation.  The Wolverines got away with it the first time that they ran it.  Unfortunately after Iowa saw the formation they had a chance to adjust...

The Action

The second time Michigan ran the play, Iowa ran a blocker around the right side of Michigan formation and partially blocked the punt.

The third time that Michigan ran the punt formation they decided to forego having the punter roll to right and just punt straight away.  You'd think that this would be a relatively safe formation from the which to punt but disaster struck.  Iowa overloads the middle and rushes three blockers where Michigan has only two defenders.  The Iowa defenders engage the Michigan center and right guard allowing a defender to blow past the first wave unimpeded.  Everything should still be alright, the next wave of blockers should pick up the rusher.

Unfortunately, in an incredible breakdown in blocking the Iowa defender is not blocked by the second wave as they roll right.  The punt is blocked...

Conclusion

What went wrong?  We'll never know for sure but I have a few ideas.  First, Michigan should not have continued to run this formation after the partial block.  It had lost it's shock value and the Iowa coaching staff quickly adjusted to it.  Second, the crowd noise coupled with wide splits made it difficult for the Michigan blockers to attack the Iowa defenders and get to their blocks.  It appeared the Michigan players were waiting for the Iowa players to cross the line signaling the start of the play.  This put them at a disadvantage compared to speedy Iowa playing rushing the punter. 

There are some other obvious problems with this formation.  It's great IF Iowa is caught by surprise.  But as soon as Iowa was able to adjust to this formation it became a recipe for disaster.  I also don't care for the three blockers in the second wave.  My philosophy is I want as many players in the first wave to blunt the initial push of the defense.  By putting a three blockers in the backfield you increase the chance of the snap hitting one of them and create situation where there may be confusion in blocking assignments.

Go Blue!

Phil Callihan
UMGoBlue.COM, Editor-in-Chief
phil@umgoblue.com
 

Phil Callihan is the Editor-in- Chief of UMGoBlue.COM.  Phil graduated from the University of Michigan in 1993 and has been a football season ticket holder since 1994.

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