10/13/03 Play Spotlight- Minnesota

In this week's play spotlight I'm going to break down the trick play that Michigan used to score their first touchdown.

The Wolverine Formation

The Wolverines came out in the following formation:

The Minnesota Defense

Minnesota came out in their standard 4-3 defense and it appears from the defensive alignment that they were expecting a play to the 'strong' side (where the Wolverine receivers were lined up.)

The Play

John Navarre takes the snap and throws a backward pass to Steve Breaston lined up to far left.  The right side of the Michigan offensive line pulls to the right and John Navarre follows the wall and takes the pass from Steve Breaston.

The Minnesota Reaction

As the play begins, the Minnesota defense begins to collapse on the pass the Breaston.  It appears that Michigan has thrown a screen pass.  But there are some important differences between this play and previous screen that Michigan has run.  This pass is to Breaston who played quarterback in high school.  It's also thrown backwards which means that it can be thrown again to another receiver.  But the most important difference is that the right side of the Michigan offensive line has pulled to the right.

The Action

The Minnesota defense overreacts to what they think is a screen pass.  The weak side defensive guard and tackle forget a fundamental rule of line play.  Always follow the pulling lineman they will lead you to the play!  In a addition they penetrate too deep and take themselves out of the play.  As the ball is thrown to Navarre he has a wall of blockers leading the way.  To Minnesota's credit their secondary responds well but the defensive backs are no match for the speeding offensive lineman and the wall remains intact allowing Navarre to score a touchdown.

Conclusion

This was a good play call by Michigan. They set up the play perfectly by throwing a number of screen passes during the game.  In this case, the speed of Minnesota's defense was used against them.  By not playing solid positional football the weak side defensive tackle and guard allowed Michigan to successfully run this play.

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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