Film Don't Lie: Stunt 101
Everyone knew that Notre Dame was going to have an advantage with their defensive line versus Michigan’s offensive line. Most people underestimated how big of an advantage it would be.
UM rushed for 58 yards (1.8 yards per carry), gave up three sacks, and even more pressures. They were outmatched up front. Clark Lea didn’t have to blitz very often to expose them either. He often rushed four throwing in some stunts to mix things up and the Ed Warriner’s offensive line struggled to pick them up.
Ultimately the stunting by the Irish D-line was the biggest factor in ending the game on the final Michigan drive. I broke down some of those stunts and some other plays from the Notre Dame defense to show how the D-line was able to be so productive last Saturday.
Slanting the Line
It does not get much simpler than this. Simple is effective in most cases and it was here on this 3rd down play. Alohi Gilman (11) creeped up to the line to come off the edge for a blitz. He was replacing the gap responsibility of Daelin Hayes (9), who was shooting into the B gap. Hayes does a great job of stepping laterally and dipping under the block of the tackle.
The B gap was originally the responsibility of Jerry Tillery (99), but he is slanting down the line and taking the opposite side A gap. That means he has to get across the face of the center to do so and fight to control that gap. He does it extremely well.
Jonathan Bonner (55) is slanting as well to the weak side B. You get the idea. Everyone is pretty much sliding down the line with their responsibilities.
Hayes is the one who blows up this play by getting penetration. Tillery ends up finishing it with the back being forced to cut it to where Tillery is. It’s a 3rd down stop for the Irish and they forced a punt.
E-T Stunt
Notre Dame is showing six potential rushers at the line. They only rush the four, but they generate pressure by running on stunt on both sides.
The left side, Tillery and Hayes, are running a T-E. All that means is the tackle is going first and the end is looping inside of him. It’s a great job by Tillery working to the outside of the right tackle and having contain. He would have had a sack if not for the other side getting there first.
The right side, Julian Okwara (42) and Khalid Kareem (53), are running an E-T stunt. Kareem is the nose on this play and Okwara is the end. Okwara crashes down and ends up occupying the tackle. That allows Kareem to loop around free and then finish with the sack.
It’s basic stuff, but teams that aren’t good on the offensive line tend to struggle handling it. Needless to say, Michigan’s tackle were not good at recognizing it. Michigan went from being in field goal range to having to punt because of it.
Okwara INT forced by Coney Pressure
Michigan’s offense just felt predictable in a lot of ways. They would get a 2nd and short opportunity and look to take a shot down the field off play-action. That’s what they did on this play, but it was blown up by the pressure from Te’von Coney (4).
Shea Patterson fakes the handoff and Coney is so good at not only recognizing quickly that it is going to be a pass, but reacting quickly as a rusher because of it. He just has a knack for it like he has a knack for making himself skinny to split the block by the back and the center.
Not that this wasn’t a great play by Okwara to get down the field and get his head turned around to find the football, but he’s more than likely beat badly if not for the Coney pressure. Gilman bites hard on the run fake so no one was there to help him either.
Okwara has the tight end in man coverage here and I’m sure he is thinking it’s going to be a run based on down and distance. When the tight end releases down the field, there had to be a thought of “Oh snap, I messed up” (but in less friendly phrasing).
It’s an awesome job of hustling back to recover to get in position to make the pick, but if Coney gets blocked here, Patterson has already let the ball go to an open tight end for a 1st down.
That didn’t happen and the reality is that Patteson should have ate this ball and took a sack. He was lucky to only get picked once because he threw the ball a couple of other times he shouldn’t have.
Griffith Reacts Late to Motion
Shaun Crawford is out for the year and Notre Dame used Nick Coleman and Houston Griffith (3) to replace him in this game. They didn’t do a terrible job, but they clearly lack the experience that Crawford had at the position.
There were some instances where you could see some growing pains. This was an example of that.
It’s a 3rd down in the 4th quarter and Griffith is in the game at nickel. He’s on the left side of the formation when the slot receiver (88) on the right comes in motion. GIlman drops back when that happens and Jalen Elliott (21) bumps down and you can see he is trying to communicate to Griffith to bump over and take the slot who becomes the number two receiver. Griffith doesn’t hear it, at least maybe not until it’s too late, and steps down inside thinking about the tight end.
The slot is just running an out route and Griffith is too late getting there. 1st down Michigan.
I chose this play not single out Griffith for making a mistake or for Elliott for maybe not being vocal enough to make Griffith aware. I’m just pointing it out because it’s a mistake that I don’t think will happen as Griffith and Coleman get more comfortable in the nickel.
The more practice they get at it, the better they will be. They didn’t get much of it with Crawford only getting hurt in the middle of last week.
Stunt 101
Here it is, the game clinching play. Unsurprisingly it’s another stunt up front that produces the sack and eventual fumble.
This time Kareem is lined up as the nose on the left side and he comes alway outside on the right with Tillery and Hayes both slanting in. What’s great about this is that not only is Kareem staying patient and letting this develop while taking a tight angle, but what this does is cause confusion with UM’s line that makes Tillery able to get in on the play too.
The left tackle sees Kareem coming around and tries to pick him up (he fails). The center knows Kareem is going outside too and is so worried about it that he runs right by Tillery who ends up being blocked by no one. They might as well have played the Benny Hill music with their center and left tackle running around like this.
And then we see how it ends. The ball is out and Coney scoops to put the nail in the coffin. Stunt 101 is not just a G-Unit hit from 2003. It’s also the clinic that the Irish defensive line taught Michigan’s O-line in week one.