Zoltan Mesko enters his fourth year as Michigan’s starting punter (though he also split time with Ross Ryan in 2006), and is expected to be one of the top punters in the nation. The towering Romanian from Twinsburg, Ohio is among the more popular players on the Michigan team, primarily on account of his awesome name.

Mark Ortmann will enter his second year as Michigan’s starting left tackle, having replace #1 NFL draft pick Jake Long. Ortmann missed a game with injury last year, but played both tackle and guard along Michigan’s improving offensive line in 2008. If the Michigan rushing attack improves in 2009 as expected, Ortmann will turn in a strong year.

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Minor v. Sheridan.
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Warren v. Stokes.
Schilling v. Emilien.

Posted under Football, Personnel

The Situation
Michigan leads 14-7 with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter. They face a 1st-and-13 from their own 22-yard line. Driving the field for a score could stop Purdue’s momentum, as the Boilers brought the score back within 7 on their previous drive.

The Personnel and Formation
Michigan is in its 2-back spread set, with Brandon Minor to Threet’s left and Michael Shaw to his right. Martavious Odoms is in the right slot with Darryl Stonum wide left and the wideout to the right out of the screen. Purdue is in a standard 4-2 nickel package on defense.

The Play
Upon receiving the snap, Threet gives a token fake to Minor, who then pass blocks. The wide receivers are running crossing routes, but none of them are able to get open. Threet checks down to Shaw, who has looped behind him and is now running a swing to the left. Threet throws behind Shaw, and the ball is tipped by a Purdue defender, who would have had a clear path to the endzone had he been able to get both hands on the ball.

Why It Didn’t Work
The first thing to note is that Ortmann gets completely crushed by his man, who essentially runs right by him and has a free run at the quarterback. With Minor set to pass block to the left on this play, there really isn’t much excuse for getting beaten by a pure speed rush. That said, Threet makes the mistake of throwing behind Shaw. Shaw wasn’t open on the swing, but had Threet been able to give a pumpfake of sorts and step up, leading the Shaw on the wheel, Michael would have been wide open for a huge gain (maybe even a touchdown, depending on how well he could dance through the secondary). Again, this isn’t really on Threet, because he was about to get killed by Ortmann, but this play is a great example of good design being ruined by poor execution.

Posted under Football