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Football Saturday - September 26, 2009 411149-
MICHIGAN DEPTH CHART
VS.
INDIANA
BREAKDOWN
From page 2B
season to let this one slip up.
The biggest issue will be which
Michigan defensive backs will
step in if Indiana uses three
wideouts in its pistol offense.
With safety Mike Williams
doubtful with an ankle injury,
the backfield Saturday could
be tight.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams have been
steady for Michigan, which
is more than it could say
three games into last sea-
son. The Wolverines have
been able to catch the ball
and tally decent yardage on
kick returns (25.2 average
yards per return). Punter
Zoltan Mesko always gives
Michigan an edge on special
teams - his punts are flying
an average of 42 yards and
he is one of the team's most
consistent players.
Indiana's punting is solid,
but it has made only five of
seven field goals attempted
this year.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
INTANGIBLES
The last time Michigan lost
to Indiana at home, Bo Schem-
bechler was an assistant under
legendary Buckeye coach
Woody Hayes.
That was 1958 and the Wol-
verines lost 8-6. It's been a
while since the Hoosiers could
get things done at Michigan
Stadium, and it doesn't look
like that will change Satur-
day.
Sure, the Hoosiers are
3-0, but that's the beauty of
padding a non-conference
schedule. The Wolverines
have the opportunity to sur-
pass last season's win total,
and that should carry a lot of
weight.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
PREDICTION: 31-10
Indiana unveils pistol offense in Big House
OFFENSE
QB
1. ForcierTate Freshman
2. Robinson,Denard Freshman
1. Minor, Brandon
RB Senior
2. Brown, Carlos
Senior
1. Moundros, Marl
tB edshirt junior
2. Grady, Kevin
Fifth-year senior
1. Mathews, Greg
W R Senior
W 2.Stonum arryl
Sophomore
1. Hemingway, Junior
W R Redshirt sophomore
2 Savoy, LaTerryal
Redshirt sophomore
1.Odoms, Martavious
S LOTSophomore
Redshirt sophomore
1. Koger, Kevin
Sophomore
2. Webb,Martel
ounion
1 Ortmann, Mark
Li Fifth-year senior
2. Dorrestein, Perry
Redshirt junior
1. Schilling, Steve
G Redshirt junior
2. Mealer,Elliot
Redshirt freshman
1. Moosman, David
Redshirt freshman
2. Khoury,Rocko
Redshirt freshman
1. FerraraJohn
PG Redshirt jnior
2. Barnum, Ricky
Redshirt freshman
1. uyge,Mark
RT Redshirt sophomore
2.Omameh, Patrick
Sophomore
DEFENSE
1. GrahamBrandon
D E Senior
2. Heininger,Will
Redshirt sophomore
1.Van Bergen, Ryan
DT Redshirt sophomore
I 2. Banks, Greg
Junior
1. Martin, Mike
T Sophomore
S2. Sagesse, Renaldo
Junior
1. Roh,Craig
0 LB Freshman
LJ 2. Herron, Brandon
Redshirt sophomore
1. Ezeh, Obi
M LB Redshirt junior
B 2. Ftzgerald, J.B.
Sophomore
1. Mouton, Jonas
W !LB Redshirt junior
LB 2.eack, Kevin
Redshirt sophomore
1. Brown,Stevie
LB Senior
2. Simmons, Floyd
Redshirt freshman
1. Warren, Donovan
LC Junior
2. Turner, J.T.
Freshman
1.Woolfolk, Troy
Junior
2. Van Slyke, Jared
Redshirt sophomore
1.Williams,Mike
FS Redshirt sophomore
2. Kovacs, Jordan
Redshirt freshman
1. CissokoBoubacar
RC Sophomore
2. Floyd,J.T.
Redshirt freshman
SYRACUSE
From page 5B
crossed. He wasn't leaving any
stone unturned. He always,
always had great game plans."
Salgado said Robinson
excelled at teaching his players
how techniques relate across
schemes and in tying the play-
book together in their minds.
Watching the manner in
which Robinson did his job
made Salgado realize who he
was coaching alongside.
"When I came in the room
with him and we started prepar-
ing for what we were going to do,
I knew I was with somebody,"
Salgado said. "I thought this guy,
this guy is agood coach. This guy
is a hell of a football coach."
Perhaps itwasjust an instance
of a talented football mind
struggling with his first head-
coaching job. Robinson's players
were known for always playing
hard for him, even when he was
fired with two weeks left in the
season. Notre Dame was next on
the schedule.
The Orange upset the Irish in
South Bend that Saturday, 24-23,
with the last hopes of turning a
program around.
"I don't think we were far
away," Salgado said. "I really
don't."
After the season, Robinson,
58, looked back on the lessons
of a children's book at his final
Syracuse press conference.
"I'm going to read a little
story," he told the assembled
media, still looking determined.
"This is a story that Iheard when
I was young. And I suspect there
might be a few of you that have
heard this story. It's called, 'The
Little Engine That Could.' "
He drew out the main points
of the story, explaining each,
and emphasized its famous line:
"I think I can. I think I can."
"Well you know what, I still
think I can. I do."
By ANDY REID
Daily SportsEditor
Michigan football fans are
still trying to get used to the
spread-option after Bo Schem-
bechler-induced, three-yards-and-
a-cloud-of-dust
offensive philoso-
phy dominated Indiana at
the Big House for Michigan
40 years.
On Saturday, Matchup:
Indiana is going Miana 3-0
to introduce M
them to an even When: Satur-
more innovative day, 12 p.m.
scheme, one that Where: Michi-
was invented in gan Stadium
2004 in Reno, TV:ESPN2
Nev. and has Live Blog:
recently spread michigandaily.
across football in com/the game
high school, col-
lege, the Cana- michdaets:
dian Football lysports
League and the
NFL. The Hoo-
siers jumped on the bandwagon
this season to open up some offen-
sive possibilities.
What is it? Well, that's a pretty
tough question.
"I have no idea," cornerback
Donovan Warren said on Monday.
"I'm about to go break it down right
now. I can definitely let you know
sometime this week."
It's called the pistol, a hybrid
between a traditional I-formation
and the spread package that Michi-
gan coach Rich Rodriguez helped
create, and it just might be the next
big thing in offensive evolution.
In the pistol, the quarterback
lines up four yards behind the
center - three fewer than in the
spread - and the running back is
three yards directly behind the
quarterback, which opens up sev-
eral options in power-runs and
play-action passes.
When run well, the pistol has
proven tobe anightmarefor oppos-
ing defenses. But Rodriguez isn't
going to approach it any differently
than he would when preparing for
any other offensive scheme.
"The pistol gets popularized
because it's kind of new," Rodri-
guez said. "It's like the wildcat
thing, but people that use the wild-
cat maybe only use it 10 or 12 times
a game, but that's all they talk
about. It's really just defending an
offense and the answers and things
they do scheme-wise."
Nevada coach Chris Ault invent-
ed the pistol before the 2004 sea-
son, and, as with any new idea, the
initial reaction to the quirky for-
Football Monthly. "When you have
traditional I-back teams where
the back is at seven yards, it's a lot
easier for those linebackers to key
him."
The Hoosiers traded in their
spread package from last season
in order to bolster the run game,
which ranked 49th in the coun-
try last year, and take advantage
of another plus-side of the pistol
- a dangerous play-action passing
game.
Since the pistol takes the best of
both worlds from the I-formation
and the spread, Indiana should, in
theory, be able to run the ball and
spread the defense out with the
pass much more effectively than in
years past.
Indiana has yet to fully grasp the
offense - it has run for a measly
146 yards per game this year and is
ranked ninth in the Big Ten in scor-
ing offense - but once the team
does, it could be dangerous.
"Putting in more of a power
running game definitely has been
our No. 1 goal," Indiana coach Bill
Lynch told the Evansville Courier-
Journal before the season. "Last
year, in the spread, the quarterback
was back there alone a lot of the
time and there weren't the oppor-
tunities to run the ball downhill or
run play-action.
"We think this formation gives
us a chance to do both of those, and
at this point it's so far, so good."
But Rodriguez is not too wor-
ried about defending the pistol, as
opposed to the other schemes the
Wolverines will see this season.
"I think the schemes are over-
rated," Rodriguez said. "I think
you just need to have a system that
has answers to problems you'll face
in various schemes and personnel.
... Most offenses have a variety of
things. It's not just one particular
scheme or formation you have to
defend."
AP PHOTO
Indiana coach Bill Lynch decided to implement the pistol offense this year in order to bolster the Hoosiers'
run and play-action pass packages. The pistol offense was invented in 2004 by Nevada coach Chris Ault.
Q
i
a I
mation wasn't exactly positive.
"When I first introduced it to my
staff, they thought I was nuts," Ault
told American Football Monthly in
2007.
But the results are undeniable.
Since 2005, the Wolfpack have
ranked 33rd or better nationally
in rushing offense every year. Last
season, Nevada utilized the system
and dual-threat quarterback Colin
Kaepernick's skills perfectly, rack-
ingup more than 275 rushingyards
per game, good for fourth in the
country.
The pistol often spreads the
defense with three receivers and
looks like a passing formation. But
it's obviously the run game that's
boosted by it, especially the zone-
read, one of the most popular run-
ning plays in football right now.
The zone-read is what Michigan
ran during Mike Hart's career. It
allows running backs to find cut-
backs and other holes in the defense
easier, and in the pistol, ball-carri-
ers can see the lanes open up with
even more clarity.
Because the quarterback and
running back are just three yards
apart before the play - as opposed
to seven yards apart in a traditional
I-formation-therunningbackgets
the ball much quicker and has more
time and space to find cutbacks.
And, as opposed to the spread, the
running back is already running
downhill when he receives the ball,
so he can hit the hole faster.
"The beauty of the offense is that
if you're an I-formation team like
we were before we converted, it
fits into the same schemes that you
were running," Ault told American
Football Monthly. "You just get the
ball to the back sooner."
Ault also uses misdirection
and counter plays to confuse the
defense. Even though these plays
can be used from a traditional
I-formation set, the running back's
position makes misdirection even
more effective.
"The back is hidden; he's com-
pletely concealed by our quar-
terback," Ault said to American
with IU quarterback Ben Cha;
BEN CHAPPELL
K
1. Olesnavage, Jason
Fifth-year senior
2. Gibbons, Brendan
Freshman
SPECIAL TEAMS
P
1. Mesko, Zoltan
Fifth-year senior
2.Wright, Bryan
Redshirt junior
Most embarrassing moment -
Northwestern game, probably no one
really knows this besides the guys on the
team - I almost tripped taking a knee
at the end of the game and almost blew
my knee out.
Favorite non-sports item - TV
KR Favorite TV show - 24
m, Darryl Pre-game meal/ritual -We always
ore have some sort of pasta, and actually
us, Martavious
ore eat that for breakfast.
S. Three words to describe your
ppell''
PHOTO cOURTESY OF MIKE DIcKBERND/IU Athletics
coach- He's a player's coach, he's
honest, and he's hardworking.
Favorite sports rivalry- Indiana vs.
Purdue
Playing vs. Michigan- It's gonna be a
special game for us. First Big ten game,
on the road, it's going to be a big game
for us, a nice test to see where we're at.
Obviously Michigan's a great football
program. They have a lot of tradition
(and) the Big House. I've never actually
been there. But I'm really excited to go
up there and see what it's about.
1. Stonu
Sophom
2.Odon
Sophom
ILLUSTRATION BY ALLIE GHAMAN/Daily
Note: Depth chart as predicted by Daily football writer
The pistol offense utilizes the advantages of both the traditional 1-formation and spread offense.