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September 06, 2019 - Image 14

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The Michigan Daily

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FootballSaturday, September 7, 2019
8B

How to defend Army’s triple-option

Brian
Smith
remembers
the first time he saw Army on
the
schedule.
The
reaction,
naturally, was dread. Now the
defensive coordinator at Rice,
which lost 14-7 to the Black
Knights last week, that’s what
happens when he thinks about
preparing his defense to face the
triple option.
His second reaction was more
calculated. Smith didn’t need
to dig too far into the recesses
of his memory to recall the last
time he faced a triple-option
offense. It was only two years
ago and the results — 13 points
allowed on 3.4 yards per carry
— were exactly what he hoped
to replicate last Friday. So Smith
took to his notes.
If
that
sounds
familiar,
that’s because it should. Smith
was
Michigan’s
defensive
backs coach in 2017, when the
Wolverines beat Air Force, 29-13,
holding the Falcons to 232 yards
of offense.
“That was kind of my starting
point for everything,” Smith said
of his notes from that game.
Smith counts himself among
Don
Brown’s
disciples.
He
played
and
coached
under
the
Wolverines’
defensive
coordinator
at
University
of
Massachusetts before nine years
in the NFL — a stint that ended
when Brown pulled him back
to the college ranks. Many of
his schemes stem from what
he learned in all
those stops under
Brown.
But
defending
the
triple
option, he says,
is
a
uniform
philosophy.
It’s
an
exercise
in
discipline
and
assignments,
in
preparation
and
endurance.
“I’ll
tell
you
one thing, any time you see one
of the (service) academies on
the schedule, you sure don’t
get excited, facing the triple
option, just being honest with
you,” Smith told The Daily this
week. “Because it’s so different.
And as a player, having played
against the offense a few times,
I wouldn’t consider it fun to have
to go against guys that are trying

to cut block you every snap.”
For Rice, the task was made
easier by opening their season
with Army, giving them double
the time to prepare. Michigan
didn’t have that luxury — Jim
Harbaugh and his staff started
working on their preparations
during
spring
practices
to
compensate.
“I think the biggest thing you
really need to focus on is getting
your scout team
ready, just from
a
coaching
standpoint
to
be able to get a
good look from
the scout team,”
Smith
said.
“Because they’re
going to be doing
things
that
they’re not used
to doing.
“And if you can
try to simulate as best as you can
what it’s going to look like during
the week, it helps the guys be
more confident going into the
game.”
Once game time arrives, the
task shifts from preparation to
discipline, something that can
be especially challenging against
such a unique look. “It’s such a
spread offensive world now that

you see the triple option, it’s
just different,” said Michigan
defensive line coach Shaun Nua.
The basic principle of the
option is the same as the spread
offense: get talented players in
space with room to work. That’s
where the similarities end.
If
the
offense
takes
the
first read — a handoff to the
running back — the defense’s
responsibilities are no different
than in any other scheme. But
if the quarterback keeps the
ball, assignments take over. One
player, usually a linebacker, is
responsible for the quarterback
on a given play. Another is the
“pitch player,” responsible for
the third option. A mistake from
either of those players can spell
disaster.
“Say your quarterback player
does something undisciplined
and say he goes for the dive, he
tries to go and tackle the (third
option), then you’ve got no
quarterback player,” Smith said.
“Same with the pitch player, if
he goes and tries to tackle the
quarterback, then you have no
pitch player.”
The
importance
of
that
discipline
only
magnifies
as
the game progresses. Army’s
run percentage stands above
85 percent each of the past

three years. That wears down
a
defense,
compromising
its
focus as the repetition can numb
defensive players’ minds.
Last week, Smith saw that
firsthand,
with
his
defense
undoing three quarters of good
work by allowing a 18-play,
96-yard touchdown drive deep
in the fourth quarter.
“They keep doing the same
thing over and over again to try
to lull you to sleep,” Smith said.
“And the DBs, they’re supposed
to read their keys every play. And
they may try to get a jump on the
run game because they’ve been
seeing the same thing over and
over again. So instead of reading
the keys, they stop reading their
keys and start just playing run-
first. And now, next thing you
know, you give up a big play
because one guy doesn’t do his
assignment.”
Still,
Smith
trusts
Brown
better than anyone to prepare
his defense to overcome these
hurdles.
He remembers playing in the
1998 FCS national championship
game,
when
Brown
coached
UMass past Georgia Southern,
led by Paul Johnson, who Smith
calls the “godfather” of the
modern triple-option offense.
Johnson’s
highest-profile
job

came as head coach of Georgia
Tech from 2008-18, but his
coaching tree permeates nearly
every
triple-option
team
in
Division I.
Among that coaching tree?
Army coach Jeff Monken.

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Army
2.4
Yards per carry by Middle Tennessee
against Michigan

4.1
Rushing yards by the Black Knights
against Rice

4/15
Middle Tennessee on third downs
against Michigan

8
Passing attempts by Army against
Rice

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Michigan’s defensive line must stay disciplined in its rush lanes against Army’s triple-option offensive attack, which is headed by coach Jeff Monken.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

You sure don’t
get excited
facing the triple
option.

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