Western Michigan: 1st Half Offensive Breakdown
I’ve decided to break down the first half of play from Saturday. Michigan doesn’t have a scoring drive in the second half (damnit man!). If you like the break down – LEAVE A COMMENT – so I can change accordingly or add to it.
1st Quarter - 1st Series
Matthews fair catches a punt at Michigan’s 48 yd. line
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | Mich 48 | Forcier hits Hemingway for a gain of 5 | +5 |
| 2 | 2-5 | WMU 47 | Brown runs left for a gain of 3 | +3 |
| 3 | 3-2 | WMU 44 | Forcier makes 3 potential tacklers miss and gets the first down | +3 |
| 1-10 | WMU 41 | PENALTY – Illegal Motion on Odoms | -5 | |
| 4 | 1-15 | WMU 46 | Forcier gets 4 on an option keeper | +4 | 5 | 2-11 | WMU 42 | Forcier hits Brown about 7 yds downfield on the sideline and brown does the rest for the first down | +14 | 6 | 1-10 | WMU 28 | Brown for no gain – WMU D line gets good penetration up the middle | 0 | 7 | 2-10 | WMU 28 | Forcier scrambles up to the line of scrimmage and lofts a beauty to Hemingway down the sideline | +28 |
Drive Summary – 7 plays, 52 yards – Forcier looks great on his first drive as Michigan’s quarterback – Hemingway begins his coming out party by getting it done running the scramble drill along the sideline.
1st Quarter - 2nd Series
Matthews fair catches a punt at the Michigan 11 yd. line
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | Mich 11 | Forcier keeps the option right and goes down after a short gain | +4 |
| 2 | 2-6 | Mich 15 | D. Robinson comes around in motion and gets nothing on the handoff | 0 |
| 3 | 3-6 | Mich 15 | Forcier drops back and takes off immediately – no gainer | 0 |
| 4 | 4-6 | Mich 15 | Mesko punts for 47 yds |
Drive Summary – 3 plays, 4 yards – RR shows some different looks this series getting Denard Robinson involved.
1st Quarter - 3rd Series
Matthews fair catches a punt at Michigan’s 16 yd. line
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | Mich 16 | Forcier eludes 2 potential tacklers on an option keeper – shows some solid speed | +8 |
| 2-2 | Mich 24 | PENALTY – Holding on David Molk | -10 | |
| 2 | 2-12 | Mich 14 | Kelvin Grady drops a screen pass – goes right through his hands | 0 |
| 3 | 3-12 | Mich 14 | Forcier goes deep for M. Webb – looks like he should have tried to hit Hemingway deep | 0 |
| 4 | 4-12 | Mich 14 | Mesko punt goes 44 yards out of bounds |
Drive Summary – 3 plays, -2 yards – Forcier looked great on an option keeper – Carlos Brown had a huge block on third down to buy Forcier the time to go deep. Good to see Forcier taking some shots deep after the play breaks down a bit.
1st Quarter - 4th Series
B. Cissoko returns interception to the WMU 38 yd line
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | WMU 38 | PENALTY – Illegal Procedure on Mark Ortmann | -5 | |
| 1 | 1-15 | WMU 43 | Denard Robinson ignites his jet engines after fumbling the snap – LOOKOUT FOR DROB! | +43 |
Drive Summary – 1 play, 38 yards – Wow, Denard Robinson might be the fastest player to ever wear a Michigan Wolverine uniform. After fumbling the snap, he goes opposite of the play call – breaks one tackle and in about 4 seconds he’s in the endzone.
1st Quarter - 5th Series
Matthews fair catches a punt at Michigan’s 32 yd. line
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | Mich 32 | Robinson runs a QB draw off the right side for a decent gain | +5 |
| 2 | 2-5 | Mich 37 | Robinson throws a high bullet to Kelvin Grady – nice catch on Grady’s part | +7 |
| 3 | 1-10 | Mich 44 | Robinson and Hemingway had some miscommunication – ball winds up in the dirt | 0 |
| 4 | 2-10 | Mich 44 | Robinson fakes the reverse and crosses midfield before an ankle tackle brings him down | +7 |
| 5 | 3-3 | WMU 49 | Robinson drops back then takes off up the gut – should have cut left – gets stopped short of the first down | +2 |
| 6 | 4-1 | WMU 47 | Brown picks up 6 running off the left tackle – 1 for 1 on 4th down conversions! | +6 | 7 | 1-10 | WMU 41 | Forcier keeps for a tough gain | +5 | 8 | 2-5 | WMU 36 | Forcier hits Koger on a hitch – Koger does a good job reaching for the first down | +5 | 9 | 1-10 | WMU 31 | Fake reverse to Grady – handoff to Brown up the gut for a solid gain | +11 | 10 | 1-10 | WMU 20 | Same play as before – this time Forcier hands off to Grady on the reverse | +11 | 11 | 1-G | WMU 9 | I-formation handoff to Brown off the right side for a couple | +2 | 12 | 2-G | WMU 7 | Play-action rollout left and Forcier finds a wide-open Koger for 6 | +7 |
Drive Summary – 12 plays, 68 yards – Great 12 play drive. Forcier looked sharp and the offensive line opened up some holes for Brown. At this point I was surprised not to see RR toss in Vincent Smith or Michael Shaw to grind it out down the field. Forcier has complete control of the offense. Kelvin Grady is looking really good and fast -comparable to a one Steve Breaston.
2nd Quarter - 1st Series
Matthews finally gets to return one – a clean catch yields a solid cut upfield and about a 15 yard return.
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | WMU 42 | Miscommunication between Forcier and Hemmingway – Forcier tosses for a deep corner route incomplete | 0 |
| 2 | 2-10 | WMU 42 | Robinson back in – tosses out to Savoy for a decent gain – another hard throw from D. Rob | +11 |
| 3 | 1-10 | WMU 31 | Shaw shuffles forward for an earned fiver | +5 |
| 2-5 | WMU 26 | PENALTY – Holding on David Molk | -5 | |
| 4 | 2-15 | WMU 36 | Forcier back in – tosses a great ball on the run to Brown along the sideline – after review it’s incomplete | 0 |
| 5 | 3-15 | WMU 36 | QB draw and Forcier slips around to get UM in field goal position | +10 |
| 6 | 4-5 | WMU 26 | Olesnavage makes a 44 yd field goal with plenty of leg |
Drive Summary – 6 plays, 16 yards – Forcier again makes plays that would not have been made last season. Michigan puts 3 more on the board instead of giving the ball back to Western. It’s little plays in the drive that may make the difference this season when comparing it to last. Good to see Olesnavage confidently hit a relatively long field goal and be pumped up about it afterwords.
2nd Quarter - 2nd Series
| Play | Down | Pos. | What the Hell Happened | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | Mich 15 | The O-line opens up a gaping hole for Brown to get up the middle | +12 |
| 2 | 1-10 | Mich 27 | Play-action pass and Forcier whips it out to an open Matthews along the sideline | +10 |
| 3 | 1-10 | Mich 37 | Brown up the middle for a nice gain – still waiting for Brown to break a long one | +6 |
| 4 | 2-4 | Mich 43 | QB draw – if Brown blocks the linebacker Forcier would have had a chance | -4 |
| 5 | 3-8 | Mich 39 | WR screen to Hemingway – solid blocking and good running by Hemingway converts the 3rd down | +14 |
| 6 | 1-10 | WMU 47 | Forcier throws deep – nobody open | 0 |
| 7 | 2-10 | WMU 47 | Forcier keeps it around the right side – not much room to run | +3 |
| 8 | 3-7 | WMU 44 | Forcier throws another beauty down the sideline to an open Hemingway for a TD! | +44 |
Drive Summary – 8 plays, 85 yards – Good all around series. David Molk had a great play on the 3rd down conversion when Hemingway went for 14. He made one block and got off that to make another. Forcier again showing off his ability to throw an accurate ball.
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