Ohio State v. Michigan State: A Schematic Preview
The only thing now standing between Ohio State and the BCS National Championship Game is Tenth Ranked Michigan State.
Mark Dantonio's Spartan squad has ridden a solid offense and the nation's top-ranked defense to a 11-1 record. Offensively, Michigan State utilizes a run-heavy offense, mixing the occasional deep play action pass and underneath drop back game behind improving sophomore quarterback Connor Cook.
But the real star for the Spartans' is Defensive Coordinator Pat Narduzzi's 4-3 over,
shadow technique cover 4.
Below I analyze Michigan State's offensive and defensive schemes and how Ohio State may match-up.
According to the
Only Colors' Heck Dorland, as of the beginning of November, Michigan State was running the football nearly 75% of the time on first down, second most in the Big Ten. The Spartans' primary goal remains to stay ahead of schedule, setting up manageable second and third downs.
Michigan State's base run play is one Ohio State fans have long associated with Bollman, which is power, aka Dave. The Spartans' tailback Jeremy Langford is a downhill runner who can bounce the play outside, and Michigan State has a fairly athletic offensive line. The Spartans also like pulling multiple blockers on misdirection plays, particularly to the boundary. Langford is the Spartans' primary weapon, and the Spartans will continue to run the football until a defense stops it.
Michigan State's first change up, particularly in second and medium, is to use shotgun spread option runs. From the shotgun the Spartans generally run in one of three ways.
- power and counter plays to Langford;
- zone read or inverted veer with Cook, who is big and fairly mobile;
- jet sweeps or reverses to R.J. Langford to reach the edge.
Shelton is the Spartans' primary horizontal threat. Michigan State uses jet sweep and other reverses to Shelton, both to constrain the defense against overplaying the inside run game, and to create explosive edge plays.
Contd.....
