Let’s break down Michigan’s 3rd Quarter Flea Flicker versus Ohio State in their 42-27 victory.
Michigan has shown the flea flicker before this season and here is another variation.
PRE-SNAP
They line up strong right (tight end and twins) on the left hashmark #25 Hassan Haskins in the backfield to the right of Cade McNamara. #5 Mike Sainristil (the trailing twin to #14 Roman Wilson) goes in motion pre-snap.
Michigan is targeting #5 and #17 on the Ohio State defense.
POST SNAP
#25 Hassan Haskins takes the handoff, freezing the Ohio State secondary and then flips the ball back to Cade McNamara.
Check out the Michigan offensive line- #76 Ryan Hayes and #77 Trevor Keegan seal the middle while #68 Andrew Vastardis drops back to block the Ohio State defensive end. #65 Zak Zinter and #84 Joel Honigford take on Ohio defenders while #25 Hassan Haskins and #71 Andrew Steuber provide moral support.
Cade McNamara has all day to make the pass.
McNamara throws a pass Sainristil and Michigan executes another flea flicker play (3:37 of the below clip). #5 on the Ohio State mirrors Sainristil but gets turned around as he breaks downfield.
PLAY DIAGRAM — THE ACTION
McNamara slightly underthrows Sainristil or the play might have gone for a touchdown. But the impact on Ohio State can’t be overstated.
Phil Callihan and Clint Derringer discuss Michigan’s 42-27 victory over Ohio State and the state of the rivalry. With clips from Jim Harbaugh and Aidan Hutchinson.
Let’s break down the 47 yard touchdown pass from QB Cade McNamara to TE Erick All at the 3:40 mark of the 4th quarter.
TE Erick All describes the game winning TD.
It was a huge play for Michigan, coming back and taking the lead on the road at Penn State.
PRE-SNAP
Here is the pre-snap look at the line of scrimmage. It’s 2nd and 10 yards to go, early in 4th quater. Michigan has the three receivers to the wide side of the field– as I’ve mentioned before, this is one of my favorite formations used by Josh Gattis. It gives the offense many options and causes coverage problems, if the offensive line can hold their blocks long enough for the receivers to run their routes. Penn State has their defense spread defending the edges, almost daring Michigan to run inside.
Here’s another angle showing the match-ups, and the Nittany Lions have a problem. They have overloaded their defense keying on #25 Hassan Haskins. #12 Cade McNamara knows that #83 Erick All will have an opportunity for a huge play if the offense line can hold.
POST SNAP
As the play unfolds things go from bad to worse for Penn State. First, the Michigan offensive line holds, allowing all three receivers (#5 Mike Sainristil, #14 Roman Wilson, and #6 Cornelius Johnson) to run patterns to left side of the first, drawing their defenders with them.
Second, Penn State defender #4 who is mirroring #83 Erick All, runs into another defender giving All separation. #5 Sainstril has plenty of open field and even #12 McNamara could made a nice gain if he chose to run.
What happens next is when is everything goes right.
Not only was Michigan in great position we had two photographers covering the game and one was in perfect postion.
McNamara hits All as he crosses the formation, and Penn State defenders rush to pursue.
Photo by Dell Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM
#4 (who ran into another defender) attempting to shadow All had the best chance but he unable to catch him.
Photo by Dell Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM
#16 (playing deep safety) nearly forces All out of bound prior to end zone but he comes up short as well.
Photo by Dell Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM Photo by Dell Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM Photo by Dell Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM
PLAY DIAGRAM — THE ACTION
This play shows how the overloading the formation to the wide side causes problems for Penn State.
Michigan called a great play, but it relied on the offensive line holding their blocks, All running a precise pattern, and McNamara throwing a ball right where it needed to go– not to mention a little luck with Penn State defenders running into each other.
https://youtu.be/RV-evt0qi0s
Aidan Hutchinson shares his feeling for Cade McNamara
Not to be completely outdone, our other photographer got this great shot after the game.
Erick All, Josh Gattis, and Cade McNamara celebrating post game Photo by Ryan Callihan/UMGoBlue.COM
