Can Washington stop Michigan?
While the inverse question features the heavyweight component to this matchup, whether or not Washington can stop the Wolverine offense will be equally important.
Before the game we’ll break down the big time matchup between Washington’s amazing offense and the Michigan defense. Both of those two units just put together clinic film in dominating the Texas defense and Alabama offense, respectively. Everyone wants to know how this matchup will go and I’ll be eager to talk about it.
But first we’re going to talk about the other side.
In my book…
…I broke down a big Texas high school matchup between perennial power Southlake Carroll, who ran a spread offense, and the power run/defense oriented Katy Tigers. It was a very similar contest to this one and notable for being the one time Southlake Carroll lost in multiple years of winning titles at the highest level of Texas high school ball.
The Katy Tigers developed a plan for the explosive SLC Dragons. They spun down their 3-4 defense into a 3-3-5 nickel, played MOD quarters (off coverage outside by the cornerbacks), and they ran the crap out of the football.
The Tigers were an under center, I-formation team and in a shortened high school game ran their back 31 times for 163 yards. The Dragons couldn’t pick up anything explosive in the passing game with all their routes capped by defensive backs in off coverage and struggled when forced to sustain and grind out drives. They also struggled to find a rhythm with the Tigers sitting on the ball and only got seven possessions. Katy also blocked a punt, which proved essential to hanging on for a 16-15 win.
Michigan’s plan is obviously similar. They’ll run the ball, run the ball again, and run it some more all while hoping to deny Washington shots over the top and imposing a Big 10 style on the game they can then win. How will the Huskies hold up against it?
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