Michigan Football: What’s Air Force Bring To The Big House?

Michigan football will take on the Air Force Academy this week, here is what you need to know about the Falcons.

Michigan football is a 21 point favorite over the Air Force Academy even after having fumbled a bit (literally) in last week’s game with Cincinnati.

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Michigan’s offense has yet to prove itself, but there are more than enough truly talented players to ring anyone’s bell once the pieces start to come together.  Ty Isaac did most of the heavy lifting for the running corps last week, but Chris Evans, Karan Higdon and Karim Walker are also capable of busting loose at any time.

Keoka Crawford and Grant Perry have the speed to make space and the hands to haul in a Hail Mary if the QB has all the time in the world to get set, and flashes of big-time skill identified Tarik Black, Zach Gentry, Eddie McDoom, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Sean McKeon as receivers who rack up yards after reception.  Fullbacks Khalid Hill and Bern Mason offer a punishing option should Air Force key on the running backs or the receivers.

Michigan Wolverines Football

So, with Quinn Nordin, Michigan football has the horsepower to score more than 30 points, and the defense is getting better every day, making the prospect of a win by more than 20 a reasonable prospect.

There is some concern in Michigan circles about Air Force’s 62-0 pasting of VMI.  62 points even against the Sisters of Immaculate Detention is impressive, but the good sisters may actually have more on the ball than hapless VMI, not that it isn’t impressive for a school of about 1700 cadets to field a Division I football program.

Had the pasting been applied to Samford or Furman it would be more useful information.  Right now, the Academy’s stats look awesome, first in the nation in scoring with an average of 62 points per game.  On the other hand, based on a single game, they are also first in the nation in defense, allowing no points against VMI.

What the Air Force does bring, however, is the triple option offense.

It’s been called various names by various sportswriters, emerging first as the “wishbone” and now as the “flexbone”, and has remained the bone of choice for Army, Navy, and Air Force because they count on speed and deception to make up for size and strength.  Michigan football hasn’t seen the flexbone, and it could take more than a few plays for the defense to size things up.

What’s the flexbone look like?

QB under center.  No shotgun snap.  The options come into play as the backfield includes two slot backs and a fullback, any one of which might get a handoff, a shovel pass, a jump pass, or block as the play reverses. Most plays are running plays unless all options close down  The QB decides at the snap if a block opens up a run, in which case, the fullback comes thundering through, or lets the fullback hit the line and block,handing off to one of the slot backs following, or sees the blocking as it happens and keeps and tries an end run with the end and one of the backs as blockers.

Because the flexbone looks so determinedly designed for running plays, a short out or screen pass can pick up a big gain as the defense has to shift quickly back into pass prevention mode.  A flexbone QB is skilled in deception, counting on motion to pull the defense off-balance.  An article in SB Nation following Navy’s defeat of Notre Dame last year emphasises the difference between a flexbone quarterback and his more ambitious brothers.

“The four- and five-star quarterbacks of the world generally have NFL dreams. They’re not making the post-grad military commitment that service academy cadets make. But with the flexbone, Navy and Army don’t need Tom Brady standing in the pocket. They need quickness and ground-based decision-making, like from Navy’s all-time FBS touchdowns record-holder, Keenan Reynolds.”

The offensive line is going to be smaller than Michigan’s D line, but they’ll space themselves more widely than the Blue is used to seeing, widening the field and forcing more space for the run.  The hope of any flexbone offensive line is that their guys are faster and more nimble than the behemoths on the other side of the ball.

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And that is where Air Force is going to find themselves in trouble.  Yes, Michigan’s line will be bigger.  But slower?  Not so much.  And Michigan’s linebackers and secondary have shown that they can tackle in the open field and are happy to race from sideline to sideline.