Week 6 Film Study: Miami, Michigan finally have their QBs

Here's a look at some of the more intriguing film-related developments from Week 6 of the college football season, featuring a pair of breakout pivots:

The 'Canes have their quarterback

Nestled neatly in the middle of FSU’s near-upset of Miami was a truth with big implications: The Hurricanes have found their quarterback.

In a game dominated by the defenses, N'Kosi Perry - Miami’s redshirt freshman who recently supplanted Malik Rosier as the team’s starter - looked fearless and brilliant.

Mark Richt has been waiting on Perry for more than a year. He was begging the freshman to beat out Rosier last season and all throughout fall camp. As a limited athlete with a less-than-average arm and wavering accuracy, Rosier wasn’t good enough to take the Canes to the playoff.

Perry might.

Coming out of high school, he was known as an electric athlete and a horrific practice player. That trend continued when he arrived in Miami, but some guys just play better when the lights are on.

Indeed, something appeared to click for Perry against the Seminoles, as he submitted his best performance to date against a defense that upped its level during the rivalry game. FSU made it difficult for the young quarterback by setting a season-high mark in tackles for loss (13) and sacks (five).

As you can see below, the Seminoles ran over and through Miami’s offensive line. The Canes aren't the most athletic group in the country and the left side can't deal with world-class speed. FSU's batch of springy pass-rushers took advantage:

FSU schemed its way to advantages, too. Defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett unleashed a series of games on third downs: stunts, twists, and gap exchanges that targeted Miami’s interior. Perry had nowhere to go:

On the ground, the Seminoles held the Canes' two-headed rushing attack to just 102 rushing yards on 2.2 yards per carry. While constantly backed up in third-and-long situations with a pass rush teeing off against an ill-equipped offensive line, it would have been easy for Perry to fold.

He didn't!

Instead, Perry looked sharp despite the constant pressure. He has a snappy release and makes quick decisions. His arm isn’t the biggest, but the ball comes out a beat earlier than the defense is expecting - a combination of his whippy delivery and his processing speed. It’s tough for defenders to make a play on the ball.

And Richt also helped his young quarterback along against FSU with one-read-and-throw concepts. Essentially, Perry's job was to read the leverage of the "overhang" defender and flip it to one of two options:

Easy money.

But Miami's sputtering run game restricted Richt's input, meaning he was unable hold his QB’s hand throughout the game. At some point, Perry just had to go make plays.

And that he did. Backed up, Perry was asked to make big-time throws to all levels of the defense, and there were a bunch of "wows." He also trusted his receivers to make tight-window grabs, which Rosier often failed to do. You can’t throw a seam ball any better than this:

That’s a natural-arm-talent throw, which combines velocity and lower-body mechanics. There's nothing a defensive back can do against it.

And while Perry's overall completion numbers (19 for 32) didn’t pop, he showed his grasp of the nuances of the position. This was the throw of the day:

At first blush, the play above looks like a quarterback going through his progression and hitting an open man downfield. Not quite. Watch how Perry manipulated two defenders on the right with the slightest of shoulder feints.

First, Perry looked toward his man in the flat - a slot receiver running a quick out. It was open, but it wasn't an advantageous look, as FSU was playing Cover 6 with the boundary corner playing in a shallow zone and the field corner in a deep zone, reading the QB's eyes and ready to break on anything underneath.

Perry read it. He knew he had his boundary receiver open on a corner route through the play design.

Rather than waiting for his man to find the hole in the zone, though, Perry helped him along. He flashed his shoulder toward his man in the flat. The effect was small, but crucial - the shallow corner was forced to break off his backpedal and plant his feet. His eyes were planted firmly in the flat, while the deep safety playing half the field stuck closer toward the middle.

Those two minor movements gave Perry just enough space to squeeze the ball to his receiver along the sideline.

But wait! It gets even better. Look how quick Perry was able to reset his eyes and lower body, putting them in sync. That allowed him to rip an accurate ball over the cornerback and in front of the safety.

He drops his non-throwing arm a tad lower than you'd like, but we’re really nitpicking at that point.

Young quarterbacks aren’t supposed to be this advanced within the pocket. They like to throw off-platform (from odd arm angles and with their body twisted and contorted). Perry relishes being on-platform.

The throw above wasn't a one-off. Perry consistently showed the ability to reset and fire in an instant against FSU:

There are Heisman candidates - Kyler Murray and Will Grier among them - who've yet to master that most essential skill.

Perry has mastered other important skills, too. Here, he uses his eyes to manipulate a single-high safety, holding him in the middle of the field while his outside receiver beats man coverage:

FSU was playing a hybrid man-zone coverage that’s intended to take away deep throws down the field. Perry still beat it by freezing the deep safety, leaving him unable to reach the sideline in time, where the receiver had beaten his man:

Again, this level of eye manipulation is rare among freshman. Perry didn't even have a route combination developing over the middle that could mask his charade. He simply outwitted the safety.

Like many freshman, Perry shows decent awareness in the pocket but is happy to bail out and play on the run. However, unlike many freshman, he’s moving to throw, rather than moving to run:

When the initial pressure comes, most dual-threat freshmen drop their sight line and look to pick up yardage with their legs. Instead, Perry keeps his eyes up, eluding secondary rushers while chucking strikes on the move.

Perry isn't perfect, and there are still concerns, particularly within Richt's egalitarian, rhythm-oriented offense. He's isn’t a natural timing thrower, so it will take time for Miami’s receivers to adjust to tosses that are released early while they're still developing routes:

But overall, he's doing a lot more good than bad.

Overall, it would be easy to dismiss Perry’s latest performance as coming against a soft FSU defense, but that would be folly. The skills he showed Saturday were next level, and the throws were not simple reads completed to receivers streaking open in space.

Perry showed anticipation, athleticism, and accuracy. Those are transitive skills against anybody. He needs to hone them ahead of an all-too-predictable ACC title game rematch against Clemson.

Miami isn’t on Clemson's level yet, but Perry helps close the gap. Richt’s decision to chuck him into the fire probably had opposing defenses licking their chops, but not now. Richt has found a quality quarterback. The 'Canes have a shot.

Auburn bamboozled by motion

Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State’s head honcho, is known for his quirky looks on offense.

In particular, he likes to move his running back all over the shop. Typically, the back will start outside somewhere, and then motion into the backfield, looking to out-leverage the defense or catch it in the wrong personnel package. It sows confusion. The offense uses all sorts of jet motion to get the back alongside his quarterback, take direct handoffs, or serve as window dressing, forcing linebackers to over-pursue or sit down and play flat-footed.

If it sounds familiar, it’s because Auburn's Gus Malzhan does the exact same thing. Saturday’s matchup was a whirlwind of zooming pre-snap motions on both sides.

Yet, somehow the Tigers' defense seemed unprepared to face a unit that's similar to its own offense. The team's linebackers committed basic error after basic error.

For starters, they failed to track the sniffer - the hybrid tight end/wing who lines up in the backfield and foreshadows the kind of blocking the Bulldogs are running. Whenever that guy leaked out of the backfield on a play-action pass, Auburn's linebackers looked lost:

Above, watch how many second-level defenders crash toward the line of scrimmage. No one stuck with the sniffer. That's Day 1 stuff.

And with Nick Fitzgerald and the Bulldogs' passing game stuck in the mud for most of the night. Moorhead leaned on the rushing attack, relying on the quarterback-motion marriage to propel the offense.

Overall, the Bulldogs gashed Kevin Steele's aggressive defense to the tune of 349 yards on 6.1 yards per carry. It was a mauling.

Steele's defense showed a stunning lack of gap discipline. Two or three players would hit the same landmark, while a running back or quarterback found space to run.

That Moorhead shuffle motion was a killer:

Auburn couldn’t find the ball. DeShaun Davis, a fifth-year senior who's presumably seen every play design imaginable, somehow looked lost. How is that even possible?

Full jet motions - with a back or wide receiver flashing across the front of the quarterback - caused even more strain on the defense. Linebackers pinched outside. Defensive ends set a hard edge. It seemed everyone forgot that Fitzgerald has a vertical option (between either B-gap) on almost every handoff:

And on the off-chance Fitzgerald handed the ball to the motion man, you guessed it - Auburn's linebackers were out of position and forced to effort over to make a play:

In that type of scenario, a defensive coordinator needs to sell out and force a particular action, taking away the unpredictability and figuring out a plan from there. Steele never figured out whether he wanted to force Fitzgerald or his playmakers to carry the ball.

It was an all-around incompetent display. Brutalized physically and schematically, Steele has a lot of work to do down the stretch if the Tigers are going to salvage anything from this season.

Here comes Shea Patterson

Don’t look now, but Jim Harbaugh might be figuring out the Michigan quarterback thing.

Fans and analysts clamored for Harbaugh and Co. to unleash the real Shea Patterson following the Wolverines' opening-night loss to Notre Dame. Harbaugh has pretty much obliged.

The most basic way is by shifting a bunch of his concepts into the shotgun. It sounds small, but that’s where Patterson feels more comfortable. He sees the field better. He’s able to take off and improvise. And there’s less of an emphasis on rhythm-based drop-backs that tie his footwork to his receivers' steps.

On that final point, Patterson still has a ways to go. He’s not a quarterback who loves timing drops. He wants to play see-it, throw-it football - hit the back foot, scan the field, and chuck it to whoever's open. In general, Harbaugh demands precision and rhythm, and Patterson is working on it:

But again, Harbaugh has met his quarterback more than halfway. Rollouts, bootlegs, and move concepts have been a constant part of his coaching career. He’s amplified them with Patterson, and moved them to the gun.

Move concepts take advantage of Patterson's innate playmaking feel. He can throw it or run it. Plus, the field is typically condensed, limiting the number of decisions he needs to make:

Here's another example. Harbaugh has recognized what Patterson does best, and adjusted. Bonkers, I know.

Patterson has a slingshot release. He can deliver the ball accurately from all sorts of funky arm angles, like the one above. He was able to flip the ball back across his body while moving to his left. He hit his guy in stride and stuck six points on the board.

That natural ability to throw on the move is why comparisons to Johnny Manziel go beyond the aesthetics (they look identical in pads, down to the arm sleeve!).

Here's another example of Patterson getting away from airtight, coordinated designs. Let’s break the pocket and play some backyard football:

Harbaugh's offense has been in a rut since he returned to the college game. It’s felt old and ponderous. Patterson adds some zest by creating magic in a way that no Harbaugh quarterback has since his NFL days:

On the other hand, when you turn the game into a series of scramble drills, poor decisions are inevitable. Patterson's prone to barfing up turnovers:

But overall, to get the good, you’ll have to live with a little bad here and there.

The Harbaugh-Patterson marriage got off to a rocky start. Like any relationship, it’s taken some compromise. Now, the two appear to be on the same page - letting Shea be Shea.

Get excited for the stretch run. Michigan is coming.