Rich, that's standard for Hail Mary attempts. Believe it or not, many teams don't send 5 targets into the endzone. Teams typically run a Hail Mary out of 3x1 and keep a RB offset as a pass pro blocker. Jason Beck opted to use a 6th OL in place of the RB.

Posted on September 7, 2026 at 07:11:00 AM by Rose Bowl Champion (edited September 7, 2026 at 08:56:31 AM)

The Rhino personnel did its job by giving Bryce nearly 5 full seconds to release the ball. (And the football's trajectory gives receivers additional time to get in position for the scrum.)

Here's Max Browne's explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eTXSK5tDJxA

But Chip Kelly introduced a new way of running Hail Mary straight out backyard football (and frankly I prefer it to the standard scrum):

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bVh1bCBxKDY

And here's part 3/3:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wXjWayM-XzU

I know this game has scrambled people's minds such that fans are questioning E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G but some fans are exposing their ignorance.

I'm seeing a lot of bitching about the Rhino personnel package for its ineffectiveness but it has a place in a surprising number of situational use cases. I bet fans don't remember Coach Harbaugh used his version of Rhino to scheme up Donovan Edward's 2nd TD against Washington in the National Championship Game. Washington was completely confused by our starting RT Trente Jones (post-Zinter injury) lining up as the H-back.

To clarify, I don't intend to write War & Peace here defending Beck's gameplan versus Western Michigan. If anything, I'm stunned by his gameplan because it didn't match the things I observed from 2025 Utah. (This summer, I spent time watching the All-22 film of all 13 Utah games from last season). I can give a laundry list of glaring discrepancies but first and foremost would be the flagrant lack of RPOs. His offense relies on RPOs as a constraint to punish defenses for stacking the box. The gameplan used neither bubble RPOs nor glance RPOs to protect the run game. The end result was a bizarre fetish for running into brick walls.

Back to the board

Thread:

Do ppl realize we had rhino package in for the 2 Hail Mary plays? Think about how asinine that is when you need a TD. And Bryce still got lit up on the winning throw* - By Rich September 7, 2026 at 02:15:11 AM
- Rich, that's standard for Hail Mary attempts. Believe it or not, many teams don't send 5 targets into the endzone. Teams typically run a Hail Mary out of 3x1 and keep a RB offset as a pass pro blocker. Jason Beck opted to use a 6th OL in place of the RB. - By Rose Bowl Champion September 7, 2026 at 07:11:00 AM
  - Jim Harbaugh's version of the rhino did not include putting in Manuel Beigel (or a Manuel Beigel-like substance) for two-thirds of offensive snaps. (nm) - By suede September 7, 2026 at 07:13:52 AM
    - Did you miss the line where I characterized the gameplan as "bizarre" (because I didn't want to use "vanilla")? Beck's gameplan was unusually simple, redundant, and unimaginative. Because of the sample size, I don't want to accuse Beck of being arrogant but it's plausible.* - By Rose Bowl Champion September 7, 2026 at 07:22:39 AM
      - My hope is he was arrogant and repped rhino base plays in prep for Oklahoma where there will be more constraints. Basically just a hiding the scoring offense argument* - By harbaughdyssey September 7, 2026 at 08:24:11 AM
        
        With this new outsider staff, I hoped Michigan would finally be free of the "not showing our cards before a big game" nonsense which has plagued this program since Schembechler made conservative football a core identity of UM Football. It's a gnawing curse from which there is no deliverance.* - By Rose Bowl Champion September 7, 2026 at 09:24:15 AM
      - No. I did not miss it. (nm) - By suede September 7, 2026 at 07:23:06 AM
- But they did put Beigel in motion #deception* - By jim4blue September 7, 2026 at 04:38:51 AM

The Victors

Rich, that's standard for Hail Mary attempts. Believe it or not, many teams don't send 5 targets into the endzone. Teams typically run a Hail Mary out of 3x1 and keep a RB offset as a pass pro blocker. Jason Beck opted to use a 6th OL in place of the RB.