Preview: IBM sees threat in emerging Asahi Beer running game

 

 

 

Last week against Fujitsu, Asahi Beer quarterback Mason Mills did something that made the rest of the league sit up and take notice. No, not with his passing. He’s already distiguished himself with that.

 

Mills handed the ball off to his running backs, again and again, more times than anyone would have imagined. And the fact that this drastic change in offensive strategy, even in a 20-7 l0ss, was able to move the ball against a powerful team like the Frontiers has the Silver Star’s next opponent, the IBM BigBlue, very concerned.

 

“[It's a] totally different team,” IBM head coach Shinzo Yamada says. “They’ve become a more versatile team and it’s really hard to stop. It’s not only the pass, we got to stop the run. A lot of things. Different formations, they mix it up very well. Fujitsu had trouble stopping them, so we just have to game plan better.”

 

Asahi Beer and IBM clash on Sunday at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki in one of the marquee games between top teams in Week 3. The other big game will see Obic take on the Lixil Deers in the Seagulls’ “home” stadium in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture. These games mark the run-in to the second half of the regular season, when the Super 9 teams face each other on a weekly basis.

 

For both the Silver Star and BigBlue, the game has broader implications. Both are 1-1 after losing to Fujitsu (IBM fell 29-24 in the season opener) and beating a lower-level opponent. Each would like nothing more than a victory before heading into the tough part of the schedule.

 

“From here on out, we have what you could call ‘must-win’ games,” IBM defensive end James Brooks says. “We know that every opponent from here on out is going to be tough, and we want to make a statement and we want to win these games. So it’s important.

 

“We want to get a good seed going into the playoffs. Luckily, with this new playoff system, you don’t have to win every game, per se. In previous years, if you lost one it was dangerous going into that second stage. Now with this playoff system, you can maybe lose a couple and still be OK.”

 

Against Fujitsu, Mills led the Silver Star to a touchdown on their first drive, and finished the day 22 of 29 for 218 yards with an interception. But of more significant note was the 85 yards that running back Takuya Yanagisawa gained on 22 carries.

 

“What surprised me was how well they ran the ball,” Brooks says. “It was just like, ‘Wow, these guys are running the ball now, and they’re not scared to run the ball.’”

 

Brooks adds he was impressed by the 92-kilogram Yanagisawa.

 

“He’s back and healthy. He’s good, we’ve been watching him on film already. So we know it’s going to be a good test. Obviously, Mason poses certain threats. But their run game is what is worrying us now.”

 

IBM expects to see similar stats from Asahi Beer in Sunday’s game, which would be a stark contrast to the last time they encountered Mills and Co.

 

Last season, the BigBlue prevailed over the Silver Star 35-18 in a game in which Mills unleashed an aerial barrage of 62 passes, completing 33 for 462 yards and two touchdowns. He also had five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns—the last one by Brooks to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.

 

The Silver Star ran the ball just 11 times, and seven of those were scrambles by Mills for minus-46 yards.

 

In developing a more balanced game plan on offense, Asahi Beer had to compensate for the loss of star wide receiver Roman Wilson, who in his lone season in 2015, set X-League records with 52 receptions and 975 receiving yards in seven games. The Princeton grad left Japan to pursue a banking career in New York.

 

For Mills, there was a silver lining in losing one of the Silver Star’s top offensive threats. No longer will opponents make special adjustments aimed at containing Wilson, which often made pregame preparations ineffective.

 

“I think Roman was the best receiver and one of the top offensive players in the league, period,” Mills says. “I think everybody knew that. And the situation last year, it was kind of difficult to game plan because teams would play us, and literally have a new defense, because of Roman.

 

“So going into games, we would watch film on their previous games, but when we would come out, there would be some ‘two-man blitz, nine-drop, inverted thing’ and we’re trying to figure it out and our plays don’t match. We still had success throwing the ball, but with Roman gone, even though it would be better to have him here, [we're seeing] normal defenses.”

 

As has been demonstrated through two games this season, Mills still has dependable and fleet-footed receivers in Yuta Hayashi, Kenta Osawa and Kazuya Togura.

 

“His thing is based off what he sees,” Yamada says of Mills. “If the run looks good, then he runs it. If the pass looks good, he’ll pass it. So he has two options to do it. In the past, he only passed. He’s a really nice passer obviously, although he lost Roman, they still have good receivers.”

 

Meanwhile, Yamada hinted that the BigBlue could see the return of quarterback Kevin Craft, who has yet to play after suffering a shoulder injury during the spring Pearl Bowl, which IBM went on to win for its first-ever major title. Craft himself did not seem so optimistic when asked if he was ready.

 

If Craft is unavailable, Yamada says he has full confidence in rookie Yuki Masumoto.

 

“He can make the plays,” Yamada says. “So whoever is a better quarterback at that point will be playing. Kevin will be ready, but bottom line, I don’t know at this point.”

 

—Ken Marantz for the X-League