We beat Illinois, with a single second half score - last minute drive
We were tied at the start of 4 against no-longer-Frost-impaired Nebraska, with a TD taken off the board, faded
We were down 1 score at the start of 4 against #4 Michigan, with a TD taken off the board and a FG blocked, faded
Still made some big defensive plays along the way … but the Fourth Quarter Fade. Is that snaps or talent? Or adjustments?
Is it fixable or DNA?
Maybe getting back Matthews and Jones improves us just enough to beat Maryland? Putting Lucas, Shivers and Matthews out there together will be tough to defend, and we seemed to accept adding Lucas in that mix.
Other than Ahia State, we won’t see the superior defensive line For a while. Maryland is no defensive juggernaut.
Other than the elite Top 4 or 5, seems like everybody else can step up and surprise. Everybody is beat up half way through. Kentucky learned last night how important the starting QB can be. We still have ours and he has taken a beating and is still standing.
In the first half, I was thinking that the same complexity that maybe makes us ”just miss” on offense also seemed to make us hard to scout and was keeping Michigan off balance. We look like a team that is still trying “master” the whole playbook (see “TE forgets to stay behind line of scrimmage to catch pass”).
Yeah, it’s fun to bitch about the OL - always has been except for a couple of years under Wilson. But we have always dealt with it, and I suspect a Bell/Bazelak concentration on quicker throws might help a lot.
Beat Maryland and things look different.
We were tied at the start of 4 against no-longer-Frost-impaired Nebraska, with a TD taken off the board, faded
We were down 1 score at the start of 4 against #4 Michigan, with a TD taken off the board and a FG blocked, faded
Still made some big defensive plays along the way … but the Fourth Quarter Fade. Is that snaps or talent? Or adjustments?
Is it fixable or DNA?
Maybe getting back Matthews and Jones improves us just enough to beat Maryland? Putting Lucas, Shivers and Matthews out there together will be tough to defend, and we seemed to accept adding Lucas in that mix.
Other than Ahia State, we won’t see the superior defensive line For a while. Maryland is no defensive juggernaut.
Other than the elite Top 4 or 5, seems like everybody else can step up and surprise. Everybody is beat up half way through. Kentucky learned last night how important the starting QB can be. We still have ours and he has taken a beating and is still standing.
In the first half, I was thinking that the same complexity that maybe makes us ”just miss” on offense also seemed to make us hard to scout and was keeping Michigan off balance. We look like a team that is still trying “master” the whole playbook (see “TE forgets to stay behind line of scrimmage to catch pass”).
Yeah, it’s fun to bitch about the OL - always has been except for a couple of years under Wilson. But we have always dealt with it, and I suspect a Bell/Bazelak concentration on quicker throws might help a lot.
Beat Maryland and things look different.
