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The best is yet to come?

I predict we end up on the road at Penn St or Georgia.
All the SEC whining about Penn St and IU playing weak schedules will sway the committee to eliminate one of us right off the bat.
At Georgia because they think they will embarrass us to prove they don’t think we belong.
If the committee could replace us with another SEC team they would but right now they can’t justify it.They desperately want Bama in there,who gets screwed to put them in there is the question.
For selfish reasons I hope we get UGA. Since I live here now it will give me a chance to attend a game this year. If we make the championship I could attend twice. 😊
 
Depends on the draw. As good as we've looked for most of the year... I can't get the 2nd half of the Michigan game, and much of the OSU game out of my head. And if we have to play at Tennessee, or at Georgia, which appears to be very possible...I can't envision our OLine and Rourke handling those situations very well. Even at Penn State would be rough, obviously at OSU would be tough. I think at Notre Dame is our best chance at winning a road playoff game. I don't think that environment would be as difficult to navigate, and of the pool of potential opponents, ND's defense scares me the least.

Neutral field, I agree, we can beat anyone. But hostile environment, against an SEC level front 7... I don't like our chances very well.
 
Depends on the draw. As good as we've looked for most of the year... I can't get the 2nd half of the Michigan game, and much of the OSU game out of my head. And if we have to play at Tennessee, or at Georgia, which appears to be very possible...I can't envision our OLine and Rourke handling those situations very well. Even at Penn State would be rough, obviously at OSU would be tough. I think at Notre Dame is our best chance at winning a road playoff game. I don't think that environment would be as difficult to navigate, and of the pool of potential opponents, ND's defense scares me the least.

Neutral field, I agree, we can beat anyone. But hostile environment, against an SEC level front 7... I don't like our chances very well.
No question that a first round road game will be a huge challenge.

Here's the thing, though. After playing in the Shoe, which hopefully was a good learning experience for our guys, the atmosphere of a big, loud road crowd won't be quite so daunting. And against the Buckeyes, an elite defensive team with several guys who will be playing on Sundays, we were our own worst enemy. We gave them 14 points courtesy of special teams, and OSU's final score was on a short field after an unsuccessful onside kick, with the game's outcome already determined. Our D played mostly good football that day.

Also, and considering our possible first round opponents, Tennessee has an excellent defense while Georgia's is good but not great. We should be able to move the ball well if we're playing in Athens.

Finally, regardless of who we'll be playing, Cignetti and his guys will know who our opponent is on Sunday, with nearly two weeks to come up with an effective game plan. If we keep the mistakes to a minimum (and somehow keep the pressures on Rourke to a minimum - - seemingly a tall order), we'll have a shot.

Go Hoosiers!
 
No question that a first round road game will be a huge challenge.

Here's the thing, though. After playing in the Shoe, which hopefully was a good learning experience for our guys, the atmosphere of a big, loud road crowd won't be quite so daunting. And against the Buckeyes, an elite defensive team with several guys who will be playing on Sundays, we were our own worst enemy. We gave them 14 points courtesy of special teams, and OSU's final score was on a short field after an unsuccessful onside kick, with the game's outcome already determined. Our D played mostly good football that day.

Also, and considering our possible first round opponents, Tennessee has an excellent defense while Georgia's is good but not great. We should be able to move the ball well if we're playing in Athens.

Finally, regardless of who we'll be playing, Cignetti and his guys will know who our opponent is on Sunday, with nearly two weeks to come up with an effective game plan. If we keep the mistakes to a minimum (and somehow keep the pressures on Rourke to a minimum - - seemingly a tall order), we'll have a shot.

Go Hoosiers!
It’s great we get another crack at a big game after we underperformed at OSU. That game was a new experience for many of our players. Now we get to see if we can learn from it and pull off an upset.
 
No question that a first round road game will be a huge challenge.

Here's the thing, though. After playing in the Shoe, which hopefully was a good learning experience for our guys, the atmosphere of a big, loud road crowd won't be quite so daunting. And against the Buckeyes, an elite defensive team with several guys who will be playing on Sundays, we were our own worst enemy. We gave them 14 points courtesy of special teams, and OSU's final score was on a short field after an unsuccessful onside kick, with the game's outcome already determined. Our D played mostly good football that day.

Also, and considering our possible first round opponents, Tennessee has an excellent defense while Georgia's is good but not great. We should be able to move the ball well if we're playing in Athens.

Finally, regardless of who we'll be playing, Cignetti and his guys will know who our opponent is on Sunday, with nearly two weeks to come up with an effective game plan. If we keep the mistakes to a minimum (and somehow keep the pressures on Rourke to a minimum - - seemingly a tall order), we'll have a shot.

Go Hoosiers!
Definitely hope it goes that way. I just can't see/feel it going what way. They had some big struggles in pass protection against Michigan, they had 2 weeks to prepare and improve it, and they were just as bad, if not worse against OSU. I just worry that elite level, athletic, defensive front 7's, in an atmosphere where its more difficult for Rourke to communicate...won't go well.

But for sure, everything you responded with could happen. I hope it does! Because to your original point, get past the true road game, and none of the rest of the field scares me on a neutral field...like at all.
 
Definitely hope it goes that way. I just can't see/feel it going what way. They had some big struggles in pass protection against Michigan, they had 2 weeks to prepare and improve it, and they were just as bad, if not worse against OSU. I just worry that elite level, athletic, defensive front 7's, in an atmosphere where its more difficult for Rourke to communicate...won't go well.

But for sure, everything you responded with could happen. I hope it does! Because to your original point, get past the true road game, and none of the rest of the field scares me on a neutral field...like at all.

Winning in Athens is as tall a task as winning in Columbus. GA is on a 31 game winning streak in Athens. Tenn is certainly not bad in Neyland either but not nearly as dominant as GA in Athens.
Georgia hasn’t exactly been dominant at home as we all saw last Friday. Hell, Mississippi State put up 31 on them.
 
Georgia hasn’t exactly been dominant at home as we all saw last Friday. Hell, Mississippi State put up 31 on them.
True...I just worry specifically about their athletes in the front 7. Are the Ga Tech and Miss State QB's more mobile? Rourke, while dominant when he has time, is very sketchy when he doesn't. Georgia is giving up points, but I can't fathom they're not top of the B10 level good with their front 7.
 
Reading through these comments I assume there is no scenario where we could get a home game?
Maybe an outcome of this weekends games could push up to an 8th seed ??
 
The playoffs will be a tall order with a big uptick in opposition. I would like to see Rourke throw the ball away out of bounds instead of taking a sack. That is a concern going forward. Did it too often against Michigan and OSU, and shouldn't have happened against Purdue.
Agreed. To try and combat these 5-6 man blitzes of late, need to get back to the quick throws to outside for WR screens that were working well earlier. With that many guys coming, it should be one on one on the outside, just needing a block. Also gotta be able hit a quick wheel route once in a while to where the blitzing DE and OLB have vacated.
 
I predict we end up on the road at Penn St or Georgia.
All the SEC whining about Penn St and IU playing weak schedules will sway the committee to eliminate one of us right off the bat.
At Georgia because they think they will embarrass us to prove they don’t think we belong.
If the committee could replace us with another SEC team they would but right now they can’t justify it.They desperately want Bama in there,who gets screwed to put them in there is the question.
Not so fast my friend, the Dawgs have to beat Texas first.
 
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