We saw the same team we've seen all season and Ole Miss just wanted it more.
An offense that doesn't get into rhythm and get drives going.....check.
Dropped passes.....check.
No pass rush out of the front 4 & having to rely on the blitz......check.
OL play very suspect.
Where things were different:
Didn't get those big offensive plays they'd been hitting off/on all season.
Missed tackles were different (was reminiscent of all the times Fields was able to break loose). But lousy overall.
Ole Miss was able to get the ball out so dang fast on pass plays that it made the blitz heavy scheme completely ineffective. And credit Ole Miss for being able to do that so effectively. And because of it, no takeaways happened.
Was still an incredibly winnable game, which is very frustrating. But there weren't any "new" weaknesses shown. The team has lived all year off of the defense being able to take the ball away and getting a few big plays out of the offense. Neither ended up hitting for them Saturday. And I'll go on record saying that aside from that horrible sack Tuttle gave up at the end, I don't think having Penix in would've made a big difference.
Still the best IU season I've ever seen and I can't help but be bullish on them for next year. They just have to keep grinding & improving at those little things to make this not a fluke.
An offense that doesn't get into rhythm and get drives going.....check.
Dropped passes.....check.
No pass rush out of the front 4 & having to rely on the blitz......check.
OL play very suspect.
Where things were different:
Didn't get those big offensive plays they'd been hitting off/on all season.
Missed tackles were different (was reminiscent of all the times Fields was able to break loose). But lousy overall.
Ole Miss was able to get the ball out so dang fast on pass plays that it made the blitz heavy scheme completely ineffective. And credit Ole Miss for being able to do that so effectively. And because of it, no takeaways happened.
Was still an incredibly winnable game, which is very frustrating. But there weren't any "new" weaknesses shown. The team has lived all year off of the defense being able to take the ball away and getting a few big plays out of the offense. Neither ended up hitting for them Saturday. And I'll go on record saying that aside from that horrible sack Tuttle gave up at the end, I don't think having Penix in would've made a big difference.
Still the best IU season I've ever seen and I can't help but be bullish on them for next year. They just have to keep grinding & improving at those little things to make this not a fluke.