D looked really good aside from the penalties - pitching a shutout through 3 quarters is impressive against any former Big 5 school. talent level on that side is better than i've seen in quite a while, maybe even better than the Natty team that was carried by Penix, Grubb, and the top-rated OL. Especially impressed with the LB crew, but the two newcomers on the DL (DCB and Fruean) also provide an upgrade, enabling the pass rush to get there only rushing 4.
The bad: continued horrific penalties (as y'all have noted), short-yardage and red-zone woes, injury sidelining the No. 1 RB.
none of that bodes well for contention against the big boys of the conference, let alone the CFP.
Apple Cup game thread
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Captain 97
- Posts: 3912
- Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 9:23 pm
Re: Apple Cup game thread
Obviously they are going to have to play better than that if they want to make any noise in the Big Ten. The good news is that it seems like their struggles were mostly things that they should be able to clean up rather than talent level issues. The biggest of those was the 12 Penalties for 130 Yards with several of those coming in key situations that extended drives. If you even that out I think this looks like much more like what we were hoping for. They also left a bunch of points on the field. They had first and goal on two different drives in the first half and came away with a missed field goal and a turnover on downs. Could have easily been 24-0 at halftime if they had executed well. This all boils down to what Michael was saying about Fisch's teams being undisciplined. If they can clean that up It could be a great season. If not its going to be pretty painful.
Re: Apple Cup game thread
Masterful assessments by both 57 and the Captain. I need to work on more level headed takes. So do you Michael. lol btw I am going to beat your ass in the pick em pool this season! 
dt