The Victors

That game felt surprisingly satisfying. I think it’s paradoxically a result of the awful start – when we fell behind, even a close win seemed like a decent outcome. Then we proceeded to run a highlight-reel sequence on both sides of the ball until the backups came in.

Underwood was given a much more challenging menu of plays, and his execution rate was predictably lower than last week (when he was nearly perfect while running a training-wheels offense) but vastly better than week one. The fumble was a bad play, not just because he fumbled but because he evacuated a clean pocket, sacking himself AND fumbling. His footwork was poor when he underthrew an uncovered Buchanan in the slot in the 3rd quarter.

Otherwise he was really good. Accurate, progressed through multiple reads, and had to fire some darts even with unblocked rushers coming straight at him. It was exciting to see the version of Brycle we all project will be his final form – the QB who can routinely run for 100 and throw for 300 and give the defense no chance.

The running game looked … basically the same. I don’t want to read too much into it, given the 9-man fronts and having to reshuffle at the last moment. But we’re still struggling to ID blocks, and an unblocked linebacker in the hole is going to kill your run play equally if it’s UTEP or Ohio State. Fixing the run blocking feels like the #1 challenge this team faces. If we get that, we could be extremely good.

Second straight game against an overmatched OL, but the depth at defensive end is absurd. We have a great 3-man rotation (JHD, Nichols, Marshall) and then the depth pieces (Boney, Patterson, now Carter Meadows)... every one of those guys lived up to the fall camp hype. Their pass rush is incredibly fun to watch.

One thing that hasn’t come true is the preseason comparison to Minter. This is not a Minter defense. Minter played 90% zone, and constantly mixed up zone looks. This is a predominantly man defense with a little zone tossed in. I don’t think that is a philosophical choice so much as we just have 4 terrific cover corners and we want to let their matchups dictate the passing game.

Between the pass rush and secondary, I would not be surprised if we wind up with the best pass defense in America (the two big coverage busts in the first half notwithstanding). Run defense is still a work in progress, need to see how we look against Iowa and PSU.