At least he isn't playing like he did last season. I wonder if his groin is still bothering him or if he still isn't in game shape yet, but he has been pretty unimpressive in limited action this season. He was absolutely man-handled on the long run by S. Houston in the 1st quarter the other day.
Not surprisingly with a brand new LB in Boren, Steve Miller starting, and C.J. Barnett playing for the first time in a month there was poor communication on Saturday.
Like we have seen so far this season, when the coaching staff feels that they have a pure talent advantage over an opponent they will tinker with subs, reads, schemes etc. I think the IU game was yet another example of this coaching staff still feeling this team out. Miller's reads were limited, that stupid punt formation was tried again, and subs on defense were made earlier than they would be in a game that the coaches deemed losable.
This game was all but over in the first quarter using this strategy, but a few things happened and the game turned. Devin Smith dropped a TD, the subs on defense (namely Bennett and Hale) were beaten soundly and then that stupid punt formation was tried again. Uh oh, we have ourselves a ball game. We have all seen how quickly things can change in college football and I think the coaching staff got caught a little bit with their collective pants down in Bloomington. You give a home team some momentum and some belief and strange things will happen.
Looking forward to a tighter team and a crisper product against Purdue.
Good point about Bennett. I wondered that too, as I had high expectations for him after an impressive debut last year. Hopefully he gets back to his old self soon, as we will especially need him for Wisky and scum.
Yes, the D-Line rotation is a necessity, but to this point it hasn't been very reliable. Hale and Bennett are a significant drop off from Hankins and Goebel IMHO.
vacuuming sucks
Now the depth chart has Bennett at 3rd string DE. I think that answers my question about his health.
vacuuming sucks