Thought it would be cool to see what everyone thinks we should do defensively tonight, so leave yours below.  As for me...

I think the key to this game is to (surprisingly) make Mariota beat us passing the ball.  I know that might sound crazy considering he's being billed as the "greatest cfb QB ever".  But Mariota thrives and puts up video game numbers because of YAC.  Most of his throws are screens and other quick stuff.  

So what I think we should do is actually stack the box and play man, similar to Wisconsin but adapted to their zone read stuff.  A man takes the back and a man takes Mariota on every play.  Do not let them:

- run in any capacity

- operate their zone reads

The goal would be to turn Mariota into a dropback passer.  They can't run bubble screens every play and if they can't rush then they'll be forced to sit up and push it down the field by passing from the pocket.  

I think that our secondary is at least good enough to limit continuous big plays and get off the field.  But what I also think is that they will not stop us regardless.  We only need a few more stops than them.  The other advantage of this is it forces them out of tempo and into a more traditional rhythm which is not where they want to be.

If we can force Mariota into playing as a true, dropback pocket passer, we'll win this game.  I think our front 4 will be able to get to him often as well in this scenario.