Care: Kyle McCord determines this team's ceiling
I could almost copy/paste last week's thread of mine that talked about this. But his play determines the limit this team can go. We have a very good defense and elite skill position players on offense. His repeated, consistent poor decisions as our QB will absolutely hold this team back from a championship, if not the playoffs.
He can throw a good ball. The quick slant to Carnell Tate was sublime. The dime to Tre in the end zone that was dropped was fantastic. But he is absolutely guaranteed for 4-5 terrible throws per game, whether they are into coverage that almost any other QB can see, or just bad throws (like the throw wide right to Harrison while he was shielding from the defender). He plays as if there is a single, designated receiver every play and will throw it to him almost regardless of the defensive coverage. He's easily rattled and tricked by the defense and if I'm a good DC I'm dropping 7 into zone coverage and making McCord prove he can pick that apart without making bad mistakes.
Don't Care: Our defensive dominance
I kid mostly, but do have some reservations. Our defense has looked unbelievable the first 8 games of the season. Outside of an exceptional QB run call by Wisconsin that led to a TD, this defense has been impermeable for the most part. Props to them.
However, part of me still holds back a decent chunk of belief because we play in the Big Ten which may have 2 decent QBs: JJ McCarthy and Taulia. That's it. McCord is not a good QB right now. At best he is average. Beyond that, our defense has not faced a well-oiled offense of any capacity this season. I assume they are good, but their numbers are still inflated because of the competition. For example, we played Wisconsin tonight with their backup QB, one of the best RBs in the country hurt for most of the game, and barely any WR corp of note. You could say similar things about offenses from PSU, Maryland, ND, etc.
Maybe no teams outside of the Pac-12 have truly elite offenses (maybe LSU or Oklahoma?).
But our defense has looked great against the competition they've had to face. Maybe I'm being an old (35 year old) man who just doesn't fully believe yet after years of Coombs' defenses. Hopefully I'm proven wrong.
Care: We have an RB1
We have sniffed an improvement from our running game the last two weeks against Purdue and PSU. It's been hinted at. Today it was showcased. Not coincidentally it happened with the return of Tre.
He's legit. He brings something to the offense we didn't have. He's fast, shifty, and our O-line wants to make him look good. He ran extremely well today on a day where our passing offense was not one we could rely on.
If anyone has any questions about our pecking order in the backfield, please direct them to any random sewer grate you see on the nearest curb. He's our guy.
Don't Care: For Camp Randall's Black Magic
Three major injuries, three turnovers, and a game far closer on the scoreboard (which matters most) than what happened on the field.
Camp Randall night games can go to hell. It's an amazing atmosphere and props to the crowd for making it so, but I effing hate these types of games that have no business being nailbiters.
We win that game and I never really had a doubt because our defense is so good and their offense without Allen is just so, so easily contained. But that game should have been a 30 point game. I'm glad we are done with it and can move on.
Care: Marvin Harrison is the best player in America
After the first 9 weeks of the season I don't see an argument for anyone else. Every single candidate has had a down game, but only one is as essential as Harrison is to his team's success (yes, this is debatable). Without him we likely have two losses (ND, PSU), and possibly a third tonight. He battles through injuries, pass interference, face masks, and makes every catch nobody is expected to make.
Outside of Brock Bowers, there is nobody who plays a position other than QB who should be considered as best in America, and even the QBs who are front runners have had bad games against good competition (or not good competition).
If he doesn't end up in NYC for the presentation it further invalidates the legitimacy of the award.
Don't Care: This week's first playoff rankings
The first rankings mean jack shit outside of possibly giving a clue into what the committee values this year in terms of resume. It's likely the Top 4 is, in no particular order, UGA, Michigan, OSU and Washington. I'm not sure who else would qualify at this point with Oklahoma's loss. The order doesn't matter outside of the #1 seed not winning the championship except for maybe '21 (please prove me wrong if I am, it's late and I don't fee like looking it up).
Let's have the usual hubbub on the boards debating it when they are released, but please let us all realize they matter very little for every team that controls their own destiny. That means us. Let's just keep winning and the rest will take care of itself.
