Care: Offensive Line

We are very lucky to have Julian Sayin this season. There are countless praises being sung about his arm talent, and they are well-deserved. But his pocket presence, ability to avoid pressure, and quick release have masked severe issues our line currently has in pass blocking. We all know of our issues at rushing the ball. They are well documented and a legitimate concern (Bo's 51 yard run notwithstanding). However, our pass blocking is not elite either.

Looking beyond the pressures and sacks given up (which look elite on paper), Sayin has masterfully avoided defenders who have left our OL in the dust on weekly basis. Our tackles are slow and extremely vulnerable to speed rushers and inside moves, and our miscommunications on the interior are a problem.

I don't know if there's a truly elite DL in college football this season that would allow an opponent to only rush three or four guys while getting pressure, and successfully drop 7-8 but if there were, they would be a real problem for us. We have time to improve but this will be our downfall in the playoffs, if anything.

Don't Care: Targeting subjectivity

Caleb Downs should have been ejected and it shouldn't have been debatable. On the merits of the rule and if they are "requiring" all of the factors of targeting in order to declare it aside, he launched upwards into a defenseless receiver and went helmet-to-helmet.

I enjoy the fact we had a call fall our way for once in this regard, as a fan, but this seemed like a textbook hit that the rules is specifically trying to prevent. If this hit doesn't count as targeting, I'm not sure what does at this point.

I just want clarity.

Care: Kenyatta Jackson, everybody

He hasn't played poorly this season but yesterday he was monster. I noticed it organically, without paying direct attention to him throughout the game. I found myself noticing 97 in the backfield or near a big play almost every time they were happening (and it wasn't Arvell Reese). KJ played his best game of the season and if this is a sign of things to come and continued improvement on his part...that's going to be huge for us the rest of the season.

Well done to Kenyatta, monster game!

Care: Throwing Over The Middle

Getting a bit nitpicky here but that's where we are when we're playing this good. The one true weakness to Sayin's game may very well be a product of his height. We've seen multiple times this season that throws over the middle are at high risk of being batted/intercepted.

We say this during JJ's amazing TD catch against Penn State in which we ran a play we've run more than once this year in that situation and Penn State had a defender sitting right in the spot the ball was going to. There was also the same exact pass almost intercepted against either Wisconsin or Illinois (I can't remember). My guess is that this route is pre-determined and Sayin is almost always throwing it quickly.

I'd like to see us avoid this particular pass if it's so risky.

Care: Defensive Challenges This Season

The defensive dominance we've seen this season has been incredible. All credit to Patricia, our coaches, and our players. Everyone has stepped up in every way.

That being said, I wish this defense could be challenged by a good offense, specifically a passing offense, before a potential conference championship game against Indiana. We know our defense is sound and disciplined but we haven't seen an even remotely good passing offense yet this season. The best we've seen this season is Washington at 25th, but they have built those numbers against bottom feeders, every game against a decent defense they haven't moved the ball well in the air. After that is Illinois at 33rd. Not great.

I'd love to have our guys truly tested to see if there are areas for improvement we need before we get into the post-season so we aren't surprised.