I had a wedding in Pittsburgh this weekend so I was able to see some of the game. I had to leave at halftime to go get dressed but here are my thoughts:
- The defense is going to struggle this year. Nevermind that Narduzzi's true recruits are fresh and sophs. With Wirginis out for the year now, we are already down 3 starters for the season counting Blair and Taleni. As bad as those are, I think we really saw the value of JW when he got hurt last year because that's when we were being gashed by the run. I have no idea how you stop Barkley without 9 in the box this week.
- Zeise looked bad but at least it was his first full game on defense in college. The fact that we have a walk-on starting at LB for the second straight year tells you all you need to know about the upper classmen LB we have.
- The DL looks bad. When you only recruit 3 star players, those guys aren't expected to contribue in a meaningful way until their 3rd year in the program. We are seeing the issue with the youth and honestly, in the trenches, it's much worse bc of the physical maturity.
- Cornerbacks turning their heads! There was miscommunication but I felt good seeing that we are getting closer to guys that can play one on one.
- O-line - I have no idea why O'Neill seems to have taken a step back. Hopefully it's just rust for him and JJS. I do think Bookser coming back really helps.
- RBs - Ollison and Hall won't be heard from as the season goes on. Moss is our best back and we saw flashes last year. I think back to the UNC home game 2 years ago when they said UNC sat in cover 2 all game because they knew Ollison couldn't break off big runs. I think we will see Moss as the lead back and Davis as the backup.
- QB - I think we forget that Peterman and Savage weren't great right off the bat (although Savage played an FSU d that won the NC). I think we need to see what this kid is made of but I agree that I didn't see the "tools" that everyone had been clamoring about. Maybe we will see it in some deep shots.
- All in all, I don't think this result was worst thing. We already have a tall task this week going into a hostile road environment against a top 5 team with the best RB in college football. Maybe they underestimate us, maybe we were looking forward, or maybe we just step up. Either way, if we keep it under 2 TDs and close most of the game, I'll be happy. The YSU win was necessary. We expected to be 1-2 following these 3 games so we are playing with house money these next two weeks.
- We need to win one of PSU/OSU/VT/Miami. It will help us from the narrative of taking a step back this year.
