The first thing I have to say is that this team is special. I think it's ironic that this was the first game we won since the UNC game in 2021 without scoring in the second half because that was a game and year of destiny too. I'm sure everyone remembers, but UNC was down 3 with a minute left and first and goal at our 2 and we won that game. Today we found a way without the offense. More thoughts:
- Bowl eligible for the 8th time in 10 years under Narduzzi. I know that's not the goal but it's something we have struggled with in the past so I'm happy we've raised the bar.
- I really hope this was just a bad game by Holstein. The fact that he talked about them mixing coverages and the pick 6 he threw against UNC when they showed man but were really in zone could be an issue. On his first interception, it's the absolute worst possible decision and outcome. Bart was WIDE open underneath and we were in FG range. Get to the 20 and go from there. Hopefully it's a lesson learned.
- I still do not love running the ball to chew up clock with Reid. I understand not wanting to take him off of the field as our best weapon but we weren't doing anything fancy. Realizing some of this is the two long YSU runs, Carter has 162 yards on 14 carries. He's bigger and runs harder. Give him the ball there. I also thought there were some awful third down calls, especially in the first half. You can't run Reid on 3rd and 4 unless you think you're going for it. This isn't a mauling run blocking line. We had we had exactly 71 yards rushing on the 18 other RB carries excepting the long TD run. Be smarter please.
- IDK that any receiver stood out yesterday but I saw some nice plays from Mump, Reid, and Bart. As I mentioned above, Bart was wide open on the first pick.
- The defense was incredible yesterday. I thought Louis, Scott, Battle, and O'Brien all played well.
- Sauls is amazing. I had no doubt that 58 yarder was good. He's such a weapon and he's now making himself an NFL prospect.
- I haven't heard anyone mention this yet but can we give some props to Junko? He's a popular whipping boy on this site and he averaged 50.7 yards per punt over 6 punts yesterday in a game where field position was at a premium.
- I know this sounds ridiculous, but the Syracuse game is a must win. We are going to be dogs in at least three more games this year and we want to put up a 9 or 10 win season, we have to hold serve.
