The Week That Was

 

1.Exercising the Demons: Finally. Those three UW losses have hung over the program for the last two years, and you could tell this game was circled by the entire football operation. I’d contrast the way you saw our players and coaches address/play this game versus the way Ohio State handled Michigan. Ohio State, from their coach down, was tight and clearly more and more rattled as the game progressed. Despite a slower start through the first quarter, we played a dialed in  second and third quarter and left absolutely no doubt. After watching Ducks vs Them, you could tell the meaning behind this game, and Lanning once again showed there’s no better motivator out there.

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I remember watching Bryce run out the tunnel with the bat as a captain, and following the story behind that was pretty damn cool. After UW knocked us out of the playoffs the last two years, here’s hoping our performance against them sets the tone for the run we’re about to make.

 

2. Offensive Breakdown: Pretty dang clean performance from the entire offense, but I think this one started with the OL. Still without G Marcus Harper, Dave Iuli got almost all the reps at Guard and this unit played possibly their best game of the season. Specifically, our run blocking was really good, and both James and Whittington put up great numbers on the ground. For a running game that was felt inconsistent at times, especially lately, this was a welcomed development heading into the big games. We allowed zero sacks and zero TFLs, and you can contrast that with the 10 sacks and 7 TFLs we got defensively. Hard to argue with 49 points, especially given two scoring drives were stopped by really uncharacteristic drops by Evan Stewart. It still feels the downfield passing game is a hair off, honestly since Maryland. From my untrained eye, Gabriel again looked a bit gun shy to let the ball go, as he certainly had the time and guys were open. I saw some of the same the last two games, and I’m not sure what changed in regards to our vertical shots. I do think this game was an improvement, and Tez’s return will certainly help. That said, these big time games, as you saw against Ohio State, require some explosive plays to win. It’s too hard to expect us to methodically drive the ball down the field against really good defenses and convert TDs the red zone. I would expect Penn State to try to take away our run game, so this is a great week to get this aspect dialed in.

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3. Defensive Breakdown: Man, our defensive line is really special. It’s the best group we’ve ever had, and I’d argue they are playing their best right now. Jamaree Caldwell basically destroyed the entire second quarter, and Amauri Washington gets off the ball faster than any IDL that I can remember. That’s not to mention your Big Ten sack leader Matayo, alongside a healthy Jordan Burch that dominates the edge like very college players can. With Bassa the healthiest he’s been all year, I love our LB rotation of Bassa, Jackson and Boettcher and Jacobs is probably one of the best 4th string LBs nationally. I like the matchup of this unit against almost anyone nationally, and the flexibility that a dominant DL gives us is huge moving forward. My one concern, which only a few teams can probably exploit, is our safety/nickel play. Brandon Johnson, Tysheem Johnson and Kobe Savage have played well all year, and they are super experienced and sound players. That said, they do lack ideal size and speed at the position and I could see certain matchups at TE or slot giving us some issues. Thankfully, few teams can do this, and with the play the best of the defense is playing, we can roll extra coverage to those spots.

 

4. What 12-0 Means: Special. I’m guilty of letting the matchups of the 12-team playoff consume me every week, but I’m trying to remind myself all week that 12-0 is pretty dang incredible. There’s one team in the country at 12-0, in our first year in the Big Ten, having beaten both Ohio State and Michigan. We went into Michigan and Wisconsin and won, and I was lucky to be at both with some of my oldest friends. For degenerates like me, the outcome of the season is often how I remember it, but I hope no matter how this one turns out, we realize 12-0 ain’t nothing. 

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Having said that, how things shake out Saturday and Sunday will have a huge impact on where this season ultimately ends up. I see the argument for the 1 seed, and I see it for the 5 seed. I’ll never root for us to lose, and going 13-0 with a Big Ten Title is the only thing that this program is thinking about. For us fans, I think it’s largely a win-win, especially if UNLV wins Friday night. It is hard to know what the committee will do with conference championship losers, but for those who like to have teams to root for, here’s our best path:

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1. Oregon

2. Texas

3. SMU

4. Boise

5. ND

6. Ohio state

7. Georgia

8. Penn st

9. Tenn

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For this to happen, root for a big Oregon win and big Texas win. It also would be great to have UNLV win Friday, as that would 100% guarantee we’d host them at Autzen if we did lose. 

 

Penn State is certainly no slouch but they don’t scare me like an Ohio State does. They are the type of team that typically handles opponents where they have a talent advantage but have traditionally struggled against more talented faster teams. Their defense is the better unit, and they have a 1st round NFL talent in Edge Abdul Carter. Containing him will be a big key. Outside him, they are solid across the board, but our playmakers should be able to have an advantage in space. I like our defense against their offense a lot more, especially our DL vs their OL. I’d say their OL is average, and our DL is playing as well as anyone out there. They generally lean pretty run heavy, but I don’t expect them to be able to just line up and run successfully at us. Their QB Drew Allar is a good college player, and they’ll bring in their backup in certain packages as more of a  dual-threat guy. Their best offensive player by far is the TE Tyler Warren, and they use him a ton of different ways. I’d hope we roll some additional resources there, as I don’t love the matchup of Warren one-on-one versus our safeties and LBs. It’ll be a good game, and it’s a real matchup but I do like our chances.

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5. ​Game Notes:

 

• We still somehow never can get a holding call against us, despite a dominant DL. I rewatched their TD drive at the end of the first half twice, and there were multiple third downs where we had defenders, often Bassa, getting full-ok yanked and no call. Maybe, somehow, this will be the week that changes.

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• We again did multiple really smart things on special teams that gained small advantages. The two-point conversion pass from Sadiq to Herbert should have been a TD as Cornelius wasn’t far enough down the field to make that call in my opinion. Furthermore, we smartly put Sadiq and Whittington at our second level on the return team, meaning they were pooch kicking to super athletic and fast returners. Both kickoffs resulted in our ball past the 40-yard line versus the typical 25. 

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• Mentioned it briefly above but Bryce Boettcher is now playing himself into NFL discussions. He’s so fun to watch play and represents the best of college athletics. It’s a long shot, but we’d like to bring him back next season, and give him a far better chance to make real $$ as an NFL player versus the grind of minor league baseball. 

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• Dante Moore gave me a lot to be excited about in his scoring drive. You can tell the effortless arm talent he has, combining both a quick release with an ability to make every throw. The biggest change I foresee, especially when compared to Nix and Gabriel, is that he is likely to be less comfortable with check-down throws. His arm talent suggests that he will be a high(er) risk, high(er) reward QB. How Stein’s offense molds around his talent and tendencies will be something to watch this Spring. 

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Team Update

 

While the bye week situation was brutal during the season, the late bye has now presented a great opportunity for our health. Going into the CCG, I’d argue we are as healthy as we’ve been all season. Jordan Burch and Tez Johnson should be 100% this week, and I think there’s a good chance we’ll see Marcus Harper back as well. Even if he can’t, I thought Dave Iuli played his best game yet on Saturday. 

 

• Roger Saleapaga and Kyler Kasper are down for the year, but Kasper should qualify for a redshirt given his timeline. 

• Matthew Bedford will be a big returning piece assuming he gets his redshirt. 

• Jahlil Florence is getting closer and closer, but don’t expect him to go against Penn State. It’s possible he sees some snaps to get game reps under his belt, but given how well Muhammad, Reed and Manning are playing, reps are likely to be few and far between.

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Recruiting Update​

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Signing Day Recap: Heck of a signing day as Lanning was the story for the third straight year. For those who didn’t follow super closely, here’s a quick recap as the day went:

 

• Held onto 5-star WR Dallas Wilson after huge pushes late from in-state Florida and Miami

• Flipped high 4-star QB JKS from Hawaii

• Flipped 5-star CB Naeem Offord from Ohio State

• Signed 4-star big-time athlete and EDGE Tobi Hasstrup from Texas

 

We leave Wednesday with the top overall class on Rivals, 2nd overall by On3, and 3rd overall on 247. 

 

Portal Prep: Expect Oregon to sign 7-8 out of the portal; if we are wrong in our assessment, we’re likely to be light. We are losing a lot of production, but Oregon’s ultimate success will come down to production value … can we get the pieces we want at the right price?

 

From Christian Gonzalez to Bo Nix to Derrick Harmon, we have shown an ability to consistently develop first round NFL talent via the portal and I don’t expect that to change this year. I know the staff is already working on some names, but until we can start to list those, here are the positions I’d expect the staff to prioritize this portal season:

 

• 1-2 RB (Assuming James and Whittington Leave)

• 1 Bigger TE

• 1 OT

•  IOL 

• 1 WR (If Stewart leaves or if I high-level big body is out there)

• 1 IDL

• 1-2 LB

• 1 S

• 1 CB

 

Odds and Ends: 

 

• Linkon Cure was all but signed when he left Eugene this weekend, but clearly family/distance played a role at the last minute. We were told directly by the staff that he cried on the phone letting Coach Lanning know, and he looked less than enthused while announcing. It’s really too bad, but I'm planning to watch him pull a Dante Moore in a year or two. 

• Noah Mikhail was very much in play over the 48 hours. We couldn’t quite get it done, but he’s another that I’ll be tracking over the next year or two. 

• Mark Wiepert was a fun story late, and plans are to play both football and baseball to begin according to both staffs. Obviously, as time goes, I’d expect that to be quite challenging at the QB position.

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Your $$ at Work​​

We are gearing up for portal season, and ensuring we are able to provide the staff they support they need to retain and acquire the best talent. As mentioned above, this staff has set ourselves up to be an extremely attractive destination again, and we are the only team in the country to not lose a starter to the portal since Coach Lanning took over!

 

What’s to Come at DR​​

We have 4 days left in our Campaign leading up to the B10 Championship Game! 

 

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