minibeaver
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Yesterday was tough; we did not play a great game and still had a chance to win at the end, even with some poorly timed mistakes. That said, I feel like our team is playing fairly well, and exceeding expectations all things considered. Here’s why:
I feel like after beating Michigan everyone became more confident about the year, more than we should have. One reason is because we didn't realize how weak they are this year. The other is that- in my opinion- the game was CLOSER than the box score and many of us either didn't realize that or chose to ignore it. The other Conference games we won were due to special teams and plays that are not high percentage i.e. kick returns for touchdowns, long field goal made by a young kicker that struggles with PAT’s, amazing individual plays on D, you get the idea.
Some are upset about the D giving up points early. They feel like Claey’s is failing to get his guys ready or prepare properly. My thought is maybe he has our D playing at a higher level than they should be, by making great adjustments. He has to do this because we don’t have the talent for him to just tell the guys “hey go out there and make athletic plays”. We win by scheme, not by talent. Also, the fact that we have what, two or three true freshman playing significant minutes on the D-Line is HUGE.
On Offense, we are looked at as this bruising, unstoppable ground and pound team. I think we have found that we are not as dominant in the run as we thought. We learned this last year also. We run as much as we do because we have to, not because we are all that great at it. The run game gets exposed by good Defenses, and even bad ones that load the box. We don’t have the talent on the line yet to be a dominant run team. To me, that’s the most important recruiting need for our Offense going into the future. This Offense needs a great offensive line, and I don’t think we are there yet.
Lastly, although I’m not a big rankings guy, I looked at average stars per team over the last few years. I don’t put TOO much weight on recruit rankings, but if you compare the list to how these teams are doing right now, it gives a reasonably accurate idea. I think Kill and Company are very good at getting under the radar guys, but it’s tough to EXCEED expectations with a few guys that went unnoticed in High School ball.
Here are the Big Ten roster rankings by star talent according to Athlon:
Ohio State- 4
Michigan- 12
Nebraska- 23
Penn State- 27
Michigan State- 30
Rutgers- 41
Iowa/Maryland- 44
Wisconsin- 46
Indiana- 53
Northwestern- 54
Illinois- 56
Minnesota- 58
Purdue- 64
*Out of the entire FBS, Michigan State and Wisconsin were the biggest over-achievers
If you look at how we have fared against teams that are supposedly more talented we have done well the last few years.
I’m not trying to make excuses for the coaches or the players; we could have won that game yesterday. But I think the margin for error on this team is a lot thinner than many on this board think. We simply do not have the players to go into an opposing B1G stadium and expect a beat down. We need to be honest with ourselves about where our team is at right now. That said, I really think we can pull it together and win one more Conference game, maybe even two if we get some great special teams play or some turnovers.
On to next week!
I feel like after beating Michigan everyone became more confident about the year, more than we should have. One reason is because we didn't realize how weak they are this year. The other is that- in my opinion- the game was CLOSER than the box score and many of us either didn't realize that or chose to ignore it. The other Conference games we won were due to special teams and plays that are not high percentage i.e. kick returns for touchdowns, long field goal made by a young kicker that struggles with PAT’s, amazing individual plays on D, you get the idea.
Some are upset about the D giving up points early. They feel like Claey’s is failing to get his guys ready or prepare properly. My thought is maybe he has our D playing at a higher level than they should be, by making great adjustments. He has to do this because we don’t have the talent for him to just tell the guys “hey go out there and make athletic plays”. We win by scheme, not by talent. Also, the fact that we have what, two or three true freshman playing significant minutes on the D-Line is HUGE.
On Offense, we are looked at as this bruising, unstoppable ground and pound team. I think we have found that we are not as dominant in the run as we thought. We learned this last year also. We run as much as we do because we have to, not because we are all that great at it. The run game gets exposed by good Defenses, and even bad ones that load the box. We don’t have the talent on the line yet to be a dominant run team. To me, that’s the most important recruiting need for our Offense going into the future. This Offense needs a great offensive line, and I don’t think we are there yet.
Lastly, although I’m not a big rankings guy, I looked at average stars per team over the last few years. I don’t put TOO much weight on recruit rankings, but if you compare the list to how these teams are doing right now, it gives a reasonably accurate idea. I think Kill and Company are very good at getting under the radar guys, but it’s tough to EXCEED expectations with a few guys that went unnoticed in High School ball.
Here are the Big Ten roster rankings by star talent according to Athlon:
Ohio State- 4
Michigan- 12
Nebraska- 23
Penn State- 27
Michigan State- 30
Rutgers- 41
Iowa/Maryland- 44
Wisconsin- 46
Indiana- 53
Northwestern- 54
Illinois- 56
Minnesota- 58
Purdue- 64
*Out of the entire FBS, Michigan State and Wisconsin were the biggest over-achievers
If you look at how we have fared against teams that are supposedly more talented we have done well the last few years.
I’m not trying to make excuses for the coaches or the players; we could have won that game yesterday. But I think the margin for error on this team is a lot thinner than many on this board think. We simply do not have the players to go into an opposing B1G stadium and expect a beat down. We need to be honest with ourselves about where our team is at right now. That said, I really think we can pull it together and win one more Conference game, maybe even two if we get some great special teams play or some turnovers.
On to next week!
