Mike West

Indiana is a solid program in need of excellent players on the LOS. If they had that, they're top ten material. Both their OTs suffered from weakness. Their DL was mediocre. Their skill players are very good. They need a break away WR. Even with that they'd be dangerous. Lane Kiffin complained about the Irish victory. Well, Ole Miss looked worse against both Kentucky and Florida, so he's got nothing to complain about. Talk about no offense. I've never seen a unit disappear as fast as Mississippi's. As to Alabama, they looked even worse against Oklahoma. So all this stuff about potential is a bunch of malarkey. You perform, or you don't. This is truly the first year you can say "your record is exactly what it says it is" in the SEC. You were either very good, or pretty average. Beating a top five program and losing shortly after is like, well, Vanderbilt!

Well, that requires a DG or BN caliber QB. Cam Ward? Not sure he's as good, but he certainly made a ton of plays this year. I've already stated I believe Ward will struggle in the NFL. Don't have specifics, this is more a feel thing. He absolutely won't get the same kind of time he did even at WSU. That's what I'm talking about here. I do believe we have that kind of QB in our room again, I believe all three have that decision making and technical skills level). I seen enough from this spring to State all three QBs will make plays if and when they play (for OBD or not). Again, 13-0 doesn't matter if you lose in the playoffs. 10-2 matters if you take the crown. It's what you do with those losses that matter. That's what makes Ohio State so dangerous. And now that Penn State will certainly gain confidence with the way their QB made plays under duress (unlike his past), they're dangerous as well. In fact I believe Indiana has a real good chance at upsetting ND because their QB is making plenty of plays as well. The only time going undefeated matters is if you make the playoffs. To address your point however, I'd like to see anybody out there point to any 2024 QB that has made the kinds of plays Bo or Dillian have made. I just haven't seen anyone close to those level of performances. I have seen the right stuff out of our group though. Kind of that Joe Burrow thing ( (I thought would excel at LSU his first hear- but when he broke out- it confirmed everything I saw his Spring in Columbus). Pull the trigger when you see the right playmakers and their intangibles (which both DG and Nix had. Nix was questioned despite showing what he had his very first collegiate game- against OBD at that). So, let's define who those guys are in CFB now.

Bo had the essentials. He came from a very flawed team, with a average Receivers and a porous OL. Gabriel was already a money QB. He had a similar situation at Norman. From what I've seen, there isn't a QB in the country as good as those two. Tulane's QB is very solid. The guy at WSU is more effective running than passing, though he is an effective QB. There is concern that Dante Moore is suspect. He had an up and down year at UCLA. I believe he is more like Jalen Daniels than a bust. Daniels was horrible at ASU, then lit it up at LSU. I also believe OBD have three QBs close to Nix and Gabriel in talent level. Not to mean at least one of the freshmen will probably develop. So, what I'm effectively saying is I'm good with who we have. Everybody knows by now I don't feel the need to go 13-0. I want the Natty(s). Going 10-2 with the three we have doesn't bother me a bit because I believe all three will end up money QBs. As in more than clutch enough when the time comes (playoffs). Mr. Jon Joseph also brought up a very good point. Ryan Day and that awesome Buckeye fan base drove QB McCord out of town, especially after he had performed beyond the standard. Ohio State lost to Michigan in 2023 because an OL blew his assignment. Jon also pointed out what Day's decision truly indicates about tOSU: they can stack the talent, but that fan base is going to ruin their team. (Day has really been hexed with poor performances at the worst time). Will Howard has underperformed in two key games. He also performed well in the other two that mattered. In my arrogant hack opinion, Kansas State would be in the playoffs had their bonehead coach allowed Howard to stay so he had an option to replace his very underperforming Howard replacement. Same with Oklahoma. If both of those QBs were as excellent as advertised, Gabriel and Howard would have ridden pine in 2023. That long winded having been said, I believe it depends on the situation. I wouldn't take Ewers from Texas. He's too inconsistent. Furthermore, I really don't see a QB in next year's rotation that is clearly so dominant that the title is already in the bag. Looking forward, I believe scouting the hell out of these high school QBs matters now. They are getting developed more than ever before, so I want to see consistent NFL caliber decision making, and NFL caliber set and release capability (being able to get rid of the ball like we've seen from both Nix and Gabriel in other words). I don't have to see it from a high four star or a five star for that matter. Lanning gets these kids to camp often. What I look for is how fast they adapt to coaching and APPLY it moving forward consistently. I have watched Akili Smith Jr often the past nine months. He gets it in 7on7, but he isn't consistent in games. A lot of these kids rely too much on their talent rather than on technique. Smith is excellent when he applies the principles necessary. But he gets complacent. Natural ability is enough. No matter how many plays you make in practice or in high school. So obviously, I'm not paying two million for a wunderkind that dominates kids. In closing, what I saw from this year's Spring Game convinced me we are fine. By the way, Ohio State's Cardell was second string in their 2014 Spring Game, so he was miscast. tOSU just had a hell of a set of QBs that year. Same for Joe Burrow. It was clearly evident in his Ohio State Spring Game that he was a "dog". That's what I see in OBD QB room. Playmakers. I don't believe we need another Portal QB. Let these guys go through their hard knocks. They are going to be difference makers. We should shore up our defense (as mentioned astutely in this thread). Defense still wins championships. Even if you have a blistering high octane offense. Those offenses always eventually run into a defense or perfect storm that shuts them down.

I won’t mind the challenge so long as OBD play clean games. The offense is playing top shelf football. It may be a big blessing for the defense to get a wake up call. They don’t;t want to repeat last year, so they’re probably going to work harder than they have all season.

Boy wouldn’t it nice to make a statement and take out three blue bloods…two in their home territory. I sure would call them out further too by saying the eSECpn never leaves the South till the Post Season. Notice how Bama’s AD starting threatening to schedule fewer P4 OOC games? As if their traveling less than 800 miles a game wasn't an advantage for them. There’s a reason Georgia waited until they were a powerhouse before they scheduled OBD. Teams in the SEC won’t dare risk their vaunted reputation by risking a loss to a "lesser" conference. Not to mention they had to do everything they could to take down Pete Carroll’s USC juggernaut using the NCAA (because they knew damn well they weren’t going to on the field). I hope Penn State learned some lessons last week. Namely they can pass the ball on anybody if they really put their minds to it. They are actually physical enough to handle Georgia. I wouldn’t mind a rematch in Atlanta. B1G on B1G two years in a row. That would be lovely. Would be even better if Indiana schemed their way into troubling both Notre Dame and Georgia. That would shut up a lot of SEC talk.

The Ducks allowed three short field TDs to BSU. When the chips were down, BSU went nowhere. The narrative nationally was Boise State nearly pulled off an upset. I don’t even beg to differ. We could easily say it wasn’t the Special Teams that won the game for OBD, but the experimenting and uncanny turnovers that allowed Boise State a shot at an upset. Remember, we got 14 "easy" points and so did they. Take away those 4 TDs and what do you have? Probably another 4 points added to our victory since we shut it down when we hit the Red Zone at the end of the game. Boise State is going to get run out of Idaho come Round One. I was hoping we’d do the honors. Kind of that “it isn’t Boise State’s fault they have to play us" kind of thing. It’s really too bad, I really wanted to serve notice to delusional BSU fans that they will never defeat Oregon again. It is time to bury the hatchet and get the G5 a financial plan by giving them their own playoff system.

I will say two things: Nobody has been more clutch than Dillian Gabriel all damn year. Dillian Gabriel answered every question about whether he is NFL caliber or not. He will further cement that in the playoffs. Dillian Gabriel has outplayed both Travis Hunter and Ashton Jenty all year. He also beat Jenty head to head, and did so with an OL that was totally inconsistent that game. Oregon will not get the respect it's due until we win a Natty. What better way to leave a lasting impression than to go 17-0 and beat the very best (especially if it's Ohio State again, Texas and Georgia). Gabriel won't get the Heisman because the powers that be don't want to legitimize OBD.

And the debate begins instead of Nick Saban saying the SEC could settle this by scheduling more P4 teams in OOC games, he went straight to the SEC has an NFLesque schedule and is getting punished. Alabama roasted Wisconsin. But they were the only SEC team to leave the South. Sure, they played tougher teams back to back, but I am sure playing Grambling State the week before your main rivalry in November skews things. SMU would gladly play Ole Miss to learn how to stack up to the better conferences. Why isn’t Ole Miss playing above average North Carolina to put an end to strength of schedule? That would display the level of talent the lesser conferences actually have. Furthermore, beating ranked teams should be relegated to the top 12 teams. Those are the playoff caliber teams. Indiana, Notre Dame, and Arizona State will be on display against a ‘more talented field’ this year. My thing is the SEC has a talented collection of teams that try to use that group as a weapon when they are totally familiar with each other. Let’s see them play teams of similar caliber they are not familiar with to see if it’s really a talent gap, or just a protection racket ( I happen to believe there is a talent gap, but I want that belief confirmed).

One of the things all the experts and pundits talk about when it comes to big games and championship games: every mistake is magnified, every flaw is exposed. Ohio State and Penn State displayed what OBD will look like against the playoff field. Ironically, some of the mediocre teams presented a blueprint for how to defend OBD, but both elite teams couldn’t pull that off. It is correct to be concerned with the lulls we see from Our Beloved Ducks. I also say it is difficult to be perfect. The lulls we saw last night show it is near impossible to be perfect. Not to mention OBD still faced elite defenses with talent equal to the number one team in the nation. Earlier in the year, I argued OBD need to lose a game in order to reboot. It’s tough for any elite team to win 17 straight over the course of the same season. Well, Dan Lanning’s idea wasn’t "sometimes you have to lose in order to win ", it was "you just need to do everything in order to win". I believe that emerged last night. Penn State wouldn’t fold, and OBD rose to the moment. I believe that stemmed from the will to win instead of succumbing to the moment. Those losses to the Fuskies last year had an impact on the mindset of this year’s team. There were many moments last night where I was totally livid because my pet peeves were violated last night. The things I believe in were ‘ignored’ (lol). I don’t run a program, and I see flaws in teams all the time. I have to give Lanning’s staff credit. They work to make those flaws meaningless. Instead, they focus on performance in the moment. This team is dialed into one play at a time, and executing during that specific play. Win the Day has turned into Win the Play. I am extremely proud of this team. They give it everything they’ve got. That’s all a fan can ask for-or at least all I can ask for.

One of the things I really give our defense credit for is they don’t cave to momentum. In both the Ohio State and Penn State games, the defense did enough. What I mean by that is Penn State nor Ohio State were not able to make enough plays to outscore OBD offense. That’s huge because the offense didn’t have to be absolutely perfect. The offense had margin for error. I believe that is the difference between this year and last year ( outside the fact fact the offense is pretty consistent - it is completely difficult to stop the offense or kill the kind of momentum the offense maintains). The defense may have difficulty with talented teams, but they find ways to handle lead changes, holding the lead, or give the offense the opportunity to take the lead when the situation calls for it.

I thought the 4Q was indicative of what BSU will face no matter who they play. And no, I was stressed

Do you really think Boise State has an elite offense?

I don’t remember who said this, but basically his point was ‘the pick’ as our brand has seen its day. Well ironically, that interception started the run that lead to the Rose Bowl that revealed we still had a way to go if we were going to catch the blue bloods. Fast forward to this year, OBD beat every single blue blood we faced this year. We are the B1G Champions year 1. I’d say we have a new identity. KINGS OF THE NORTH. ’KINGS OF THE NORTH’ ’KINGS OD THE NORTH’ ‘KINGS OF THE NORTH’

Oh I think Arizona State would boat race the Broncos. Boise State does not have the kind of defense to handle the playoff field. And I believe Arizona State’s defense is underrated.

Now I’m going to nit pick. As a safety, when you have two deep, both safeties are responsible for the post, fade, corner or post corner routes. There is absolutely no reason to look at the QB. On the interception, Safety Johnson is looking right at the QB. When WB Allan throws the ball, Johnson is ten yards behind the play. If CB Reed doesn’t cover properly, that is either a deep completion or a TD. THAT IS HOW YOU LOSE FOOTBALL GAMES. For t’hose of you new to this forum, you have no idea how ticked off I get when I see this repeatedly. If I coached, you wouldn’t play performing like that. Furthermore, I would su=ingle it out in film study. I would alson[robe you can’t cover like that in practice every damn day. This is COVID, the Spanish Flu, WWI and WWII combined as far as I’m concerned. I will blow up an imagined universe if we lose again because of deliberate coverage policies like that ( see my comments about a safety I will not name that ran past a game sealing interception because he looked at the damn QB instead of taking away his option to throw that ball). I absolutely hate the way safeties, corners and linebackers cover receivers.