Mike West

I think Indiana is a better version of this year's Vanderbilt team. Reputation wise and a more powerful version of the Commodores. How they play Ohio State will settle some dust. But I disagree the SEC would run through the B1G. That's what he really wants to say. Well, our top two would have a shot at running the table on those top nine SEC teams. Both are more physical, and as deep. And I believe that will be on display in the playoffs. If Penn State would start scoring points against high caliber teams, that would settle the discussion. I want to see how Indiana handles Ohio State in the trenches. They aren't t quite as talented in terms of depth, but they don't beat themselves, and they do make plenty of plays. They'll need it next week, because Ohio State has freshman that are more talented than the Hoosier's entire team. Finebaum is an SEC shill. Can't wait until the SEC starts playing the B1G in the regular season on an annual basis. That will end a lot of this cream puff talk about depth top to bottom. 2024 has been the first year since 2007 that the SEC has been so deep. And that's because Bama and Georgia have fallen back to earth.

OBD 31-20 2 TOs 2 Sacks 275 Passing yards

Well normally one could say Notre Dame would have defeated everyone on Indiana's schedule... But they lost to Northern Illinois. So, I'm not sure that's true. It would be interesting to see A&M face the Irish now since Notre Dame is playing well. They could actually win that game again. Indiana gets its spotlight next week. As for the records, we've seen the same from the Irish for years...beat teams with winning records in the regular season, lose to a team of the same caliber in the post season. Blowout losses to elite teams.. Yep, it's eyeballs in my opinion. Four post season losses in the last five. The win against "powerhouse" South Carolina. We know how this ends. Indiana is unfortunately playing for their playoff berth next week because their ' team up north' did an awesome job of marketing itself into blue blood status in the 1930s.

Nice article David. Another point I feel is vital is that it is very difficult to win 17 games. The third quarter doesn't really matter overall if you're winning. Pace matters by far. OBD will have to play four, maybe five very good teams back to back to end the season. They will absolutely bring out their A game in the third quarter for each game, just like they did for Ohio State. They "blew" a fourth down TD mid third quarter against Ohio State - trust me, Lanning has third quarter plays dialed up already. In my opinion, it would be better to lose this week in Madison. The sting of that loss would get everyone's attention. It would refocus OBD. New England had the best team ever and lost to the upstart Giants because they survived a scare. Had they lost, I believe they would have been entirely focused to obliterate Elon Manning and his "then lucky" Giants. It's tough to win 16 or 17 straight. I'm rooting for Wisconsin this week. Sounds counter intuitive, but I believe a loss this week would make the players pay far more attention to detail than a close win. The fear of losing big to Ohio State would look large over that three week period.

Notre Dame is in the hunt because they draw too many eyeballs to ignore. They have the worse loss of all the "contenders". Including those as far down as #20. Notre Dame should be forced into at least the ACC or the B1G if they want to be in the playoffs. Five SEC teams deserve a berth ahead of ND. Except A&M. We ALL know ND would have at least three losses right now of they played in the SEC. Same with the B1G. Expand to 14 already, guarantee the ACC and Big 12 two berths, and the SEC and B1G four each, and absolutely give the SEC and B1G champs a first round bye. That proposal made total sense when it was proposed, despite it's unpopularity. It preserves the structure of College Football and keeps it from resembling the NFL. We all know the SEC and the B1G will play for the title every year anyway, so why the drama? The "lesser" conferences and ND get some playoff money and people can root for the underdog knowing they'll get obliterated (with an outside chance of an upset once a decade). This charade is an insult to avid fans. Georgia has played the toughest schedule by far, and though they should defeat Tennessee, they're getting insulted for losing twice (to two of the best contenders at that). Tennessee lost to Arkansas, Texas hasn't played anybody but Georgia, and Bama lost to Vandy. Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois. That should be an automatic disqualifier since they've played a padded schedule all year. Illinois, who did beat Michigan, whom I think would beat Notre Dame, has to beat Ohio State seal a spot in the playoffs. Despite a tougher schedule than Notre Dame. I will be very pissed if Notre Dame makes the playoffs. They are in the discussion because controversy sells.

Well that was a good game to have a letdown.

Not a single explosive play on offense this half. Penalties causing points. Somebody's looking ahead to next week.

Potential will get you fired. Look at Nico and Tennessee. Won't result in a firing, but that guy was not worth the money either. The question now becomes: will proven vet QBs start getting north of $3-4M? I'm not sold on that either quite frankly. I hope character still matters, and that OBD emphatically emphasizes that. Arch Manning was smart. He understood talent is only the beginning. You must grow into being a clutch QB in an elite conference. I believe our collective grasps that simple concept.

Moss will improve UM's QB room whether he starts or not. Warren seems to have turned a corner, and Moss will motivate him to keep improving.

I believe Penn State is misunderstood. They should have tied Ohio State at the end (bad play calls-the Tackle that motioned on the last play should have caught a pass for a TD-obviously not the play, but he was completely uncovered b/c Ohio State knew he was going to motion into the box). Furthermore, Ohio State played a more "I will out physical you instead of playing to my complete strengths-kind of disguising what they will do in the playoffs <using that lethal mid range passing game against teams that can defend the run>. Penn State is the kind of team to bite on playing physical instead of creating more opportunities for their explosive TE. I expect QB Allar to run more often, and maybe their Backup QB to assist in that. They proved a team like Vandy wouldn't be able to out physical them (and I don't think Vandy can pass protect against PSU's Front 7-especially on the edge). Vandy likely couldn't stop PSU's running game, or if PSU wants to, getting the ball to their RB in space on short passes. Vandy isn't built for that. Furthermore, I doubt Vandy can pressure QB Allar much-which will hurt them tons. I also think Penn State misuses their WRs. That group can't separate deep. They are effective on clutch routes like a deep out though. I don't like the way the OC handles that group. It puts too much pressure on the rest of the unit. Their defense is more than solid. You will not run on that group consistently enough to control the game. Ohio State proved that (despite that last drive-I believe the PSU defense was deflated by the last drive by the offense. They didn't play with the same intensity to end the game in my opinion). I doubt anybody could take on three top ten teams on the road and come out unscathed. Just not possible. Ohio State struggled against two top five teams. It's just hard physically to do that-even when you play those within 4 weeks. I also believe UGA would have struggled at Oregon and Penn State (despite having much more talent that PSU). I'm not sure the SEC is really much better than the B1G this year. Especially the top of the conferences. Oregon and Ohio State present too many challenges for SEC defenses to handle. I believe Tennesse and Texas have sealed playoff berths. Tennessee won't beat UGA, but they will use that game as their measuring stick for handling teams like Georgia. Texas will win out. But they need to work on being more consistent on offense against "physical" defenses. QB Ewers must be much more clutch (Texas seems much like last year on both sides of the ball against top echelon teams). Georgia is talented enough to win out-including the SEC Title game. They are missing that killer instinct they used to have. And QB Beck needs to make better decisions. He has been shaky in the big games so far. He's putting a lot of pressure on the defense. UGA's defense is also hot and cold. They really rely on their DL to pressure QBs. I believe the best way to attack their defense is to run up the middle. They have too much lateral speed to out run them on the edges. I believe people (especially the pundits) will be surprised at how well Indiana's offense can handle physicality. Especially against Ohio State. They have a quick passing game that can handle Ohio State's physical DL. Ohio State will blitz often on Indiana. I also believe Ohio State is prepping their run game on offense to dominate Indiana. In my opinion, the Buckeyes believe they will have to run the ball effectively to handle the playoff caliber teams. That will be their foundation for the play action passes they'll use later. Ohio State and OBD are the two best teams in the country. I definitely would not want to play either team. You can't really stop either team on offense, and you will struggle to score more than 21 on either defense -including Georgia. I doubt any team can run for more than 125 on those two defenses, and that is a requirement. I don't think any team can pressure either QB enough to make a difference. These two teams are the most consistent, and the most difficult to out--match. My opinion of course. The pundits, the sportsbooks and the mathematicians disagree with me. I've been paying close attention to all three. This season has been so awesome.

OBD 35-10 2 TOs 3 Sacks 295 Pass yards

With Striped pants. Let's go back to when Brooks started. When nobody paid attention to OBD.

We all saw what Will Howard did to OBD. So don't pay attention to Davis. Will Howard's only weakness is he's inaccurate on Fade Routes. He's missed four TDs on those so far. But he'll kill you on everything else. Now that they know their OL is fine, Howard is going to carve up playoff teams. Cam Ward on the other hand, has the same problem he had in Pullman - an unreliable defense. He'll start facing real defenses in the playoffs, so he's cooked. Ewers is only as good as his OL and WRs. The SEC exposed them, and the Longhorn defense. Which leaves us and Georgia. Ever since last year's SEC Title game, one flaw has come up with Georgia. They're not as flawless, and they tend to self destruct more often in big games. Some of that is motivation, some of it less depth. But they aren't invincible anymore. As far as OBD, we've got a third quarter issue that may be more by design. But the other issue is full concentration. I haven't seen a complete game out of OBD yet. Which is good and bad. The problem -an issue all the contenders have- is there is no room for error when it comes to facing the best of the best. Execution 95% of the time is my concern, because it is going to take that kind of focus to win it all. We match up well with them all. Will we execute on second and two ( offense or defense) is my concern. Every Series. We did that to Michigan several times, which woke a lot of pundits up. Can OBD do that to Ohio State again. To Georgia, Texas , Penn State ( yep, them too) or even Miami? That is the $100 Quadrillion question. Will OBD 'earn' gazillions for the fans? Lol We have the best chance ever to win a title. But OBD have to be damn near perfect for at least four games late in the season.

I was telling a Duck alum I've known for ages the same thing. Michigan is going to cause havoc as the season goes on. I believe the coaching staff is figuring out what works for both QBs. Michigan fans are going nuts, but they had to know losing 20 starters was going to result in a rebuilding year. I personally bet a dollar that the Wolverines would win nine games this year, but I was too optimistic (never bet the house on anything-gambling should be strictly fun and games). They are going to start scoring more points, and they definitely will give Indiana a run for their money. Ohio State is too talented this year for Michigan, but Michigan fans are silly to think their coaching staff is out of its league. Same with Michigan State (that team is going to cause headaches next year). I am so glad we joined the B1G. The conference is going to start challenging the SEC for talent very soon. NIL and the Portal have really leveled the playing field, and there are several coaches in the B1G that are going to use it to challenge SEC dominance. OBD are ahead of schedule, and it appears other teams in the conference are going to do all they can to catch up.

When I was watching the Ohio State game, it seemed like the Buckeyes don't have that kind of chemistry. It's more businesslike for them. Even Penn State celebrated big plays differently than Ohio State. When OBD make a big play-its a love fest. Even when Pellingham fumbled, there was an outpour of support for the guy. And I thought it was precious that the players basked in enjoying the historical aspect of playing at Michigan. They sat on that field several minutes after the game ended and just took in the "joy" of playing in the Big House-like they were enjoying every aspect of visiting an iconic vacation spot. That to me is sharing the experience like you're family.