Mike West

Agreed Steven, That is one DUDE. He needs at least 5-7 targets each game (I hope we get another). Not to mention, getting him on Safeties, and even IU's corners is an absolute must. I watched IU handle osu2's WRs well, but they were holding those WRs. They also know they can't stop our WR/TE group. More on that Thursday. You read my mind on the double moves. That will be key. But they must be set up. Not sure how much time Stein will have designing a groujp of plays to go to and get the practice in, but I hope that is a feature. The more I watch tape, the more I have to admit they may have the best DL/Front 7 in the country. They were excellent in so many ways. I hope to have time to explain why later. I think Moore needs to lose sleep this week watching tape (until Wednesday). It will take some timing in practice this week as well. So I'm hoping they drill the heck out of reading each side of the ball pre snap and making decisions based on spacing as well as reading Man or Zone coverage. I think he is doing fine, but it takes awhile to master that skill set. He should come back next year-it will boost his NFL career for sure in my opinion.

Excellent points Happy! A few thoughts. Dave23 has a very valid point about running the ball on Friday-I agree. With stipulations, but we ran very well on the Hoosiers. More on that when I respond to his comment. Excellent observation on getting the ball to the TEs on early downs. I neglected to mention the TEs as a force as well-they are very difficult to stop. I do believe Moore is reading fronts much better. Its the pressure that is effecting his execution. More on that later (sorry, that will be a response to Triphibius-he nailed that analysis). I like the idea of wearing down IU's Front 7. Didn't work on TTU, and I believe the Hoosiers are well conditioned as well. Doesn't mean Stein should forsake a quick tempo though. It MAY work after all, and also that pace may be an advantage. I'm writing another article Thursday and may go into that concept more. I watched more tape, and I changed my mind a little on what Stein was doing. I still think he adjusted a little late-but that is me expecting perfection. If yo have time, look at this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSE5awo-gG0). It is a very good breakdown of most of the key concepts and plays from the Tech game on offense.

The basics have to be there. Some of that is pure talent (arm strength) , some of it is knowledge, some of it is the ability to make plays on your own. The development part is learning the game, the speed of the game, and your OC's philosophy. Dante is way better than average. The speed and complexity of reading coverages under duress is very difficult to master. I watched a play in the TTU game in which I knew what was open after the completion. I reviewed it over ten times to see if I could time reading what was going on quickly enough to make the proper read. It is difficult to master for sure.

As usual, there are very good comments to ponder over. I am going to write another article. Not sure if it will drop tomorrow or Thursday. I have to talk to FishDuck about what I have so far. But I definitely feel like posting sunshine, rainbows and lollipops, even though I don't feel that way about this week. It has been a great year. It is tough to remember how young this team actually is. I expected a 10-2 year, or maybe 11-2 at best. The roller coaster ride is a total reflection of how young this team is. I have seen improvement from all phases of the team-staff, starters, units and backup players. I believe we expect too much perfection from a team that has its limits. And the fact that Indiana doesn't seem to make any mistakes makes that tough to swallow. Cignetti and his staff are an outstanding group of pure excellence. But he has a ten year head start on Lanning. For all of Lanning's aggressiveness, he has the second best record of any coach in FBS with as many games played. Friends, we have one of the very best in the business. And he is growing right in front of our eyes. He has only lost three games of 10 points or more-two to title winners, and one to the only undefeated team this year. He has never lost to an unranked team. He has defeated the #2 and the #3 team back to back years, and has posted an Undefeated season himself as the regular season #1 team. He defeated every blue blood team in the B1G his first year in the conference. He has defeated every brand name team in the conference already. Dan Lanning, with a much less than perfect team, has a chance to redeem his only loss this year. And a shot at a National Title in 16 short days. I doubt we lose by 10 this time. I expect an instant classic type of game-circa UW/Oregon in Seattle. Despite the questions on offense, and defense. This team is unpredictable, in a good way. We are very very fortunate. We are living Thanksgiving in January.

Well the Tech DL destroyed my narrative...but their WRs played exactly how I thought they would. The playoff format helped OBD today. But the defense stepped up. Another scenario when one unit bailed out the other. On to the next one.

Naw, Moore isn't the problem. The strategy is. Look at what the checkdown does. They will have to account for that. That is what I want to see.

You HAVE to go off on that press coverage. There is no reason to waste time. Stein is trying to wear their line out. He just needs to attack.

Stein needs to chip those ends. That blocker should be the check down option. No need to prove anything here. Tech should not be able to cover with the additional time ( this has to be a strategy the rest of the playoffs). I don't want to waste the best mismatch we will have the rest of the year.

Ohio State and OBD don't have agile enough lineman to bully these quick DLs we've seen. This requires blocking heads up (one-on-one). Tech has been smart. They totally know they are not going to cover the WRs. So they are laying off the LOS.

I'm telling you, I wouldn't waste my time establishing a rhythm. Moore missed a wide open Benson for a TD. That mismatch is already apparent.

OBD 35-16 2 2 325

My thought all year has been OBD need to average 42 in the playoffs to win it all. We just didn't have the kind of personnel to handle elite offenses.

I forgot about your take on that. I also believe the Tigers were lucky the first quarter ended before OBD ran another play. They got to rest... otherwise it may have been over before it started. Auburn didn't start stopping OBD before that point.

I hope not ...and pride has nothing to do with it. I want to see an annihilation tomorrow. It's time people respect OBD.

Yeah, Well see whether Bucknut fans about their Rose Bowl victory was the flex they bragged about all year.

You should watch the Miami/Florida game. That front door was g ferocious. I was pretty concerned about the Hurricanes from them until they lost to Louisville. I wasn't sure which Miami team would show up today. I guess they've shown us.

I don't either... I happen to believe the Red Raiders did their job winning the games they were supposed to. They do have a stout defense. It hasn't really been tested though. None of the teams they've faced are elite. I also believe Indiana changes the narrative about OBD. The response reminds me of all the talk about Auburn after they stuffed out running game. I will always believe that Chip was so bent on proving he could run in the Tigers instead of exploiting their weakness against the clear advantage OBD had passing that day In my mind Auburn was lucky he did, because OBD were by far the better team. We held the most explosive SEC team to 19 points ( in a conference known for its physical prowess) and had the opportunity to drop 30 plus if we had just passed the damn ball. The SEC and ESPN got away with a false narrative.

Yep, this is the time to force Tech to play a complete game, not just feast on turnovers and explosive plays.

I believe zone blocking will be more difficult on Tech. The edges are very quick. Surprisingly, running to the edges has worked on this defense though. If Lupoi forces Tech to drive the entire field, I don't believe the Red Raiders will score much. They need explosive plays to stay in this game in my opinion.

I prefer burnt steak. We used to call it burnt toast when this old dog played football!

This is where we get to see if our young team has developed killer instinct. If it ever was necessary, Tech is the kind of team to put down early, and keep down late.

David, the refs have cost us one title (Newton fumbled that TD run, he threw the pick, and we all know they got a gimmie at the end of the game). I am going to have to keep my cool this playoff season, because JMU got two explosive passes on pushoffs the refs didn't call. So I have to expect that will be par for the course.

Agreed! I do not believe TTU has the type of depth to sub much in this game.

Ah Solar, So glad you brought those issues up. I don't believe Tech can play a straight up game tomorrow. They will have to do more than go at it one on one. They like to bring their Safeties up-essentially bring eight guys into the box. Their base defense also allows for exotic blitzes no one has seen much from them. So how much do they vary their style? They will absolutely need to bring heat, because they will not cover OBD WRs well. I do doubt Stein gets outcoached. I thought he did an excellent job of adjusting to Indiana, and Moore simply wasn't ready to handle that much variety. Also, OBD RBs each ran for more than 5 yards per carry. The running game was there to exploit on a Defense I consider far more disruptive than Tech's. Steele considered IU the 15th best DL in the country. That unit proved repeatedly they are much better than that. Tech's LBs are also a major strength, but they do not have great closing speed in space. LB Rodriguez is a faster version of Boettcher-and he always is in the right place at the right time. Their edges are nearly unstoppable, and their OLBs also make very good plays. But they will be forced to commit to one or the other: run or pass. They cannot stop both. That will be apparent sometime in the middle of the first quarter in my opinion. Lupoi appears to be playing possum. I don't think he showed what he intends to do this playoff season. The LBs are the weakest link, but the Safeties have been their key assistants. I wonder if Lupoi is going to start bringing more heat himself when it matters (and the sooner the better). OBD will have to outscore the better offenses from this point on. I am not sure Tech is a part of the group I consider lethal enough to be a threat.

Mistake free football: the defining factor in playoff games. The Tech defense really focuses on forcing fumbles. They are really good at it. But you can tell they actually practice that skill-as in drills on a daily basis.