Caliborn72

Winning the toss and electing to receive says a lot about Riley's mindset. Think he wanted to step on their throats early and take them out of the game. Plan looked to be working until the INT. This is where we got to be mentally tough.

And again for week 2!

https://www.twitter.com/GBRosenthal/status/908458233190166529

The Clemson guy who predicted Bookie to flip finally gave an explanation. He said Bookie is excited to bring his mom for an official visit. But the rest of it just sounds like wishful thinking. I was worried there was more smoke than what he offered haha.

Good stuff, Mav. Thanks for putting all these clips up. I'm going to try to watch that Oregon@Wyoming game this weekend. The line is at 13.5 right now. Wyoming's defense has been good but they will get a real test.

On Scout, a thread like that one has all relevant fanbases posting in it since multiple boards get tagged. tOSU fans are posting about it like a Manuel Allen situation fwiw. Probably just sour grapes, but I'm interested to follow for now.

Yeah, I thought the defense might be a bit of a work in progress. Then Jones went out and I knew we'd see a lot more vanilla than we'd like, at least until Diaco felt he could trust our corners. I've been disappointed with most of the defense so far. The scheme has been questionable and downright bad at times. I actually like the DLine so far, and I've been impressed with the middle of the defense. But we have no edge rush and virtually no rush at all. So frustrating. I'm resorting to being hopeful that the defense is better suited against Wisconsin and Iowa, which it totally might be. But I'm more worried about Purdue and Penn State now. The offense has been great and what I expected at times. And then it's been tough to watch at times. The OLine has flashed a little, but then they've also been eaten alive too. Same with the playcalling. Just downright inconsistent. I thought 9 or 10 was possible, and I guess it still is, but I would be floored if we reach that.

The thing is, we've given up 162 more rushing yards than they have so our total defense is worse. Helps that they've had 7 sacks for -42 yards already. http://www.cfbstats.com/2017/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category10/sort01.html

Really hate that short week against Illinois but Purdue is definitely more scary. Only 2 games but Blough is in a real offense finally and it's showing. Passing efficiency rating up from 119 to 194. 74% passing, 10.5 Y/A. There's reason to be hopeful that Jones is back by then because we are going to need him. I'm not all that worried about Minnesota as of now.

Their back-up looked good in the win. 23/34 252yrds 3TDs/1INT.

The hype train definitely got a little ahead of itself this time. Probably a little bit of everything from playing against our defense to just generally looking good in practice situations. He's definitely impressed me here and there but today was pretty brutal at times. Probably should have been viewed as a red flag when DL told everyone to cool their jets. I also think criticism is met with too much hostility at times. We all want the team to be successful, even the worst of the Debbie downers. But there are things that need to get better and it does no one any good just hearing nonstop sunshine pumping when they can't execute it when it matters. There's a lot to be optimistic about. Hopefully the coaches are figuring out what they have and what works best moving forward. Losing to Oregon doesn't mean anything for our chances at the division so let's go get it!

We showed heart, the game could have been closer at half and that's when I expected the game to get much worse. We didn't let it. Oregon is a solid team. Not great by any means and they shot themselves in the foot a little here and there too. Lee wasn't very good and while Oregon's corners were decent, they certainly weren't the best we will play against so that has me nervous. Playcalling and clock management still too weird to be a coincidence. I still have high hopes for 8 wins but I would be surprised if we get more than that. And I wouldn't be all that surprised if we get less.

That Justin Hopkins is a tool and so unprofessional.

Oregon definitely has a better staff than they had last year. I was lukewarm on the Taggart hire at first because it felt like more of the same chasing Chip Kelly years that got Oregon in trouble in the first place. But then they went out and hired a real DC and several good position coaches to help him out. They basically formed a dream Pac12 staff with Poly/West coast recruiting ties as well as good coaching. They're going to be a solid team this year at the very least. I would consider this a big road victory and it would do a lot to alleviate my nervousness the rest of the year. A loss won't be the end of the world but I do think it would likely mean an 8 win season, which I could live with.

I found it weird that he told Greg Biggins that he visited Clemson earlier in the summer. He kept that pretty silent.

It does feel like there is an awful lot at stake this season. Could be a major turning point for the program, especially with what a successful season means for our recruiting finish. 9 or so wins this year + an elite recruiting class and we head into a tough schedule with a lot of positivity surrounding the football team. I don't exactly know what a rough season would mean but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Getting a later/last visit is generally considered a really good thing. You get a chance to change his mind and can also talk to him about what the coaches told him at other visits. Plus, it's about having the freshest memory when he makes a decision. In this case, it's also entirely possible that he visits Ohio State and then shuts down his recruitment. We will just have to wait and see.

Looks good, I agree with most of it. I'll also add Stanford over USC - not sure how bold that is though.

Could have really used Domann as well. Would have been a difference maker.

Well now we should be able to poach Moore's brother so win/win.

UCLA is down 28 points at home and there isn't a single position group that is flashing. We should be able to poach any recruit currently committed to them.

I would think somewhere around a touchdown, which would be fair in my opinion. I'm nervous about the game but I still say we win by 10.

This is a good point and what has me the most concerned. I'm willing to buy the idea that Diaco wanted to be as vanilla as possible to not show his hand for future games. I'm not sure that's the case, but I'm willing to buy it because I believe in his coaching ability. The problem is, the rest of the team should have been on the same page then. We should have been working the clock from the get go and limiting the amount of times our defense was on the field. At the very least, we should have been doing this late in the game. The only explanation/excuse I have is that DL and MR wanted to try to get the offense even more plays to see what they had (?) kind of a weak one but that's all I got. I blame DL for it but I also blame MR. It's his show and it should have been a part of the pre-game plan if they really were trying to keep our defensive scheme hidden. Nothing about the offensive side of the ball suggested that was the case.

They ended up losing but they gave Louisville a fight and took the lead in the 4th quarter. Brohm looks like one of the best hires this off-season and this is a game that looks tougher than it did a week ago. Need Jones back.