10 Thoughts On OSU-Tech

1. OFFENSE BACK

Man, the things this group can do when they're hitting on all cylinders really is amazing. Minus a stretch during the 3rd, we played well on that side of the ball. It seems like Mahomes is calming down and hitting more checkdown routes than before. Our receivers played fabulously as well. Speaking of receivers...

2. Jakeem Grant is unreal

Seriously, he was lights out today. In case you didn't catch it, this happened:

This is easily my new favorite play of the year.

3. While we're talking about individual players, Dakota Allen had a heck of a game

From the first half pick to making plays behind the line of scrimmage, he really impressed me today. If our defense is going to improve, we're going to need a huge amount of help from the front 7, and Allen is really leading the charge in that aspect.

4. The targeting rule needs to be revised

We need something concrete. Not something wishy-washy. I admit that I don't understand the rule entirely, but I know it was put in place to stop malicious helmet to helmet hits. Nothing about JahShawn's tackle was malicious.

5. Nigel Bethel continues to come up clutch

He was lights out on deep defense today. And he's so young. Which brings us to the next observation:

6. It feels like we've been young for the past 4 years

We always have some new up and coming guy every single year. Nearly all of our big playmakers on defense are either freshmen or sophomores. I really hope we continue to develop and train all these young guys.

7. NEVER PUNT

IT ISN'T FUN, NO ONE WANTS TO DO IT, AND IT NEVER ENDS WELL

8. The biggest struggle for our defense is angles

We don't take good angles to the ball. Efficient pathing is one of the characteristics of very good defenses. We simply don't have it. We either over pursue or under pursue on every single play. I can't tell you how many times I've seen our defense run in a little circle or round out their pursuit. I'm a big defense guy, and it's beyond frustrating. It's borderline enraging.

9. We just play better at home

Wether it's the crowd, the familiar settings, the easiness of the pregame routine, or whatever, we play better at home. If we can find the way to transfer that power to road games, we'll be a much, much better team.

10. This loss was frustrating, but a bowl game is still within reach

We have WVU, K-State, and Texas left on the list. WVU and Texas away, K-State at home. Each of those games are more winnable than this one was. We played well, and the Offense seems to be clicking again after miserable performances against OU and Kansas. It's frustrating always being a couple of steps away, but if you asked me about this team's ceiling in the summer, I would've said 7-5 or 6-6. Both of those records are still within reach. Many of us would consider simply going to a bowl game a big win. We're in ball games. That's more than we could say last year. Improvement is evident.